Category: Security

The Pentagon has confirmed that United States commandos deployed to Israel are helping locate over 200 Israeli and American hostages that were captured by Hamas terrorists during the brutal terrorist attacks conducted against Israel on Oct. 7.

According to The New York Times, Assistant Secretary of Defense Christopher P. Maier, the Pentagon’s top special operations policy official, told a special operations conference in Washington, D.C., “We’re actively helping the Israelis to do a number of things.”

Maier noted that the main task of U.S. Special Operations forces in Israel is to help the Israeli Defense Forces identify the hostages being held by Hamas, including the American hostages. “It’s really our responsibility to do so,” he said.

READ MORE: Pic: Biden admin doxxed U.S. special forces in Israel

While Maier did not reveal how many U.S. Special Operations forces are currently deployed in Israel, other U.S. officials told The New York Times that the Department of Defense has deployed several dozen U.S. commandos over the past several weeks. Additionally, a small team of U.S. Special Operations forces was already in Israel during the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks due to previously scheduled training.

The anonymous U.S. officials who spoke to The New York Times claimed that the U.S. commandos would contribute to the discussions between Israeli authorities and the FBI, State Department, and other hostage-recovery specialists.

Although U.S. Special Operations forces are not currently assigned to combatant roles in Israel, the U.S. commandos are advising Israeli leadership on what Maier described as “what is going to be a very complex fight going forward” in Gaza.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has emphasized the importance of Israeli forces considering how they will execute a ground invasion in Gaza, especially as Hamas terrorists utilize a vast network of tunnels, many of which are located near civilians.

Following a recent conversation with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder stated, “Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant today to discuss Israel’s operations in Gaza.”

Ryder added, “The Secretary underscored the importance of protecting civilians during the Israel Defense Forces’ operations and focusing on the urgency of humanitarian aid delivery for civilians in Gaza. He also raised his focus on the need for Hamas to release all of the hostages.”

A $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the person who broke into a Kansas City, Kansas, firearms dealer and stole several guns, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced.

The ATF, which is working with the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department to investigate the burglary, is offering the reward.

The ATF also released surveillance photos in the hope that someone would be able to identify the person responsible for the break-in at Frontier Justice in the Legends shopping center at 10000 France Family Drive in Kansas City, Kansas.

The person used a stolen black KIA Soul to ram through the front doors of the store shortly before midnight on Oct. 24, according to a news release from the ATF.

Nine firearms were reported stolen, police said earlier. The vehicle used in the break-in has since been found.

Investigators learned that the same person attempted to break into the nearby Bass Pro Shop earlier that same evening, but was unable to get inside, according to ATF.

Anyone with information about the theft should contact the ATF at 800-ATF-Guns (800-283-4867), at [email protected] or text ATFKC to 63975 and follow the prompts. They can also contact the ATF through its website at www.atf.gov/contact/atf-tips.

Tips can also be submitted using the Reportit app, available from both Google Play and the Apple App Store, or by visiting www.reportit.com.

People providing information can remain anonymous.

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© 2023 The Kansas City Star

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Actress and comedian Roseanne Barr, most famous for her role on the hit sitcom “Roseanne,” posted on X a photo of herself with former President Donald Trump on Friday.  

In a post expressing gratitude for well-wishes on her birthday, Barr shared her photo with the former president, along with a caption suggesting the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.

“Thank you for the birthday wishes! My present was getting to meet the twice elected President of the United States!” Barr posted on X.

Barr is one of numerous celebrities who have shown support for Trump, including NFL legend Brett Favre, actors Dean Cain, Jim Caviezel and Kevin Sorbo, and rock star Ted Nugent.

Actor Jon Voight, known for films like “Deliverance” and “National Treasure,” has also been an outspoken supporter of the former president.

In a video posted in August, Voight slammed the Biden administration as a “corrupt mob” and praised Trump as a “man who wants to save America.”

“What are we to do? What have we become but a nation of destructive behavior? This is now a war, a war against all of us. The Biden administration is a corrupt mob and the Obama administration fuels the cycle. Let me warn you all that this corrupt behavior against President Trump is the most disgusting scheme to try and keep him down. And this is a horror,” Voight said.

