Politics Election category, Page 44
Experts call Kennedy’s plan to find autism’s cause unrealistic
WASHINGTON — For many experts, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ‘s promise for “pulling back the curtain” to find autism’s causes in a few months is jarring — and unrealistic. That’s because it appears to ignore decades of science linking about 200 genes that play a role — and...
Judge pauses much of Trump administration’s massive downsizing of federal agencies
SAN FRANCISCO — The Republican administration must halt much of its dramatic downsizing of the federal workforce, a California judge ordered Friday. Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco issued the emergency order in a lawsuit filed by labor unions and cities last week, one of multiple legal challenges to Republican...
Fetterman again in the news for the wrong reasons
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Braddock, has again found himself in the news for the wrong reasons, with recent stories calling his mental health into question. Fetterman, the former Braddock mayor and Pennsylvania lieutenant governor who was once considered a rising progressive star, has faced his share of bad press over...
President Donald Trump fires Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump abruptly fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden on Thursday as the White House continues to purge the federal government of those perceived to oppose the president and its agenda. The dismissal was disclosed in statements from three top House Democrats and confirmed by a separate...
Trump seeks tax hike on wealthy earning $2.5 million or more
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is pushing lawmakers to increase tax rates on some of the wealthiest Americans as a way to offset other cuts in his signature economic package. The president’s proposal calls for creating a new 39.6% tax bracket for individuals earning at least $2.5 million, or couples...
Trump says he’s naming Fox News host and former judge Jeanine Pirro as top federal prosecutor in D.C.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is naming Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, a former county prosecutor and elected judge, to be the top federal prosecutor for the nation’s capital after abandoning his first pick for the job. Pirro, who joined Fox News in 2006, cohosts the...
Trump says he’ll pull the nomination of Ed Martin for D.C. U.S. Attorney after concerns of partisanship
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would pull his nomination of Ed Martin Jr. to be the top federal prosecutor for the nation’s capital, bowing to bipartisan concerns about the conservative activist’s modest legal experience and divisive politics. Trump abandoned his pick to lead the nation’s largest...
House follows Trump’s lead with a vote to change the Gulf of Mexico to ‘Gulf of America’
WASHINGTON — The Republican-led House passed a bill Thursday that would rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and direct federal agencies to update their documents and maps to incorporate the new name. President Donald Trump already signed an executive order during his first day in office...
Joe Biden blames Kamala Harris’ loss on sexism and racism, rejects age concerns
NEW YORK — Former President Joe Biden says he’s responsible for Donald Trump’s victory last fall, but he attributed Kamala Harris ’ loss, at least in part, to sexism and racism. Biden, who left office in January, addressed the Democrats’ disastrous 2024 election, concerns about his age and Trump’s divisive...
Donald Trump taps wellness influencer close to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for surgeon generalVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is tapping Dr. Casey Means, a wellness influencer with close ties to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., as his nominee for surgeon general after withdrawing his initial pick for the influential health post. Trump said in a social media post Wednesday...
Democrats send ‘dead-on-arrival’ marijuana legalization bill to Pa. Senate
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. HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania House took a major step toward legalizing recreational cannabis Wednesday, passing a bill along party lines that would permit the sale...
Trump administration will provide programming from conservative network OAN for Voice of America
NEW YORK — The Trump administration, which has fought to dismantle or hollow out government-run outlets that provide news to other countries, has agreed to use the conservative media network OAN’s feed on Voice of America and other services. Voice of America hasn’t operated since mid-March because of funding cuts...
House GOP backing off some Medicaid cuts as report shows millions of people would lose health care
WASHINGTON — House Republicans appear to be backing off some, but not all, of the steep reductions to the Medicaid program as part of their big tax breaks bill, as they run into resistance from more centrist GOP lawmakers opposed to ending nearly-free health care coverage for their constituents back...
The more Trump talks about making trade deals, the more confusing the tariff picture getsVideo
WASHINGTON — The more President Donald Trump talks about his efforts to reach deals with America’s trading partners, the more confusing the tariff picture gets. His team seems good with that, saying Trump is using “strategic uncertainty” to his advantage. Trump says the United States does not have to sign...
Lawmakers seek to rein in citizen ballot initiatives with new requirements for petitions
Citizen activists supporting a public vote on important issues could have to brush up on their reading, writing and arithmetic if they want to get their initiatives on next year’s ballot in some states. A new Arkansas law will bar initiative ballot titles written above an eighth-grade reading level. And...
Appeals court reinstates Republican mayoral candidate to primary ballot
A state appeals court just two weeks before the May 20 primary has reinstated a Jeannette mayoral candidate to the Republican ballot. The ruling has left Westmoreland County election officials scrambling to reprogram voting machines and send more than 100 new mail-in ballots to Jeannette’s Republican voters. In a ruling...
Western Pa. universities work to address antisemitism on campuses as incidents soar nationally
The Anti-Defamation League asserts college campuses have become an “epicenter of American antisemitism,” with nearly 1,700 incidents of antisemitic harassment, vandalism and violence occurring on campuses last year alone. Western Pennsylvania’s two largest universities — the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University — say they have been working to...
Pennsylvania Senate votes to ban transgender athletes in girls’ sports, but bill faces uphill battle
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s state Senate on Tuesday approved a bill to ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s and girls’ sports at the collegiate and K-12 levels, although the Republican-penned bill is unlikely to get a vote in the state’s Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. The bill passed, 32-18, with five...
Key Republican says he won’t back Trump’s pick for top D.C. prosecutor because of Jan. 6 ties
WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Thom Tillis says he’s informed the White House that he won’t support Ed Martin, President Donald Trump’spick for top federal prosecutor in Washington, stalling the nomination in the Senate weeks before the temporary appointment expires. The North Carolina Republican told reporters Tuesday that he had met...
Fetterman on article about staffer concerns: ‘It’s a one-source story’
Sen. John Fetterman on Tuesday dismissed a news report detailing staff concerns about his health as a “hit piece” and “one-source story.” A New York Magazine story last week raised new concerns about the senator’s health. The article quoted Fetterman’s former chief of staff Adam Jentleson, who wondered whether Fetterman...
Recreational cannabis would be sold at state-run stores under bill advanced by Pa. Democrats
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. HARRISBURG — Democrats in the Pennsylvania House have advanced a bill that would permit the sale of recreational cannabis to adults at state-run stores, an...
Trump, Carney faceoff in Oval Office leaves gaping differences on tariffs, 51st state
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney faced off in the Oval Office on Tuesday and showed no signs of retreating from their gaping differences in an ongoing trade war that has shattered decades of trust between the two countries. The two kept it civil, but...
What’s in Trump’s big bill? Money for migrant clampdown but tax breaks and program cuts hit ‘bumps’
WASHINGTON — Congress is deep into drafting President Donald Trump’s big bill of tax breaks, spending cuts and beefed-up funding to halt migrants, but it’s “bumpy,” one Republican chairman says, with much work ahead to meet House Speaker Mike Johnson’s goal of passing the package out of his chamber by...
Badly needed updates to Pa.’s election law unlikely despite new consensus on voter ID
This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. HARRISBURG — For two decades, disputes over voter identification have sunk attempts to rewrite Pennsylvania’s badly outdated election law. But in recent years, prominent Democrats have offered tentative support...
Trump’s meme coin business racks up fees as buyers jump at the chance for access to the president
In the crypto world, meme coins are mostly just jokes with no intrinsic value. But the Trump family is parlaying the president’s meme coin into two valuable commodities: serious cash and access to the president. Since the coin was launched earlier this year, it has generated more than $320 million...
