WASHINGTON, May 16 -- Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, ranking member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, issued the following news on May 14, 2025: * * * At Blumenthal's Spotlight Forum, Former VA Employees, Toxic Exposure Experts, and Advocates Detail Harm of Trump VA Cuts on PACT Act At forum, Senators heard directly from stakeholders on the impact of DOGE's cuts on toxic-exposed veterans and families; Blumenthal: The PACT Act cannot work unless VA has the staff in place to i  more

CHICAGO, Illinois, May 17 (TNSLrpt) -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics - Midwest Regional Information Office issued the following report on May 16, 2025, entitled "Business Employment Dynamics in Indiana - Third Quarter 2024": * * * From June 2024 to September 2024, gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments in Indiana were 149,688, while gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments were 147,798, the U.S. Bu  more

CHICAGO, Illinois, May 17 (TNSLrpt) -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics - Midwest Regional Information Office issued the following report on May 16, 2025, entitled "Business Employment Dynamics in Ohio - Third Quarter 2024": * * * From June 2024 to September 2024, gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments in Ohio were 259,564, while gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments were 242,810, the U.S. Bureau o  more

ATLANTA, Georgia, May 17 (TNSLrpt) -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics - Southeast Regional Information Office issued the following report on May 15, 2025, entitled "Occupational Employment and Wages in Paducah, KY-IL - May 2024": * * * Workers in the Paducah, KY-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $26.64 in May 2024, compared to the nationwide average of $32.66, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner  more

WASHINGTON, May 17 (TNSLrpt) -- The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics issued the following document on May 14, 2025, from Economics Daily: * * * Job losses 7.6 million, job gains 7.6 million, during third quarter 2024 From June 2024 to September 2024, gross job losses from closing and contracting private-sector establishments were 7.6 million, a decrease of 131,000 jobs from the previous quarter. Gross job gains from opening and expanding private-sector establishments were a  more

WASHINGTON, May 16 -- The U.S. Department of Defense issued the following news: * * * Contracts for May 16, 2025 DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Atlantic Diving Supply Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia (SPRMM1-25-D-MC01); ASRC Federal Facilities Logistics LLC, Beltsville, Maryland (SPRMM1-25-D-MC02); Culmen International LLC, Alexandria, Virginia (SPRMM1-25-D-MC03); Fairwinds Technologies LLC, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland (SPRMM1-25-D-MC04); S&K Aerospace LLC, St. Ignatius, Montana (SPRMM1-25-D-  more

WASHINGTON, May 15 -- Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, issued the following news release: * * * Duckworth Leads Democratic Colleagues in Demanding Answers about the National Security Risks Posed by Trump's Acceptance of $400 Million Plane-Shaped Qatari Bribe May 15, 2025 [WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) led Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Assistant Minority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and nine other Democratic colleagues across U.S. Senate Armed Services, Approp  more

WASHINGTON, May 15 -- Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, issued the following news release: * * * Duckworth on Trump Seeking to Deploy National Guard for Immigration Enforcement on US Soil: "This is What Dictators Do to Destroy Democracies" May 15, 2025 Deploying National Guardsmen to support immigration enforcement on our own soil is not part of the National Guard's mission, and it has never happened in our nation's history [WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckwo  more

WASHINGTON, May 15 -- Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, issued the following news release: * * * Duckworth, Senate Foreign Relations Democrats Statement on Trump's Middle East Trip May 15, 2025 [WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrats U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Chris Coons (D-DE), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and J  more

WASHINGTON, May 16 -- Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Illinois, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following news release on May 15, 2025: * * * Durbin Calls On Trump White House To Honor Blue Slip Rule For U.S. Attorneys During Senate Judiciary Committee Executive Business Meeting During his remarks, Durbin also questioned the legal status of Ms. Pirro's appointment to be Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia WASHINGTON - During today's Senate Judiciary Comm  more

WASHINGTON, May 16 -- Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Illinois, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following news release on May 15, 2025: * * * Durbin Delivers Opening Statement On Oversight Of The Justice Department During Senate Judiciary Committee Executive Business Meeting Durbin presses Grassley to convene a meeting with AG Bondi to discuss responding to the Committee's oversight requests and to schedule oversight hearings with AG Bondi and FBI Director Patel as soon  more

WASHINGTON, May 16 -- Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Illinois, issued the following news release: * * * Durbin Joins Health Care Leaders To Discuss Cost Of Prescription Drugs And Republican Cuts To Medicaid May 16, 2025 SPRINGFIELD -- U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined health leaders at Springfield Memorial Hospital to highlight efforts to address high prescription drug prices, and how health insurance coverage for nearly 14 million Americans is at risk because of Republ  more

WASHINGTON, May 15 -- Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Illinois, issued the following news release: * * * Durbin, Wyden, Senate Democrats Urge Social Security Administration To Reverse Decision To Maliciously & Illegally List Immigrants As "Dead" May 15, 2025 WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) today led a group of fourteen Senate Democrats in condemning and urging reversal of the Social Se  more

WASHINGTON, May 16 (TNSFR) -- The Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois, has announced its intent to repatriate a lot of sacred carved wood objects to a lineal descendant under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). This action follows a cultural affiliation determination based on traditional Native American knowledge and consultation with individuals connected to the items. The single lot of sacred objects consists of ceremonial items carved from wood. These were orig  more

WASHINGTON, May 16 -- Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Illinois, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following news release on May 15, 2025: * * * In Appropriations Hearing, Durbin Presses Secretary Duffy To Obligate Promised DOT Funding For Illinois Infrastructed Projects In today's Appropriations Committee hearing on the U.S. Department of Transportation's budget, Durbin asked Secretary Duffy to move the Chicago Hub Improvement Project forward and work with him on improvin  more

WASHINGTON, May 15 -- Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Illinois, issued the following news release: * * * In Appropriations Hearing, Durbin Presses Secretary Duffy To Obligate Promised DOT Funding For Illinois Infrastructure Projects May 15, 2025 In today's Appropriations Committee hearing on the U.S. Department of Transportation's budget, Durbin asked Secretary Duffy to move the Chicago Hub Improvement Project forward and work with him on improving transparency in frequent flyer programs WASHIN  more

WASHINGTON, May 16 -- Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, ranking member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, issued the following news release: * * * Klobuchar, Thune Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Connect Farmers with Most Effective Conservation Practices WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) reintroduced their bipartisan legislation to s  more

WASHINGTON, May 16 -- Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire, ranking member of the Joint Economic Committee, issued the following news release on May 15, 2025: * * * NEW: State-by-State Data on Health Insurance Losses from Medicaid, ACA Cuts WASHINGTON - The Joint Economic Committee - Minority calculated new state-by-state data on the number of people who would lose health insurance due to President Trump and Congressional Republicans' proposed cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. The   more

WASHINGTON, May 17 -- The White House issued the following news on May 16, 2025: * * * President Donald Trump Names Advisory Board Members to the Religious Liberty Commission Today, President Donald Trump has designated the following individuals to serve on the advisory boards of the Religious Liberty Commission. On May 1st, the President signed an Executive Order establishing the Religious Liberty Commission. He designated Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick as chair and Dr. Ben Carson as vice chair,  more

WASHINGTON, May 16 -- The U.S. Senate conducted eight committee hearings on May 15, 2025: * * * APPROPRIATIONS: DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2026 for the Department of Transportation, after receiving testimony from Sean P. Duffy, Secretary of Transportation. * * * DOD AND FOREIGN MILITARY SALES SYSTEM Commi  more