The House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection is asking Ivanka Trump, daughter of former President Donald Trump, to voluntarily cooperate with its probe.

The committee sent a letter Thursday requesting a meeting with Ivanka Trump, who served as an adviser to her father, in early February. In the letter, committee chairman Bennie Thompson says she was in direct contact with her father during key moments of Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an effort to halt certification of Joe Biden’s presidential win.

The committee says it wants to discuss what Ivanka Trump knew about her father’s efforts to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject the 2020 election results — including a telephone call they say she witnessed — as well as concerns that she may have heard from Pence’s staff, members of Congress and the White House counsel’s office about those plans.

The panel cited testimony that Ivanka Trump implored her father to quell the violence by his supporters and said it wants to ask about her actions while the insurrection was underway.

Over the furious dissent of three liberal justices, the Supreme Court on Thursday rejected another attempt by abortion providers to block Texas’ six-week abortion ban.

The court’s order is the latest setback for providers who are trying to revive challenges to the law five months after it was allowed to go into effect, bringing a halt to most abortions in the country’s second-largest state.

The three liberal justices wrote a scathing dissent.

“This case is a disaster for the rule of law and a grave disservice to women in Texas, who have a right to control their own bodies,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan. “I will not stand by silently as a State continues to nullify this constitutional guarantee.”

Last month, the Supreme Court allowed the controversial law to remain in effect but it cleared limited path forward for the providers to sue a handful of licensing officials in Texas in order to block them from enforcing the law. The court’s ruling was a devastating blow to supporters of abortion rights who had hoped the justices would block the law outright. Instead, the case was returned to the conservative 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals.

A bipartisan effort in the Senate is underway to overhaul a 19th century law that has come under scrutiny in the wake of last year’s January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

Congressional Democrats and President Joe Biden have been pushing for the passage of more sweeping election overhaul and voting rights legislation, but have repeatedly hit a wall in the Senate amid Republican opposition. On Wednesday, Democrats tried and failed to change Senate rules in their latest effort to pass a voting rights bill. In the aftermath of that defeat, bipartisan talks focused on the Electoral Count Act — a law dating back to 1887 that details how Congress counts Electoral College votes from each state — are now gaining momentum.

Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah both confirmed that a bipartisan group of lawmakers will have a series of video meetings starting in the next several days to see if they could agree on a deal soon. It’s still too early, Collins warned, to know if a deal might be ready to vote on when they return from next week’s recess. “We don’t know how long it is going to take,” she said.

Collins said there were six Democrats working with the group of Republicans and that they have already talked to election officials, professors and other voting experts to try and clarify the Electoral Count Act.

The House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection is asking Ivanka Trump, daughter of former President Donald Trump, to voluntarily cooperate with its probe.

The committee sent a letter Thursday requesting a meeting with Ivanka Trump, who served as an adviser to her father, in early February. In the letter, committee chairman Bennie Thompson says she was in direct contact with her father during key moments of Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an effort to halt certification of Joe Biden’s presidential win.

The committee says it wants to discuss what Ivanka Trump knew about her father’s efforts to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject the 2020 election results — including a telephone call they say she witnessed — as well as concerns that she may have heard from Pence’s staff, members of Congress and the White House counsel’s office about those plans.

The panel cited testimony that Ivanka Trump implored her father to quell the violence by his supporters and said it wants to ask about her actions while the insurrection was underway.

Over the furious dissent of three liberal justices, the Supreme Court on Thursday rejected another attempt by abortion providers to block Texas’ six-week abortion ban.

The court’s order is the latest setback for providers who are trying to revive challenges to the law five months after it was allowed to go into effect, bringing a halt to most abortions in the country’s second-largest state.

The three liberal justices wrote a scathing dissent.

“This case is a disaster for the rule of law and a grave disservice to women in Texas, who have a right to control their own bodies,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan. “I will not stand by silently as a State continues to nullify this constitutional guarantee.”

Last month, the Supreme Court allowed the controversial law to remain in effect but it cleared limited path forward for the providers to sue a handful of licensing officials in Texas in order to block them from enforcing the law. The court’s ruling was a devastating blow to supporters of abortion rights who had hoped the justices would block the law outright. Instead, the case was returned to the conservative 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals.

A bipartisan effort in the Senate is underway to overhaul a 19th century law that has come under scrutiny in the wake of last year’s January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

Congressional Democrats and President Joe Biden have been pushing for the passage of more sweeping election overhaul and voting rights legislation, but have repeatedly hit a wall in the Senate amid Republican opposition. On Wednesday, Democrats tried and failed to change Senate rules in their latest effort to pass a voting rights bill. In the aftermath of that defeat, bipartisan talks focused on the Electoral Count Act — a law dating back to 1887 that details how Congress counts Electoral College votes from each state — are now gaining momentum.

Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah both confirmed that a bipartisan group of lawmakers will have a series of video meetings starting in the next several days to see if they could agree on a deal soon. It’s still too early, Collins warned, to know if a deal might be ready to vote on when they return from next week’s recess. “We don’t know how long it is going to take,” she said.

Collins said there were six Democrats working with the group of Republicans and that they have already talked to election officials, professors and other voting experts to try and clarify the Electoral Count Act.

The House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection is asking Ivanka Trump, daughter of former President Donald Trump, to voluntarily cooperate with its probe.

