Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., Courts, Justice & Safety

Biden admin will require thousands more gun dealers to run background checks on buyers

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands more firearms dealers across the United States will have to run background checks on buyers at gun shows or other places outside brick-and-mortar stores, according to a Biden administration rule that will soon go into effect. The rule aims to close a […]

Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., New Mexico Statewide News

Senator co-sponsors legislation to protect NM communities from “forever chemicals”

U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich announced today that he has co-sponsored new legislation called the Healthy H2O Act to protect New Mexico communities from dangerous contaminants like PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.” This directly follows the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s announcement of the first-ever national, legally enforceable drinking water standard that will reduce Americans’ […]

Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., New Mexico Statewide News, Syndicated

U.S. Senate spending panel calls for extending pay boost for Forest Service firefighters

JACOB FISCHLER /Source New Mexico Members of a U.S. Senate Appropriations subcommittee said at a hearing Wednesday they were focused on keeping pay for wildland firefighters at the higher level set in a 2021 law and urged Forest Service Chief Randy Moore to focus on ways to maintain a healthy timber industry. Senate Interior-Environment Subcommittee Chair […]

Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., New Mexico Statewide News

Biden administration sets first-ever limits on ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water

By MICHAEL PHILLIS Associated Press The Biden administration on Wednesday finalized strict limits on certain so-called “forever chemicals” in drinking water that will require utilities to reduce them to the lowest level they can be reliably measured. Officials say this will reduce exposure for 100 million people and help prevent thousands of illnesses, including cancers. […]

Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., Features, New Mexico Statewide News

Feds Seize Legal Weed at NM Checkpoints

By Josh Lee / The Paper. New Mexico’s cannabis businesses are already facing plenty of challenges as they navigate through a market fraught with oversaturation, overtaxation and growing pains in general. Now they have to deal with the federal government stealing their inventory. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents over the past two months, […]

Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., National News

Trump suggests he’d support a national ban on abortions around 15 weeks of pregnancy

By MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press, NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump suggested Tuesday that he’d support a national ban on abortions around 15 weeks of pregnancy, voicing for the first time support for a specific limit on the procedure. The Republican former president has taken credit for striking down a federally guaranteed right to abortion by […]

Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., National News

Trump casts immigrants as “poisoning the blood” of America

By WILL WEISSERT and JILL COLVIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The video shared by former President Donald Trump features horror movie music and footage of migrants purportedly entering the U.S. from countries including Cameroon, Afghanistan and China. Shots of men with tattoos and videos of violent crime are set against close-ups of people waving and wrapping […]

Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., National News

Heinrich, other Dem. Senators push Biden for plan to recognize non-militarized Palestinian state

New Mexico’s senior U.S. Senator, Martin Heinrich, joined 18 of his fellow senators to publicly call for the U.S. to establish a framework to recognize a non-militarized Palestinian state. Nineteen senators, all Democrats, authored a letter to President Joe Biden this week calling for a “bold, public framework” to recognize a Palestinian state as a […]

Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., New Mexico Statewide News

Republicans seek to limit national monument designations

This story is republished from NM Political Report, a nonprofit news outlet, as a part of our commitment to bringing you the best in independent news coverage that matters to Albuquerque. Hannah Grover/NM Political Report Republican-backed legislation in the U.S. Congress would make it harder for the government to designate new national monuments. The proposed Congressional Oversight […]

Posted inCongress & Federal Gov., New Mexico Statewide News, Syndicated

U.S. Supreme Court questions both positions in Rio Grande water case

WASHINGTON — The nation’s highest court will decide what’s next for a 10-year-old case over Rio Grande water. On Wednesday, attorneys for Texas and New Mexico came to the defense of a proposed deal allocating Rio Grande water between the states against federal opposition to the agreement at the U.S. Supreme Court.  Justices scrutinized both […]