Politics Election category, Page 240
House GOP leader: Won’t punish Rep. Matt Gaetz unless charges filedVideo
WASHINGTON — Rep. Matt Gaetz, under federal investigation for sex trafficking allegations, is “innocent until proven guilty” and Republicans don’t plan to punish him unless charges are filed, the House GOP leader said Thursday. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., also told reporters that in a private conversation, the Florida...
Trump allies work to craft a platform going beyond fealty to himVideo
WASHINGTON — Former Cabinet members and top officials in Donald Trump’s administration, including economic adviser Larry Kudlow, have launched a new think tank in an effort to create a policy platform out of the former president’s chaotic approach to governing. The 40-person America First Policy Institute, a nonprofit with a...
Democrats begin long-shot push to expand the Supreme Court
WASHINGTON — A group of congressional Democrats introduced legislation Thursday to add four seats to the Supreme Court, a long-shot bid designed to counter the court’s rightward tilt during the Trump administration and criticized by Republicans as a potential power grab that would reduce the public’s trust in the judiciary....
In a year of reckoning, slavery reparations bill moves forward in the House
WASHINGTON — A House committee late Wednesday advanced legislation, first introduced in 1989, that would study the issue of awarding reparations to the descendants of American slaves. The House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to send a bill to the House floor for the first time to create a...
No. 2 House Republican says GOP would act against Rep. Matt GaetzVideo
WASHINGTON — The No. 2 House Republican leader said Wednesday that party leaders would “take action” against Rep. Matt Gaetz if the Justice Department formally moves against the Florida lawmaker, who is under federal investigation for alleged sex trafficking. The remarks by Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana made him the...
Pitt law professor Jerry Dickinson will run for seat held by Rep. Mike Doyle in 2022
A Swissvale attorney and law professor who unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle in the 2020 Democratic primary will run for the seat again in 2022 when Doyle’s term expires. Jerry Dickinson, 34, announced his candidacy for the seat Doyle has held since 1995. A constitutional law professor at the...
Pennsylvania’s shrinking delegation will mean hard decisions
HARRISBURG — There may be nothing more nerve-wracking for a member of Congress than redistricting, when the once-a-decade redrawing of district boundaries injects a dose of uncertainty into their political careers. In Pennsylvania, redrawing the districts to correspond with population shifts identified by the 2020 census will have a particularly...
Leaders of GM, Ford among objectors to Michigan voting restrictions
LANSING, Mich. — The leaders of three-dozen major Michigan-based companies, including General Motors and Ford, on Tuesday objected to Republican-sponsored election bills that would make it harder to vote in Michigan and other states. The businesses issued a joint statement saying they are united for principles such as equitable access...
IRS chief expects new child payments to start this summer
WASHINGTON — It’s a strain, but the head of the IRS said Tuesday he expects to meet the July 1 deadline in the new pandemic relief law for starting a groundbreaking tax program aimed at reducing child poverty. That means new advance monthly payments of as much as $300 per...
Biden nominee Christine Wormuth would be 1st woman to lead Army
BERLIN — President Joe Biden plans to nominate Christine Wormuth, a former senior Pentagon official, to be the first woman to lead the Army, the White House said Monday. If confirmed by the Senate as Army secretary, Wormuth would be one of the more powerful officials in a defense establishment...
Biden Republicans? Some in GOP open to president’s agenda
RALEIGH, N.C. — Jay Copan doesn’t hide his disregard for the modern Republican Party. A solid Republican voter for the past four decades, the 69-year-old quickly regretted casting his 2016 ballot for Donald Trump. When Trump was up for reelection last year, Copan appeared on roadside billboards across North Carolina,...
White House issuing reports on states’ infrastructure needs
WASHINGTON — The Biden White House is amplifying the push for its $2.3 trillion infrastructure package with the release of state-by-state breakdowns that show the dire shape of roads, bridges, the power grid and housing affordability. The figures in the state summaries, obtained by The Associated Press, paint a decidedly...
