CYNTHIA LUMMIS

The Senate has approved a sweeping expansion of health care and disability benefits for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan in response to concerns about their exposure to toxic burn pits.

A blueprint for regulation runs roughshod over the desires and interests of people building or using crypto services.

Two senators have unveiled a new bill with bipartisan support. But skeptics are already warning it's a step backwards and is far too crypto-friendly.

Nearly everyone agrees the cryptocurrency industry needs regulation, but there are huge disagreements about what that should look like.A Senate bill proposes a new regulatory framework for the industry. Cosponsors Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) argue that their bill hits the "sweet spot" between allowing innovation and protecting consumers.Software engineer Molly White, who runs the blog Web3 is going just great, says that the bill is too industry-friendly, and puts into legislation the "foggy regulatory space" that crypto companies have taken advantage of. Help NPR improve podcasts by completing a short, anonymous survey at npr.org/podcastsurvey.In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Wyoming GOP Sen. Cynthia Lummis 'surprised' by constituents urging action on guns

Meltdowns in the cryptocurrency space are common, but the latest one has served as a vivid reminder that investors, both professionals and rookies, can be rolling the dice when putting money into digital assets.

A bipartisan pair of senators has unveiled what would be the most wide-ranging legislative proposal to regulate cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.

Wide-ranging legislation unveiled Tuesday would regulate cryptocurrencies and other digital assets following a series of high-profile busts and failures.

The Lummis-Gillibrand bill amounts to a regulatory overhaul that would classify the vast majority of digital assets as commodities.

More than two dozen high-profile tech experts have signed onto a letter asking Congressional leaders to apply a skeptical eye to the booming crypto industry.

Senators and regulators told CNBC on the sidelines of the DC Blockchain Summit this week that the spillover effects are contained, but regulation is necessary.

A U.S. senator is apologizing after getting booed and heckled for remarks she made on sexual identity during a university graduation speech.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) apologized on Monday after she was booed by a crowd during a commencement address at the University of Wyoming for saying it is a “fundamental scientific truth” that there are only “two sexes.” Lummis said “it was never my intention to make anyone feel un-welcomed or disrespected,” and apologized to those…

Cryptocurrency tycoons are emerging as new power players in American politics.

Eight lawmakers or their immediate family have traded cryptocurrency over the past year, with bets ranging as high as $100,000, a CNBC analysis found.

Voters and Washington are bitterly divided. But Democrats and Republicans in Congress have found some common ground on crypto, China, stocks and other issues.

"I have seen more than a few in my day and that is up there," MSNBC's Chris Hayes said of Cynthia Lummis' response to the censure of anti-Trump Republicans.

Sarah Bloom Raskin refused to answer Wyoming Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis if she called the Federal Reserve on behalf of Reserve Trust, a fintech firm.

Washington policymakers will soon start deciding on new rules for cryptocurrencies, setting up a fight between supporters and critics of the $2.5 trillion market.

Lummis encouraged Biden to allow 18-year-olds to drive trucks in interstate commerce and ditch vaccine rules for freight haulers.

The Republican senator scooped up the world's largest cryptocurrency on Aug. 16 worth between $50,001 to $100,000, according to a filing on Thursday.

The former Facebook product manager who has accused the social network giant of threatening children’s safety — and the integrity of democracy — is urging Congress to take action to rein in a largely unregulated company.

What the past week's political drama means for crypto and where the industry goes from here.

The bill includes funding for broadband access programs, electric vehicle charging stations and cybersecurity.

Former U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming was remembered as an honorable statesman and family man who was focused on leadership, tradition and faith.

Lawmakers appeared unconvinced cryptocurrencies would make a good solution to the existing and very flawed financial system.

Retired Sen. Mike Enzi, a Wyoming Republican known as a consensus-builder in an increasingly polarized Washington, has died.

Nancy Pelosi and Liz Cheney have the most unlikely of partnerships.

Elected officials in Wyoming aren’t sticking their necks out in defense of Liz Cheney as she faces ouster from House GOP leadership.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators and congressmen is urging the federal government not to approve recommendations to remove 144 cities from the designation of metropolitan statistical areas. Reclassifying them as “micropolitan” would put key federal funding at risk, they said. Doing so would reclassify more than a third of the current 392 metro areas as micropolitan statistical areas. In a separate letter to the Office of Management and Budget, Hoeven said the proposal also would hurt micropolitan areas that were on the cusp of becoming metro areas. “If a metropolitan statistical area is redefined as a micropolitan area, it may fall out of the conversation.

FILE - In this Dec. 17, 2019 file photo, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks with reporters at the Capitol in Washington. House Republicans are expected to vote in the coming days on whether to oust Cheney from their third-ranking leadership post over her vote to impeach former President Donald Trump. – When Liz Cheney, the third-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, decided to vote to impeach a president from her own party, she knew she'd cause some waves. “Washington, D.C., mythologizes the establishment powerbrokers like Liz Cheney for climbing in a deeply corrupt game. “If people are still as angry in the summer of 2022 as they are now, Liz Cheney faces some real problems,” Warfield said.

