Politics Election category, Page 219
Biden undergoes routine colonoscopy, Harris briefly in power
BETHESDA, Md. — President Joe Biden briefly transferred power to Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday while he underwent a routine colonoscopy, setting up a history-making moment as Harris became the first woman to hold that authority during the short time she stepped in as acting president. Biden transferred power...
House moves toward OK of Democrats’ sweeping social, climate billVideo
WASHINGTON — Democrats brushed aside months-long divisions and approached House passage of their expansive social and environment bill Friday, as President Joe Biden and his party neared a defining win in their drive to use their control of government to funnel its resources toward their domestic priorities. Final passage, which...
GOP paints Biden’s choice for bank regulator as radical
President Joe Biden’s choice to run one of the agencies charged with overseeing the banking industry faced sharp questioning Thursday from Republican senators, who tried to label Saule Omarova as someone who would nationalize the U.S. banking system. Omarova, 55, was nominated in September to be the nation’s next comptroller...
Florida GOP limits vaccine mandates, flouting White House
TALLAHASSEE — Florida Republicans approved a sweeping bill Wednesday to hobble coronavirus vaccine mandates in businesses, rejecting claims that they were sacrificing public health to hand Gov. Ron DeSantis a win in his fight against White House virus rules. Lawmakers in GOP-controlled statehouse expedited the measure, along with a package...
House censures Rep. Paul Gosar for violent video in rare rebukeVideo
WASHINGTON — The House voted Wednesday to censure Republican Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona for posting an animated video that depicted him killing Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with a sword, an extraordinary rebuke that highlighted the political strains testing Washington and the country. Calling the video a clear threat to...
House to vote on censuring Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar over videoVideo
WASHINGTON — The House will vote Wednesday on a resolution to censure Republican Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona for tweeting an animated video that depicted him striking Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., with a sword. Democratic lawmakers said Gosar’s actions amounted to threating another member’s life, calling the video “so beyond...
Jonathan Karl’s ‘Betrayal’ unearths new details about Trump’s attack on democracyVideo
The bountiful genre of Donald Trump books now has another entry, courtesy of Jonathan Karl. As the chief Washington correspondent for ABC News, he’s covered Trump since the start of his presidential campaign. Now he assesses the wreckage of the presidency in ” Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump...
Rep. Speier, survivor of 1978 Jonestown assault, to retire
WASHINGTON — Longtime California Rep. Jackie Speier, who first ran for office after surviving a 1978 ambush by cult followers that killed her congressman boss, said Tuesday that she would not seek reelection. The seven-term congresswoman’s decision to step down from a safe Democratic seat in the San Francisco Bay...
Vote on new Ohio congressional map on track by Thanksgiving
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A definitive map of Ohio’s new congressional districts appeared fast-tracked to be pushed through the Republican-led Legislature before Thanksgiving, over the objections of some voting-rights advocates and Democrats on Tuesday. At issue is the once-per-decade requirement that states redraw congressional districts to reflect updated census figures. The...
Democrat Jumaane Williams says he’s running for N.Y. governor
NEW YORK — Democrat Jumaane Williams, New York City’s elected public advocate, is running for New York governor, making the self-described activist perhaps the most progressive candidate in next year’s increasingly crowded race already featuring two formidable and potentially history-making candidates. Williams, a 45-year-old former New York City councilman who...
Wyoming GOP votes to stop recognizing Liz Cheney as a Republican
CASPER, Wyo. — The Wyoming Republican Party will no longer recognize Liz Cheney as a member of the GOP in its second formal rebuke for her criticism of former President Donald Trump. The 31-29 vote Saturday in Buffalo, Wyo., by the state party central committee followed votes by local GOP...
Biden signs infrastructure bill into law at rare bipartisan gatheringVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden signed his hard-fought $1 trillion infrastructure deal into law Monday before a bipartisan, celebratory crowd on the White House lawn, declaring that the new infusion of cash for roads, bridges, ports and more is going to make life “change for the better” for the American...
Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy won’t seek reelection
MONTPELIER, Vt. — Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the longest-serving member of the Senate, said Monday he will not seek reelection in 2022 to the seat he has held for eight terms. Leahy, 81, said he and his wife, Marcelle, have concluded that “it is time to pass the...
Democrat Beto O’Rourke running for Texas governor in 2022
AUSTIN, Texas — Democrat Beto O’Rourke is running for governor of Texas, pursuing a blue breakthrough in America’s biggest red state after his star-making U.S. Senate campaign in 2018 put him closer than anyone else in decades. O’Rourke’s announcement Monday kicks off a third run for office in as many...
DA-elect Nicole Ziccarelli burst onto scene, but her rise should not come as a surprise
In the anxious days after the November 2020 election, Nicole Ziccarelli knew she had the votes to head to the state Senate to represent her adopted home in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the Mon Valley community where she grew up. But after a few tumultuous weeks of vote counting and...
Steve Bannon indicted on contempt charges for defying 1/6 subpoena
Steve Bannon, a longtime ally to former President Donald Trump, was indicted Friday on two counts of contempt of Congress after he defied a congressional subpoena from the House committee investigating the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The Justice Department said Bannon, 67, was indicted on one count for refusing...
New limits would curtail lobbyist perks for Pa. lawmakers, but one leader could stand in the way
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania lawmakers and other elected officials have for years been able to pocket almost anything sent their way by...
Big Bird backlash: Vax lands even Muppet in political flap
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Smokey Bear taught kids the importance of preventing wildfires. McGruff the Crime Dog warned them not to talk to strangers. And in 1972, Big Bird lined up on “Sesame Street” to receive a measles vaccine as part of a campaign to get more youngsters inoculated against the...
TV’s Dr. Oz considers jumping into Pennsylvania’s crowded U.S. Senate race: reports
Dr. Mehmet Oz, a surgeon and TV personality who became famous 20 years ago after being deemed “America’s doctor” by Oprah Winfrey, is looking into joining Pennsylvania politics, according to reports. People magazine quotes a spokesperson from ” The Dr. Oz Show ” (which focuses on health and wellness) as...
Gerrymandering surges as states redraw maps for House seats
North Carolina Republicans are well positioned to pick up at least two House seats in next year’s election — but it’s not because the state is getting redder. The state remains a perennial battleground, closely split between Democrats and Republicans in elections. In the last presidential race, Republican Donald Trump...
White House rushes with infrastructure fixes for economy
BALTIMORE — The Biden administration is relying on infrastructure dollars to help fix the clogged ports and blanket the nation with internet access — but a series of initiatives rolled out on Tuesday show that the urgent pace might not be fast enough to address the immediate needs of an...
GOP Rep. Fred Upton receives death threats after backing public works billVideo
WASHINGTON — Republican U.S. Rep. Fred Upton said he has received well over 1,000 calls including multiple “nasty” death threats since the Michigan congressman voted for a bipartisan infrastructure bill that he helped write with GOP and Democratic colleagues earlier this year. More than 90% of the calls are coming...
Top Pa. House Republican wants to greatly expand lawmakers’ power over governor, executive branch
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — The top Republican in the state House wants to give the legislature the ability to block regulations or administrative...
GOP Rep. Paul Gosar under fire for anime attacking Alexandria Ocasio-CortezVideo
PHOENIX — Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar was facing criticism after he tweeted a video that included altered animation showing him striking Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with a sword. In a tweet Monday night, Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., referred to Gosar as “a creepy member I work with” and said he “shared a fantasy...
Senator is at war against vaccine mandates. His weapon of choice? Natural immunity
WASHINGTON — Roger Marshall, physician turned U.S. senator, is waging a battle in Congress against vaccine mandates. Last week, he signed onto an effort to overturn the new rule issued by President Joe Biden’s administration requiring most private employers to have their workers vaccinated or tested weekly by Jan. 4....
