Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 03/23/2026 - 12:00am
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the escalating war in Iran, the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs would ordinarily be at the center of the geopolitical fray.
The bureau’s role would be to coordinate U.S. foreign policy across an 18-country region, much of which has become a chaotic battlefield scarred by drone and missile strikes as the U.S. and Israel remain locked in conflict with Iran.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 03/23/2026 - 12:00am
Transportation Lobbyists Have Donated Thousands to Sean Duffy’s Son-in-Law as He Runs for Congress
The $16 billion Hudson Tunnel Project, under construction between Manhattan and New Jersey, will improve passenger rail service, an important issue for New York City commuters. It would seem to have nothing to do with what’s happening in northern Wisconsin.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 03/16/2026 - 12:00am
LINCOLN — Nebraska’s two Republican U.S. senators might be split on weakening the Senate filibuster as Senate leadership tries to cool down calls to nuke the upper chamber’s legislative brakes using a procedural move to temporarily lower the voting threshold.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 03/16/2026 - 12:00am
Images from the missile strike in southern Iran were more horrifying than any of the case studies Air Force combat veteran Wes J. Bryant had pored over in his mission to overhaul how the U.S. military safeguards civilian life.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Mon, 03/16/2026 - 12:00am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Wednesday opened a new trade investigation into manufacturing in foreign countries — an effort that comes after the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s previous use of tariffs by declaring an economic emergency.
LINCOLN — State budget tensions boiled over onto the floor of the Nebraska Legislature Thursday in the aftermath of lawmakers’ rejecting a $50 million proposal to increase the state’s cigarette tax.
Lawmakers appear to be in a standoff over options to help fill the state’s projected budget deficit, which is listed at $125 million but in reality is closer to $140 million.
Senators have plenty of avenues to solve the issue, but do any of them have enough support to pass?
Several Democratic states are moving to bar federal immigration agents from being near polling places and other election sites, amid persistent worries that President Donald Trump will use federal law enforcement or the military to disrupt the midterm elections.
Measures to restrict federal agents from operating at or near election-related locations have been offered in more than half a dozen states, according to a Stateline count. While the proposals vary, they broadly seek to combat the prospect of chaotic confrontations between federal agents and voters this November.
Several Democratic states are moving to bar federal immigration agents from being near polling places and other election sites, amid persistent worries that President Donald Trump will use federal law enforcement or the military to disrupt the midterm elections.
Measures to restrict federal agents from operating at or near election-related locations have been offered in more than half a dozen states, according to a Stateline count. While the proposals vary, they broadly seek to combat the prospect of chaotic confrontations between federal agents and voters this November.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump Thursday said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will be leaving the post for a job as a special envoy, following an appearance before a U.S. Senate panel this week that provoked bipartisan criticism of her handling of the department that is tasked with fulfilling the administration’s mass deportation campaign.
Oklahoma GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a Trump loyalist who has championed the president’s war against Iran, will lead the Department of Homeland Security, the president wrote on his social media site, TruthSocial.
State Medicaid budgets will be reduced by a total of $665 billion over the next decade, after President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act cuts federal investment in the health insurance program, according to a new analysis.
Researchers from RAND Health, a policy and research nonprofit, analyzed state and federal data to estimate how much the loss of federal money will affect state Medicaid budgets, publishing their findings late last month. Medicaid is the public health insurance program for people with low incomes, jointly funded by state and federal money.