Politics Election category, Page 42
Trump signs executive orders targeting colleges, plus schools’ equity efforts
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has ordered sharper scrutiny of America’s colleges and the accreditors that oversee them, part of his escalating campaign to end what he calls “wokeness” and diversity efforts in education. In a series of executive actions signed Wednesday, Trump targeted universities that he views as liberal...
A dozen states sue Trump administration to stop tariff policy
NEW YORK — A dozen states sued the Trump administration Wednesday in the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York to stop its tariff policy, saying it is unlawful and has brought chaos to the American economy. The lawsuit said the policy put in place by President Donald Trump...
Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, won’t seek reelection to a 6th term in 2026
WASHINGTON — Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said Wednesday he will not seek reelection in 2026, ending his more than four-decade career representing Illinois and accelerating a generational shift in Senate Democratic leadership where he has long held the No. 2 position. Durbin, 80, is in his fifth Senate term...
Iowa town hall attendees turn on each other as Sen. Grassley faces heated questionsVideo
NORTHWOOD, Iowa — Iowans attending a forum Wednesday hosted by Sen. Chuck Grassley started to turn on each other as the lawmaker faced heated questions about President Donald Trump’s first months in office. The room of about 100 people in north-central Worth County, near the Minnesota border, was largely critical...
Law firms fighting Trump to ask judges to permanently block executive orders
WASHINGTON — Two major law firms are expected to ask separate judges on Wednesday to permanently block President Donald Trump’s executive orders that were designed to punish them and hurt their business operations. The firms — Perkins Coie and WilmerHale — have said the orders imposed in March are unconstitutional...
IRS turmoil: Leadership churn, worker exodus and threats to groups’ tax-exempt status roil agency
WASHINGTON — The height of tax season was the height of turmoil at the IRS. The agency shuffled through three acting directors over the course of a week. It’s preparing to lose tens of thousands of workers to layoffs and voluntary retirements. And President Donald Trump is weighing in on...
Gainey, O’Connor take mayoral debate stage once againVideo
With the primary election just under a month away, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor took the debate stage once again — reiterating major campaign plans related to city policing, federal funding, affordable housing and more. The hourlong debate took place Tuesday night live on WTAE-TV,...
Trump says he has no intention of firing Fed chief Jerome Powell
President Donald Trump said he had no intention of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell despite his frustration with the central bank not moving more quickly to slash interest rates. “Never did,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday. “The press runs away with things. No, I have no intention of firing...
Justice Department drops lawsuit accusing Pennsylvania city of diluting power of Hispanic voters
HARRISBURG — The U.S. Justice Department has withdrawn its lawsuit that accused a heavily Hispanic city in Pennsylvania of illegally diluting the political power of its growing Hispanic population. U.S. District Judge Karoline Mehalchick in Scranton approved the dismissal of the case against Hazleton on Tuesday, a day after the...
Top ’60 Minutes’ producer quits, saying he can no longer run the show as he has in the past
NEW YORK — With his show involved in a bitter dispute with President Donald Trump, the top executive at the storied CBS News show “60 Minutes” abruptly resigned on Tuesday while saying he’s losing the freedom to run it independently. Bill Owens, executive producer of television’s most popular and influential...
George Santos defends social media tirade to federal judge set to sentence him for fraud
NEW YORK — George Santos is defending his recent social media tirade to a federal judge who will be sentencing the disgraced former New York congressman later this week on fraud charges. In a lengthy letter ahead of the Friday court date, Santos, 36, said he remains “profoundly sorry” for...
Carnegie Mellon president joins university leaders in condemning ‘unprecedented government overreach’
Presidents of nearly 200 U.S. colleges and universities, including a dozen in Pennsylvania, have co-signed a letter condemning what they called “unprecedented government overreach and political interference” by the federal government. Carnegie Mellon University President Farnam Jahanian was the lone co-signer from a Southwestern Pennsylvania institution. A Carnegie Mellon spokeswoman...
