Politics Election category, Page 6
Airport disruptions abound as senators chase deal to end Homeland Security budget standoff
WASHINGTON — Travel disruptions deepened Tuesday as senators raced to clinch an emerging proposal to end the Homeland Security shutdown by funding much of the department, including airport workers going without pay, but excluding immigration enforcement and deportation operations that have been core to the dispute. The sudden sense of...
‘Don’t make any deal’: Trump tells Republicans to hold firm on shutdown talks
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — President Donald Trump said Monday that Republicans should stop negotiating with Democrats to end the partial government shutdown and instead focus on passing voting legislation, even as Transportation Security Administration agents work without paychecks and lines at some airports stretch for hours. “I’m suggesting strongly to the...
Supreme Court appears skeptical of late-arriving ballots, a Trump target
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ‘s conservative majority on Monday sounded skeptical of state laws that allow the counting of late-arriving mail ballots, a persistent target of President Donald Trump. A ruling, likely to come by late June, that bars counting ballots arriving after Election Day would send officials scrambling...
Kalshi and Polymarket rush to ban insider trading as senators move to curb prediction markets
NEW YORK — Kalshi and Polymarket, the two biggest prediction market platforms, rushed to institute new industry guardrails on Monday after two key senators announced legislation that could severely curtail the industry’s prospects. Kalshi said it would ban political candidates from trading on their own campaigns, and it would preemptively...
Shapiro parodies and chatbot phone banks — how AI is popping up in Pa. elections
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. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Candidates for office in Pennsylvania are using AI tools to generate parody images of their rivals, create...
How Obama’s strategist discouraged Biden from running in 2016
As the Democratic presidential contest heated up in 2015, it fell to President Barack Obama’s political strategist to tell Vice President Joe Biden what he did not want to hear: He should not run for president because he could not win. It could not have been an easy mission for...
How Democrats learned to stop worrying and love tax cuts
With voters’ concerns about affordability showing no sign of fading, some Democrats are rediscovering a traditionally Republican tactic for putting money back in people’s pockets — cutting taxes. Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland proposes effectively ending the federal income tax on individuals making $46,000 or less annually and reducing...
John Fetterman doubles down on ‘TDS’ claim in face of historically bad pollingVideo
Sen. John Fetterman did not back down in the face of historically bad polling numbers in his appearance this weekend on Fox News’ “My View” with Lara Trump. Fetterman entered the day fresh off a new Quinnipiac poll that showed him at -40 in favorability rating with Pennsylvania Democrats. That...
ICE to aid airport security amid partial shutdown, border czar saysVideo
Tom Homan, the White House border czar, confirmed Sunday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be deployed to U.S. airports Monday, casting the operation largely as an effort to ease long lines that have caused frustration among travelers during one of the busiest travel seasons. President Donald Trump announced...
Democrats sharpen criticism of Vance as they look past Trump to the 2028 presidential campaign
FAIRFIELD, Ohio — Although President Donald Trump is the top Democratic nemesis, some of the party’s most ambitious leaders are increasingly looking past him and at Vice President JD Vance. In the latest example, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear traveled to Vance’s home county in Ohio, where on Saturday night he...
Congress is enacting less legislation than it has in at least a half-century, records show
Lawmakers in Washington are on pace to introduce more legislation this session than they have since the 1970s, but they’re also on pace to enact fewer bills and resolutions into law than they have in at least a half-century. A database maintained by the government transparency website GovTrack.us showed that,...
Trump’s mixed messages on Iran: ‘Winding down’ the war and easing sanctions but adding more troops
President Donald Trump frequently contradicts himself, sometimes in the same speech, social media post or even sentence. Within the space of a few hours Friday, he sent a torrent of mixed signals about the Iran war that raise more questions about the direction of the conflict and his administration’s strategy....
Senate blocks amendment on transgender athletes during weekend session on voting bill
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Saturday blocked an amendment that would ban transgender athletes from playing in women’s sports, rejecting one of President Donald Trump’s priorities as he pressures Congress to act on a broad voting bill. Senators were holding a rare weekend session to debate the voting legislation, which...