Trump goes after Pence, McConnell in speech to party donorsVideo
PALM BEACH, Fla. — It was supposed to be a unifying weekend for a Republican Party at war with itself over former President Donald Trump’s divisive leadership. But Trump himself shattered two days of relative peace in his closing remarks to the GOP’s top donors when he insulted the party’s...
Nevada GOP censures elections official who defended results
LAS VEGAS — Nevada’s Republican Party voted to censure the secretary of state, accusing her of failing to fully investigate allegations of fraud in the 2020 election. She says there was no widespread fraud and that her own party is attacking her for refusing to “put my thumb on the...
Lawmakers seek long-term limit on governors’ emergency power
As governors loosen long-lasting coronavirus restrictions, state lawmakers across the U.S. are taking actions to significantly limit the power they could wield in future emergencies. The legislative measures are aimed not simply at undoing mask mandates and capacity limits that have been common during the pandemic. Many proposals seek to...
ADL: Fox should fire Tucker Carlson for white-supremacist rhetoric
The Anti-Defamation League has called for Fox News to fire prime-time opinion host Tucker Carlson because he defended a white-supremacist theory that says whites are being “replaced” by people of color. In a letter to Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott on Friday, the head of the ADL, Jonathan Greenblatt, said...
Biden orders study to explore adding seats to Supreme Court
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Friday ordered a study of adding seats to the Supreme Court, creating a bipartisan commission that will spend the next six months examining the politically incendiary issues of expanding the court and instituting term limits for its justices. In launching the review, Biden fulfilled...
Caitlyn Jenner considers run for California governor
Caitlyn Jenner has been an Olympic hero, a reality TV personality and a transgender rights activist. Her next step could be candidate for California governor. The 71-year-old longtime Republican has been consulting with GOP advisers as she considers joining the field of candidates hoping to replace Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom...
Biden budget seeks more for schools, health care and housing
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden released a $1.5 trillion wish list for the federal budget on Friday, asking for an 8.4% increase in agency operating budgets with substantial gains for Democratic priorities like education, health care, housing and environmental protection. The request by the White House budget office spells out...
Rep. Matt Gaetz faces probe by House ethics over potential misconduct
WASHINGTON — The House Ethics Committee has opened an investigation of Rep. Matt Gaetz, citing reports of sexual and other misconduct by the Florida Republican. The committee said in a statement Friday that it has begun the investigation and will gather additional information about the allegations. “The committee is aware...
Gaetz associate working toward plea deal with prosecutors
ORLANDO, Fla. — An associate of Rep. Matt Gaetz’s is working toward a plea deal with federal prosecutors investigating a sex trafficking operation, potentially escalating the legal and political jeopardy facing the Florida congressman. The revelation that a political ally of Gaetz’s, Joel Greenberg, is seeking to strike a plea...
Biden making new moves on guns, including naming ATF boss
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden, in his first gun control measures since taking office, announced a half-dozen executive actions Thursday aimed at addressing a proliferation of gun violence across the nation that he called an “epidemic and an international embarrassment.” “The idea that we have so many people dying every...
Former Vice President Mike Pence memoir set for 2023 release
NEW YORK — Former Vice President Mike Pence has a book deal. His autobiography, currently untitled, is scheduled to come out in 2023. “I am grateful to have the opportunity to tell the story of my life in public service to the American people, from serving in Congress, to the...
Trump favorite Sean Parnell is ‘99% sure’ he’s running for U.S. Senate
PHILADELPHIA — Sean Parnell, a decorated combat veteran and favorite of former President Donald Trump, is all but certain to run for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, according to a Republican official who spoke with Parnell this week. “He said he was 99% sure this is what he was going to...
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis threatens CBS with ‘consequences’ over ‘pay-for-play’ vaccine story on ’60 Minutes’Video
ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis threatened CBS with unspecified “consequences” over Sunday’s “60 Minutes” story about coronavirus vaccine favoritism, saying he was “going to bite back and hold (CBS) accountable.” “What they’re saying is a total crock, that somehow only Publix was getting (the vaccine) is nonsense,” DeSantis...
