Politics Election category, Page 128
Pennsylvania sets up election security task force ahead of 2024 presidential contest
HARRISBURG — Law enforcement agencies, civil defense officials and election administrators have begun meeting in Pennsylvania to coordinate how they will identify and fight election threats with the presidential contest just eight months away in the battleground state, Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration said Thursday. Shapiro created the Pennsylvania Election Threats...
Federal prison director tells senators about staffing ‘crisis’
WASHINGTON — Senators zeroed in on chronic staffing problems in the federal Bureau of Prisons on Wednesday, as the head of the agency said the system faces a “crisis” in recruiting and retaining employees. Long-standing staffing shortages were among the problems cited in a scathing watchdog report this month that...
Sen. Casey bill seeks to fight shrinkflation at grocery stores
Sen. Bob Casey is fighting supermarket shrinkflation. The Pennsylvania Democrat introduced a bill Wednesday that opposes the practice of shrinking everyday consumer goods such as cereal, potato chips, laundry detergent and toilet paper. The Shrinkflation Prevention Act targets corporations Casey, who is a co-sponsor of the bill, said are deceiving...
Republicans block Senate bill to protect nationwide access to IVF treatments
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans have blocked legislation that would protect access to in vitro fertilization, objecting to a vote on the issue Wednesday even after widespread backlash to a recent ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court that threatens the practice. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Mississippi Republican, objected to a request...
Congressional leaders reach tentative deal to prevent a government shutdown
WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders reached a tentative agreement Wednesday to prevent a government shutdown for now, days before an end-of-the-week deadline that risked shuttering some federal operations, according to two people familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss it. Under the new plan being finalized, Congress would temporarily...
Montana Republican Rep. Rosendale seeks reelection after dropping U.S. Senate bid
HELENA, Mont. — Republican Rep. Matt Rosendale announced Wednesday that he will seek reelection to his U.S. House seat representing eastern Montana, after he abandoned a short-lived Senate campaign under pressure from party leaders. Rosendale, a hardline conservative, bucked Republican Senate leaders earlier this month by briefly seeking the GOP...
South Carolina’s push to be next-to-last state with hate crimes law stalls again
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Supporters who want to make South Carolina the next-to-last U.S. state to pass a hate crimes law increasing penalties for some crimes fueled by race, gender or sexual orientation are running out of time to get what could be a decisive vote on the issue in the...
McConnell to step down as Senate GOP leader in November after record run in the jobVideo
WASHINGTON — Mitch McConnell, the longest-serving Senate leader in history who maintained his power in the face of dramatic convulsions in the Republican Party for almost two decades, will step down from that position in November. McConnell, who turned 82 last week, announced his decision Wednesday in the well of...
Hunter Biden in defiant deposition blasts GOP, insists he did not involve his father in business
WASHINGTON — Hunter Biden was defiant Wednesday in a closed-door deposition on Capitol Hill, blasting a Republican impeachment inquiry into his father and the family’s business affairs as a “house of cards” built on “lies” as he faced a battery of probing questions from lawmakers. “For more than a year,...
McClelland’s Pa. Treasurer campaign raised and spent money months before it officially existed
Erin McClelland, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to run for state treasurer, campaigned and accepted donations months before registering a fundraising committee with the Pennsylvania Department of State, as candidates for state office are required to do. While McClelland’s campaign chairperson said the donations and spending were properly reported...
Michigan takeaways: Presidential primaries show warning signs for Trump and Biden
LANSING, Mich. — Joe Biden and Donald Trump easily won their party’s primaries in Michigan, but Tuesday’s results showed that both candidates have cause for concern in their bid to win the swing state in November. An “uncommitted” vote in Michigan’s Democratic primary was the first indication of how backlash...
Trump and Biden won Michigan. But ‘uncommitted’ votes demanded attention
DEARBORN, Mich. — President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump won the Michigan primaries on Tuesday, further solidifying the all-but-certain rematch between the two men — yet early results from the state were highlighting some of their biggest political vulnerabilities ahead of the November general election. A vigorous “uncommitted”...