“This system now allows criminals to steal from department stores and all they say is to watch and not do anything. And this is ok, to sit and allow these monsters to destroy hard-working designers and retailers. My God. My fellow Americans, this is a civil war. And this is the time we must stand for truths. If we don’t see this, you, your children, grandchildren, sisters, brothers will all pay the price for this default,” he continued.

As the calendar turns away from Halloween and towards Veterans Day, the television program American Valor: A Salute to our Heroes is set to honor one local man who was part of the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir.

Retired Marine Sergeant Johnny M. Johnson is one of the surviving members of what is called the “Frozen Chosin.” Johnson’s story with the Marines begins in 1950 when he was deployed to fight in the Korean War. He was one of 8,000 First Division Marines, and one of the 30,000 American and U.N. Forces at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.

Outnumbered by tens of thousand more Chinese soldiers numbering over 100,000, the Marines, U.N. Forces along with other U.S. Army Infantry Regiments entrenched themselves in battle. The Chinese soldiers “poured over the hills like water,” he described in an interview with Cincy Magazine in April of 2017. While recalling the battle with the Richmond Register, Johnson said “they were coming over the hill in droves.”

Throughout the battle, Johnson said that U.S. Naval and Air Force pilots would come over the battlefield and shoot .50 calibers, rockets and drop napalm bombs, which Johnson’s platoon helped create throughout the war.

In the Cincy Magazine piece, it says Marines dug shallow foxholes so they were able to return fire during the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir, these foxholes were reinforced by enemy soldiers who had been killed during the battle.

Sgt. Johnson says a lot of the roads that the battle was fought were dirt roads. At the time, that’s how all roads outside of Seoul were. There was a vantage point around Chosin Reservoir where you can see all the way down to the Yalu River which is the Border of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) and China, that was only about 60 miles away but could be seen from this area.

Sgt. Johnson describes the day they found out that the Chinese had them surrounded.

“He (the Major) called all the sergeants into his (tent) and told them, ‘I want you to go out and tell all of your men that we’re all going to die today, there ain’t no way in the world we can get through 120,000 Chinese,’” Sgt. Johnson recalled.

He continued to recall that conversation with the major, saying that they were instructed to shoot as long as they could breathe as the opposing forces had orders to take no prisoners.

Troops had to travel through multiple small towns on dirt roads, cross a bridge that’s blown out, among several other obstacles including Toktong Pass.

Toktong Pass is the first of the major passes through the mountains in this retreat operation, 10,000 People’s Volunteer Army Members (representing China) were ordered by the Korean People’s Army (representing North Korea) to keep that pass cut off to U.S. and U.N. forces. With the help of West Liberty native William Barber, just over 200 Marines fought to get that pass open so the retreat can continue towards Hungnam-guyok in Hamhŭng.

Soldiers who fought this battle fought and survived temperatures well below zero, with it getting down around colder than -30 degrees.

Several thousand were wounded, killed or suffered from frostbite. Medical supplies froze. Morphine had to be warmed in the mouths of medics before use, there was little to no communication with the outside world for over two weeks, save it be a Marine captain calling in air support.

Sgt. Johnson did suffer from frostbite, when it gets down to around ten degrees celsius (roughly 50 degrees fahrenheit) he will stay inside because it is too cold. His bones have not forgotten the feeling of that battle over 70 years later.

“My toes started to get black on the edge, I got in the hospital with and these guys took gallon buckets of (what is believed to be aloe vera gel or lotion based on further research), reach in and get a big handful… and put it on my leg and rub until it disappeared,” Johnson said.

Johnson said that during one night of this time, it got down to 40 degrees below zero and his nose and ear got burnt from the cold. Planes dropped hooded parka jackets for them to stay warm while they fought.

To give a sense of the situation U.S. and U.N. Troops were in, Marine General Oliver P. Smith said, “Retreat, hell, we’re just attacking in a different direction.”

It took nearly a month for a successful evacuation into what is now South Korea. Which Johnson survived to tell the tale. He’s gone on to tell more about being of the “Frozen Chosin” and write some of his stories down.

When it come to being part of the upcoming three days in Washington D.C., Sgt. Johnson doesn’t have many words to describe what this means to him and the people he fought with.

