CBO: Federal deficits and debt to worsen over next decadeVideo
WASHINGTON — The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s 10-year outlook projects worsening long-term federal deficits and rising debt, driven largely by increased spending, notably on Social Security, Medicare, and debt service payments. Compared with the CBO’s analysis this time last year, the fiscal outlook has deteriorated modestly. Major developments over the...
Trump’s EPA revokes scientific finding that underpinned U.S. fight against climate change
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday revoked a scientific finding that long has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change, the most aggressive move by the president to roll back climate regulations. The rule finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency...
Homeland Security shutdown seems certain as funding talks between White House and Democrats stall
WASHINGTON — A shutdown for the Department of Homeland Security appeared certain Thursday as lawmakers in the House and Senate were set to leave Washington for a 10-day break and negotiations with the White House over Democrats’ demands for new restrictions had stalled. Democrats and the White House have traded...
Judge blocks Pentagon from punishing Sen. Mark Kelly for call to resist unlawful orders
WASHINGTON — A federal judge agreed Thursday to block the Pentagon from punishing Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, a former Navy pilot, for participating in a video that called on troops to resist unlawful orders. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled that Pentagon officials not only violated Kelly’s First Amendment free...
Oklahoma carries out its 1st execution of 2026 on a man convicted of double killing
McALESTER, Okla. — A man who admitted to killing two men in a drive-by shooting in 2006 was put to death Thursday in Oklahoma’s first execution of the year. Kendrick Simpson, 45, was pronounced dead at 11:19 following a three-drug injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, prison officials...
Border czar hails a ‘safer’ Minnesota as he says the state’s immigration crackdown is over
MINNEAPOLIS — The Trump administration is ending the immigration crackdown in Minnesota, border czar Tom Homan said Thursday of the two-month operation that led to thousands of arrests, angry mass protests and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens. The operation, which the Department of Homeland Security called its “...
2 Mexican Navy ships laden with humanitarian aid dock in Cuba as U.S. blockade sparks energy crisis
HAVANA — Two Mexican Navy ships laden with humanitarian aid docked in Cuba on Thursday as a U.S. blockade deepens the island’s energy crisis. The ships arrived two weeks after President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on any country selling or providing oil to Cuba, prompting the island in recent days...
Vatican offers dialogue with breakaway Latin Mass traditionalist group, but with a catch
ROME — The Vatican warned a breakaway traditionalist Catholic group on Thursday that it risked going into schism if it goes ahead with plans to consecrate new bishops without papal consent, setting a hard line against a big doctrinal challenge facing Pope Leo XIV. Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, head of...
EU leaders meet to counter pressure from Russia, China and Trump
BILZEN-HOESELT, Belgium — Leaders from across the European Union are meeting Thursday in a Belgian castle as the 27-nation bloc faces antagonism from U.S. President Donald Trump, strong-arm economic tactics from China and hybrid threats from Russia — challenges that have prompted a rethink of Europe’s approach to diplomacy and...
Indian unions and farmers stage a nationwide strike over interim trade deal with U.S.
NEW DELHI — A coalition of major trade unions and farmers’ groups in India mounted a nationwide strike Thursday to protest an interim trade deal with the United States, saying the agreement undermines the interests of farmers, small businesses and workers. In parliament, lawmakers from opposition political parties demanded that...
Timeline: Here’s what happened each day of the Nancy Guthrie disappearanceVideo
Authorities have increased the reward for information in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, who they say was abducted from her home outside Tucson. Law enforcement officials have been combing the desert around her house and going door-to-door asking residents for any information that could break open the case. An alert...
Search for Nancy Guthrie now seeks nearby security videos from the month before she vanishedVideo
TUCSON, Ariz. — Investigators in Arizona want residents near Nancy Guthrie ‘s home to share surveillance camera footage of suspicious cars or people they may have noticed in the month before she disappeared. The alert went across a 2-mile radius in neighborhoods close to where the mother of “Today” show...
Pa. schools must teach cursive writing under bill signed by ShapiroVideo
Gov. Josh Shapiro on Wednesday signed a bill that will require a cursive handwriting curriculum in all Pennsylvania public schools. “I’m definitely rusty, but I think my penmanship was OK!” Shapiro said in his Wednesday announcement. The bipartisan legislation, House Bill 17, was sponsored by Rep. Dane Watro (R-Luzerne and...
