Politics Election category, Page 302
Lawyers: Investigators recommend that whistleblower at HHS be reinstated
WASHINGTON — Federal investigators have found “reasonable grounds” that a government whistleblower was punished for opposing widespread use of an unproven drug that President Donald Trump touted as a remedy for covid-19, his lawyers said Friday. Dr. Rick Bright headed the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. He had received...
Trump administration asks court to toss lawsuit over ERA
RICHMOND, Va. — The Trump administration has asked a judge to throw out a lawsuit filed by three Democratic state attorneys general seeking to force the U.S. archivist to recognize Virginia’s vote to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment and adopt it in the U.S. Constitution. Virginia became the 38th and...
Aide to Vice President Mike Pence tests positive for coronavirus
WASHINGTON — An aide to Vice President Mike Pence has the coronavirus, marking the second person in the White House complex known to test positive this week. The latest positive test was confirmed by a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters....
Biden accuser Tara Reade gives first on-camera interview, to Megyn KellyVideo
WASHINGTON — The woman who has accused Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her decades ago repeated her allegation Thursday, in her first on-camera interview since the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee unequivocally denied her claim last week. “I want to say, ‘You and I were there, Joe Biden,’” Reade said in...
Trump administration buries detailed CDC advice on reopeningVideo
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Trump administration shelved a document created by the nation’s top disease investigators with step-by-step advice to local authorities on how and when to reopen restaurants and other public places during the still-raging coronavirus outbreak. The 17-page report by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention team,...
Justice Department dropping Michael Flynn’s Trump-Russia caseVideo
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Thursday said it is dropping the criminal case against President Donald Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, abandoning a prosecution that became a rallying cry for the president and his supporters in attacking the FBI’s Trump-Russia investigation. The action was a stunning reversal...
Trump valet has coronavirus; president again tests negative
WASHINGTON — A member of the military serving as one of President Donald Trump’s valets has tested positive for the coronavirus, the White House said Thursday. It said Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have since tested negative for the virus and “remain in good health.” It marked the latest...
Face masks make a political statement in era of coronavirus
WASHINGTON — The decision to wear a mask in public is becoming a political statement — a moment to pick sides in a brewing culture war over containing the coronavirus. While not yet as loaded as a “Make America Great Again” hat, the mask is increasingly a visual shorthand for...
Study shows why Dems should be cautious of Biden’s polling lead
WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton famously lost to President Trump in 2016 despite winning more votes because she underperformed in key states in the Electoral College. But a new study released Wednesday quantifies exactly how many votes the former Democratic presidential nominee “wasted” — and warns Democrats they might be doomed...
Trump holds firm on bid to ask Supreme Court to end 2010 health care lawVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that his administration would not alter its call for the Supreme Court to strike down the 2010 health care law. “We want to terminate health care under Obamacare,” Trump told reporters Wednesday in the Oval Office. He said Republicans hoped to replace the...
Senate bill would mandate safety protocols for Pennsylvania nursing homes
Long-term care facilities that have become the epicenter of Pennsylvania’s covid-19 fatalities would be subject to new safety protocols during emergency disaster declarations under a measure state Sen. Kim Ward is promoting. Pennsylvania has recorded 3,106 deaths from covid-19, with about two thirds of those coming from 495 nursing homes...
DC appeals court nominee sails through confirmation hearing amid pandemic rancor
WASHINGTON — Judge Justin Walker, as expected, breezed through his confirmation hearing Wednesday for a spot on an influential appeals court in Washington, even as Democrats pressed him on previous comments about his judicial approach and his criticism of rulings that upheld the 2010 health care law. The hearing turned...
Birth control war returns to a divided Supreme Court
For the third time in six years, a divided Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday over whether employers with religious or moral objections to contraception can be compelled under the 2010 Affordable Care Act to provide no-cost access to birth control to their workers. And also for the third time, the...
Students accused of sexual misconduct get stronger protections under new federal rules
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos issued broad changes Wednesday to campus sexual misconduct rules that would bolster the rights of the accused and give colleges more flexibility in how they handle Title IX cases. The long-awaited rules make key changes to former guidelines from the Obama administration, including a tighter definition...
Ex-California lawmaker seeks prison term delay due to coronavirus
SAN DIEGO — Former California Rep. Duncan Hunter wants to push back the start of his prison term for stealing campaign funds until next year because of concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. Hunter’s lawyers and prosecutors filed a joint motion in federal court on Tuesday and were awaiting a ruling...
Justice Ginsburg in hospital with infection, court says
WASHINGTON — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was hospitalized Tuesday with an infection caused by a gallstone, the Supreme Court said. The 87-year-old justice underwent non-surgical treatment for what the court described as acute cholecystitis, a benign gall bladder condition, at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md. New from SCOTUS: Justice...
Trump says U.S. must reopen even if more get sick, die
President Trump declared Tuesday the U.S. must begin to reopen its economy immediately, even if it leads to more Americans falling sick and dying from the coronavirus. “Will some people be affected? Yes. Will some people be affected badly? Yes. But we have to get our country open, and we...
Judge restores N.Y. Democratic presidential primary
NEW YORK — The New York Democratic presidential primary must take place June 23 because canceling it would be unconstitutional, a judge ruled Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan ruled after hearing arguments a day earlier as lawyers for withdrawn presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang argued...
Intel nominee John Ratcliffe faces skeptics, vows to resist Trump pressureVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s nominee for national intelligence director sought at his confirmation hearing Tuesday to shed his reputation as a loyalist to the president, insisting to skeptical Democrats that he would carry out the job free of political influence or partisan bias. The comments from Rep. John Ratcliffe,...
Joe Biden to be endorsed by LGBTQ group on notable anniversary
NEW YORK — On May 6, 2012, Vice President Joe Biden declared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he supported the legalization of same-sex marriage — getting out ahead of his boss, Barack Obama, on one of the most volatile political issues of the day. The largest national LGBTQ rights...
Nancy Pelosi pushes new virus package as Mitch McConnell hits ‘pause’
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pressed ahead Tuesday with the next coronavirus aid, a sweeping package that is expected to be unveiled soon even as the House stays closed while the Senate reopens in the pandemic. Key to any plan to reopen the economy, Democrats say, is robust testing....
Trump pick to oversee rescue spending pledges impartiality
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s choice to oversee a significant chunk of the $2 trillion economic rescue law is pledging to conduct audits and investigations “with fairness and impartiality.” Brian Miller, a lawyer in the White House counsel’s office, told the Senate Banking Committee during his confirmation hearing on Tuesday...
Trump officials ignored coronavirus warnings, ousted scientist says in complaint
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration failed to prepare for the onslaught of the coronavirus, then sought a quick fix by trying to rush an unproven drug to patients, a senior government scientist alleged in a whistleblower complaint Tuesday. Dr. Rick Bright, former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development...
Biden pressed to choose a black woman as his running mate
DETROIT — After a devastating start to the Democratic primary, Joe Biden’s campaign was revived when black voters in South Carolina and throughout the South overwhelmingly sided with him. Now that he’s the presumptive Democratic nominee, black voters and leaders are pressing for him to pick a black woman as...
Senate reopens despite risks as House preps more coronavirus aid
WASHINGTON — The Senate reopened Monday in a Capitol largely shuttered by the coronavirus, but prospects for quick action on a new aid package are uncertain with a deepening debate over how best to confront the deadly pandemic and its economic devastation. The 100 senators are convening for the first...
