Politics Election category, Page 72
Trump’s promised ‘Liberation Day’ of tariffs is coming. Here’s what it could mean for you
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says Wednesday will be “Liberation Day” — a moment when he plans to roll out a set of tariffs that he promises will free the United States from foreign goods. The details of Trump’s next round of import taxes are still sketchy. Most economic analyses...
Drama on Grant Street sparks widespread concerns about Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey
As Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey faces a critical primary showdown in May, turmoil has engulfed his administration. Personnel shakeups, public outbursts, pushback by a newly rebellious City Council — all the drama is making some political observers question whether Gainey may be vulnerable to rival Democrat Corey O’Connor. Among critics’...
Trump increasingly asks the Supreme Court to overrule judges blocking key parts of his agenda
WASHINGTON — As losses mount in lower federal courts, President Donald Trump has returned to a tactic that he employed at the Supreme Court with remarkable success in his first term. Three times in the past week, and six since Trump took office a little more than two months ago,...
Wisconsin judge won’t stop Musk’s $1 million payments to voters. Attorney general appeals
MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin judge on Saturday declined to stop billionaire Elon Musk from handing over $1 million checks to two voters in the state at a planned rally days before the closely contested Supreme Court election. The state attorney general, who argues that the offer violates the law,...
U.S. Naval Academy ends affirmative action in admissions
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The U.S. Naval Academy will no longer consider race, ethnicity or sex as a factor for admission to the service institution, a response to an executive order by President Donald Trump, according to federal court documents made public Friday. The change in policy was made in February...
Pittsburgh event featuring U.S. Sens. McCormick, Fetterman is postponed
A paid event featuring U.S. Sens. Dave McCormick and John Fetterman that had been scheduled for Saturday in Pittsburgh has been postponed. An Eventbrite listing for the event was updated Friday afternoon to announce the postponement, but it did not give a reason. Messages left for McCormick, R-Pittsburgh, and Fetterman,...
Trump administration investigates Maine for claims of withholding gender transitions from parents
PORTLAND, Maine — The administration of President Donald Trump is investigating Maine with a claim that dozens of school districts in the state violate federal law by withholding information about students’ gender transitioning from parents. The U.S. Department of Education said it launched the investigation on Friday, the day after...
Utah becomes first state to ban LGBTQ+ pride flags in government buildings and schools
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah became the first state to prohibit flying LGBTQ+ pride flags at schools and all government buildings after the Republican governor announced he was allowing a ban on unsanctioned flag displays to become law without his signature. Gov. Spencer Cox, who made the announcement late Thursday...
4 ways Pa. could fix its campaign finance laws to reduce the power of money in politics
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s lax campaign finance laws allow powerful interests to pour unlimited dollars into politicians’ campaign accounts with few restrictions. Campaign checks help donors or their lobbyists gain access to top elected officials who set the policy agenda in the Capitol, those versed in the way power works in...
Vance and wife tour U.S. military base in Greenland after diplomatic spat over uninvited visit
NUUK, Greenland — Vice President JD Vance, his wife and other senior U.S. officials visited an American military base in Greenland on Friday in a trip that was scaled back after an uproar among Greenlanders and Danes who were irked that the original itinerary was planned without consulting them. The...
Musk deletes post promising he’d go to Wisconsin to deliver $2 million to Supreme Court race voters
MADISON, Wis. — Billionaire Elon Musk on Friday deleted a social media post in which he had announced plans to hold a rally in Wisconsin to “personally hand over” $2 million to a pair of voters who have already cast their ballots in the state’s hotly contested Supreme Court race....
Democrats pour millions of dollars into 2 special elections in Florida
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Democrats, with few electoral outlets for their outrage at President Donald Trump’s dramatic restructuring of the federal government, are pouring millions of dollars into two special elections in Florida. That’s where Democratic candidates are trying to accomplish the improbable by flipping a pair of Trump-friendly congressional seats...
Trump executive order on Smithsonian targets funding for programs with ‘improper ideology’
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday revealed his intention to force changes at the Smithsonian Institution with an executive order that targets funding for programs that advance “divisive narratives” and “improper ideology,” the latest step in a broadside against culture he deems too liberal. Trump claimed there has been...
