Politics Election category, Page 25
SEPTA could get a major cash infusion to reverse cuts without legislative approval
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — SEPTA has asked the Shapiro administration to tap hundreds of millions of dollars set aside for critical...
Pa. Dems select former Auditor General Eugene DePasquale as party chair
Pennsylvania Democrats have elected a new leader after a staggering set of losses in the 2024 elections. Eugene DePasquale, the state’s former auditor general, ran in a special election to replace state Sen. Sharif Street, who represents part of Philadelphia County. Street held the position for five years but resigned...
What to know about the trial of the man accused of trying to assassinate Trump in Florida
FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A federal trial is scheduled to begin Monday for a man charged with trying to assassinate Donald Trump as he played golf in Florida in September 2024. Jury selection is expected to take three days, with attorneys questioning three sets of 60 prospective jurors. They’re trying...
Postal traffic to U.S. sank 80% after Trump administration ended exemption on low-value parcels
Postal traffic into the United States plunged by more than 80% after the Trump administration ended a tariff exemption for low-cost imports, the United Nations postal agency said Saturday. The Universal Postal Union says it has started rolling out new measures that can help postal operators around the world calculate...
Biden chooses Delaware for his presidential library as his team turns to raising money for it
WASHINGTON — Former President Joe Biden has decided to build his presidential library in Delaware and has tapped a group of former aides, friends and political allies to begin the heavy lift of fundraising and finding a site for the museum and archive. The Joe and Jill Biden Foundation this...
Takeaways from RFK Jr.’s contentious hearing before Senate lawmakers
WASHINGTON — A contentious three-hour hearing between U.S. senators and Robert Kennedy Jr. devolved into multiple screaming matches on Thursday as the nation’s health secretary fended off accusations about sweeping changes he’s made to vaccines, health care policy and leadership. The oversight hearing in the Senate Finance Committee was a...
Fox News thrives 2 years after court settlement, but 2020 election coverage fight goes on
NEW YORK — Twice recently, the people who run Fox News were reminded of their biggest nightmare. The conservative network Newsmax’s $67 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems over false claims after the 2020 election recalled Fox’s own $787.5 million deal with the same company more than two years ago....
Operation Warp Speed was one of Trump’s biggest achievements. Then came RFK Jr. and vaccine skeptics
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump launched Operation Warp Speed in the throes of the covid-19 pandemic, an effort he has credited with saving tens of millions of lives. During a Cabinet meeting last week, he likened it to “one of the greatest achievements ever.” Sitting at the table as a...
Trump administration ditches Biden-era plan to make airlines pay compensation for flight disruptions
The Trump administration said Thursday it is abandoning a Biden-era plan that sought to require airlines to compensate stranded passengers with cash, lodging and meals for flight cancellations or changes caused by a carrier. The proposed rule would have aligned U.S. policy more closely with European airline consumer protections. It...
White House pans Shapiro for questioning National Guard deployments
The White House dismissed Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s opposition to President Trump potentially deploying National Guard troops to Philadelphia to fight crime, touting the results of the deployments elsewhere. “Another wannabe presidential candidate is desperate to get into the news cycle by attacking the president’s highly successful operations to drive...
Republicans move to lift drilling and mining restrictions in Western states
BILLINGS, Mont. — Republican lawmakers in Congress are clearing the way for President Donald Trump’s plans to expand mining and drilling on public lands by moving to eliminate energy development limits in several Western states. House Republicans on Wednesday night repealed land management plans adopted in the closing days of...
Kennedy tries to defend covid-19 vaccine stance in raucous Senate hearingVideo
WASHINGTON — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., facing pointed bipartisan questioning at a rancorous three-hour Senate committee hearing on Thursday, tried to defend his efforts to pull back covid-19 vaccine recommendations and explain the turmoil he has created at federal health agencies. Kennedy said the fired CDC director...
Trump to host top tech CEOs except Elon Musk at a White House dinner
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will host a high-powered list of tech CEOs for a dinner at the White House on Thursday night. The guest list is set to include Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and a dozen other executives from the biggest...
C-SPAN announces deal for its service to be carried on YouTube TV, Hulu
NEW YORK — C-SPAN said Wednesday that it had reached a deal to have its three channels air on YouTube TV and Hulu’s live television feed, ending a dispute that had led to a revenue squeeze for the public affairs network in the cord-cutting era. The network said the streaming...
Left and right joining forces to ban lawmakers from trading stock
WASHINGTON — An unusual alliance emerged in the House on Wednesday as lawmakers who agree on little else rallied support for a bill that would prohibit members of Congress and their families from owning and trading individual stocks. The group included darlings of the far right, the left, moderates and...
Shapiro says Pa. prepared should Trump decide to send National Guard to Philadelphia
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said the state has been preparing for the possibility that President Donald Trump could deploy the National Guard to Philadelphia ever since the White House sent troops to Los Angeles in June — a move that a federal judge ruled Tuesday was illegal. “Ever since the...
Fetterman, McCormick call on Pa. universities to combat antisemitism
Pennsylvania’s two U.S. senators are calling on five of the state’s universities, including the University of Pittsburgh, to ensure that Jewish organizations on their campuses are “equipped to protect the students they serve.” U.S. Sens. John Fetterman, D-Braddock, and Dave McCormick, R-Pittsburgh, said their request comes on the heels of...
Media quickly forced to revisit a thorny question: How should a president’s health be covered?
Early in Donald Trump’s news conference Tuesday, Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked a question that surely baffled people who avoided social media for Labor Day. “How did you find out over the weekend that you were dead?” Doocy said to the president. Doocy was referring to speculation about Trump’s health...
CVS requires prescription for covid shots in Pa. amid federal vaccine turmoil
CVS is requiring prescriptions for covid-19 shots in Pennsylvania because of delays on a federal panel that recommends vaccines. The new requirement reflects uncertainty over the nation’s vaccine policy under the Trump administration. Such turmoil has led several Democratic Pennsylvania lawmakers to explore whether they can put more power in...
Pa. won’t take part in the national rush to redraw congressional maps
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Despite a growing number of states exploring unusual, mid-decade redraws of congressional lines for political reasons, Pennsylvania...
Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa confirms she will not run for reelection in 2026
DES MOINES — U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst said Tuesday that she will not seek reelection next year, confirming in a video post on social media that she will retire after months of speculation about her plans. Ernst’s departure opens up a Senate seat in the state known for its long-serving...
Trump announces Space Command move as rumor mill swirls about health
After multiple days of online chatter about President Donald Trump’s health, his announcement Tuesday afternoon from the Oval Office about relocating the U.S. Space Command cleared up any questions about the status of America’s leader. Trump announced that command headquarters will be located in Alabama — reversing the Biden administration’s...
China’s Xi redraws geopolitical map with embrace of Putin, Modi
President Xi Jinping used a mix of bonhomie and economic allure this week to send Donald Trump a clear message: Beijing has too much global clout to be dictated by the U.S. Cameras captured the Chinese leader in a rare, unscripted huddle on Monday with Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi...
‘Sticker shock’ coming for Pennie users as health insurance premiums soar
The Health Insurance Marketplace is set to get more expensive for most Pennsylvanians who rely on it. Monthly premiums could rise by 300% for some residents who use the state’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance exchange, Pennie, to secure coverage. The average enrollee faces a possible 82% increase. All...
New York Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler says he won’t run for reelection in 2026
WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York says he will not run for reelection next year, according to an interview published Monday night by The New York Times. Nadler told the Times that watching then-President Joe Biden’s truncated reelection campaign last year “really said something about the necessity...
