Category: News Article

Little Shell celebration packs the house

Hundreds of members of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana gathered Saturday to celebrate recent federal recognition, lining up outside the Holiday Inn and filling the banquet room until it nearly burst at the seams. “Tonight we commemorate an effort that no tribe should have to go through,” Tribal Chair Gerald Gray said, adding it is a “nation we can all be proud of.” The celebration came about one month after President Donald Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act, which contained an amendment giving the Little Shell Tribe the federal recognition it had long coveted. “Waiting

The FISA court has taken steps to correct the Carter Page abuses. But more reform is needed.

THE SHOCK waves continue to reverberate from Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s Dec. 9 report on major flaws in the federal government’s secret surveillance of former Trump campaign official Carter Page. Mr. Horowitz found that FBI officials repeatedly misled or misinformed judges of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) to obtain its permission for the surveillance of Mr. Page. Now the FISC has revealed that the Justice Department itself has acknowledged it had no legitimate legal basis for at least the last two of four surveillance warrants it obtained against Mr. Page in 2016 and 2017. That admission came in a previously classified letter

Daines criticizes impeachment trial, says case ‘incomplete’

Sen. Steve Daines on Wednesday criticized the impeachment proceedings now under in the Senate against fellow Republican President Donald Trump, saying it was the most partisan impeachment proceeding in the country’s history. “It reminded me of when I went to high school in Bozeman, Montana. If I turned in a term paper and it was half complete, my teacher would toss it back to me and say ‘You didn’t get it done, it’s incomplete,’” the Montana Republican said during remarks shown on CSPAN2. “That is what I felt like what we saw last night was an incomplete case, they have not

Daines – Tester Release Statements as Impeachment Trial Begins

Montana Senator Steve Daines released the following comment after the first day of the ongoing impeachment process. “I voted to ensure we have a fair impeachment trial of President Trump in the U.S. Senate, one that respects due process, allows arguments from both sides, and gives President Trump the opportunity to defend himself.” Danies’ office said the McConnell Resolution, which passed the U.S. Senate (and is the guideline the Senate will follow moving forward), gives both the House Managers and the President’s team equal opportunities to present their case. Senior Senator Jon Tester tweeted this comment at the start of the trial

Daines at Supreme Court to support plaintiffs in case against state

Sen. Steve Daines said he went to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to support plaintiffs in the Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue case, in which the state is being sued by parents over a prohibition from using public funds for religious schools. “I am standing in front of the United States Supreme Court about ready to go inside to hear oral arguments about a case very relevant to the state of Montana,” Daines said in a video his office posted. “This is the Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue case. This is about the fact that Montana parents

Montana school-aid case sparks national battle before U.S. Supreme Court

HELENA — A Montana case that’s become a politically charged battle over public aid to church-affiliated schools is before the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday, as school-choice advocates ask the court to strike down Montana’s constitutional ban on the aid. The case pits a trio of Kalispell parents whose children go to Stillwater Christian School against Montana and its constitution – but the decision clearly has national ramifications. More than 50 groups and individuals have filed “friend of the court” briefs, advocating for one side or the other. Two-thirds of those briefs are from supporters of private religious schools or “school

NAFTA replacement passes Senate, on the way to President Trump

A signature effort for President Donald Trump passed Congress Thursday, with the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement intended to take the place of the 1990s North American Free Trade Agreement passing the Senate 89-10. Montana Farm Bureau praised the agreement’s passage. “Montana Farm Bureau has long been pushing for this agreement which will greatly benefit our state’s farmers and ranchers,” MFBF President Hans McPherson said in a press release. “Farm Bureau thanks Sen. Jon Tester, Sen. Steve Daines and Congressman Greg Gianforte for voting to ratify the agreement.” The release said USMCA is expected to result in a $65 billion increase in gross

Montana agriculture groups see gains in China trade pact

Montana agriculture groups saw benefits in the first-stage U.S.-China trade pact announced Wednesday by President Donald Trump. Farm groups hoped for the return of progress on normalizing trade relations with China, which hasn’t been a major buyer of Montana wheat or beef, but had always been valued as potentially at top market for both. In the lead-up to the now-18-month-old trade war between the U.S. and China, Montanans appeared to be making inroads to sales in China. “We see this as a real positive movement for the beef industry,” said Jay Bodnar, of the Montana Stockgrowers Association. The trade pact

GOP Senators Launch Bill to Block Tax Deductions for Abortion as Medical Expense

Sens. David Perdue (R-GA) and Mike Lee (R-UT) have introduced a bill that would end the IRS’s allowance of abortion as “medical care” and block the procedure’s tax deductibility as an out-of-pocket medical expense. “The government should not offer tax benefits for a procedure that kills hundreds of thousands of unborn children each year, nor should taxpayers subsidize such a practice,” said Lee in a statement to Breitbart News. He continued: This undermines the truth that all human beings have dignity and worth, and that the purpose of healthcare is to heal and care for them – not kill them. Our

Committed to working for Montana

As your U.S. senator, it’s been my top priority to bring Montana commonsense to Congress, and in spite of the partisan politics that exist in Washington D.C., I’ve been working across the aisle this past year to get results for Montanans. We recently secured the largest pay raise in nearly a decade for our troops, strengthened our southern border to protect our communities from illegal drugs, empowered law enforcement to combat Montana’s growing meth crisis, protected the mission at Malmstrom, and finally federally recognized the Little Shell tribe. We led the fight for our Blue Water Veterans and saw my