CINDY HYDE-SMITH

Vermont appears poised to lose its distinction of being the only state in the country that has never sent a woman to Congress.

— (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday it has overturned the approval of a massive flood-control project in the south Mississippi Delta that officials said was erroneously greenlit in the final days of the Trump administration. Fish and Wildlife Service earlier this year over the construction of pumps in the Yazoo Backwater area north of Vicksburg. The flatlands between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers are dominated by agriculture and dotted with small communities. The Yazoo Pumps project would have involved the construction of a 14,000 cubic-feet-per-second pumping plant in the Yazoo Backwater Area to drain water, primarily from low-lying agricultural lands, during floods. But Andrew Wheeler, the EPA’s administrator appointed by former President Donald Trump, said in April that the EPA would reconsider that decision.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has overturned the approval of a massive flood-control project in the south Mississippi Delta that officials said was erroneously greenlit in the final days of the Trump administration.

Senate Republicans have unveiled a public works proposal with a much smaller price tag than what President Joe Biden wants.

The National Football League said it will reconsider its donations but did not commit to suspending them. “We are re-evaluating our political giving policies through the Gridiron PAC,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told the AP in a statement Wednesday. Others, like MLB, have postponed political giving to both political parties altogether. The Office of The Commissioner of Major League Baseball Political Action Committee has donated $669,375 to Senate and House candidates since the 2016 election cycle, with 52.4% of that money going to Republican candidates, according to The Center for Responsive Politics. Since the 2016 election cycle, MLB has made contributions to two senators and nine representatives who were among those opposing certification of Biden's victory.

Several of the dozen-plus Republican senators who had planned objections to the Electoral College votes in several key states reversed course on Wednesday after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, delaying the counting of the votes affirming President-elect Joe Biden's victory. Eight of the senators who had said they would not support the counting of the Electoral Votes ended up voting to count them, and Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi joined the objectors. The planned objection to Georgia was withdrawn, and no senators signed onto the House's objection to results in Michigan and Nevada. Congress' counting of the Electoral College vote is a largely ceremonial last step before Mr. Biden is inaugurated on January 20. Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas said he still planned to object to "hold states accountable to the time proven constitutional system of the Electoral College.

The former astronaut defeated Republican Sen. Martha McSally, who was appointed to the seat after McCain’s death in 2018. Daines’ first election in 2014 broke a Democratic lock on the Senate seat that had lasted more than 100 years. The six-term congressman from northern New Mexico defeated Republican Mark Ronchetti, a former television meteorologist, and Libertarian Bob Walsh. Reed cruised to victory over Waters, an investment consultant who mounted earlier unsuccessful campaigns for state Senate and U.S. Senate in Massachusetts. Warner defeated Republican challenger Daniel Gade in a low-key race in which the incumbent had a massive cash advantage.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jaime Harrison speaks at a campaign rally on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)COLUMBIA, S.C. – In the battle for control of the U.S. Senate this year, the Deep South is fielding more Black candidates than it has since Reconstruction. Mike Espy and Adrian Perkins, meanwhile, are launching spirited bids for the Senate in Mississippi and Louisiana, respectively. The Senate currently has three Black members: Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina and Democrats Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California. “The more competitive races are, and Black candidates win those competitive races, it diminishes this worry that Black candidates can’t win,” Abrams recently told The Associated Press. In Mississippi, Espy is trying for a second time to become the state’s first Black senator since Reconstruction with his challenge to Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith.

(Bob Daemmrich/Nexstar/KXAN via AP, Pool)WASHINGTON – Buoyed by massive fundraising success, Democratic Senate candidates are mounting a push in Republican states that few would have thought possible just a few months ago, placing continued GOP control of the chamber at risk. MJ Hegar in Texas reported raising over $13 million during the same period for her race against Republican Sen. John Cornyn. In deep-red Kentucky, Amy McGrath has posted strong fundraising numbers against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. In Mississippi, Mike Espy reported raising $4 million in his rematch against Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. O'Rourke was criticized for being too stingy with his cash, only reluctantly aiding other Democrats, though he eventually donated large amounts to the Texas Democratic Party.

Confirmation hearings are set to begin Monday for President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee giving Republicans one last chance to salvage their Senate majority by wresting attention away from the White House and its COVID-19 response and onto the GOP’s longtime goal of fashioning a conservative court. Only two GOP senators balked at quick confirmation. This time, it's much about securing his own legacy reshaping the judiciary into what allies call the “McConnell Court” as giving his majority a landing pad after a tumultuous four years with Trump. Having already bent Senate rules to allow 51-vote threshold to advance Supreme Court nominees, rather than 60 as was tradition, McConnell is now poised to usher a third Trump justice to confirmation. “It’s not going to be remembered as the McConnell Court,” said Stevens.

The American Bar Association is rating the Mississippi judge as well qualified to serve on one of the most conservative federal appeals courts. Circuit Court of Appeals, which handles cases for Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)WASHINGTON The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday advanced a federal appeals court nominee from Mississippi, despite Democratic objections over derisive comments he made about former President Barack Obama and his signature health care legislation. The GOP-led panel endorsed Mississippi Appeals Court Judge Cory Wilson on a 12-10, party-line vote. Wilson, a former Republican state legislator who has been on the state appeals court for 16 months, was nominated by President Donald Trump for a seat on the New Orleans-based 5th U.S.