Politics Election category, Page 2
Colorado lawmakers kill ‘No Kings Act’ that would have allowed people to sue federal officials
DENVER — State lawmakers killed legislation dubbed the “No Kings Act” on Monday night, as opposition from local government groups tanked a bill that would have allowed Coloradans to sue federal officials who violated their civil rights. Two Democrats — Sens. Dylan Roberts and Lindsey Daugherty — joined with the...
Report identifies 3 UPMC hospitals at risk of closure from Medicaid cutsVideo
Three UPMC hospitals in Southwestern Pennsylvania are at risk for closure as cuts to Medicaid go into effect, according to a new report from consumer watchdog Public Citizen. UPMC Mercy, UPMC McKeesport and UPMC Greene were among the 446 U.S. hospitals identified as vulnerable because of recent financial losses and...
Justice Department seeks the names of 2020 election workers in Georgia’s Fulton County
ATLANTA — The Department of Justice is seeking the names of every person who worked in the 2020 election in Georgia’s Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold that Donald Trump has long accused of widespread voter fraud he falsely says cost him victory against Joe Biden in the state that year....
Tennessee Republicans will consider redrawing U.S. House district covering majority-Black Memphis
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As civil rights advocates protest, Republican lawmakers in several Southern states are seizing on the opportunity afforded by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to redraw congressional districts ahead of the November midterm elections. Protesters marched up to Tennessee’s Capitol on Tuesday as a special legislative session began...
Pennsylvania sues startup over unlicensed AI ‘doctors’
The Shapiro administration is suing the maker of popular chatbot service Character.AI for illegal practice of medicine, claiming its artificial intelligence-generated personalities are posing as doctors. The chatbots will go as far as to say they’re licensed doctors in the state and provide fabricated license numbers, according to the lawsuit,...
Sen. John Fetterman says he’s not switching parties, but GOP is courting him anywayVideo
Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman’s frequent criticisms of the Democratic Party have led many pundits to wonder if there’s a chance he could switch parties in the near future. Unsurprisingly, Republicans would like to see that happen. According to Politico, Republicans have been quietly courting Fetterman to either join their party...
Supreme Court restores access to abortion pill mifepristone through telehealth, mail and pharmacies
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday restored broad access to the abortion pill mifepristone, blocking a lower-court ruling that had threatened to upend one of the main ways abortions are provided across the nation. The order signed by Justice Samuel Alito temporarily allows women seeking abortions to obtain the...
Redistricting war accelerates winner-take-all political combat that’s straining American democracy
Willie Simon stood outside the Memphis motel where Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968, now a museum dedicated to the Civil Rights Movement. Days after the U.S. Supreme Court gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, Simon feared what the decision would mean not just...
Control of U.S. House hinges on historically low number of seats
A shrinking number of seats will determine control of the U.S. House after both Republicans and Democrats spent much of the past year redrawing congressional maps to erase swing districts. Even before Florida’s legislature approved a new Republican-leaning map last week, just 16 seats were listed as “tossups” by the...
Trump flexes executive power with unprecedented flouting of lower court rulings
When a federal judge shot down a Trump administration policy of holding immigrants without bond last December, it seemed like a serious blow to the president’s mass deportation effort. Instead, a top Justice Department official insisted the ruling wasn’t binding, and the administration continued denying detainees around the country a...
Political handicappers give Western Pa. incumbents the upper hand in midterms
Only one congressional incumbent from Southwestern Pennsylvania is considered vulnerable in this year’s pivotal midterm elections, and that congressman, U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Fox Chapel, faces a minimal threat, a new analysis shows. Deluzio is unopposed in the May 19 primary but will face a Republican challenger in November. Beaver...
Amtrak may make it easier to bring guns on its trains despite the alleged attempt on Trump’s life
Amtrak is considering allowing people to store guns in lockboxes on most of its trains, which critics say would weaken security measures that instead should be strengthened in light of the shooting at last weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. The company has been considering the policy change since at...
