Montana Politics: Latest News

Greg Gianforte will be sworn in as Montana's 25th governor in a small ceremony Monday morning.

The process of objecting to one or more electoral votes requires a majority vote from both chambers of Congress to agree to the objection.

The week before the start of a Montana legislative session is always a busy time. This year, with new precautions due to COVID-19, there’s more work than ever to prepare.

Montana Public Service Commissioner Roger Koopman has filed a $2.2 million claim against the PSC and some of its employees, saying co-workers publicly distributed some of his office emails containing personal information, as a form of “political retaliation.”

Under normal circumstances, the top storyline on the 2021 Montana Legislature would be Republicans in control of the Senate, House and governorship for the first time in 16 years, with a glidepath to enact conservative policy. But, the pandemic looms over all.

Now that President Donald Trump has signed a $2.3 trillion COVID-19 relief and government funding package, Montana breweries and distilleries will receive some much-needed tax relief.

Greg Gianforte, in a call with reporters one week before becoming Montana’s 25th governor, said Monday he’ll be announcing new guidelines next week on fighting Covid-19, which he considers his top priority.

A group of conservative Montana legislators are taking aim at one of their own over support of the Montana Water Rights Protection Act.

The top 1 percent of Montana taxpaying households reaped about 25 percent of the total cuts from the 2017 federal income-tax cuts approved by congressional Republicans, a state Revenue Department of analysis shows.

Republican Gov.-elect Greg Gianforte on Wednesday announced his first appointee as a state agency director – former state legislator Mike Foster, as director of the state Department of Agriculture.

Montana’s two U.S. senators said they’ll be supporting the massive Covid-19 relief and government-spending package expected to pass Congress Monday evening – and that it contains many things benefiting Montanans.

Many Montana tribes are praising President-elect Joe Biden for his appointment of Deb Haaland of New Mexico to be the next secretary of the Department of the Interior.

There are still details being worked out, but Senator Jon Tester says he's happy to see some movement on a new stimulus package in Congress.

The five-member panel that will draw Montana’s new legislative districts, to reflect population changes in the 2020 Census, has a new chair: Former University of Montana law professor and Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribal attorney Maylinn Smith.

Legislative Republicans Wednesday rejected proposals to hold the 2021 Legislature remotely, or to require lawmakers to wear face masks or follow other public-health guidelines when they meet at the Capitol next month.

Montana’s three Republican electors cast their votes Monday for President Trump, at a short and lightly attended ceremony at the state Capitol.

Montana’s three Republican electors will meet Monday at the Capitol to cast their votes for President Trump, at a ceremony without the drama expected in some other states.

The U.S. Senate is expected to follow suit with the U.S. House of Representatives in passing this year’s $740.5 billion defense bill.

Montana Congressman and Gov.-elect Greg Gianforte is one of 106 House Republicans Thursday who signed on to a “friend of the court” brief supporting the Texas lawsuit trying to invalidate presidential election results in four key states.

Republican members of a Montana House rules panel voted Tuesday to allow GOP committee chairs at the 2021 Legislature to not schedule hearings on any bill, essentially allowing them to kill bills without a vote.

Montana lawmakers began looking at options for how next year’s legislative session will be run Monday.

Gianforte said Monday he hopes this month to unveil some task-force recommendations to beat back Covid-19 – and, name most of his cabinet.

It’s been one month since U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte became Montana’s governor-elect, and there is one month left until his inauguration. On Friday, the Bozeman Republican said he’s encouraged with how the transition has gone so far.

Montana’s top two Republican officials are still not acknowledging that Democrat Joe Biden won the Nov. 3 presidential election, saying it’s “not settled” and that litigation is ongoing.

The measure aims to extend the tax breaks for small brewers and distillers granted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the massive tax-reform plan backed by the Trump administration.

Montana’s two U.S. senators said Monday they hope Congress can agree on a new, targeted Covid-19 relief bill in the coming weeks – but a specific compromise proposal is not yet on the table.

Gov.-elect Greg Gianforte on Tuesday named the first member of his cabinet, announcing that outgoing U.S. Attorney for Montana Kurt Alme will be the new Republican administration’s budget director.

State lawmakers Wednesday chose their leaders for the 2021 Legislature, as majority Republicans said they’re ready to push through a conservative agenda, in tandem with the first GOP governor in 16 years.