Politics Election category, Page 6
Ending the death penalty gains support from both parties in Pa. House
A Pennsylvania House committee on Monday passed a pair of bills that would abolish capital punishment in the commonwealth, potentially ending decades of limbo in which death sentences have been handed down but not carried out. Both bills passed the House Judiciary Committee on party-line votes, with the Democratic majority...
Former Pa. governors call on state leaders to make Shapiro’s security a priority
In the wake of a third assassination attempt on President Donald Trump on Saturday, all five of Pennsylvania’s living former governors called on state leaders to make the safety and security of Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family a top priority. “Combating political violence and keeping our elected officials safe...
Virginia Supreme Court considers whether to block voter-approved U.S. House map favoring Democrats
RICHMOND, Va. — Attorneys defending Virginia’s new Democratic-drawn congressional districts faced skeptical questions Monday from state Supreme Court judges who are considering whether to overturn the redistricting plan approved by voters last week that could help Democrats win as many as four additional U.S. House seats. A Republican challenge to...
DC gala shooting suspect aired grievances against Trump in writings to family
WASHINGTON — The man accused of opening fire at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner railed against Trump administration policies and referred to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin” in writings sent to family members minutes before the attack that authorities increasingly believe was politically motivated, according to a law...
Close watch on how Trump and journalists will get along at White House correspondents’ dinner
Donald Trump’s expected attendance at Saturday’s annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington for his first time as president will put his administration’s often-contentious relationship with the press on full public display. Trump will be watched closely at the event held by the organization of reporters who cover him...
Justice Department drops criminal probe of Fed chair Powell, likely clearing the way for Kevin Warsh
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has ended its investigation into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, clearing a major roadblock to the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as his successor. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said on X Friday that her office was ending its probe into the...
‘2 ways of calculating’: Trump defends his mathematically impossible calculations on drug prices
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, who helped push the term “fake news” into the mainstream, now seems to have a new favorite subject: fake math. During a Thursday event announcing a deal with drugmaker Regeneron to lower the cost of its pharmaceutical products, Trump defended his past claims that prices...
Congress keeps holding all-nighters, creating dysfunction after dark
WASHINGTON — Just as the Senate prepared to launch into a late-night vote series, Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana went to the floor to vent. Frustrated and seemingly exhausted Wednesday, Kennedy said he wanted more time to debate his amendments to a budget resolution to fund immigration enforcement agencies....
Senate passes budget plan for ICE and Border Patrol in bid to reopen Homeland Security Department
WASHINGTON — The Senate took the first steps in a new effort to reopen the Department of Homeland Security early Thursday, voting to adopt a budget plan that would fund ICE and Border Patrol over Democratic objections and sending it to the House. The entire department has been shut down...
Senate hearings with RFK Jr. put Bill Cassidy’s competing loyalties to Trump and science on display
A Republican senator juggling three roles — lawmaker, doctor and political candidate seeking reelection — walked a fine line on Wednesday as he questioned Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has moved to dramatically roll back the nation’s childhood vaccine recommendations. Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy,...
Beneath Trump’s ballroom legal case: A brief history of the White House bunker
Secrecy surrounding White House security makes details hard to come by, but President Donald Trump’s court fight over his $400 million ballroom casts some light on an underground bunker at the site that has had a role in history. The bunker emerged in the Trump administration’s court fight against the...
Virginia voters approve redistricting plan that could boost Democrats’ seats in Congress
Virginia voters approved a mid-decade redistricting plan Tuesday that could boost Democrats’ chances of winning four additional U.S. House seats in November’s midterm elections that will decide control of the closely divided Congress. The constitutional amendment backed by voters bypasses a bipartisan redistricting commission to allow the use of new...
Sen. Dave McCormick endorses Trump nominee for Fed chair
U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick introduced the nominee to chair the Federal Reserve at a contentious Senate Banking Committee hearing on Tuesday, describing him as a personal friend who he said is the “right man for this pivotal moment.” “He will shake up a stagnant institution at a time when change...