“Oh man, I’m just clean out of it, this is the biggest thing since the war was over, and I’m 93” Sgt. Johnson said.

American Valor airs this weekend, check your local listings for airtimes.

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(c) 2023 the Richmond Register

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The Alex Trebek Fund launched Wednesday to support research into pancreatic cancer, the type of cancer the longtime “Jeopardy” host died from in 2020.

The fund is run through Stand Up to Cancer, Katie Couric’s charity known for its star-studded telethon fundraisers and, on Monday night, its presence at the World Series. Alex’s wife, Jean Trebek, and the estate of Barbara Hanania, a former Hollywood cinematographer, kicked off the fund with a $1 million donation, according to a statement from the charity.

“Alex knew that knowledge equaled power. He was a man that really loved to know things and stayed very curious,” Jean Trebek said in the statement. “Since Alex was all about the right answer, I think it’s very fitting that this fund is now established in his name. It’s a way for the community that loved him to put resources directly into the hands of scientists working tirelessly to fight a disease shrouded by many unknowns.”

Fundraising for the Trebek Fund will continue throughout November, which is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. Proceeds will support the work of the American Assn. for Cancer Research and Nobel Prize-winning scientist Phillip A. Sharp.

Alex Trebek died on Nov. 8, 2020, at age 80. The previous year, the game show host had announced that he was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and vowed to fight it. Trebek, who had hosted “Jeopardy” since 1984 and was a fixture of American pop culture, continued working while receiving treatment. His final episode, which aired in January 2021, was taped just 10 days prior to his death. Since then, former contestant Ken Jennings and actor Mayim Bialik have split hosting duties.

“It has been certainly a transition for us,” Jean Trebek, 60, said Wednesday morning on “Today.” “I think Alex represented such a great structure for our family and just re-creating ourselves without this fabulous presence that really guided us a lot.”

She said the opportunity to help with the fund has aided her healing and thanked Couric, who joined Trebek as a guest on the NBC morning talk show she once co-hosted. Couric, 66, who in 2021 became the first woman to guest host “Jeopardy,” lost her sister, Virginia politician Emily Couric, to pancreatic cancer in 2001 at age 54, and her husband, Jay Monahan, a legal analyst, to colon cancer in 1998 at age 42. Couric was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022.

“I think that it is very cathartic when you experience a tremendous loss and feel so powerless in the face of a disease like this,” Couric said, “to channel your energies into supporting science that will prevent it from happening to other families hopefully one day.”

The chance of a person living in the United States getting diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in their lifetime is about one in 64, according to the American Cancer Society. This year, an estimated 64,050 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and 50,550 people will die from it.

Cancer remains the second-leading cause of death in the U.S. after heart disease, the society said. Pancreatic cancer, which can evade blood tests, is among the most lethal forms of the disease, leaving patients with a five-year survival rate of about 5%-10%, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. Those with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer have a 1% five-year survival rate.

Despite the grim prognosis, 2023 marked the first year in half a decade in which pancreatic cancer survival rates went up, Stand Up to Cancer said in its statement, attributing the improvement to progress in research.

TV host Jerry Springer, died of pancreatic cancer, a diagnosis he kept private, in April at age 79. Other celebrities and public figures who have died of that type of cancer include Aretha Franklin., Alan Rickman, Patrick Swayze, Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Steve Jobs.

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© 2023 Los Angeles Times

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The United States Air Force destroyed an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile off California’s coast Wednesday due to an “anomaly” that occurred during a test launch of the missile.

According to Air Force Global Strike Command, Space Launch Delta 30 was able to safely destroy the unarmed missile that was launched over the Pacific Ocean at 12:06 a.m. on Wednesday from Vandenberg Space Force Base, which is located in California.

“An anomaly is any unexpected event during the test,” Air Force Global Strike Command explained in a statement. Since anomalies may arise from many factors relating to the operational platform itself, or the test equipment, careful analysis is needed to identify the cause.”

While the Air Force did not provide the reason for Wednesday’s “anomaly” during the testing of the intercontinental ballistic missile, the Air Force noted that a Launch Analysis Group will work to investigate the cause.

