'Moms Demand Action' Pushes Lawmakers To Take Action On Ghost Guns, Background Checks

A group of moms is leading the charge for getting untraceable guns off the streets, reforming police departments and making communities safer.

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  • Kamala Harris breaks tie as Senate proceeds with lengthy debate on COVID relief bill

    The Senate on Thursday voted 51-50 — with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie — to proceed to debate on President Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue package, likely setting up a final vote this weekend.The state of play: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is forcing the Senate clerk to read the entire 628-page bill on the floor, a procedural move that will likely add 10 hours to the 20 hours already allotted for debate.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.During that time, Republicans will propose amendments — some unrelated to COVID relief — intended to force uncomfortable votes for Democrats, in a practice known as vote-a-rama.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) promised Thursday that the Senate will stay in session "no matter how long it takes" to finish voting on the "American Rescue Plan."Because the bill is being considered under the budget reconciliation process, it only requires a simple majority to pass, rather than the usual 60-vote Senate threshold for major legislation.Driving the news: Speaking on the Senate floor ahead of the vote to proceed, Schumer accused Johnson of going to "ridiculous lengths" to show his opposition to a COVID relief package widely supported by the American public — including a majority of Republicans.What they're saying: "It will accomplish little more than a few sore throats for the Senate clerks who work very hard day in, day out to help the Senate function," Schumer said."Still, we are delighted that the senator from Wisconsin wants to give the American people another opportunity to hear what's in the American Rescue Plan. We Democrats want America to hear what's in the plan," he continued."Oh, yes, when the senior senator from Wisconsin reads, the American people will get another chance to hear about the tax breaks for low-income workers, and assistance for American families struggling with child care — two measures that help make the American Rescue Plan one of the single largest anti-poverty bills in recent history."Go deeper: Senate Republicans plan to exact pain before COVID relief voteLike this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free.

  • McIlroy, DeChambeau put on a show for fans at Bay Hill

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  • A New Orleans police officer groomed and raped a 14-year-old girl he was assigned to take to a rape kit exam, a lawsuit alleges

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  • Trump wants revenge on Alaska's Sen. Murkowski. His advisers think he won't follow through because the flight is too long.

    Don't bet on former President Donald Trump traveling to campaign against Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) — and not because of any sudden change of heart. A new report from The Washington Post discusses the Alaska Republican's influence during President Biden's administration, as well as the fact that Trump is "vowing publicly and privately to work to oust her" as she seeks a fourth Senate term in 2022. Murkowski was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, and she's reportedly "higher on his list of enemies" than other lawmakers, coming in just under Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) At the same time, the Post reports that while Trump "does want to spend money against" Murkowski, some "people in his circle doubt, though, that he will be as much of a potent force in the race because traveling to campaign against her would require such a long flight, which Trump generally avoids." There's also the fact that, the Post says, Trump's advisers "recognize the complexity of winning in Alaska," which uses ranked-choice voting, though the report adds that it's likely Murkowski will face pro-Trump opposition in the race in some form. Trump recently went after Murkowski during his first speech since leaving office at the Conservative Political Action Conference, naming her while he slammed a series of Republican "grandstanders" and called on supporters to "get rid of them all." Murkowski has defended her vote to impeach Trump, saying she couldn't "be afraid of" the political repercussions and that if Alaska voters decide that "because I did not support my party that I can no longer serve them in the United States Senate, then so be it." More stories from theweek.comThe Republican grievance perpetual motion machineWhich states best handled the pandemic? There's no clear answer. 7 scathingly funny cartoons about Trump's CPAC appearance

  • Barrett authors first U.S. Supreme Court ruling, a loss for environmentalists

    Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Thursday authored her first ruling since joining the U.S. Supreme Court in October - a decision that handed a defeat to an environmental group that had sought access to government documents. In the 7-2 ruling, the justices sided with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, thwarting the Sierra Club's bid to obtain documents concerning a regulation finalized in 2014 relating to power plants. Barrett and the court's other five conservative justices were joined by liberal Justice Elena Kagan in the majority, with liberals Justices Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor in dissent.

  • GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn says being called a 'Neanderthal' is actually a good thing after Biden criticized states for lifting mask mandates

    They're "hunter-gatherers, they're protectors of their family, they are resilient," Blackburn said of Neanderthals, who are now extinct.