Kennedy Center head warns staff of cuts and ‘skeletal’ staffing during renovation closure
As the Trump administration prepares to close the Kennedy Center for a two-year renovation, the head of Washington’s performing arts center has warned its staff about impending cuts that will leave “skeletal teams.” In a Tuesday memo obtained by The Associated Press, Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell told staff that...
Gallup ending presidential approval ratings as Trump’s sinks below 40%
Gallup has scrapped its presidential approval tracking polls for good just as President Donald Trump hits rock bottom in its numbers. The venerable public opinion firm announced Wednesday that it would no longer publish any approval or favorability ratings of any political figures, but suggested the decision has nothing to...
A privacy breach at the IRS: Taxpayer data wrongly shared with DHS, court filing says
WASHINGTON — The IRS erroneously shared the taxpayer information of thousands of people with the Department of Homeland Security, as part of the agencies’ controversial agreement to share information on immigrants for the purpose of identifying and deporting people illegally in the U.S, according to a new court filing. The...
Florida state official acknowledges opioid money funded anti-weed campaign
For the first time on Wednesday, the DeSantis administration acknowledged that it used opioid settlement money to campaign against a recreational marijuana amendment on the 2024 ballot. Shevaun Harris, the secretary for Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration, made the admission during an appearance before a Senate committee as part...
Member of Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission ousted in dispute over antisemitism
A member of the federal Religious Liberty Commission has been ousted after a hearing this week that featured tense exchanges on the definition of antisemitism. The ousted member, Carrie Prejean Boller, had defended prominent commentator Candace Owens, who routinely shares antisemitic conspiracy theories. Prejean Boller, a model turned conservative activist,...
House GOP pushes strict proof-of-citizenship requirement for voters ahead of midterm elections
WASHINGTON — House Republicans rushed to approve legislation on Wednesday that would impose strict new proof-of-citizenship requirements ahead of the midterm elections, a long shot Trump administration priority that faces sharp blowback in the Senate. The bill, called the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE America Act, would require Americans...
House votes to overturn Trump’s tariffs on Canada in rare bipartisan rebuke of White House agenda
WASHINGTON — The House voted Wednesday to slap back President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada, a rare if largely symbolic rebuke of the White House agenda as Republicans joined Democrats over the objections of GOP leadership. The tally, 219-211, was among the first times the House, controlled by Republicans, has...
Trump attacks Oklahoma’s GOP leader ahead of next week’s meeting of governors
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump attacked the Republican leader of the National Governors Association on Wednesday as tensions mounted between the White House and the bipartisan group of state leaders ahead of its annual meeting next week. In a social media post, Trump blasted Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican...
Deluzio says Trump administration abused its power in probe of ‘illegal orders’ video
Lawmakers targeted by the Justice Department after releasing a video telling servicemembers they have an obligation to refuse illegal orders said Wednesday they haven’t ruled out taking action against the Trump administration for “weaponizing the government” against them. “I’m not going to litigate and share our legal strategy here,” U.S....
Lawyers of Chicago woman shot by federal agents say documents show how DHS lies about investigationsVideo
CHICAGO — Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino praised a federal agent who shot a Chicago woman during an immigration crackdown last year, according to evidence released Wednesday by attorneys who accused the Trump administration of mishandling the investigation and spreading lies about the shooting. Marimar Martinez, a teaching assistant and...
Pam Bondi clashes with Democrats as she struggles to turn the page on Epstein files furorVideo
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Pam Bondi launched into a passionate defense of President Donald Trump Wednesday as she tried to turn the page from relentless criticism of the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, repeatedly shouting at Democrats during a combative hearing in which she postured herself as...
Gallery: Near or far, the world in focus on Feb. 11, 2026
The world is always moving — and TribLive’s gallery is there to catch it. From the rolling hills of Western Pennsylvania to far-flung corners of the globe, photographers near and far capture moments of place, connection and the quiet beauty of everyday life. More than a snapshot of Western Pennsylvania,...
