Plane or airplane fighting a wildfire

Climate funds in infrastructure bill aimed at drought, wildfires, floods

(Missouri Independent) – The recently passed bipartisan infrastructure bill isn’t just about roads and bridges — it also spends billions to address wildfire, drought, flooding, and other effects from climate change, Interior Department officials said Wednesday. The $1.2 trillion measure, which is awaiting President Joe Biden’s signature after the House cleared it last week, includes pay […]

Vaccine Mandate News Graphic

Missouri among first states to file suit challenging CMS vaccine mandate

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson led a coalition of 10 states in challenging the vaccine mandate propagated by the Biden Administration’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on healthcare workers across the nation, becoming the first states to file a lawsuit challenging this mandate. Attorney General Eric Schmitt […]

Cargo or container ship docked for unloading

White House says “Easing of supply chain problems to start with backed-up seaports”

(Missouri Independent) – The first seaport to improve its facilities following passage of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill could be in Savannah, Ga., a senior Biden administration official said Tuesday. President Joe Biden has yet to sign the measure, which Congress sent to Biden’s desk late last week, funding improvements in highways, transit, ports, waterways, airports, […]

Cattle or Cows Behind a Fence in a Field

Agriculture Secretary: Biden Administration ‘protecting animal agriculture’ with methane reduction plans

(Missouri Independent) – Reducing the number of livestock will not be a priority for the Biden administration as it seeks to drastically cut methane emissions to stem climate change, according to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. Instead, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “climate-smart” initiatives will focus on new types of animal feed and manure […]

Lead Hazard News Graphic

New funds and strategy may boost “massive task” of reducing lead exposure for Missouri kids

(Missouri Independent) – It’s clear that lead exposure is a problem for Missouri’s children. An estimated 4.5% have elevated levels of lead in their blood, more than almost any other state in the country. What’s far more difficult is figuring out where children are getting exposed to lead, said Carlton Waterhouse, President Joe Biden’s pick for […]

USDA Logo

USDA awards funds to 13 organizations to create livable communities attracting people and jobs

U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary for Rural Development Xochitl Torres Small announced that USDA is awarding $3 million in cooperative agreements to 13 organizations. These organizations will provide technical assistance to people living in rural and Tribal communities so they can apply for and access government resources for projects that will attract jobs and […]

Missouri Attorney General Seal and Gavel

Missouri Attorney General files motion for preliminary injunction in border wall lawsuit

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and the Texas Attorney General’s Office filed a motion for preliminary injunction in their lawsuit against the Biden Administration for refusing to continue construction on the Southwest border wall. Missouri and Texas filed suit in late October to require the Biden Administration to continue construction on the border wall using […]

A gavel and a name plate with the engraving Lawsuit

Missouri Attorney General announces he will sue to halt latest Biden Administration vaccine mandate

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that he will sue to halt the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate on private employers first thing on Friday morning when OSHA’s ETS is officially published in the federal register. “The federal government does not have the authority to unilaterally force private employers to mandate their employees get vaccinated or […]

Immigration

Coalition of lawmakers rebuke biden plan to pay illegal immigrants with taxpayer dollars

U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Kennedy (R-La.), and the nine other Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans wrote to President Joe Biden to oppose his administration’s reported plan to offer illegal immigrants up to $450,000 per person in taxpayer dollars to settle lawsuits resulting from those individuals’ violating U.S. immigration law. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), […]

Governor Parson signs a bill into law at his desk

Governor Parson issues Executive Order 21-10 fighting federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates

Governor Mike Parson announced that he has issued Executive Order 21-10 to protect the individual rights of Missourians against overreaching federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates.  Governor Parson released the following statement regarding the Order: “As the Governor of the State of Missouri, I stand with concerned Missourians and will do all I can to stop federal […]

(Official portrait of President Joe Biden in the White House (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

Biden pitches new $1.75 trillion spending blueprint to Democrats that drops paid family leave

(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden is meeting with congressional Democrats on Capitol Hill Thursday morning to pitch lawmakers on a new slimmed-down framework for what would be included in a massive social reform package, according to senior administration officials. The $1.75 trillion blueprint that Biden is presenting to Democrats includes a universal pre-K program for 3-and-4 […]

A gavel and a name plate with the engraving Lawsuit

Missouri Attorney General announces he will file suit over federal contractor vaccine mandate

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced his intention to file suit to halt the vaccine mandate for federal contractors and federally contracted employees:   “My Office has been a national leader in pushing back on federal overreach and mask mandates, stopping power-hungry bureaucrats in their tracks. The Biden Administration is seeking to use the full […]

Abortion Graphic

Missouri Attorney General joins suit against Biden Administration to stop federal funding of abortions

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt yesterday joined a lawsuit brought by Ohio and ten other states against the Biden Administration, challenging a federal rule change that would allow taxpayer dollars to be used to encourage and support abortions. The lawsuit, filed yesterday in the U.S. Southern District of Ohio, seeks to reinstate rule changes made […]

MO AG trip to Texas Border - photo courtesy Missouri Attorney General’s Office

Campaign picked up costs of Missouri Attorney General’s trip to U.S.-Mexico border

(Missouri Independent) – After vehemently defending having the state pick up the tab for Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s trip to the U.S.-Mexico border last week, Schmitt’s office clarified over the weekend that the state only covered travel costs for a staff member. Chris Nuelle, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office, said Schmitt’s U.S. […]

Audio: Hawley pushing back against Biden’s vaccine mandates because of how religious exemptions are handled

Senator Josh Hawley is pushing against President Biden’s vaccine mandates – because of how they handle religious exemptions. The guidance also allows agencies to determine if “the nature of the employee’s job may be such that no safety protocol other than vaccination is adequate.”  Hawley says there must be more of a process, even a […]