The White House released a state-by-state report Sunday that shows how sequestration, or looming automatic cuts to the federal budget, would affect Connecticut. The report says the $85 billion reduction to the federal budget, half of that cut to the Pentagon, would mean a reduction of $8.7 million in federal aid to Connecticut’s schools and […]

Just four days after the tragic shootings in Newtown, Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, wrote the Republican chairman and highest-ranking Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee, asking them to make gun safety a priority. The leaders of the committee agreed, scheduling a hearing on school safety next Wednesday. “After tragic shootings on school […]

Washington — When Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy joined a number of fellow Democrats meeting with President Obama and Vice President Biden Friday, the main topic of conversation were looming cuts to the federal budget known as “sequestration.” “I’m very concerned about the effects of sequestration on our defense industry,” Malloy said after spending more than […]

Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District, has won a seat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which has authority over the budgets for the CIA and 16 other U.S. intelligence agencies and investigates problems at those agencies. “I am excited and proud to have been appointed to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence at […]

Although he’s a freshman senator, Chris Murphy, D-Conn., has been given the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in charge of European affairs. That means Murphy can hold hearings on anything that concerns U.S. allies in Europe. He replaces Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who headed the panel in the last Congress. “The United States […]

The White House today announced that Kaitlin Roig of Greenwich, a first-grade teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School, will be among the two dozen guests of First Lady Michelle Obama during tonight’s State of the Union Address. The release describing the guest list is below: Sergeant Sheena Adams (Vista, CA) Team Advisor & Lead Instructor, Female […]

Washington — Dozens of gun-violence victims and the families of those slain by guns are in the Capitol Tuesday to hear President Obama’s State of the Union speech and to lobby lawmakers. At an afternoon press conference those victims, who included Lynn and Chris McDonnell, parents of slain Sandy Hook Elementary student Grace McDonnell, beseeched members […]

Connecticut’s senators, Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, have joined a growing group of Democratic lawmakers who have invited Newtown residents and others affected by gun violence to President Obama’s State of the Union Address. Blumenthal said he’s bringing Newtown Selectwoman Patricia Llodra to Tuesday night’s speech. Murphy plans to invite detectives Daniel McAnaspie and Jason […]

The first outlay of Hurricane Sandy recovery money has been distributed, and Connecticut has received a fraction, about $72 million, of the $3.2 billion Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said he needs. The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Wednesday it would distribute one-third of the $16 billion appropriated by the Sandy recovery bill for […]

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., in office for a little over two years, has been given the chairmanship of a new Judiciary Committee panel apparently created just for him. Blumenthal will chair the Subcommittee on Oversight, Federal Rights and Agency Action, says Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. The new panel is authorized to investigate possible […]

During a long, tough confirmation hearing, Secretary of Defense nominee Chuck Hagel deftly avoided being pinned down on the number of new submarines he thinks the Navy needs, despite prodding by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. At Thursday’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Blumenthal asked Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska, if he supported the […]

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., introduced a bill Tuesday that would require purchasers of ammunition to undergo a background check. Blumenthal argued that his “common-sense proposal” would simply enforce existing laws that forbid felons, drug addicts, those accused of domestic abuse, the seriously mentally ill and others from buying guns. “Right now, (someone on that list) […]

U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, who represents Newtown in Congress, was part of delegation of Democrats who met with the National Rifle Association on Tuesday. Esty and other members of a new Democratic task force on gun violence met with NRA executive director and chief lobbyist Chris Cox in an effort to find common ground, said […]