Trump is getting the Republican Party that he wants. But can he win in the midterms?
President Donald Trump is on a winning streak in Republican primaries, most recently endorsing Ken Paxton ahead of his Tuesday runoff victory over Sen. John Cornyn in Texas. But Trump’s tightening grip on his party could make it harder to win in the November midterms, when Republicans face a broader...
Cornyn went to great lengths to avoid Trump’s wrath. The Texas senator lost his seat anyway
PLANO, Texas — As it turned out, it would never be enough. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn tried for more than a year to show Donald Trump and Texas Republicans that he and the president were on the same team. Cornyn posted a photo of himself reading Trump’s “The Art of...
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wins GOP runoff for U.S. Senate, ousting longtime Sen. John Cornyn
PLANO, Texas — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, defeating four-term Sen. John Cornyn. Paxton was endorsed by President Donald Trump last week. His victory in Tuesday’s runoff makes Cornyn the first Republican senator from Texas to lose the party’s nomination for reelection. Trump...
South Carolina Senate rejects Trump’s call to redraw congressional map for midterm elections
COLUMBIA, S.C. — President Donald Trump’s push to reshape congressional districts ahead of the November elections suffered a double setback Tuesday, as South Carolina senators declined to do so and a federal court blocked a Republican-backed map in Alabama. As early in-person voting began Tuesday in South Carolina’s primaries, the...
Democrats feud over stock trading as they sharpen anti-corruption case against Trump
DALLAS — After three terms in the U.S. House and two unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Senate, Colin Allred said he’s heard plenty about voters’ suspicions that politicians are just trying to make a buck in Washington. “‘What about the stock trading in Congress? What about people getting rich in...
John Cornyn and Ken Paxton flood Texas airwaves in final day of GOP Senate runoff
SAN ANTONIO — Voters in Texas will see little of the Republican candidates for U.S. Senate on Monday. But that’s only if they stay away from screens. There were no public campaign events scheduled for Sen. John Cornyn nor state Attorney General Ken Paxton on the final day of their...
Republicans who have drawn a hard line on Iran pan Trump’s emerging proposal to end the war
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s emerging deal to end the Iran war is drawing heavy criticism from some fellow Republicans who favor a harder line against the government in Tehran and fear a lost opportunity to finally rein in a longtime Mideast nemesis. The deal the Republican president had said...
Progressives land big win in a Philadelphia House primary and hope it means more are on the way
HARRISBURG — It looked like progressive Chris Rabb had a mountain to climb to win the Democratic nomination for a congressional district in Philadelphia. The mayor and the city’s Democratic Party had endorsed another candidate in this week’s primary. So had members of Pennsylvania’s delegation in the U.S. House. One...
Thomas Massie talks about his ‘biggest crime,’ future political plans on ‘Meet the Press’
After losing his bid for reelection last week, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie said his “biggest crime” was showing that bipartisan work can be done in modern American politics. In a moment of reflection Sunday morning on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the seven-term Republican said he thought he lost the GOP...
As Shapiro, Garrity set to face off for governor, here are 7 hurdles that could shape race
The campaign for governor is poised to kick into high gear now that the top of the ticket for Pennsylvania’s general election is set. Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat from Montgomery County, and his running mate, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis of West Mifflin, are facing Republican Stacy Garrity, the state’s...
Trump veers off-topic during speech in New York that was supposed to be on the economy
SUFFERN, New York — President Donald Trump, from a toss-up congressional district in New York on Friday, began testing his midterm message that was ostensibly on the economy. But he veered off-topic right from the start, going off on tangents about voter identification, crime in cities, transgender women in sports...
Warsh is sworn in as the Fed chair after Trump’s bid for greater control over the independent bank
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday oversaw the White House swearing-in of the new Federal Reserve chair and said he would like Kevin Warsh’s help in stimulating the economy even as he tried to emphasize that the nation’s central bank would remain independent. Trump spent months criticizing Warsh’s predecessor,...
An all-female Senate delegation is heading to the Arctic to reassure U.S. allies
WASHINGTON — Seeking to reassure U.S. allies, a bipartisan group of senators is departing for a tour of Arctic nations. And this time they’re leaving the men behind. From the eight senators to their staff and military liaison officers, the group will be entirely women as they pay diplomatic visits...
