Smartmatic says Trump’s ‘campaign of retribution’ is driving criminal prosecution
MIAMI — Voting technology firm Smartmatic is seeking to dismiss a criminal indictment for money laundering, blaming President Donald Trump and his allies for seeking its prosecution as part of a “campaign of retribution” against those they blame for his 2020 election loss. Smartmatic’s parent company, UK-based SGO Corporation, was...
Trump-backed Fuller, Democrat Harris move to Georgia runoff to succeed Marjorie Taylor Greene
ROME, Ga. — Democrat Shawn Harris and Republican Clay Fuller advanced to an April 7 runoff for Marjorie Taylor Greene’s former U.S. House seat in Georgia after no candidate won a majority in a special election on Tuesday. President Donald Trump in February endorsed Fuller, a district attorney who prosecutes...
Pa. candidate Janelle Stelson proposes mandatory retirement at 80 for members of Congress
Janelle Stelson unveiled a package of Congressional reforms Tuesday to push for if elected from Pennsylvania’s 10th House District. To get there, Stelson must first win a contested Democratic primary against Dauphin County Commissioner Justin Douglas, and then prevail against Republican incumbent Scott Perry in the general election. The former...
Turtle Creek mayor drops primary challenge to U.S. Rep. Summer Lee
The moderate Mon Valley mayor attempting to derail Rep. Summer Lee’s reelection bid has withdrawn from the Democratic Party primary. Turtle Creek Mayor Adam Forgie announced Tuesday he is shutting down his campaign. Lee, a Swissvale Democrat seeking her third term to represent Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District, was officially endorsed...
Trump threatens to crowd out Republicans’ midterm message
DORAL, Fla. — House Republicans flocked to President Donald Trump’s golf club near Miami on Monday for their annual policy retreat, seeking to carve out a legislative agenda that could blunt the strong headwinds they are facing in the midterm elections. But that effort was unfolding in the shadow of...
Trump pushes GOP on voting bill, demanding an end to most mail balloting
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday he won’t sign any other legislation into law until Congress passes a strict proof-of-citizenship voting bill that he says also must end Americans’ ability to vote by mail, a startling demand months before the midterm elections. Trump told House Republicans during their annual...
FDA opens door to more flavored e-cigarettes
The Food and Drug Administration said Monday that it would open the door to e-cigarettes in flavors that it deems appealing to adults, shifting from the agency’s unsuccessful ban on fruit and candy-flavored versions that have continued to flood the market. The agency said in a document released Monday that...
FBI subpoenas records in Arizona in expansion of 2020 voting inquiry
The FBI has expanded its criminal investigation into purported irregularities in the 2020 presidential election, issuing a grand jury subpoena for reams of information about voting results in Maricopa County, Arizona, the largest and most influential county in the swing state, according to three people familiar with the matter. The...
Rep. Kevin Kiley to become sole independent member in the U.S. House
Rep. Kevin Kiley of California is set to become sole independent in the House. Kiley, a Republican, said Monday morning that he would ask the clerk in the U.S. House of Representatives to officially designate him an independent for the reminder of his term. The move comes days after Kiley...
All the president’s portraits: President Trump’s image is ubiquitous inside the White House
Since moving back in, President Donald Trump has significantly altered the “People’s House.” East Wing: gone. Oval Office: maximalized. Rose Garden: Mar-a-Lago-ified. And the art? Lots of Trump. Over the past year, The New York Times has captured at least nine paintings, posters, memes, and even a mug shot outside...
Trump’s ‘roaring’ economy meets a rough start to 2026: What the latest numbers show
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump promised that 2026 would be a bumper year for economic growth, but instead it has kicked off with job losses, rising gasoline prices and more uncertainty about America’s future. In his State of the Union address less than two weeks ago, the Republican president confidently...
After a president-filled celebration, Rev. Jesse Jackson’s family gathers for an intimate homegoing
CHICAGO — A day after former presidents, sitting governors and local Chicago residents alike attended a vibrant, televised celebration for the late Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., the family and friends who knew him best hosted a more intimate gathering Saturday to grieve the civil rights leader at his organization’s headquarters....