The Air Force’s investigation team will include individuals from Air Force Global Strike Command, the 576th Flight Test Squadron, the 377th Test and Evaluation Group, the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, and the Space Launch Delta 30 Safety Office.

“The test launch program helps the command evaluate the Minuteman III and gather data to keep the system effective. The command learns lessons from every test launch,” the Air Force stated. “Gathering data from the launch allows AFGSC to identify and correct any issues with the weapon system to ensure the Minuteman III’s continued reliability and accuracy.”

READ MORE: Air Force security fires at base intruder

According to Stars and Stripes, the Minuteman III is currently the only U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile to be launched by land. First introduced in 1970, Stars and Stripes reported that the missile is capable of carrying different thermonuclear warheads.

Prior to Wednesday’s anomaly, the last test launch of the Minuteman III missile took place on Sept. 6. According to Stars and Stripes, Vandenberg Space Force Base is regularly used to test the intercontinental missiles in order to ensure the missile’s effectiveness, accuracy, and readiness.

“The Minuteman III has been and will continue to be integral to our nation’s defense,” Air Force Gen. Charles Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, previously stated. “Investing in nuclear modernization is as relevant as ever and we are committed to transitioning to the Sentinel, which will ensure our nation is ready to provide strategic deterrence for tomorrow.”

According to Stars and Stripes, the Sentinel missile highlighted by Brown is currently being developed by Northrop Grumman and will feature a newer warhead. However, the Air Force has indicated that the Sentinel project could be delayed due to a shortage of materials needed for the missile, as well as a shortage of engineers for the project.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided the home of New York City Mayor Eric Adam’s top fundraiser on Thursday.

The Brooklyn home of Brianna Suggs, who served as a consultant to Adams, was the target of the raid, according to the New York Post.

Mayor Adams abruptly canceled several meetings in Washington, D.C. Thursday morning, apparently in response to the raid.

Suggs has earned over $150,000 for Adam’s campaign since 2021, and has received more than $16,500 in payments from Adams’ accounts.

“I heard screaming maybe two or three hours ago,” one neighbor said, according to The Post. “I heard helicopters (also) … the house is boarded up.”

According to The New York Times, City Hall would not explain why Adams canceled his meetings in Washington.

“The mayor is returning to New York City to address a matter,” Mr. Lutvak, the mayor’s spokesman, said in an email. “These meetings will be rescheduled as soon as possible.”

The raid comes after Adams warned the Biden administration’s border crisis will “destroy New York City” as officials grapple with an influx of more than 110,000 migrants since last year.

“Let me tell you something, New Yorkers. Never in my life have I had a problem that I did not see an ending to. I don’t see an ending to this. I don’t see an ending to this. This issue will destroy New York City. Destroy New York City,” Adams said in September. “We’re getting 10,000 migrants a month.”

“We had a $12 billion deficit that we’re going to have to cut. Every service in this city is going to be impacted. All of us,” Adams continued. “It’s going to come to your neighborhoods. All of us are going to be impacted by this. I said it last year when we had 15,000. I’m telling you now with 110,000. The city we knew we’re about to lose. And we’re all in this together.”

This was a breaking news story. The details were periodically updated as more information became available.

According to Military.com, the orders come as the Army is attempting to increase its recruiting force by 800 soldiers by the conclusion of 2023.

The Army recently experienced a breakdown in its recruiter tracking that has led to fewer retained recruiters than the Army expected, prompting the service to issue orders that could have a major impact on soldiers who may be forced to relocate with their families in the middle of the school year.

“Given the six-day heads up, we have zero time to plan child care,” an unnamed noncommissioned officer told Military.com. “We can barely find and afford child care during the week as it is, so now my wife may end up having to quit her job entirely because it is impossible to find on the weekend.”

READ MORE: Pentagon lowering recruitment standards again: Report

According to Military.com, while the Army has approximately 10,000 recruiters, its recruitment force has been significantly declining over the past year. As a result, some recruiters have told Military.com that they have been forced to work additional hours or been fired for failing to meet recruitment quotas.

In response to public backlash against the Army’s sudden orders, Lt. Gen. Doug Stitt issued an apology in statements to reporters on Wednesday.