The committee sent a letter Thursday requesting a meeting with Ivanka Trump, who served as an adviser to her father, in early February. In the letter, committee chairman Bennie Thompson says she was in direct contact with her father during key moments of Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an effort to halt certification of Joe Biden’s presidential win.

The committee says it wants to discuss what Ivanka Trump knew about her father’s efforts to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject the 2020 election results — including a telephone call they say she witnessed — as well as concerns that she may have heard from Pence’s staff, members of Congress and the White House counsel’s office about those plans.

The panel cited testimony that Ivanka Trump implored her father to quell the violence by his supporters and said it wants to ask about her actions while the insurrection was underway.

Over the furious dissent of three liberal justices, the Supreme Court on Thursday rejected another attempt by abortion providers to block Texas’ six-week abortion ban.

The court’s order is the latest setback for providers who are trying to revive challenges to the law five months after it was allowed to go into effect, bringing a halt to most abortions in the country’s second-largest state.

The three liberal justices wrote a scathing dissent.

“This case is a disaster for the rule of law and a grave disservice to women in Texas, who have a right to control their own bodies,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan. “I will not stand by silently as a State continues to nullify this constitutional guarantee.”

Last month, the Supreme Court allowed the controversial law to remain in effect but it cleared limited path forward for the providers to sue a handful of licensing officials in Texas in order to block them from enforcing the law. The court’s ruling was a devastating blow to supporters of abortion rights who had hoped the justices would block the law outright. Instead, the case was returned to the conservative 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals.

A bipartisan effort in the Senate is underway to overhaul a 19th century law that has come under scrutiny in the wake of last year’s January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

Congressional Democrats and President Joe Biden have been pushing for the passage of more sweeping election overhaul and voting rights legislation, but have repeatedly hit a wall in the Senate amid Republican opposition. On Wednesday, Democrats tried and failed to change Senate rules in their latest effort to pass a voting rights bill. In the aftermath of that defeat, bipartisan talks focused on the Electoral Count Act — a law dating back to 1887 that details how Congress counts Electoral College votes from each state — are now gaining momentum.

Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah both confirmed that a bipartisan group of lawmakers will have a series of video meetings starting in the next several days to see if they could agree on a deal soon. It’s still too early, Collins warned, to know if a deal might be ready to vote on when they return from next week’s recess. “We don’t know how long it is going to take,” she said.

Collins said there were six Democrats working with the group of Republicans and that they have already talked to election officials, professors and other voting experts to try and clarify the Electoral Count Act.

The State Department told Congress that it has approved export licenses for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which will allow the countries to transfer US-origin weapons to Ukraine, according to an administration official, a State Department official and a congressional aide familiar with the matter.

This move comes as the Biden administration warns that Russia could invade Ukraine at any point, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the Kremlin has plans for sending more troops to the Ukrainian border.

The approvals — which occurred in recent days — are a signal that the US is looking to inflict a greater cost on Russian President Vladimir Putin if he goes forward with the invasion. President Joe Biden said Wednesday he expects Putin will “move in” to Ukraine.

The weapons include highly sought after, American anti-aircraft weapons systems from Latvia and Lithuania that would help Ukraine fend off Russian aircraft that some officials and experts believe would lead the way in the early stages of a Russian invasion. Estonia was given approval to transfer anti-tank Javelin guided missile systems, which the US has provided Ukraine with in the past.

President Joe Biden ends his first year in the White House with a clear majority of Americans for the first time disapproving of his handling of the presidency in the face of an unrelenting pandemic and roaring inflation, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

More Americans disapprove than approve of how Biden is handling his job as president, 56% to 43%. As of now, just 28% of Americans say they want Biden to run for reelection in 2024, including only 48% of Democrats.

Asked on Wednesday at a wide-ranging news conference about his flagging popularity, Biden responded, “I don’t believe the polls.”

It’s a stark reversal from early in Biden’s presidency.

In July, 59% of Americans said they approved of Biden’s job performance in an AP-NORC poll. His approval rating dipped to 50% by late September in the aftermath of the chaotic and bloody U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan and amid surging coronavirus infections and the administration’s fitful efforts to push economic, infrastructure and tax policies through Congress.

The Senate on Wednesday voted 48-52 against changing the chamber’s filibuster rules, dooming much of Democrats’ agenda for the near term.

Democrats were ultimately split on the rules vote, with two opposing the change and 48 in favor of it. Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) were the only Democrats who voted against the rules change, which would have made an exception to the 60-vote threshold many bills need to advance. No Republicans voted to support the reform.

Had it passed, the rules change would have enabled lawmakers to bring back a talking filibuster specifically for a voting rights bill that includes the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. This reform would have required senators to hold the floor and make speeches in order to maintain their opposition to the bill. It also would have allowed senators to pass the voting rights bill with a simple majority once debate on the measure had ended. For other legislation, filibuster rules would have stayed as is.

Because of Manchin and Sinema’s longstanding opposition to filibuster reforms, the outcome of the vote wasn’t surprising. It did reveal, however, just how much support filibuster reform has within the Democratic caucus and highlighted a stark shift in the party’s position on the issue. As the vote indicated, opposition to filibuster reform is now limited to Manchin and Sinema, two of its most vocal critics.