September 08, 2017 at 06:21PM
Washington Examiner
Former Vice President Joe Biden has the nod of approval from his daughter if he decides to run in 2020.
Ashley Biden, who works full time as a designer in Philadelphia, says if her father is in good health she hopes he launches a bid against Donald Trump in 2020.
"If he is in good health, knock on wood, and seeing what the landscape is at the time, yeah, I think he is considering it," Ashley Biden told Women's World Daily.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Democrats are rising again.
Since President Donald Trump entered the White House in January, they've been relegated to playing defense and pouncing on Republican missteps.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump signs $15.3 billion Harvey aid package extending US borrowing authority, funding government through Dec.
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Ben Felder,Justin Wingerter,Dale Denwalt
Ben, Justin and Dale discuss the coming special session of the state Legislature, next Tuesday’s special election in Norman and the local political response to President Trump’s announcement that DACA will end in March.
WASHINGTON (AP) — American consumers borrowed more heavily in July, increasing their debt primarily in a category that includes auto and student loans.
The Federal Reserve says that overall consumer credit rose $18.5 billion in July, up from the $11.9 billion increase in June.
Economists and financial markets watch the credit report closely for clues about the direction of consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of economic activity.
Non-revolving credit, which includes auto and student loans, increased $15.8 billion.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — White House Homeland Security adviser Tom Bossert says there is no "credible" terrorist threat against the United States leading up to the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Bossert says Friday that there is no "current, credible, actionable threat.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has decided not to charge a key figure in the IRS' mistreatment of conservative political groups during the 2010 and 2012 elections.
Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee hoped the Justice Department would reopen its case against ex-IRS official Lois Lerner now that the GOP controls government.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Nancy Pelosi is predicting Democrats will have increased leverage on immigration and other issues, after a deal they cut with President Donald Trump passed the House on the strength of Democratic votes.
The House Democratic leader also said she makes "no apology" for working across the aisle with a president disdained in her home state of California.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans hissed and booed senior Trump administration officials Friday as they pitched President Donald Trump's deal with Democrats to increase the nation's borrowing authority.
Conservatives have demanded budget cuts in exchange for any hike in the debt limit, and they were unhappy with a deal that combined more than $15 billion in disaster relief with the less palatable debt increase.
"Vote for the debt ceiling for me," Mnuchin pleaded with Republicans on Friday at a closed-door meeting at the Capitol, according to several lawmakers.
Yet Republicans questioned why they would cast a politically risky vote for Treasury chief Steven Mnuchin , who has no strong ties to Congress and also happens to be a former Democratic donor.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is heading to Camp David — with some extra guests.
The White House said Friday that the president and first lady Melania Trump have invited all the members of the Cabinet, along with their spouses to the government-owned retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains.
Trump will hold his fourth Cabinet meeting and will receive briefings on Hurricane Irma and the response to Harvey.
Trump first visited Camp David, which he once described as "very rustic," in June.
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By Justin Wingerter Staff Writer jwingerter@oklahoman.com
Multifaceted legislation to provide disaster relief aid to Texas, temporarily raise the debt ceiling and fund the government for three months split Oklahoma's all-Republican U.S. House delegation Friday.
The House voted 316-90 to pass the bill, sending it to President Donald Trump's desk.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Veteran Alaska Rep. Don Young has apologized after he lashed out at a freshman lawmaker during a House floor debate, saying she "doesn't know a damn thing what she's talking about.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has spoken with the leader of Qatar amid a diplomatic crisis between the country and its Arab neighbors.
The White House says Trump spoke Thursday with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — House votes to send $15.3B Harvey aid package to Trump; extends US borrowing authority, funds government through Dec.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the Harvey aid bill in Congress (all times local):
10:22 a.m.
Trump administration officials faced a rough time in pleading with House Republicans to back the debt limit increase.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin drew hisses from lawmakers Friday when he told a closed-door meeting of House Republicans "vote for the debt ceiling for me.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump and Congress (all times local):
9:20 a.m.
President Donald Trump is urging Republicans in Congress to start work immediately on a tax overhaul.
On Twitter Friday, Trump tweeted: "Republicans must start the Tax Reform/Tax Cut legislation ASAP." He added: "Don't wait until the end of September.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is criticizing Republican lawmakers amid a rapprochement with Democrats.
On Twitter Friday, Trump referenced the GOP's failure to pass health care legislation.
