As a 29-year-old Senate aide, King beat a dangerous form of skin cancer — malignant melanoma — that was discovered during a routine checkup he may never had found had he lacked insurance. That experience left him with an abiding belief in the importance of health insurance, a commitment that has made him a staunch […]
Congress
Sen. Susan Collins seeks to delay Obamacare’s repeal
Maine’s senior senator joined four Republican colleagues late Monday to hit the brakes on a bid to quickly repeal the Affordable Care Act. In her amendment to the budget reconciliation measure that includes a provision to repeal Obamacare, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins seeks to extend the bill’s timeline to allow GOP leaders to develop an […]
Intelligence chiefs testify before Congress
WASHINGTON (AP) — Coverage of the accusations that Russia meddled in America’s presidential election to help Donald Trump win. This report will be updated. (all times local): Updated 11:35 a.m.: The Director of National Intelligence says attempts to deter foreign hackers don’t work, despite President-elect Donald Trump’s plans for a buildup of defensive cyber capabilities. […]
U.S. House re-elects Rep. Paul Ryan as Speaker of the house
Ryan promises to be bold in a time of change Updated 2:30 p.m.: House Speaker Paul Ryan says his message to the American people is that “we hear you, we will do right by you and we will deliver.” Ryan was speaking in the House chamber after winning election Tuesday to serve his first full […]
Bruce Poliquin opposes GOP plan to restrict ethics office
Update: U.S. House Republicans drop plan to weaken its ethics office U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, Maine’s only House Republican, is opposing his party’s surprise vote Monday night to gut an independent ethics office. In a closed-door vote, Republicans endorsed moving the independent Office of Congressional Ethics — established in 2008 amid concerns that lawmakers on an […]
Republicans primed for push to dismantle Obama’s policies
WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of the 115th Congress will be sworn in at noon Tuesday, setting off an aggressive campaign by Republicans who control the House and Senate to dismantle eight years of President Barack Obama’s Democratic policies. The first and biggest target is Obama’s health care law, which Republicans have long sought to gut […]
Chellie Pingree leading push for more hops research to aid brewers
PORTLAND (AP) — Maine Rep. Chellie Pingree is helping lead a group of lawmakers in support of hops research. Hops are flowers of the hop plant, and they’re used to impart flavor and aroma to beer. More than 100 lawmakers are calling for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to increase its commitment to research of […]
Sen. Angus King: Russian hacking ‘an attack on democracy’
BRUNSWICK — As a member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Maine’s junior senator knows a lot he can’t talk about. But what U.S. Sen Angus King, I-Maine, could say Tuesday is that “the Russians were involved” in hacking Democratic Party computers and that they intended to influence the presidential election. “This is […]
Poliquin only Republican from New England in U.S. House
When the next Congress convenes in the nation’s capital in January, the only New England Republican among them will hail from Maine. The sole GOP holdout in the U.S. House among the region’s 21 members will be U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, whose northern Maine district re-elected him by a wide margin last week to a […]
Sen. Susan Collins lays out ‘new agenda for America’
LEWISTON — After a campaign that’s left the country bitter and divided, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins offered four “achievable goals” Thursday to help heal the wounds and get the country moving in the right direction. Calling it “a new agenda for America,” the four-term Republican said her proposal would draw support from Democrats as well […]