In the News

President Donald Trump fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates on Monday night, hours after Yates ordered Justice Department lawyers not to defend his immigration order temporarily banning entry into the United States for citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries and refugees from around the world. In a news release, the White House said Yates had "betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States." The White House n... Read more

President Donald Trump is looking at an Arkansas congressman for money-related posts, according to recent press accounts. U.S. Rep. French Hill, a Republican from Little Rock, is being considered for a spot on the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System, Bloomberg and Reuters reported this month. Two other media outlets, Dow Jones and American Banker, say Hill is one of the candidates to serve as deputy treasury secretary. None of the four named the sources of their information. Hill, w... Read more

Sheridan High School senior Sean Fitzgerald recently accepted an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. He is the son of Dennis and Lee Anne Fitzgerald. “With an acceptance rate comparable to those of Ivy League schools like Yale and Princeton — the U.S. Naval Academy is ranked one of the most challenging institutions of higher learning to get into,” a spokesman said in a news release. Fitzgerald learned of the news from U.S. Rep. French Hill, who called to congratulate him on his acceptance. Fi... Read more

U.S. Representative French Hill (R-2nd District) is the latest member of Arkansas's House delegation to back President Trump's refugee order while calling for peeling back restrictions on green card holders and others. Hill issued a statement on Monday afternoon. "While modest inconveniences are acceptable in order to keep our homeland safe, blocking U.S. green card holders, students and professors possessing proper visas, and those extraordinary men and women who have aided us in our Global War... Read more

Arkansas's congressional delegation is lining up to support President Donald Trump's moves to revive the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines. President Trump utilized the power of executive orders on Tuesday to expedite reviews of the projects and re-start processes halted or delayed by former President Obama. Following Trump's moves U.S. Representative French Hill, of the 2nd District in central Arkansas, issued a statement praising the President. Hill referenced a direct connection to a ma... Read more

President Donald Trump signed executive orders Tuesday to revive the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines. He also signed an executive order to expedite environmental reviews of other infrastructure projects, lamenting the existing "incredibly cumbersome, long, horrible permitting process." "The regulatory process in this country has become a tangled-up mess," he said. Many of those environmental reviews are statutory, and the legislation that created them cannot be swept aside by an exec... Read more

An energy project that is sharply opposed by members of the all-Republican Arkansas congressional delegation was on President Donald Trump's pre-inauguration "priority list" of "emergency and national security projects," according to a document obtained by the Kansas City Star and released Tuesday. A spokesman for the president cautioned late Tuesday that the list is not a White House policy document. An article by the Star and the McClatchy Washington Bureau described it as "a first glimpse at ... Read more

LITTLE ROCK — President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed executive orders to advance the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipeline projects, a move that was hailed by members of Arkansas’ congressional delegation and criticized by the Arkansas Sierra Club. “The fact that this was one of the first items on President Trump’s agenda speaks volumes about how his administration will prioritize job creation, energy infrastructure and economic opportunity,” Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., said in a statement Tue... Read more

Outta the woods and into the mainstream. Here come the Hungarians. A post-inaugural reception the day after President Donald J. Trump took the oath of office drew transition team representatives and members of Congress to the future home of the Hungarian embassy. It was a high-regard tip of the hat to the new Trump Administration. Even, a Hungarian dog showed love. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Nebraska, said he got a “juicy, warm kiss” from the big Komondor dog named Chauncy at the entrance. It was far mor... Read more

Before standing on the U.S. Capitol lawn to watch Friday's inauguration, scores of Arkansans had a pre-dawn breakfast with their congressmen. The four House members from Arkansas, all Republicans, teamed up to provide the meal. "We wanted them to have a cup of coffee and something warm before they go out and face the elements," U.S. Rep. French Hill of Little Rock said. The gathering took place in the Rayburn House Office Building, a mammoth complex across the street from the site where Presiden... Read more