Politics Election category, Page 44
Senate confirms Trump nominee Caine for chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff in overnight vote
WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine to become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Friday, filling the position almost two months after President Donald Trump fired his predecessor. Trump nominated Caine to become the top U.S. military officer in...
Trump nominee for public lands post withdraws after her criticism of Jan. 6 attack surfaces
BILLINGS, Mont. — President Donald Trump’s nominee to oversee an agency that manages a quarter-billion acres of public land has withdrawn her nomination following revelations that she criticized the Republican president in 2021 for inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The withdrawal of Kathleen Sgamma to lead...
House approves budget framework for Trump’s ‘big’ bill after intense wrangling sways GOP holdouts
WASHINGTON — House Republicans narrowly approved their budget framework Thursday, a political turnaround after Speaker Mike Johnson worked into the night to satisfy GOP holdouts who had refused to advance trillions of dollars in tax breaks without deeper spending cuts. Johnson stood with Senate Majority Leader John Thune early in...
Uncertainty still abounds for Western Pa. businesses, consumers despite tariffs pause
Many consumers and business owners across Western Pennsylvania responded Wednesday with a sense of relief to President Trump’s decision to pause most of his hefty reciprocal tariffs on imported goods — and the stock market responded with historic gains. But the 90-day pause doesn’t apply to China, one of the...
Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity seriously eyeing run for governor as the GOP race for 2026 heats up
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity is seriously considering a run for governor in 2026, as the GOP race to challenge Gov. Josh Shapiro heats up. Garrity, who replaced Shapiro as Pennsylvania’s top vote-getter in history when she won reelection last year, has been a leading prospect for Republican insiders...
Pa. House passes pension increase for oldest retired teachers, state government workers
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has again passed a bill that would give a cost-of-living raise to roughly 59,000 retired teachers and state employees whose pension benefits have been held flat since 2002. The issue is one of the many idiosyncrasies of the State Employees Retirement System (SERS) and the...
Trump targets ‘Anonymous’ author and former top cybersecurity official in escalation of retributionVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump intensified his efforts to punish his critics by signing a pair of memoranda directing the Justice Department to investigate two officials from his first administration and stripping them of any security clearances they may have. Trump’s targeting of Miles Taylor, a former Department of Homeland...
Some House Republicans threaten Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ budget and tax cut bill ahead of floor vote
WASHINGTON — Despite a shove from President Donald Trump, House Republicans abruptly postponed a vote late Wednesday on their budget framework, unable to convince conservative GOP holdouts who had raised grave misgivings over allowing trillions of dollars in tax breaks without deeper spending cuts. Speaker Mike Johnson almost dared the...
‘I only have a semester left’: Carnegie Mellon student among those whose visas were terminated
Jayson Ma received the same email as everyone else at Carnegie Mellon University on Monday afternoon. The message, sent by the provost, announced the federal government had terminated the visas for two of Carnegie Mellon’s current international students, making them ineligible to continue studying in the United States. “I was...
Trump limits tariffs on most nations for 90 days, raises taxes on Chinese imports
WASHINGTON — Facing a global market meltdown, President Donald Trump on Wednesday abruptly backed off his tariffs on most nations for 90 days even as he further jacked up the tax rate on Chinese imports to 125%. It was seemingly an attempt to narrow what had been an unprecedented trade...
Michigan Democratic Gov. Whitmer strays from her party in moving closer to Trump
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer delivered a speech emphasizing points of agreement with President Donald Trump on economic policy, just hours before their scheduled meeting — a reflection of the high-profile Democrat’s more diplomatic approach toward the president as her party ramps up its attacks on him. Framed...
Fetterman writes column on importance of weight loss drugs
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman says there is a drug on the market that has changed his life: Mounjaro. The drug, generally prescribed for Type 2 diabetes and weight loss, has also been touted for its heart health benefits. Fetterman suffered a stroke in May 2022. In a New York Times...