Fetterman hit with brutal 108-point polling swing among Pennsylvania Democrats
Sen. John Fetterman’s political future is not looking bright if he decides to stay in the Democratic Party. At least that’s what a recent Quinnipiac poll, which was highlighted by CNN data guru Harry Enten during his most recent segment, suggests. The polling showed that Fetterman was at +68 with...
Surprise, embarrassment, unease in Japan after Trump uses Pearl Harbor to defend Iran war
TOKYO — Senior U.S. and Japanese officials tend to shy away from anything but very careful public comments about Japan’s 1941 sneak attack on U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor. So there was embarrassment, confusion and unease on Saturday in Japan after President Donald Trump casually used the World War II...
Congress looks for Trump’s exit plan as the Iran war drags on
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump took the United States to war without a vote of support from Congress, but lawmakers are increasingly questioning when, how and at what cost the war with Iran will come to an end. Three weeks into the conflict, the toll is becoming apparent. At least...
Bill to fund Homeland Security fails again as concern grows about airport lines
WASHINGTON — A bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security failed to advance Friday in the Senate amid growing concerns about long lines to get through screening at some of the country’s biggest airports. Democrats declined to provide the support needed to move the funding measure toward final passage....
Missouri judge strikes ballot summary for Trump-backed congressional redistricting plan
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — If Missouri voters get to decide whether to adopt new U.S. House districts backed by President Donald Trump, the ballot proposal presented to them won’t say a word about gerrymandering. A state judge on Friday ordered a new, toned-down description of the redistricting plan after Missouri’s...
Running New York’s ‘toughest job’ shows challenges familiar to Pittsburgh leaders
NEW YORK — Erin Dalton, the new commissioner of the New York City Department of Social Services, comes into the role confronting a daunting list of challenges. There are 85,000 people in city shelters. Many thousands of New Yorkers are likely to lose their federal benefits, including health care and...
Democrats aim to turn Trump’s tariffs against GOP in campaigns for governor
WASHINGTON — Less than a week after the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s global tariffs, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul listened as one of the plaintiffs in the case recounted the financial toll of the levies on his wine importing business. “This is a heavy tax and you...
ICE detains 3 Las Palmas workers in Brookline
Three Las Palmas restaurant workers were detained by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Thursday morning in Pittsburgh’s Brookline neighborhood. In a Facebook post, Las Palmas Supermercados y Taquerias confirmed the detainments, which took place near Las Palmas’ location at 700 Brookline Blvd. “Good morning my people, with the bad...
Fetterman says Trump Derangement Syndrome controls Democratic Party
Sen. John Fetterman has taken yet another jab at his colleagues, saying on a podcast that Trump Derangement Syndrome controls a leaderless Democratic Party. During an appearance on the “All-In” podcast, host David Friedberg asked Fetterman to name the leader of the Democratic Party and the senator replied, “We don’t...
Trump vowed to crack down on fraudsters, but he’s pardoned dozens
Salomon Melgen was an immigrant who came to the United States and wound up committing fraud, ripping off American taxpayers by $42 million. “Melgen devised a scheme to enrich himself by defrauding Medicare to the tune of tens of millions of dollars,” an FBI official said when Melgen was sentenced...
EU leaders blast Viktor Orbán over a Ukraine loan veto, accusing him of playing election games
BRUSSELS — European Union leaders on Thursday lashed out at Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, accusing him of hijacking critical aid for Ukraine and undermining EU decision-making in an effort to win an election at home. In a rare public tirade against a member of their ranks, leaders insisted that...
A ‘freaking snake’ and no apologies: How the Mullin hearing went off the rails
WASHINGTON — The chairman opened the hearing with a provocative dare: Say it to my face. Sen. Rand Paul, the Republican from Kentucky, has made clear he has little regard for President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security, fellow Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin. He says he’ll...
