JOE COURTNEY

The U.S. energy secretary and Danish wind developer Orsted say they want American union workers to build offshore wind farms to dot the U.S. coastlines — the building trades workers who could otherwise be left out of a transition to renewable resources.

The U.S. energy secretary is visiting a nuclear power plant in Connecticut at the invitation of the local congressional member as both work to change how spent nuclear fuel is stored nationwide to solve a decadeslong stalemate.

President Joe Biden ends his first year in the White House with a clear majority of Americans for the first time disapproving of his handling of the presidency in the face of an unrelenting pandemic and roaring inflation.

WASHINGTON The Latest on Tuesday's elections (all times local):10:40 a.m.A Republican congressional candidate in Connecticut has abruptly ended his campaign on the day of his primary election following his arrest on a domestic assault charge. The state Republican Party says Thomas Gilmer was arrested late Monday and dropped out of the race because of the severity of the accusations." The party had endorsed Gilmer over his primary opponent. Wethersfield police say Gilmer was charged on a warrant with first-degree unlawful restraint and second-degree strangulation and posted a $5,000 bond. Gilmers campaign website was down, and he could not immediately be reached for comment.

The House voted Wednesday night to pass a bill that would scrap Obamacare's so-called Cadillac tax, an inactive provision of the health law meant to help control health-care spending. The tax, set to go into effect in 2022, is unpopular with both Republicans and Democrats, who say it punishes the middle class. The "Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act of 2019" had more than 350 co-sponsors and was expected to pass the Democratic-controlled House on Wednesday afternoon. The provision imposes a tax on employment-based health insurance coverage that exceeds certain thresholds $10,200 for individual coverage and $27,500 for family coverage. All health insurance benefits paid by employers above that amount would be taxed at 40%.