As Trump and Comey Share Conflicting Accounts, Republicans Hesitate to Pick a Side
President Donald Trump outright denied former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee in a press conference Friday afternoon, forcing a question many GOP lawmakers don’t want to answer: do they trust Trump or Comey? “No, I didn’t say that, and I didn’t say the other,” Trump defiantly told reporters Friday afternoon. When asked if he would dispute Comey’s claims under oath, Trump answered, “100 percent.” During the hearing, Comey repeated his allegations that Trump asked him for his loyalty and later asked him to let former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn off the hook under oath. Directly
VA bill earns unanimous Senate passage
Unanimous huckleberries to U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, to celebrate this week’s unanimous Senate passage of the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act. Tester, a member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, was a lead sponsor of the legislation to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs’ process for reviewing complaints about VA employees. The bill is meant to allow the VA more freedom to fire those who perform poorly, while also providing for more protection for those who call attention to problems and better training for VA leadership. In these increasingly partisan times, it’s encouraging to see bipartisan agreement on anything. U.S. Sen.
VA bill earns unanimous Senate passage
Unanimous huckleberries to U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, to celebrate this week’s unanimous Senate passage of the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act. Tester, a member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, was a lead sponsor of the legislation to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs’ process for reviewing complaints about VA employees. The bill is meant to allow the VA more freedom to fire those who perform poorly, while also providing for more protection for those who call attention to problems and better training for VA leadership. In these increasingly partisan times, it’s encouraging to see bipartisan agreement on anything. U.S. Sen.
Montana Mining Tragedy Remembered 100 Years Later
Nine blows of the original Granite Mountain whistle sounded Thursday night to break a moment of silence for the lives lost in the 1917 fire at the Granite Mountain and Speculator mines. Nine whistles meant that an uncontrollable fire was burning in the mine. Some in the crowd at the memorial site wore T-shirts commemorating the anniversary of the Granite Mountain-Speculator Mine fire of June 8, 1917, which remains the worst disaster in hard-rock mining history 100 years later. Hard-rock miners Larry Hoffman and Matt Krattiger wore helmets with carbide lamps, their open flames jumping and flickering in the breeze.
Senators, governor remember Granite Mountain-Speculator disaster
Montana’s U.S. senators both honored the victims and survivors of the Granite Mountain-Speculator mine disaster with statements on the Senate floor and in the Congressional Record. On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Steve Daines read a Senate proclamation “meant to recognize the strength of those Montanans who sacrificed their lives in support our nation’s military work in World War I, as well as those who jumped to help a fallen brother without question.” He added, “One hundred years after this tragedy, we are also reminded of how far we have come in hard rock mining. Jobs that were once seen as high
From MT to DC, Forest Service budget plan draws fire
The U.S. Forest Service’s proposed 2018 budget presents its public and private observers with lots of rebuilding work to do. On Wednesday, Montana’s Democratic and Republican senators both challenged Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell to replace or re-energize programs slashed in President Donald Trump’s preliminary budget plan. And more locally, Forest Service partners have started bracing for dramatic losses of funding. “This budget is a wreck,” Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana told Tidwell during a hearing before the Senate Interior Appropriations Committee. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, pressed Tidwell for stronger efforts to get national forest timber into local sawmills and maintain
Senator Daines Rails Against Sexual Harassment in Yellowstone
U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) railed against bullying and sexual harassment in the National Park system—specifically in Yellowstone National Park. Earlier this year, investigators from the U.S. Department of the Interior released a report alleging “credible evidence” of sexual harassment in the Yellowstone workforce, especially in the maintenance division. The report came after allegations surfaced across the National Park system. Yellowstone Superintendent Dan Wenk has promised broad changes to how the park handles harassment, acknowledging that problems are “not limited to one unit of Yellowstone National Park.” According to the Billings Gazette, Daines voiced his comments during a subcommittee hearing about workplace problems in the National Park Service. “As a son, husband and father of
Daines Takes on Sexual Assault in National Parks
U.S. SENATE —U.S. Senator Steve Daines today chaired his first U.S. Committee on Energy and Natural Resources’ Subcommittee on National Parks hearing. The topic was improving the workplace in National Parks as it relates to sexual harassment. Daines’ hearing follows a report by the U.S. Department of Interior’s inspector general outlining, “unwelcome conduct toward female workers in Yellowstone National Park.” During Daines’ opening statement, he spoke about the need for accountability to ensure that steps are being taken to combat a hostile work environment. “But marring the successes of the Centennial that same year was the growing number of Park
Forest Chief Endorses Daines’ Bill to Provide Litigation Relief
U.S. SENATE —U.S. Senator Steve Daines today pressed the U.S. Forest Service Chief, Tom Tidwell, on forest management reforms to create much needed revenues for Montana counties. During a U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies hearing, Daines questioned Tidwell on reversing the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Cottonwood Environmental Law Center v. U.S. Forest Service that negatively impacts forest health, recreation, watershed and habitat protection. “We can’t get logs to the mills – it’s a sad, sad state of affairs and it is because of these extreme environmental groups