Melania gives Congress private deadline as she works around Trump's team: report

First lady Melania Trump gave Congress a private deadline to pass her signature foster care bill, and she is pursuing it largely outside the usual White House channels, according to a new report in Politico. At a bipartisan roundtable with the House Ways and Means Committee in April, the first lady publicly called foster care legislation a "moral imperative." Then, behind closed doors, she set a target, Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) told the outlet: "I want this on Donald's desk by the August recess." The Fostering the Future Act, which expands housing, education and workforce help for young people aging out of foster care, passed the House unanimously.The Senate has not moved it out of committee, and lawmakers are set to leave Washington around Aug. 10. At a White House picnic the day the House passed the bill, both Trumps urged the Senate to hurry. "Hopefully, it will quickly pass in the Senate," the president said. He has not publicly pressed senators since.The deadline reflects a first lady who increasingly operates on her own track. Her office, not the State Department, has led her effort to reunite children displaced by the Russia-Ukraine war, negotiating directly with Moscow and Kyiv, the White House said. She has also shown a willingness to diverge from the administration's message. She broke with the White House on Epstein, calling for survivors to testify as the president's team tried to move past the scandal, and last week put her own spin on a Supreme Court ruling her husband celebrated, voicing support for the LGBTQIA+ community.A recent book recounted how she resisted Trump's overhaul of the White House grounds and lost.

Congress Can Still Ban Birthright Citizenship. Here’s How.

The Supreme Court has committed a grievous moral and legal error in Trump v. Barbara, the landmark case on birthright...

Time for Congress To Make the Right To Carry a National Right

Brendan Boyle brings Congress back to ‘where it all began’ in Philadelphia to mark 250 years of American independence

Members of Congress gathered Thursday at Independence Hall in Philadelphia to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The bipartisan group of lawmakers gathered at Independence Hall specifically on this day because it marked the anniversary of the Second Continental Congress’s vote in support of American independence in 1776 in […]

Congress plans to ‘reign in’ birth tourism scams after SCOTUS ruling

Congress is planning to crack down on birth tourism after the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling preserved birthright citizenship. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Tuesday that […]

Former WH Ethics Lawyer On Trump Disclosures

Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, says President Donald Trump's crypto ventures could violate the Constitution's foreign emoluments clause if foreign government money is involved, and calls his holdings a "clear conflict of interest" as his administration regulates the industry. Painter says both parties need higher ethics standards, citing Hunter Biden and Trump's sons while calling Trump "by far" the worst on personal financial conflicts, and says Trump cannot accept a gifted jet from Qatar. He speaks with Kailey Leinz and Joe Mathieu on the late edition of Bloomberg's "Balance of Power." (Source: Bloomberg)

The backlash to Iranian oil sanctions relief misses the point 

Sometimes the choice is between an imperfect deal and no deal at all. 

Supreme Court ruling sparks race to kill a multibillion-dollar loophole in Congress

Sen. Tim Scott's bill targets birth tourism by denying birthright citizenship to children born to women on tourist visas in the United States.