Republicans are going public with their growing worries about Trump’s tariffs
WASHINGTON — Manufacturers struggling to make long-term plans. Farmers facing retaliation from Chinese buyers. U.S. households burdened with higher prices. Republican senators are confronting the Trump administration with those worries and many more as they fret about the economic impact of the president’s sweeping tariff strategy that went into effect...
AP wins reinstatement to White House events after judge rules government can’t restrict its journalists
A federal judge ordered the White House on Tuesday to restore The Associated Press’ full access to cover presidential events, ruling on a case that touched at the heart of the First Amendment and affirming that the government cannot punish the news organization for the content of its speech. U.S.....
Democrats already planning for 2026 and think they can flip these 4 Pa. congressional seats
House Democrats have their eyes on four Pennsylvania congressional districts in 2026 — two they hope to regain and two they’ve been trying to win for years. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee told The Inquirer it is focusing its midterm attention on longtime U.S. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Bucks County...
Trump’s new insult ‘Panican’ becomes part of tariff debate
Fresh from Donald Trump’s insult factory is a new word: Panican. Trump unveiled the linguistic invention Monday in social media posts calling out those critical of his newly imposed tariffs. “The United States has a chance to do something that should have been done DECADES AGO. Don’t be Weak! Don’t...
U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick on Trump tariffs: ‘Let’s give it a little time’
U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick said Monday after touring an East Pittsburgh manufacturing facility that it’s too soon to pass judgment on the sweeping tariffs imposed last week by President Donald Trump. “There’s a lot of uncertainty (over the tariffs) right now. I think over the coming days and weeks a...
Trump threatens more tariffs on China as global markets plungeVideo
WASHINGTON — Undeterred by a stock market collapse that has continued for days, President Donald Trump threatened additional tariffs on China on Monday, raising fresh concerns that his drive to rebalance the global economy could intensify a financially destructive trade war. Trump’s threat, which he delivered on social media, came...
Tentative deal reached in Republican fight over proxy voting for new parents
WASHINGTON — A tentative deal has been reached with the Florida Republican leading a bipartisan push to allow proxy voting in the U.S. House for new parents, potentially ending a standoff that halted legislative work for days and threatened to delay a vote this week to advance President Donald Trump’s...
Trump digs in his heels as global markets keep dropping over tariffsVideo
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — President Donald Trump remained defiant on Monday as global markets continued plunging after his tariff announcement last week. He said other countries had been “taking advantage of the Good OL’ USA!” in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform. “Our past ‘leaders’ are to...
After nearly 2,000 hours in office, Trump’s W.Pa. supporters all-in for tariffs, tough talk
President Donald Trump revels in the populism and nationalist rhetoric that riles up his base. This was evident on Wednesday. “This is one of the most important days, in my opinion, in America’s history. It’s our declaration of economic independence. My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day,” Trump said as...
Trump goes all in with bet that the heavy price of tariffs will pay off for Americans
WASHINGTON — Not even 24 hours after his party lost a key Wisconsin race and underperformed in Florida, President Donald Trump followed the playbook that has defined his political career: He doubled down. Trump’s move on Wednesday to place stiff new tariffs on imports from nearly all U.S. trading partners...
Trump’s tariff push is a race against time, and potential voter backlash
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s expansive new tariffs reverse a decades-long global trend of lower trade barriers and are likely, economists say, to raise prices for Americans by thousands of dollars each year while sharply slowing the U.S. economy. The White House is gambling that other countries will also suffer...
Trump says things are ‘going very well’ after worst stock market drop in years over tariffs
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump offered a rosy assessment after the stock market dropped sharply Thursday over his tariffs, saying, “I think it’s going very well.” “The markets are going to boom, the stock is going to boom, the country is going to boom,” he said when asked about the...
Brown University to see half a billion in federal funding halted by Trump administration
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is planning to halt more than half a billion dollars in contracts and grants awarded to Brown University, adding to a list of Ivy League colleges that have had their federal money threatened as a result of their responses to antisemitism, a White House official...