Blanche thrust into Republican firestorm over $1.8B fund as he seeks to prove his loyalty to Trump
WASHINGTON — When acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed off on a nearly $1.8 billion fund meant to compensate President Donald Trump’s allies for alleged political prosecution, he may have pleased his boss. But the eyebrow-raising move — the latest in his push to prove his loyalty to Trump —...
Pushed to the limit, Republicans show rare defiance to Trump’s demands
WASHINGTON — The day arrived when the Senate just said, No. President Donald Trump’s political revenge tour met its potential match this week as angry, upset Republican senators, pushed to a breaking point by his seemingly insatiable and outlandish demands — particularly a $1.776 billion fund for Jan. 6 rioters...
In heavily Democratic California, 2 GOP House rivals grapple in nasty fight over Trump loyalty
CORONA, Calif. — No one would call California Trump country. But a vicious U.S. House primary is playing out southeast of Los Angeles where two Republican incumbents wedged into the same district are fighting over their MAGA bona fides and loyalty to the president. Rep. Ken Calvert, the longest serving...
Republicans call off vote on Iran war resolution that was on the verge of passing
WASHINGTON — Republicans struggled Thursday to find the votes to dismiss legislation that would compel President Donald Trump to withdraw from the war with Iran, delaying planned votes on the matter into June. The House had scheduled a vote on a war powers resolution, brought by Democrats, that would rein...
Backlash to Trump’s $1.8B settlement fund delays GOP immigration billVideo
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans abruptly left Washington on Thursday without voting on a roughly $70 billion bill to fund immigration enforcement agencies, frustrated with the White House and at an impasse over whether to try to block a new $1.776 billion settlement fund to compensate Trump allies who believe they...
John Fetterman’s chief of staff resigns before new report on the senator’s relationship with Israel ally
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s chief of staff resigned this week, the latest departure in the office of a controversial Pennsylvania Democrat who has struggled at times to retain staff. The resignation of Cabelle St. John, who held the top position in Fetterman’s office since June, came before a report that...
Surgeon General’s Office tells young people to put down the phones and ‘live real life’Video
The Surgeon General’s Office is telling young people to touch grass, in internet lingo, as part of a new warning linking excessive screen time to developmental delays, poor academic outcomes and mental health issues. Released Wednesday, the 43-page advisory calls on Americans of all ages to cut back on scrolling...
Scott Timko edges out Ethan Nicholas to earn GOP nod in 12th state House District
The third time turned out to be a charm for Cranberry’s Scott Timko as he earned the Republican nomination in Tuesday’s primary election race in the 12th state House District after coming up short in two previous bids. Timko collected nearly 52% of votes cast compared to 48% for his...
Facing intense internal pressure, DNC releases postelection autopsy that criticizes Kamala Harris
NEW YORK — Kamala Harris “wrote off rural America” during the 2024 presidential campaign and failed to attack Donald Trump with sufficient “negative firepower,” according to a long-awaited post-election autopsy released Thursday by the Democratic National Committee. But the document’s key findings, the focus of much mystery over the last...
At 1 Kentucky bar, young Republicans wrestle with their disappointment in Trump and their party
COVINGTON, Ky. — On a recent evening in northern Kentucky, over a dozen young Republicans gathered with beers and brightly colored cocktails at a bar called dEcORa, its neon interior as eccentric as its capitalization, ribbing each other and picking apart the presidential administration they welcomed with high hopes last...
Democrats are hoping for a breakthrough as the House takes another Iran war vote
WASHINGTON — The House is expected to vote on legislation Thursday to compel President Donald Trump to withdraw from the war with Iran, a significant test of lawmakers’ willingness to go along with a conflict the president launched over two months ago without congressional approval. The vote is the latest...
Voter turnout for primary election lags with few contested races on spring ballots
Westmoreland County’s political leaders have a simple plan for November. Democratic and Republican party heads Wednesday said that plan will be to drive up vote totals after a lackluster spring primary that saw turnout dip to 24% of all eligible voters. According to unofficial results released by the county election...