The GOP already faces a difficult Senate map in 2022, when 14 Democratic-held seats and 20 Republican ones will be on the ballot. That includes at least two open seats that Republicans will be defending because of the retirements of GOP Sens. One of those lawmakers, Florida Sen. Rick Scott, is the new chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, a post that makes him the public face of the Senate Republican fundraising efforts. But two senior Republican strategists involved in Senate races say the cumulative effect of the companies' decisions could have a bigger impact. That puts more pressure on the NRSC and the leading Senate Republican outside group, Senate Leadership Fund, to cover the difference.

Many Democrats have pushed for an immediate impeachment trial to hold Trump accountable and prevent him from holding future office, and the proceedings could still begin by Inauguration Day. Psaki noted that during Trump's first impeachment trial last year, the Senate continued to hold hearings each day. Pelosi told reporters on Friday that the nine House impeachment managers, who act as the prosecutors for the House, are working on taking the case to trial. McConnell is open to considering impeachment, having told associates he is done with Trump, but he has not signaled how he would vote. No president has ever been convicted in the Senate, and it would take a two-thirds vote against Trump, an extremely high hurdle.

Whenever it starts, the impeachment trial will force a further reckoning for the Republican Party and the senators who largely stood by Trump throughout his presidency and allowed him to spread false attacks against the 2020 election. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is open to considering impeachment, having told associates he is done with Trump, but he has not signaled how he would vote. At least four Republican senators have publicly expressed concerns about Trump’s actions, but others have signaled their preference to move on. Under Senate procedure, the trial is to start soon after the House delivers the article of impeachment. After Trump’s first impeachment, in 2019, she withheld the articles for some time to set the stage for the Senate action.

FILE - In this Dec. 17, 2019 file photo, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks with reporters at the Capitol in Washington. Vocal opponents of any such move include Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, leader of GOP messaging in the House as its third-ranking Republican (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)WASHINGTON – Republican Rep. Liz Cheney says she will vote to impeach President Donald Trump. Cheney says, “There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”Cheney is a daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney. New York Rep. John Katko was the first Republican to say he’d vote to impeach Trump.

Some Republican lawmakers were in the midst of raising objections to the results on his behalf when the proceedings were abruptly halted by the mob. Together, the protests and the GOP election objections amounted to an almost unthinkable challenge to American democracy and exposed the depths of the divisions that have coursed through the country during Trump’s four years in office. Before dawn Thursday, lawmakers completed their work, confirming Biden won the presidential election. In the aftermath, several Republicans announced they would drop their objections to the election, including Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., who lost her bid for reelection Tuesday. Some House lawmakers tweeted they were sheltering in place in their offices.

It is unclear just what the Republican senators will do, but the process could drag into the night as the two chambers will have to consider each objection individually. In 2017, several House Democrats challenged Trump’s win, but Biden, who presided at the time as the vice president, swiftly dismissed them to assert Trump’s victory. And more than a dozen Republican senators have said they will not support the effort. Facing the criticism from many in his own party, Cruz has attempted to put a finer point on his challenge. The commission remains his focus, he has said, not to undo the election results, even though that would be the practical effect of a successful objection.

– A deepening divide among Republicans over President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the election runs prominently through Wyoming, the state that delivered Trump's widest prevailing margin by far. The Wyoming Republican Party has made party fealty a core issue and punished state party officials seen as disloyal. I just don't think that's going to play out in Wyoming," University of Wyoming political science professor Jim King said. Though Wyoming voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2020 and 2016, the state embraced Trump reluctantly. In 2016, Republicans in Wyoming initially backed Cruz over Trump almost unanimously for the GOP presidential nomination.

Though he got nothing but cheers Monday night, Trump's attempt to overturn the presidential election i s splitting the Republican Party. Trump himself is whipping up crowds for a Wednesday rally near the White House. Trump said in Georgia: “I hope that our great vice president comes through for us. Two current Republican senators, Rob Portman of Ohio and Mike Lee of Utah, joined the growing number who now oppose the legislators' challenge. Larry Hogan of Maryland; Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the third-ranking House GOP leader; and former House Speaker Paul Ryan — have criticized the GOP efforts to overturn the election.

Of the more than 50 lawsuits the president and his allies have filed challenging election results, nearly all have been dismissed or dropped. Other prominent former officials also criticized the ongoing attack on election results. Cruz's coalition of 11 Republican senators vows to reject the Electoral College tallies unless Congress launches a commission to immediately conduct an audit of the election results. The convening of the joint session to count the Electoral College votes has faced objections before. States choose their own election officials and draft their election laws.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks with reporters during a press conference in Louisville, Ky., Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. “We’re waiting — whether I’m going to be the majority leader or not,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Wednesday. There already is a Jan. 5 runoff in the state's other Senate race. Securing the Senate majority will be vital for the winner of the presidency. John Hickenlooper defeated GOP Sen. Cory Gardner, and Arizona, where former astronaut Mark Kelly beat Republican incumbent Martha McSally.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said President Donald Trump’s campaign helped his GOP allies, but that state election officials were still counting ballots. Key Senate races in North Carolina, Alaska and Georgia remained undecided. Democrats contested seats from New England to the Deep South and the Midwest to the Mountain West, reaching deep into GOP strongholds. North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis has struggled against Democrat Cal Cunningham, despite the married challenger’s sexting scandal with a public relations strategist. GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler will face Democrat Raphael Warnock, a Black pastor at the church where the Rev.

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.