“I’d like to open up and first of all apologize to the Soldiers and the families that received this last-minute notification,” Stitt said. “It’s not lost on me, particularly at this point in time, the impact this last-minute notification and now being on the cusp of the holidays has on our Soldiers and our great NCOs as they navigate a process to support the recruiting enterprise.”

Stitt explained that if a soldier has a family situation, professional situation, or a life situation that has not been identified by the chain of command, human resources command, or a career manager, “we’re going to talk to that soldier.”

Stitt added, “We’re going to work through this to ensure that we have the right NCOs at the right time to perform this vital mission in service of our recruiting enterprise.”

Col. Dave Butler, a spokesperson for Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, also explained that when George “caught wind of how this was communicated to members of the force, he immediately directed the Army reassess this effort. He directed the staff to get commanders involved in the process and take into consideration operational readiness, the soldiers, and their families.”

Sgt. Maj. Christopher Stevens noted that the Army has expanded career incentives and cash incentives for voluntary and involuntary service at the Fort Knox recruitment school. In addition to a $5,000 bonus for Army recruiters who finish their training by February, any sergeant who finishes the training and reports to their recruiting post will receive a promotion to staff sergeant.

According to Military.com, the U.S. military has struggled with recruitment since the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the contributing factors to poor recruitment numbers are the declining number of recruitment applicants, the current job market, increasing issues with overweight and obese Americans, and issues with applicants’ performance on the academic entrance exam.

Brooke Shields revealed that she had a grand mal seizure in September, just days before the debut of her cabaret show in New York City.

The 58-year-old actor said the incident happened on Sept. 7 as she was waiting to be seated at a New York City restaurant.

“I go [into the restaurant], two women come up to me; I don’t know them. Everything starts to go black,” Shields told Glamour. “Then my hands drop to my side and I go headfirst into the wall. I start having a grand mal seizure.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, these types of seizure — also known as tonic-clonic seizures — cause a loss of consciousness and violent muscle contractions. They usually are due to epilepsy but also can be caused by head trauma, brain tumor, drug and alcohol abuse or very low blood levels of glucose, sodium, calcium or magnesium.

It’s all a bit of blur, Shields said, but she recalled the initial moments of the situation and the person who was at her side as it all went down: Bradley f— Cooper.

“[That type of seizure] means frothing at the mouth, totally blue, trying to swallow my tongue. The next thing I remember, I’m being loaded into an ambulance,” she said. “I have oxygen on. And Bradley f— Cooper is sitting next to me holding my hand.”

The stranger-than-fiction moment caught the former supermodel off-guard, even as she was in the midst of her own medical chaos.

“I couldn’t really get any words out. But I thought to myself, ‘This is what death must be like,’” Shields said. “You wake up and Bradley Cooper’s going, ‘I’m going to go to the hospital with you, Brooke,’ and he’s holding my hand. And I’m looking at my hand, I’m looking at Bradley Cooper’s hand in my hand, and I’m like, ‘This is odd and surreal.’”

But why was Cooper there? Turns out the restaurant at first tried to get in contact with Shields’ husband, Chris Henchy, but he wasn’t responding. A long game of phone tag ensued with assistant reaching out to assistant ad infinitum until eventually Cooper was contacted and he happened to be nearby.

“His assistant called Bradley and said, ‘Brooke’s on the ground. Chris isn’t around. Go get her,’” said Shields. “And he came, and somebody called the ambulance. And then it was like, I walked in with Jesus.”

Shields then explained that her seizure was triggered by low sodium.

“I had had too much water. I flooded my system, and I drowned myself. And if you don’t have enough sodium in your blood or urine or your body, you can have a seizure,” she said. “So as a 58-year-old woman, I’m not limiting my salt, OK? Stop trying to make me a crazy actress or a female that doesn’t know what the f— they’re doing. I was drinking too much water because I felt dehydrated because I was singing more than I’ve ever sung in my life and doing a show and a podcast. So [the doctors] were just like, ‘Eat potato chips every day.’”

The “Pretty Baby” actor would go on to recover in time to star in her cabaret show, “Previously Owned by Brooke Shields,” from Sept. 12-23 at New York’s Café Carlyle.

