In The News

WASHINGTON — Four members of the House of Representatives introduced a resolution Wednesday urging Major League Baseball not to follow through with its proposal to eliminate 42 current minor league teams. MLB made the proposal last year to the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, the governing body of the minors, during negotiations for a Professional Baseball Agreement to replace the deal that expires after the 2020 season. MLB wants to cut short-season leagues and reduce the number of farm teams each big league club affiliates with. It has proposed replacing the eliminated minor league teams with a not yet

The president on Jan. 24 signed into law a bipartisan bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) in his chamber to increase penalties for pirate radio. “Honored to have gotten this important bipartisan bill signed into law on behalf of Montana local radio and rural broadcasters,” Sen. Daines said on Jan. 26. “Thankful to President Trump for taking action to stop illegal pirate radio operations and hold them accountable to the law.” Sen. Daines in April 2019 sponsored the Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement (PIRATE) Act, S. 1228, with U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), which is the identical

Shortly after President Donald Trump signed the Pirate Act into law, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai issued a statement thanking everyone in Washington that supported the new law. Pai said pirate radio is unlawful, period. “These transmissions can interfere with licensed radio signals — including broadcasters’ sharing of vital public safety information with their communities. To enforce the law and protect American radio listeners and lawful businesses, the FCC has made a concerted effort in recent years to step up our enforcement efforts against pirate radio stations. I’m very proud of this work, led by our Enforcement Bureau and its outstanding

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) on Jan. 23 said he plans to introduce bipartisan legislation to help protect the privacy of his home-state constituents and all Americans. “Montanans want their privacy protected,” Sen. Daines said. “That’s why I’m fighting to protect our civil liberties and stop the federal government from interfering in our lives.” Sen. Daines intends to introduce the Safeguarding Americans’ Private Records Act of 2020 with U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR). In the U.S. House, U.S. Reps. Warren Davidson (R-OH) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) introduced legislation, H.R. 5675, on Jan. 24 to reform Section 215 of the sweeping

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 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

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

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

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