In The News

Northwest Montana counties will soon receive more than $8.5 million in payments from the U.S. Forest Service, thanks to reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools program. Mineral County received nearly $1 million in funding. Under this program, created by Congress in 2000, the Forest Service compensates county governments with forested federal land for revenue lost due to dropping timber production. These funds are intended for schools and other critical services, like roads and law enforcement. It expired in September 2015, but was reauthorized in the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill lawmakers passed in March. On Monday, the Forest Service released

Sen. Steve Daines on Wednesday continued his push to keep Congress in session through the August recess, saying it was needed to fix the budgeting process and unplug the backlog of presidential nominees. It was not, Daines said, a gimmick to prevent Sen. Jon Tester and other Democrats from campaigning in their bid for reelection. “It’s hard to find a good argument around why we should be recessing Congress when there’s so much work to be done,” said Daines, R-Montana. “I don’t think Congress has any business taking a recess when the people’s business remains unfinished.” Daines, who joined a handful of

  Washington, DC – -(Ammoland.com)- The Trump state department is making headway to transfer authority from the State Department to the Commerce Department over the approval of U.S. small arms exports. All in an effort to open U.S. firearms manufacturing to international customers. Currently, U.S. firearms and ammunition manufacturers faced a competitive disadvantage in the global marketplace due to inefficient Cold War-era export controls and held over Obama administration era directives. As many of our industry readers will confirm the current red tape burden under the State Department has prevented many opportunities for American firearm manufacturers to compete overseas. The logical step,

Senators challenge Dems to stop delaying tactics or give up August recess   Sixteen Republican senators, led by Sen. David Perdue (Ga.), are giving their GOP leaders more leverage to cancel the August recess and force senators to work weekends if a long list of presidential nominations remain stalled and spending bills unpassed by the end of July. The senators signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) urging him to confront Democrats’ historic delaying tactics, starting by keeping the Senate in session on Mondays, Fridays, and through weekends. “We offered our support for anything that leadership

Launched last week and spearheaded by Senator Perdue, who led a similar effort last year, the campaign calls for lawmakers to expedite floor proceedings ahead of Congress’s traditional August recess, including a spending bill and President Donald Trump’s 271 outstanding nominees. The group has even asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to cancel August recess altogether. “President Trump talked about making America great again. He’s doing that,” said Daines. “He also talked about draining the swamp,” Daines said. “It is time to drain the swamp, and we help do that by keeping the pumps running in August.” “We need to take

U.S. Senators David Perdue (R-GA), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Dean Heller (R-NV), Ron Johnson (R-WI), John Kennedy (R-LA), James Lankford (R-OK), Mike Lee (R-UT), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Roger Wicker (R-MS) are asking Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to expedite floor consideration of funding bills and nominees in order to make substantial progress before the end of the fiscal year, September 30. This group of Senators will hold a press conference Tuesday at 10:00 am EST to express their willingness to

Sen. Steve Daines joined several Republican colleagues in urging Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to waive the August recess so Congress can address the backlog of presidential nominees and fund the federal government before the next fiscal crisis. “When you’re in business, when you have a private operation, budgets are locked down two months before a fiscal year begins,” Daines said during a Tuesday morning press conference. “Contrast that to Washington, D.C. We were six months into the fiscal year before Congress finally passed a spending bill. That’s unacceptable.” For much of the past year, Congress has struggled to meet deadlines for government

WASHINGTON D.C. – Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines is reaching across the aisle to Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts to introduce a bill to address gambling addiction among service members. The Gambling Addiction Prevention act would require the Department of Defense to begin tracking gambling disorder in its health assessments. The DOD would also develop policies and programs to prevent and treat gambling problems among service members. According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, an estimated 56,000 active duty service members may meet the criteria for gambling disorder.  “Countless service members and veterans suffer from gambling addiction,” stated Daines. “Under this bipartisan bill, these men

Senator Steve Daines just announced Congressman Greg Gianforte will speak at the 2018 Montana Energy Summit. “I appreciate Steve asking me to participate in this important energy summit. Montana has been a leader in making America more energy independent and secure. I look forward to discussing how we can continue to unleash Montana energy, responsibly develop our natural resources, and create good-paying Montana jobs,” said Gianforte.   “I’m looking forward to welcoming Greg to Billings for the 2018 Montana Energy Summit,” said Daines. “Greg is a great advocate for Montana energy in the U.S. House and I look forward to