In The News

HELENA- Montana’s senators have released statements following the senate’s vote to advance Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett toward final confirmation. Senator Jon Tester released the following statement on the procedural vote to begin debate on the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett: “Montanans are already voting in this election, and I believe it is deeply irresponsible to ram a partisan nomination through in the final days before polls close—a precedent my Republican colleagues established four years ago and are breaking now. With health coverage for 120 million Americans with pre-existing conditions soon to be decided by the Court, I cannot support

U.S. Senator Steve Daines is urging the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to conduct an assessment of Montana’s COVID-19 situation and asking for additional federal assistance to help mitigate the impacts of the pandemic. “Montana is currently experiencing a regional surge of COVID-19 cases. Nationally, we have the third highest rate of new cases and the second highest rate of test positivity. Last week, an average of 84% of hospitals in Montana reported either new confirmed or new suspected COVID-19 patients each day,” Daines wrote. “As Montana is experiencing a record number of positive COVID-19 cases and our hospitals across

BILLINGS – U.S. Senator Steve Daines on Friday urged Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield to deploy medical personnel in Yellowstone County to provide contact tracing assistance as the county sees a dramatic spike in COVID-19 cases, according to a press release. Since the beginning of the pandemic in March, Yellowstone County has been one of the hardest hit counties in Montana, reporting the most cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the state due to COVID-19, the press release states. Yellowstone County makes up 22% of all reported positive cases of COVID-19 in Montana as of Oct. 16.

Montana Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) says tech giants like Twitter and Facebook need to be investigated after suppressing the Trump campaign’s communications on social media platforms. Daines had this to say via Twitter earlier this week: In Montana, the law applies to everyone, no matter who you are. Twitter and Facebook suppressing @realDonaldTrump’s campaign accounts and news should be held under the same scrutiny as any other potential election interference. @senjudiciary must investigate these allegations. Twitter has also been under fire for suppressing a New York Post story containing damaging news about Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

U.S. senators on Wednesday questioned the chief of Amtrak about job cuts and service reductions on the carrier’s long-distance passenger train routes, including the Empire Builder line that serves a dozen mostly rural communities in northern Montana. William Flynn, who became Amtrak’s president and CEO in April, testified that ridership remains down about 80% due to the coronavirus pandemic. That, he said, forced Amtrak to reduce service on most of its long-distance trains to just three days a week. Those reductions started Monday. Flynn sought to assure senators the cuts are intended to be temporary. “In addition, until our ridership

With Democrats in boycott, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimous confirmed Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on Thursday, moving the high court one step closer to a 6-3 conservative majority. Sen. Steve Daines, who has expressed support for Barrett’s confirmation, praised the 12-0 committee vote. “Judge Amy Coney Barrett is one step closer to becoming Justice Amy Coney Barrett,” Daines said in a statement after the vote. “Judge Barrett has a brilliant legal mind and she will uphold our constitutional rights, including the Second Amendment, and won’t legislate from the bench.” Democrats boycotted Thursday’s vote, calling it a

Attorney General Tim Fox on Tuesday joined Montana to a lawsuit with 10 other states and the Department of Justice accusing Google of using its dominance over online search engines to quash innovation and competition. In a separate move, Sen. Steve Daines on Tuesday also urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate a handful of social media companies, including Twitter and Facebook, accused of limiting or removing political content harmful to Republicans and favorable to Democrats. The suit filed by the 11 Attorneys General – all Republicans – and the Justice Department suggest that Google has used exclusionary agreements to

HELENA- Senator Steve Daines says he is going to introduce a Senate resolution condemning increasing the number of Supreme Court Justices on the bench, which is also known as court packing. “Packing the Supreme Court is a power grab by the Democrats and an attack on our Montana way of life, from protecting the Second Amendment to Montana energy jobs,” Daines said. “This goes against a 150 year precedent and would make the Court an extension of the legislative branch, which is what our Founding Fathers feared when they created the separation of powers.” In a release, Daines cites the

A business leader from the Hi-Line joined Montana’s two senators on Wednesday in urging a top Amtrak official to reconsider temporary reductions made to daily rail service in the Treasure State, saying it is a critical lifeline for rural residents. And they got some help from a “neighbor,” a senator from Washington who argued that daily train service is a big benefit to help people enjoy Montana’s Glacier National Park. Amtrak’s Empire Builder makes its way through Montana.But Amtrak President William J. Flynn told the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, that the current ridership rates, which took a