Democrats criticize Trump remarks at Black conservative gala as self-serving
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Golden and scarlet balloons adorned an entrance guarded by the Secret Service that led straight to a bar abuzz with excited reunions, a line of attendees waiting to take pictures at a photo wall and a spacious auditorium set to celebrate a unique subset of the conservative...
California governor launches ads to fight abortion travel bans
SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced an advertising campaign to combat proposals in several Republican-controlled states to prohibit out-of-state travel for abortions and other reproductive care. The multistate ad campaign and an online petition effort that launched this week, beginning with a TV commercial about a measure under consideration...
Biden, party leaders implore Speaker Johnson to help Ukraine in ‘intense’ Oval Office meeting
WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders emerged from an “intense” Oval Office meeting with President Joe Biden on Tuesday speaking optimistically about the prospects for avoiding a partial government shutdown, but with new uncertainty about aid for Ukraine and Israel as the president and others urgently warned Speaker Mike Johnson of the...
West Virginia Senate OKs bill requiring schools to show anti-abortion group fetal development video
CHARLESTON — West Virginia’s Republican-majority Senate greenlit a bill on Tuesday that would make a video on fetal development produced by an anti-abortion group required viewing in public schools. Live Action’s “Baby Olivia” video, which West Virginia lawmakers want to show in eighth and tenth-grade classrooms, has received criticism from...
Summer Lee pulls out of Muslim group fundraiser amid pressure from rivals, Jewish advocates
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, has canceled a speech at an upcoming fundraiser hosted by a national Muslim advocacy group amid mounting criticism over her participation. Lee, a freshman House member and progressive, was scheduled to speak this weekend at the annual state banquet for the Council on American-Islamic Relations’...
Trump, Biden win Michigan primary. But voters uncommitted to either candidate demand attention
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump won the Michigan primaries on Tuesday, further solidifying the all-but-certain rematch between the two men — yet early results from the state were highlighting some of their biggest political vulnerabilities ahead of the November general election. A vigorous “uncommitted” campaign...
Scott Perry wants House GOP to cancel Biden’s State of the Union addressVideo
If it were up to Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry, House Republicans would pull the invitation to President Joe Biden for the State of the Union address until the southern border is secured. In talking with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo on Monday, Perry noted that Biden “comes at the invitation...
Trump is winning big with his base, but there’s no sign that he’s broadening support
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump appears close to invincible in the Republican primaries and caucuses, but despite his commanding victories, the front-runner’s strength among general election voters remains unclear. AP VoteCast shows that Trump, the former president, has galvanized the core of the GOP electorate in Iowa, New Hampshire and South...
Nation’s top health official to visit Alabama in wake of IVF ruling
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is sending the nation’s top health official to Alabama on Tuesday for discussions with patients and doctors about the controversial court ruling that upended in vitro fertilization treatment in the state. The ruling by the Republican-controlled Alabama Supreme Court has unexpectedly propelled the issue of...
Biden is summoning congressional leaders to the White House to talk Ukraine and government funding
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will convene the top four congressional leaders at the White House on Tuesday to press lawmakers on passing an emergency aid package for Ukraine and Israel, as well as averting a looming government shutdown next month, according to a White House official. The top four...
Supreme Court casts doubt on GOP-led states’ efforts to regulate social media platforms
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court cast doubt Monday on state laws that could affect how Facebook, TikTok, X, YouTube and other social media platforms regulate content posted by their users. The cases are among several this term in which the justices could set standards for free speech in the digital...
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel will leave post March 8 as Trump moves to install new loyalists
NEW YORK — Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel will leave her post March 8, having been forced out of the GOP’s national leadership as Donald Trump moves toward another presidential nomination and asserts control over the party. McDaniel announced her decision in a statement on Monday morning. “I have...
Palestinian prime minister submits government’s resignation, a move that could open door to reforms
JERUSALEM — The Palestinian prime minister announced the resignation of his government on Monday, paving the way for a shake-up in the Palestinian Authority, which the U.S. hopes will eventually take on a role in postwar Gaza. Many obstacles remain to making a revamped Palestinian Authority a reality. Palestinian President...