Pete Hegseth pulled airstrike info from secure military channel for Signal posts
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is defending himself against a second assertion that he shared classified material through an unapproved and unsecured network — this time taking airstrike information from a military communications channel and sharing it in a chat with his wife, his brother and others. Hegseth pulled...
Immigrants in the U.S. unlawfully can drive legally in 19 states. Now some states want to stop them
As drivers on U.S. highways cross from one state to another, they often are greeted by a large “Welcome to ….” sign. But not all drivers are welcome in every state. In Florida, motorists with special out-of-state driver’s licenses issued to those in the U.S. illegally are not welcome to...
As controversies pile up, Trump allies increasingly turn on one another
WASHINGTON — The infighting and backstabbing that plagued President Donald Trump’s first term have returned as a threat to his second, with deepening fissures over trade, national security and questions of personal loyalty. The latest turmoil threatens to engulf the Pentagon, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has pushed out top...
Millionaire tax would generate about $400 billion in revenue
WASHINGTON — A Republican proposal to impose a tax hike on millionaires offers to generate about $400 billion over a decade, according to two new estimates provided to Bloomberg News, providing fresh revenue to partially offset the cost of the party’s multitrillion-dollar tax package. The Budget Lab at Yale projects...
Brian Fitzpatrick raised $1.22 million this quarter as Democrats plan to target his Pa. district in the 2026 midterms
PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania Republican incumbent congressional lawmakers have dominated fundraising in the first quarter of 2025, according to campaign finance reports, likely preparing to protect their seats and the House majority in the 2026 midterms. Leading the pack is U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa, a moderate Republican representing Bucks County...
Shapiro reveals he spoke with Trump about arson attack, U.S. Steel
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro revealed Monday he spoke with President Donald Trump two days earlier, nearly a week after authorities said an arsonist set fire to the governor’s residence while Shapiro and his family were inside. Shapiro, appearing at the Mt. Lebanon Fire Department to unveil $30 million in grants...
Trump renews attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Powell, accelerating U.S. market slide
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump repeated his attacks Monday against the chair of the Federal Reserve, demanding that the central bank lower its key interest rate to boost the economy. Trump called Powell “a major loser” and said that energy and grocery prices are “substantially lower” and “there is virtually...
White House voices support for Hegseth as a new Signal chat revelation stirs fresh Pentagon turmoil
WASHINGTON — The White House expressed support Monday for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth following media reports that he shared sensitive military details in another Signal messaging chat, this time with his wife and brother. Neither the White House nor Hegseth denied that he had shared such information in a second...
Trump draft proposes radical reshaping of State Department
A draft Trump administration executive order circulating among U.S. diplomats proposes a radical reduction to and restructuring of the State Department, according to a copy of the document seen by Bloomberg. The changes, if implemented, would be one of the biggest reorganizations of the Department since its founding in 1789....
250 years after America went to war for independence, a divided nation battles over its legacy
LEXINGTON, Mass. — Thousands of people came to this Massachusetts town Saturday just before dawn to witness a reenactment of how the American Revolution began 250 years ago, with the blast of gunshot and a trail of colonial spin. Starting with Saturday’s anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord,...
Some Jan. 6 rioters pardoned by Trump are now embraced as heroes and candidates for office
JACKSON, Mich. — Ryan Kelley thought he had a good shot at becoming Michigan’s governor in 2022. That is, until he was charged with misdemeanors for participating in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. His campaign sputtered and he finished fourth out of five candidates in the Republican...
Judge orders Trump administration to tell fired workers they were not let go for poor performance
SAN FRANCISCO — A U.S. district judge in San Francisco on Friday ordered the Trump administration to provide probationary workers fired en masse a written statement saying they were not terminated for performance reasons, but as part of a government-wide termination. Judge William Alsup is overseeing a lawsuit brought by...
The people who represent you in D.C. and Harrisburg are allowed to keep their calendars secret
This story originally appeared in Talk of the Town, a weekly newsletter of local stories that dig deep, events, and more from the Spotlight PA State College bureau. Sign up at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/talkofthetown. STATE COLLEGE — Since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, multiple protests have been held outside U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson’s...
