Sen. Susan Collins joined every Senate Republican Tuesday night to confirm Jay Clayton as Director of National Intelligence, despite the nominee’s repeated refusal to say whether they believed President Joe Biden won the 2020 election. “I’m asking one more time: Who won the 2020 election?” asked Sen. Angus King during Clayton’s senate confirmation hearing before…
In the two days since an ICE officer shot and killed 26-year-old Colombian national Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford Monday morning, the federal government has offered a series of shifting and contradictory explanations, fueling demands that Maine authorities, not federal agencies, lead the investigation into his death. The first account came from Homeland Security…
In recent weeks, Congress passed a budget proposal seeking additional billions to fund federal immigration operations. Despite widespread public opposition to the inhuman actions of the Trump administration’s immigration agencies, Congress is moving forward with these budget plans that would further harm the stability and well-being of Maine’s families and immigrant communities. As the budget…
From Biddeford to Caribou, Mainers delivered bags of salt to the offices of U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King on Monday, symbolizing their message to “melt” funding and resources going to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The demonstrations, organized by Maine People’s Alliance (of which Beacon is a project), took place outside Senate…
Thousands of Mainers turned out across the state this past weekend for a series of “No Kings” rallies protesting Pres. Donald Trump’s dramatic expansion of his own presidential power, and the threats to democracy his administration’s actions represent. In Bangor, Rockland, Portland and other towns around Maine, participants filled parks, bridges, and downtown streets, chanting,…
Mainers woke up to a federal government shutdown Wednesday morning after Republicans refused to reinstate funding for Medicaid that was cut this summer and renew the expiring Affordable Care Act premium tax credits. Another vote Wednesday had the same results. This funding is vital for low- and moderate-income working families. Without the premium tax credits,…
The genocide in Gaza is one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent history. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed. Nearly the entire population has been displaced, food and clean water are scarce, and hospitals have collapsed. As U.S. allies like the United Kingdom, Canada, and France move to recognize Palestinian statehood, Maine’s…
Nearly one in four Mainers live in “childcare deserts,” and many families spend more on childcare than housing, underscoring the urgent need for a universal public childcare system. A new report from the Roosevelt Institute, Community Change, and the Economic Security Project argues that affordable, accessible care is essential infrastructure for the nation’s economy and…
In a party-line vote on Tuesday, the U.S. Senate approved the nomination of Anthony Tata as the Pentagon’s undersecretary for personnel and readiness. The vote was 52-46 with all Democrats and independent Sen. Angus King opposed to the appointment of the retired Army officer and Fox News commentator to the position. Sen. Susan Collins joined…
On Tuesday morning, hundreds of thousands of Mainers woke up to higher electricity bills. Central Maine Power’s rate hike, its second in as many years, was largely driven by the utility’s need to recover costs from severe storms in the last few years — the type of extreme weather events that are becoming more frequent and severe due to global…