Trump, other top Republicans read passages in a marathon Bible event
President Donald Trump and many of his leading Christian supporters and top Republicans are taking part this week in a marathon reading of the Bible in an America 250-themed event billed as encouraging a “return to the spiritual foundation that has shaped our country.” The America Reads the Bible event...
Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida resigns amid ethics investigation
WASHINGTON — Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick is resigning from Congress rather than be formally disciplined by the House as part of an ethics investigation into her use of campaign funds. Explaining her decision in an extended social media statement Tuesday, the Florida Democrat decried the internal investigation process as unfair. She...
Virginia voters deciding on redistricting plan that could boost Democrats’ seats in Congress
Virginia voters on Tuesday are deciding whether to ratify an unusual mid-decade redrawing of U.S. House districts that could boost Democrats’ chances of flipping control of the closely divided chamber, as the state becomes the latest front in a national redistricting battle. A proposed constitutional amendment backed by Democratic officials...
Trump and other top Republicans will read passages in a marathon Bible event
President Donald Trump and many of his leading Christian supporters and top Republicans are taking part this week in a marathon reading of the Bible in an America 250-themed event billed as encouraging a “return to the spiritual foundation that has shaped our country.” The America Reads the Bible event...
Traffic and trepidation in the Persian Gulf could keep gasoline prices from dropping quickly
NEW YORK — After U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran’s foreign minister said the Strait of Hormuz was fully open to commercial vessels after almost seven weeks of war, oil prices plunged 10% and the stock market rallied Friday. Motorists, hoping for relief at the pump, wondered how quickly gasoline...
Turning Point USA’s high school push in GOP states meets free speech and religion concerns
OMAHA, Neb.— Republican leaders across the U.S. are encouraging chapters of the conservative political group Turning Point USA in all public high schools in the wake last year’s assassination of co-founder Charlie Kirk, an effort they describe as countering the oppression of conservative voices in education. The group’s endorsement by...
Trump approval plummets among Latino voters — except in Florida, new poll finds
Latino voters across the country — a surprising part of Donald Trump’s coalition in 2024 — are now extremely dissatisfied with the president and his policies, a new poll shows. But that is not so much true in Florida, where Cubans remain a bastion of GOP support. In a nationwide...
Trump’s lawyers are in talks with the IRS to resolve president’s $10B lawsuit
WASHINGTON — Lawyers for President Donald Trump are engaged in talks with the IRS to resolve a $10 billion lawsuit the president filed against his own tax collection agency over the leak of his tax information to news outlets between 2018 and 2020. In a federal court filing Friday, Trump...
House extends surveillance powers until April 30 after late-night revolt sinks GOP plan
WASHINGTON — The House early Friday approved a short-term renewal until April 30 of a controversial surveillance program used by U.S. spy agencies in a post-midnight vote after Republicans revolted and refused President Donald Trump’s push for a longer extension. GOP leaders rushed lawmakers back into session late Thursday with...
Trump draws Marie Antoinette comparisons as he leans into the gilded trappings of the presidency
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump had something urgent to address while flying back to Washington from his luxury Mar-a-Lago estate on a recent Sunday. It wasn’t the Iran war, nor the still-going partial government shutdown over Department of Homeland Security funding. He wanted to talk about a monumental issue of...
Trump bets his tax cuts will please Las Vegas voters on his swing West
LAS VEGAS — President Donald Trump is betting that the tax cuts he signed into law last year will resonate with voters in Las Vegas, where he highlighted his tax breaks for tipped workers in an appeal targeted at this year’s midterm elections. Workers who earn tips and overtime are...
Wanna bet? Washington steps up scrutiny of prediction markets
WASHINGTON — As the United States was preparing a daring mission to rescue an airman whose fighter jet was shot down by Iran, there was money to be made. Users on Polymarket, the world’s largest prediction market, could place bets on when the airman would be rescued. When Rep. Seth...
