Politics Election category, Page 316
Billionaire Bloomberg floods Democratic primary with cash
DES MOINES, Iowa — Billionaire Michael Bloomberg spent roughly $180 million in the month after his late entry into the Democratic presidential primary, a staggering sum that’s drastically more than all other leading contenders spent during much of the past year combined. Since his late entry into the race in...
A sideshow no more: Michael Bloomberg’s fast ascent unnerves rivals
EL PASO, Texas — This arid border town in the far western reaches of Texas hardly seems to scream Bloomberg Country. The billionaire former New York mayor has had a rocky history with minority constituents. His Spanish is bad enough to be the subject of frequent parody. The Wall Street...
Roberts says he won’t break a tie in Trump impeachment trial
WASHINGTON — Chief Justice John Roberts was never going to be vote No. 51. Roberts said Friday that he had no intention of breaking a tie in President Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial, dispelling something of a mystery that had hung over the proceedings. The statement from Roberts came before...
Senate rejects witnesses in Trump trial, ensuring acquittal
WASHINGTON — The Senate rejected the idea of witnesses in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial late Friday, all but ensuring his eventual acquittal. But senators considered pushing off final voting on his fate to next week. The vote on allowing new witnesses was defeated 51-49 on a near party-line vote....
Trump curbs immigration for 6 nations in election-year push
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced Friday that it was curbing legal immigration from six additional countries that officials said did not meet security standards, as part of an election-year push to further restrict immigration. Officials said immigrants from Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Eritrea, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania will face new restrictions...
Trump shifts to authorize wider U.S. military use of landmines
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday canceled an Obama-era prohibition on the use of anti-personnel landmines outside of the Korean peninsula. A White House statement said the new U.S. policy authorizes military commanders, “in exceptional circumstances,” to use landmines designed to reduce unintended harm to civilians. President Barack Obama...
Senate may push final Trump trial vote to next week
WASHINGTON — The Senate is considering pushing off final acquittal in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial until next week under a proposal being negotiated Friday by party leaders. The situation remained fluid, but senators have indicated they want more time to publicly debate the charges and air their positions on...
John Delaney, longest-running Democratic candidate, ends 2020 bid
WASHINGTON — John Delaney, the longest-running Democratic candidate in the 2020 presidential race, is ending his campaign after pouring millions of his own money into an effort that failed to resonate with voters. The announcement, made Friday morning, further winnowed down a primary field that had once stood at more...
Sen. Pat Toomey to vote ‘no’ on impeachment witnesses
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey will not support calling witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, a blow to Democrats’ chances of securing the four Republican votes needed to call further testimony. In a Fox News interview Thursday, Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, said the House impeachment managers have been...
Trump plan would reshape Medicaid with block grants
WASHINGTON — Blocked on Capitol Hill from cutting and restructuring federal money for Medicaid, the Trump administration launched a new effort Thursday to develop ways to change how the half-century-old safety net program is funded. The move, strongly condemned by advocates for the poor, will likely affect relatively few Americans...
Citing Bolton revelations, Sen. Casey reiterates call for witnesses in impeachment trial
Pennsylvania senior U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, reiterated a call for the inclusion of “relevant” witnesses and documents Thursday morning as he prepared to attend the second day of questioning at the impeachment trial of President Trump. Casey’s comments during a press call Thursday morning came as Republicans continued to...
Trump trial could end soon; Lamar Alexander says no to witnesses
WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee declared late Thursday he will oppose calling more witnesses in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, all but dashing Democratic efforts to hear more testimony and boosting chances the Senate will vote quickly to acquit the president. The retiring senator announced his decision...
Trump support edges up in Pennsylvania poll as impeachment continues
President Trump has grown stronger with Pennsylvania voters despite ongoing impeachment proceedings, a poll finds. A majority of the 628 registered Pennsylvania voters who responded to a Jan. 20-26 Franklin & Marshall Poll said it is time for a change in the White House. Still, 38% of them said President...
GOP optimism grows on blocking witnesses as Democrats focus questions on what John Bolton might knowVideo
WASHINGTON — Former national security adviser John Bolton loomed large in Democratic senators’ inquiries during the question-and-answer phase of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial Wednesday, but Republicans are increasingly confident that by the end of the week they will have the votes to rebuff calls to subpoena him and other...
Justice Department won’t oppose probation for ex-Trump aide Mike Flynn
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Wednesday that it would not oppose probation for former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn — a more lenient stance than prosecutors took earlier this month, when they said he deserved prison time. The latest sentencing filing still seeks a sentence of up...
Ethics panel warns House members not to share fake images
The House Ethics Committee is warning lawmakers not to share doctored images or videos that could “erode public trust, effect public discourse, or sway an election,” guidance that comes during a proliferation of online misinformation in the run-up to the 2020 elections. In a memo sent to House members Tuesday,...
Trump celebrates major rewrite of North American trade rulesVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed into law a major rewrite of the rules of trade with Canada and Mexico, celebrating the fulfillment of one of his top campaign promises while declining to share the moment with Democratic lawmakers whose support was essential to getting it over the...
Trump trial gets more pointed with Bolton book at the center
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial shifted to sharply pointed, back-and-forth questioning Wednesday as Republicans strained to contain the fallout over John Bolton’s forthcoming book, which threatens their hopes of ending the trial with a quick acquittal. The day started simply enough. Three Republican senators asked Trump’s legal team:...
Trump team wraps impeachment defense with an elephant in the Senate: John BoltonVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s defense team ended its arguments in his Senate trial Tuesday by broadly dismissing the elephant in the room: a leaked firsthand account from John Bolton, the former national security adviser, that the president directly tied aid to Ukraine to his demands for the country to...
Gov. Tom Wolf has $2.2M to help Democrats win Pennsylvania seats
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf is renewing his push for his top priorities that have stalled in Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Legislature, and the Democrat will have at least a couple million dollars to spend in this year’s legislative elections to try to improve his chances. Wolf’s campaign raised $2.8 million in...
Westmoreland Labor Council backs Democrat Prah in 58th District special election
The Westmoreland County Labor Council endorsed Democrat Robert Prah Jr. in an upcoming special election for the 58th district state House seat. It was a difficult choice between Prah and Republican Eric Davanzo, said WCLC President Walter Geiger. “We are proud of both of these men. They are both union...
GOP defends Trump as John Bolton’s book adds pressure for witnessesVideo
WASHINGTON — Senators faced mounting pressure Monday to summon John Bolton to testify at President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial even as Trump’s lawyers mostly brushed past extraordinary new allegations from the former national security adviser and focused instead on corruption in Ukraine and historical arguments for acquittal. Outside the Senate...
State Deptartment removes NPR reporter from Pompeo plane
WASHINGTON — The State Department Correspondents’ Association says the State Department has denied a National Public Radio reporter a seat aboard Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s plane for an upcoming trip to Europe and Central Asia. The decision was made a few days after Pompeo lashed out at another NPR...
Trump campaign to deploy Cabinet secretaries, lawmakers, allies to Iowa
The Trump campaign says it will dispatch high-level government appointees to stump in Iowa ahead of the state’s Monday caucuses, setting up potential pitfalls for Cabinet secretaries and other officials bound by ethics restrictions on their politicking. “This goes above and beyond anything I’ve ever seen when it comes to...
Trump rally on Jersey Shore shows loyalty beyond heartland
WILDWOOD, N.J. — President Donald Trump is holding his next rally in a county with almost no factory jobs to save, a reliance on immigrant workers and an economy built in part by coastal elites who summer there. Cape May County on the southern tip of New Jersey reflects just...
