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House Republicans move closer to impeachment inquiry
CBSN
House Republicans are moving closer to opening an impeachment inquiry after the transcribed interviews and public testimony earlier this summer by two IRS whistleblowers regarding the government's handling of its investigation into President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden.
The whistleblower testimony about the probe was a "game changer" according to a senior GOP aide, who told CBS News that with what House Republicans believe is significant new evidence uncovered by GOP-led committee investigators, the "momentum is going toward opening an impeachment inquiry."
The aide said September would be a pivotal month, with the anticipated testimony of Attorney General Merrick Garland before the House Judiciary Committee. Garland is expected to be pressed by Republicans about apparent discrepancies in statements about the authority held by then-U.S. Attorney David Weiss to bring charges in the five-year investigation of Hunter Biden.
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More employees of the Environmental Protection Agency were informed Wednesday that their jobs appear in doubt. Senior leadership at the EPA held an all-staff meeting to tell individuals that President Trump's executive order, "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing," which was responsible for the closure of the agency's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office, will likely lead to the shuttering of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights as well.
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In her first hours as attorney general, Pam Bondi issued a broad slate of directives that included a Justice Department review of the prosecutions of President Trump, a reorientation of department work to focus on harsher punishments, actions punishing so-called "sanctuary" cities and an end to diversity initiatives at the department.
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The quick-fire volley of tariffs between the U.S. and China in recent days has heightened global fears of a new trade war between the world's two largest economies. Yet while experts think the battle is likely to escalate, they also say the early skirmishes offer hope for an agreement on trade and other key issues that could head off a larger conflict.