Panel reviewing Trump’s White House ballroom project gets an earful from the public opposed to it
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s proposed White House ballroom is “ugly,” “grossly out of scale” and a “gold gilded edifice to one man’s ego,” according to members of the public who oppose the project and got a chance to speak their minds Thursday to a federal panel that’s reviewing it....
Drug plan middlemen face new oversight push as Pa. pharmacies close
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 — Some Pennsylvania lawmakers want to give the state’s top prosecutor more power to take on pharmacy benefit...
Poll: Pa. voters have a more favorable opinion of Shapiro than Trump
Gov. Josh Shapiro remains more popular with Pennsylvania voters than President Donald Trump, according to a poll released Thursday. Half of Pennsylvania’s registered voters believe Shapiro is doing an “excellent” or “good” job in the state’s highest office, while 44% rate his performance as “fair” or “poor,” the Franklin &...
House narrowly rejects Iran war powers resolution in early test of Trump’s strategy
WASHINGTON — The House narrowly rejected a war powers resolution Thursday to halt President Donald Trump’s attacks on Iran, an early sign of unease in Congress over the rapidly widening conflict that is reordering U.S. priorities at home and abroad. It’s the second vote in as many days, after the...
Democrats react to firing of Kristi Noem from Department of Homeland Security
Democrats took to social media Thursday to respond to criticism of ex-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after her ouster. President Donald Trump announced on social media that Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin would fill the role, two days after Noem faced tough questioning on Capitol Hill about her handling of the...
House Republican leaders urge Tony Gonzales to end reelection bid after he admitted to affair with aide
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson and the GOP leadership are calling for Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas to withdraw from his reelection race after he admitted having an affair with a former staff member who later died by suicide. The Republican leadership announced its decision Thursday, a day...
‘Christ is king’ becomes a loaded phrase in U.S. political debates, especially on the right
On its own, the phrase “Christ is king” sums up a core tenet of the Christian faith, that Jesus is the divine ruler of the universe. Catholics and many Protestants celebrate a Christ the King Sunday each year. But the ancient proclamation can morph into something political, controversial or even...
Smoothie King fires 2 Michigan workers after they refused to serve Trump supporter
Two workers were fired from working at a Smoothie King shop in Michigan after they refused to serve a Trump supporter. The incident took place at an Ann Arbor location and was posted Monday on TikTok, the Detroit Free Press reported. The video shows what appears to be a couple...
Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales acknowledges affair with former aide who committed suicide
WASHINGTON — Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas acknowledged for the first time Wednesday having an affair with an aide who later died after setting herself on fire, a revelation that came on the same day the House Ethics Committee announced it was initiating an investigation into the congressman. Gonzales,...
Sen. Fetterman is the only Democrat to vote against curbing Trump’s power to order strikes in Iran
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans voted down an effort Wednesday to halt President Donald Trump’s war against Iran, demonstrating early support for a conflict that has rapidly spread across the Middle East with no clear U.S. exit strategy. The legislation, known as a war powers resolution, failed on a 47-53 vote...
Western Pa. House delegation expected to vote along party lines on war powers resolution
While Democratic U.S. Sen. John Fetterman broke from his party Wednesday by opposing a war powers resolution aiming to stop U.S. military action against Iran, Western Pennsylvania’s House delegation is expected to vote along party lines Thursday on a similar measure. U.S. Reps. Mike Kelly of Butler and Guy Reschenthaler...
Takeaways from the 1st elections of the 2026 midterm campaigns
WASHINGTON — The midterms are here. The 2026 campaign kicked off Tuesday with high-profile primary elections in Texas, where Republican Sen. John Cornyn is heading toward a runoff vote against state attorney general Ken Paxton. Democrats chose state Rep. James Talarico over U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett to be their candidate....
Cracks appear in Trump’s MAGA base as leading figures criticize the Iran war
NEW YORK — For President Donald Trump, some of the sharpest criticism he’s faced in the early days of the Iran war has come from once-loyal media figures far more accustomed to singing his praises. Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and Matt Walsh are among those to express discontent. It’s been...