  • Tsunami watch in Hawaii following significant earthquake in Pacific

    The latest in a string of powerful earthquakes shook part of the southwestern Pacific on Friday morning, local time, leading to far-reaching tsunami concerns. The magnitude 8.1 earthquake occurred at 8:28 a.m. NZST Friday, or 2:38 p.m. EST Thursday, according to the USGS. The epicenter was located well northeast of New Zealand, but the shaking was felt on part of the country and nearby islands in the region. "[This] is directly related to the M7.4 in nearly the same location just under 2 hours before," the USGS said in a Tweet. "Both of those occurred on the subduction interface between Pacific and Australia plates." A tsunami warning was initially issued for the Kermadec Island region, but that was later changed to a tsunami advisory, where tsunami waves could reach 3 meters (10 feet), according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) A tsunami warning was issued for New Zealand coasts, the country's emergency management agency said. This includes the Great Barrier Island and part of the north-facing shores of the North Island. Tsunami waves are also possible along the coasts of Fiji, American Samoa and other nearby islands. CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP A tsunami watch has been issued for Hawaii. People in Hawaii do not need to take action immediately but should prepare in the event that tsunami waves do arrive. According to the PTWC, if a tsunami does reach Hawaii, the earliest arrival of the first wave would be 4:35 p.m. HST Thursday. The tsunami threat has not been completely ruled out for the Pacific Coast of the U.S. and Canada, according to the U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC). "Earthquakes of this size are known to generate tsunamis potentially dangerous to coasts outside the source region," the NTWC said. "More information will be issued as it becomes available." TSUNAMI WATCH continued for Hawaii. A WATCH means a tsunami may impact Hawaii. Threat and potential impacts are still being evaluated by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. KNOW if you are in an EVACUATION RED ZONE. See this link for Oahu Evacuation ZONES https://t.co/716pXxq7kb— Oahu Emergency Mgmt. (@Oahu_DEM) March 4, 2021 This is a breaking situation. Continue to check back with AccuWeather for more updates. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier, Spectrum, Fubo, and Verizon Fios.

  • Rudy Giuliani, who helped lead Trump's bogus election-fraud conspiracy theory, is being mocked after warning of the dangers of misinformation

    After spending months pushing Trump's election fraud conspiracy theory, Giuliani unexpectedly warned of the dangers of misinformation.

  • Biden supports making a temporary $3,000 payment to parents in the stimulus bill permanent going forward

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  • Pastor tells women to look pretty or husbands will stray in sermon to Missouri church

    The pastor has since “taken a leave of absence and is seeking professional counseling,” the church said.

  • Biden and Europe allies worry Israel is preparing a substantial attack on Iran

    President Biden and allies in Europe are worried a revenge attack might scuttle nuclear talks with Iran.

  • SpaceX Starship prototype sticks landing, then explodes

    The launch and landing were successful, but the prototype exploded a few minutes after touchdown.

  • Trump inadvertently boosts Biden's stimulus messaging with another statement raging against McConnell

    Former President Donald Trump has released a new post-presidency statement, and Democrats might just be glad he did. The former president, who remains permanently banned from Twitter, released a statement Thursday once again raging against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), blasting him as the "most unpopular politician in the country" while blaming him for Republicans' Senate losses in Georgia — losses for which Trump himself has been blamed by other Republicans. One of the reasons Republicans lost the two Georgia Senate runoffs in January, Trump argues, was "Mitch McConnell's refusal to go above $600 per person on the stimulus check payments when the two Democrat opponents were touting $2,000 per person in ad after ad." The statement offered "quite the pre-stimulus political gift to Democrats," wrote National Journal's Josh Kraushaar, while The Washington Post's Dave Weigel noted that Trump "remarkably" used this opportunity to "validate Biden's messaging on the $1,400 checks instead of whacking him and Democrats for curtailing them." Remarkably, Trump also uses this statement to validate Biden's messaging on the $1400 checks instead of whacking him and Democrats for curtailing them. "The $2000 will be approved anyway by the Democrats." https://t.co/M9dXoX13VS — Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) March 4, 2021 Indeed, Trump writes that "the $2,000 will be approved anyway by the Democrats," while offering no comment on the fact that the new checks are actually for $1,400, nor on Biden's recent compromise that narrows the eligibility. Politico's Gabby Orr observed that Trump "could have put out a statement saying the income phase-outs in the Biden stimulus bill are going to mean he gave checks to more Americans," but "instead he's still targeting his own party with stuff like this." This was just Trump's latest statement in this vein after he released another one last month describing McConnell as an "unsmiling political hack." He also mentioned McConnell in a recent Conservative Political Action Conference speech, in which he took credit for McConnell's recent re-election. McConnell told Fox News he "didn't watch" the speech and that "we're dealing with the present and the future, not looking back to the past." More stories from theweek.comThe Republican grievance perpetual motion machineWhich states best handled the pandemic? There's no clear answer. 7 scathingly funny cartoons about Trump's CPAC appearance

  • Pastor tells women to look pretty or husbands will stray in sermon to Missouri church

    The pastor has since “taken a leave of absence and is seeking professional counseling,” the church said.

  • Hilaria Baldwin opens up about having 2 babies who are 'almost like twins'

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