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March 16, 2021 7:01 AM By Zachary Sherwood and Brandon Lee
President Joe Bidenâs next big economic package helped set off a heated debate among Republicans over whether to participate in the return of lawmakersâ dedicated-spending projects, known as earmarks, a tussle that could be key to its success.
After muscling his $1.9 trillion pandemic-relief bill through Congress without a single Republican vote, Biden is hoping to bring GOP members aboard an infrastructure package set to be a core part of his longer-term economic plan, estimated at trillions of dollars.
Speeding a complex, multi-year initiative through Capitol Hill will be largely impossible without the GOP, due to Senate rules. To make negotiations easier, Democrats rescinded a 2011 ban on so-called spending earmarks. If Republicans decide to amend party rules in coming weeks and follow suit, it could be a good sign Bidenâs bill gets done.
March 10, 2021 6:11 AM By Kellie Lunney and Zachary Sherwood
A bipartisan pair of senators are unveiling legislation today that would make companies pay more for oil and gas leases on federal lands, a day after the Biden administration began a comprehensive study of whether and how the U.S. sells those rights, Kellie Lunney reports.
Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) are releasing the âFair Returns for Public Lands Act,â which would increase fees that oil and gas companies pay to lease onshore, including raising the royalty rate to 18.75% from the current 12.5% rate. The bill, which is companion legislation to a Democratic House bill, also would increase the rental rate for such leases and the national minimum bid per acre.
February 18, 2021 7:00 AM By Zachary Sherwood and Brandon Lee
President Joe Bidenâs proposed immigration overhaul will be introduced in Congress today, kicking off what will likely be one of his most difficult legislative challenges.
The legislation, known as the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, hews closely to the outline that Biden sent to Congress on his first day in office. The proposal includes an eight-year path to citizenship for most of the roughly 11 million immigrants living illegally in the U.S., bolsters the nationâs refugee and asylum systems and calls for additional technology to be used to help secure the southern border, administration officials told reporters late yesterday.