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Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence suggested the devastating hurricanes in Texas and approaching Florida were signs of “Mother Nature’s rage and wrath” at America for electing Donald Trump and not believing in man-made climate change.
Lawrence, who is promoting her new drama “Mother!,” appeared on British network Channel 4 on Wednesday, where she discussed topics ranging from the movie to the gender pay gap and Trump.
“It’s scary,” the actress responded to the interviewer’s assertion that there was “an end-of-days feeling” across the world and especially in the U.S.
WASHINGTON (AP) — For an entire generation in South Florida, Hurricane Andrew was the monster storm that reshaped a region.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., spent about five hours speaking privately to Senate investigators at the Capitol.
The staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee is just one group investigating whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the outcome of last year's presidential election.
Trump Jr.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican conservatives are grumbling, but the House is poised to back a $15.3 billion disaster aid package that President Donald Trump and Democrats have married to a temporary increase in America's borrowing authority.
Friday's House vote would send the measure to Trump for his signature, replenishing rapidly dwindling disaster accounts as Hurricane Irma tracks toward Florida this weekend.
The must-do legislation would also provide money to fund government agencies through Dec.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The tortured relationship between President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan has gone cool again, with the Republican president making clear he has no qualms about bucking the GOP leader to cut deals with his Democratic foes.
The two men dined at the White House Thursday night, a get-together scheduled over Congress' recess, long before the head-spinning events of this week.
Trump cut a debt and disaster aid deal Wednesday with Democratic leaders as Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell watched on helplessly, after lobbying unsuccessfully for much different terms.
The moment distilled the inherent tensions between Trump, a former Democrat and ideologically flexible deal-maker, and Ryan, a loyal Republican whose discomfort with Trump led him to withhold his endorsement for weeks last year.
By K.S. McNutt Staff Writer kmcnutt@oklahoman.com
More Oklahoma students are expected to enroll in college now that every high school junior statewide is taking the ACT college-readiness assessment.
A report on the ACT scores for the class of 2017 was presented Thursday to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.
"As a result of being a statewide opportunity, students who never would have taken that assessment did," said Matt Higdon, director of student preparation for the state's higher education system.
Many of them scored at or above college admission benchmarks, Higdon said.
The state Education Department made the test available at no cost for the first time for the class of 2017.
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By Dale Denwalt Capitol Bureau ddenwalt@oklahoman.com
Total state revenue beat last year's haul for the seventh month in a row, Oklahoma Treasurer Ken Miller said Thursday.
August 2017 collections topped the previous single-month mark by 5.7 percent, or $47.4 million, showing a boost in summer spending and income.
Miller also reported that for the first time since August 2015, collections during the past 12 months beat totals from the previous year.
The increase marks a small gain compared to the previous year's worth of data, less than 1 percent, but Miller said the state's economy is growing slowly and steadily.
"The energy sector remains the primary driver of the state's economic expansion as evidenced by the continued rise in oil field employment and gross production tax payments," Miller wrote in a news release.
Tax revenue on oil and gas production grew for the 11th month in a row, he said.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Qatar says it's giving $30 million to a new fund to help people in Texas recover from Harvey.
The donation appears to be the largest by a foreign government following the hurricane.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Sexual assault in the U.S. armed forces remains pervasive despite the military's attempts to eradicate sex crimes from the ranks, according to a new report by a Senate Democrat who has been critical of the Pentagon's efforts.
In the report released Thursday, Sen.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Congressman Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, leader of an influential caucus of GOP moderates in the House, has announced he will not seek re-election to an eighth House term next year.
Dent, who has been a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, says in a statement that he never intended to serve as long as he has.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The five living former U.S. presidents are creating the "One America Appeal" to raise money for storm recovery as Texas and Louisiana regroups from Harvey and Florida braces for Hurricane Irma.
The hurricane recovery effort was announced Thursday by former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter.
Organizers say a special restricted account has been established through the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation to collect and quickly distribute donations.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — For an entire generation in South Florida, Hurricane Andrew was the monster storm that reshaped a region.
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BBC News
Facebook says it has discovered a Russian-funded campaign to promote divisive social and political messages on its network.
The company says $100,000 was spent on about 3,000 ads over a two-year period, ending in May 2017.
The ads did not back any political figures specifically but instead posted on topics including immigration, race and equal rights.