After major enforcement operations, the Trump administration recalibrates its immigration crackdown
WASHINGTON — When Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin was questioned by senators during his confirmation hearing about his vision for implementing President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda, he said his goal was to keep his department off the front pages of the news. To some degree, he has. Gone are...
Taiwan expresses concern after China calls the island biggest risk in U.S.-China relations
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan’s government expressed concern on Friday hours after a call between China and the United States’ top diplomats in which Beijing stressed that self-ruled Taiwan was the biggest risk in relations. “Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is concerned about the press release issued by China … which...
Congress approves short-term extension of divisive surveillance program hours before expiration
WASHINGTON — Congress has approved a short-term extension of a critical surveillance program used by U.S. spy agencies, staving off a Friday expiration as disputes over a longer reauthorization remain unresolved. The House sent the extension to President Donald Trump’s desk Thursday after the Senate cleared it earlier in the...
John Fetterman’s stock purchase draws scrutiny over timing and Senate committee role
A recent stock purchase by Sen. John Fetterman is raising eyebrows for its timing and because the company has reportedly received billions in federal funding that his committee oversees. Benzinga, a stock trading and news site, cited a post by an online stock tracker in reporting that Fetterman bought an...
What is Section 2, the provision of the Voting Rights Act at the heart of Louisiana redistricting case?
It remains to be seen how the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a congressional redistricting case in Louisiana will impact the political landscape. Critics say the court’s ruling Wednesday that the creation of a Black-majority congressional district in Louisiana represented “unconstitutional racial gerrymander” could open the door for more challenges...
Trump order aims to help more people get retirement savings plans in time for new federal match
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday calling for a new government website where people in the United States can find and compare private-sector retirement savings accounts, aiming to help millions of workers whose employers do not offer such plans. The order is intended to help...
Trump pulls Casey Means’ stalled surgeon general nomination and says he’ll put forth Nicole Saphier
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday he’s nominating former Fox News Channel contributor and radiologist Dr. Nicole Saphier for surgeon general after Dr. Casey Means’ path forward stalled in the Senate over questions about her experience and her stance on vaccines. In a social media post, Trump said he...
Trump signs bill funding the Department of Homeland Security, ending record shutdown
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump swiftly signed bipartisan legislation Thursday funding much of the Department of Homeland Security, but not its immigration enforcement operations, after it won final approval in the House, ending the longest agency shutdown in history. The White House had warned that temporary funding Trump had tapped...
Hegseth clashes for a 2nd day with Democrats in Congress over the Iran war
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth clashed with Democratic lawmakers in Congress for a second day Thursday, rejecting senators’ accusations that the Iran war was launched without evidence of an imminent threat and waged with no coherent strategy. The three-hour hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee mostly traced the...
Maine Gov. Janet Mills drops Democratic U.S. Senate bid against Platner, lamenting a lack of campaign funds
PORTLAND, Maine — Maine Gov. Janet Mills on Thursday dropped her bid for the U.S. Senate, pointing to a lack of campaign funds to keep up in one of the most competitive races in the country that quickly became a reflection of an internal party debate over which candidates can...
Louisiana congressional primaries suspended as a result of Supreme Court ruling, state officials say
BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana’s congressional primaries won’t be going forward as scheduled in May, as a result of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down a majority Black congressional district, the state’s top elected officials said Thursday. Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a...
Supreme Court ruling will reshape American politics. The only question is when
The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Wednesday handed Republicans their biggest victory yet in the perpetual battle to control the House of Representatives and statehouses across the country — but it may have come too late to have much of an effect on this year’s midterm elections. The 6-3...
Deluzio, Hegseth spar during heated congressional hearingVideo
U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sparred during a contentious congressional hearing Wednesday over accounts that a U.S. command post in Kuwait was unprepared for an Iranian drone attack that killed six troops and injured dozens more. When Deluzio asked Hegseth whether there was anything else that...