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© 2023 Los Angeles Times

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The Senate on Wednesday voted 82-15 to pass the first three of its fiscal 2024 appropriations bills in a “minibus” as the House tees up votes this week on three of its remaining seven fiscal 2024 appropriations bills.

Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York praised the Senate’s bipartisan appropriations work Wednesday morning ahead of the chamber’s passage of the package combining the fiscal 2024 Military Construction-VA, Agriculture and Transportation-HUD appropriations bills.

“The only way to get things done in divided government is bipartisanship. The House is going through a futile exercise of passing partisan appropriations bills that have no input or support from Democrats. They’re going nowhere,” Schumer said. “The Senate has bipartisan bills, and that is the real difference here. Sooner or later the House and the new speaker will learn the lesson, if you don’t do it bipartisan, it ain’t getting done.”

Before passing the package, the Senate adopted by voice vote a substitute amendment offered by Appropriations Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., that replaced the text of the House-passed Military Construction-VA bill that the Senate used as a vehicle with the text of the three spending bills.

The Senate rejected four amendments earlier in the day, all offered by Republicans and requiring 60 votes to be adopted.

Those included a pair of amendments offered by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. One would subject the Federal Reserve to audits by the Government Accountability Office. The second would cut about $30 billion to lower the discretionary spending provided in the Agriculture and Transportation-HUD bills to the levels approved by the House Appropriations Committee in its 302(b) allocations. It would also rescind $25 billion provided for IRS enforcement in the 2022 climate and tax law.

The Senate also rejected an amendment offered by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, that would require congressional approval for rules promulgated by federal agencies that would have at least $100 million annual impact on the economy; significantly increase costs on consumers, industries or governments; or stifle competition or innovation. The provisions mirrored a bill introduced by Paul.

The chamber also rejected an amendment offered by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that would direct U.S. officials on the International Boundary and Water Commission to pursue enforcement of the 1944 treaty on Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande. Cruz said Mexico had been slow to deliver the 350,000 acre feet of water to the Rio Grande Valley as mandated by the treaty.

Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., withdrew his amendment that would stop the Transportation Department from directing state and metropolitan transportation authorities to establish their own targets for lowering and measuring carbon emissions. He said leadership unfairly subjected it to a 60-vote threshold even though it was germane to the package.

“One has to ask why my bipartisan, germane amendment is deemed, quote, ‘a poison pill’ and now needs 60 votes to pass. Well, I know the answer is simple: because it was going to pass, that’s why,” Cramer said, noting that he offered the amendment on behalf of himself and Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va.

The Transportation Department proposed the rule last year, but hasn’t finalized it. If the department moves forward with the rule, Cramer said he would put forward a measure to rescind it under the Congressional Review Act, which would require only a simple majority to pass.

In all, the Senate adopted 31 amendments to the package, including a handful of Republican-offered provisions supported by Democrats and independents, many of them up for reelection next year, despite opposition from Democratic leadership.

Those included an amendment offered by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., to bar money provided by the package from going to Chinese entities; an amendment offered by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., to preserve gun rights for veterans deemed mentally unfit to manage their benefits; and an amendment offered by Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, to block the Transportation Department from enforcing a federal mask mandate to address COVID-19.

The Senate adopted 28 of the amendments by voice vote, including one offered by Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, to require agencies to report on employees working remotely, including from areas with lower costs of living.

Other amendments adopted by voice vote included provisions to fund telehealth for veterans, recruit commercial pilots from diverse communities, ban seafood from China in school lunches and shift money to support animal friendly housing for victims of domestic violence and their pets.

Passage of the Senate’s first three fiscal 2024 appropriations bills comes as the House Rules Committee readies the chamber’s Interior-Environment, Legislative Branch and Transportation-HUD spending legislation for floor consideration this week.

Newly minted Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has laid out an aggressive schedule for consideration of the remaining spending bills with plans to bring to the floor the Financial Services and Commerce-Justice-Science bills next week, and the Labor-HHS-Education, and Agriculture bills the week of Nov. 13. The House failed to muster the votes to pass the Agriculture spending bill in September.

Federal government funding runs out Nov. 17.

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© 2023 CQ-Roll Call, Inc

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.