elected Democrats

Alker said research has shown that providing healthcare for kids creates a “great return on investment, both from the perspective of taxpayer dollars and, more importantly, from the perspective of having children who are going to grow and thrive.”

MediKids, she said, would be an effective and in some ways novel way of tackling an “extraordinarily worrying” trend.

Raskin said that Epstein seemed to be consciously acting as a foreign agent despite never registering as one under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). The congressman pointed to exchanges in which Epstein appeared to advise Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon on how to avoid FARA reporting requirements.

Raskin argued that Epstein’s deep well of knowledge about Trump and his apparent access to members of his circle “posed a major national security liability.” Epstein often bragged that he had leverage over the president and said he was “the one able to take [Trump] down.”

The congressman argued for transparency in light of the administration’s efforts to delay the release of the files and withhold information despite congressional requirements.

Congressional Democrats are strongly opposing a US Department of Labor proposal that would allow 401(k) investments to include cryptocurrency, private credit and private equity assets, arguing the change will expose workers to riskier and more complex investments.

In a letter shared exclusively with the Guardian, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren and House education and workforce committee ranking member Bobby Scott of Virginia, argued the rule would expose an estimated $14.2tn of 401(k) retirement savings to volatile assets and would probably not withstand a challenge in court.

“This would strip long-held investor protections from retirement savers and encourage the use of more risky, complex, and expensive investments,” said the letter. “The proposed rule is harmful to American workers.”

Some scientists expressed dismay at the plan, while Democratic lawmakers said they would fight it, including Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who called it a “shortsighted move” that would “end up costing American taxpayers more not less”, the New York Times reported.

The ballroom security proposal had triggered a major congressional standoff, with the Senate’s Democratic minority leader, Chuck Schumer, saying his party would fight the funding “with every tool we have”. That included proposing amendments to the bill that could force vulnerable Republicans into tough votes ahead of November’s midterm elections, when the GOP will defend its control of Congress.