Top Florida lawmaker has ‘personal concerns’ about a push to loosen child labor laws
TALLAHASSEE — Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez says he has “personal concerns” about a proposal that would loosen the state’s child labor laws and allow many teenagers to work overnight jobs on school days without a meal break. The proposal — which is moving in the Florida Senate but has...
Judge likely to strike objections to Pine-Richland School Board candidate’s election petitions
After a brief hearing March 27, Judge John McVay indicated he likely will strike two objections filed against Pine-Richland School Board candidate Robert Stein. The objections, filed by Pine-Richland attorney Chris Cafardi, alleged that Stein, who is running in Region 2 of the district, did not have enough Democratic signatures...
Senators overseeing the military request an investigation at the Pentagon into use of the Signal app
WASHINGTON — The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee requested an investigation Thursday into how Trump national security officials used the Signal app to discuss military strikes, ensuring at least some bipartisan scrutiny on an episode President Donald Trump has dismissed as frivolous. Sen. Roger Wicker,...
Health and Human Services to lay off 10,000 workers, close agencies in a major restructuring
WASHINGTON — In a major overhaul, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will lay off 10,000 workers and shut down entire agencies, including ones that oversee billions of dollars in funds for addiction services and community health centers across the country. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. criticized...
Trump says Signal chat isn’t ‘really an FBI thing.’ The FBI has a long history of such inquiries
WASHINGTON — FBI Director Kash Patel was not part of a Signal chat in which other Trump administration national security officials discussed detailed attack plans, but that didn’t spare him from being questioned by lawmakers this week about whether the nation’s premier law enforcement agency would investigate. Patel made no...
The White House says nothing classified was shared on Signal. Democrats say that strains credulity
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration struggled Wednesday to stem the fallout from revelations that top national security officials discussed sensitive attack plans over a messaging app and mistakenly added a journalist to the chain. The White House said the information shared through the publicly available Signal app with Jeffrey Goldberg,...
Congressional Republicans target PBS, NPR funding in contentious hearingVideo
WASHINGTON — A House Republican pushing the Trump administration’s government efficiency efforts called for dismantling and defunding the nation’s public broadcasting system following a contentious hearing Wednesday featuring the heads of PBS and NPR. “We believe that you all can hate us on your own dime,” said Georgia Rep. Marjorie...
Organizers of Fetterman, McCormick event mum on venue details as protesters mobilize
Dana Kellerman plans to protest Saturday in Pittsburgh. She just doesn’t know where yet. Complicating matters, Kellerman said she wasn’t sure where hundreds of other anticipated protesters should go or where they should set up their giant inflatable chicken. It all depends on where U.S. Sens. Dave McCormick and John...
Trump places 25% tariff on imported autos, expecting to raise $100 billion in tax revenues
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday he was placing 25% tariffs on auto imports, a move the White House claims would foster domestic manufacturing but could also put a financial squeeze on automakers that depend on global supply chains. “This will continue to spur growth,” Trump told reporters. “We’ll...
JD Vance joins Greenland tour as Trump says of island: ‘We need it’Video
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — First it was Donald Trump Jr. announcing he was “coming in hot” to Greenland weeks after his father said the U.S. would annex the world’s biggest island. Now Vice President JD Vance is joining a trip there because he doesn’t want his wife “to have all that...
Democrats take hope from upset win in GOP-leaning Pa. state Senate district
MANHEIM — Democrat James Andrew Malone narrowly won a special election for a Pennsylvania state Senate seat in Republican-leaning suburbs and farming communities, scoring an upset in a district that a Democrat hasn’t represented in the chamber for 136 years. Malone’s victory over Republican Josh Parsons in Tuesday night’s election...
Researchers in limbo as Columbia bows to Trump’s demands in bid to restore $400M federal funding
NEW YORK — When President Donald Trump canceled $400 million in funding to Columbia University over its handling of student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, much of the financial pain fell on researchers a train ride away from the school’s campus, working on things like curing cancer and studying...
