Politics Election category, Page 9
Florida state official acknowledges opioid money funded anti-weed campaign
For the first time on Wednesday, the DeSantis administration acknowledged that it used opioid settlement money to campaign against a recreational marijuana amendment on the 2024 ballot. Shevaun Harris, the secretary for Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration, made the admission during an appearance before a Senate committee as part...
House GOP pushes strict proof-of-citizenship requirement for voters ahead of midterm elections
WASHINGTON — House Republicans rushed to approve legislation on Wednesday that would impose strict new proof-of-citizenship requirements ahead of the midterm elections, a long shot Trump administration priority that faces sharp blowback in the Senate. The bill, called the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE America Act, would require Americans...
House votes to overturn Trump’s tariffs on Canada in rare bipartisan rebuke of White House agenda
WASHINGTON — The House voted Wednesday to slap back President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada, a rare if largely symbolic rebuke of the White House agenda as Republicans joined Democrats over the objections of GOP leadership. The tally, 219-211, was among the first times the House, controlled by Republicans, has...
Trump attacks Oklahoma’s GOP leader ahead of next week’s meeting of governors
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump attacked the Republican leader of the National Governors Association on Wednesday as tensions mounted between the White House and the bipartisan group of state leaders ahead of its annual meeting next week. In a social media post, Trump blasted Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican...
Deluzio says Trump administration abused its power in probe of ‘illegal orders’ video
Lawmakers targeted by the Justice Department after releasing a video telling servicemembers they have an obligation to refuse illegal orders said Wednesday they haven’t ruled out taking action against the Trump administration for “weaponizing the government” against them. “I’m not going to litigate and share our legal strategy here,” U.S....
ICE blames Biden administration for Brentwood man’s entrance into U.S.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Wednesday blamed the Biden administration for allowing a Brentwood man, now in custody, into the United States. Maklim Gomez Escalante, 35, was detained Jan. 20 after arriving at a district court hearing where he had been subpoenaed to testify in an unrelated matter....
Pam Bondi clashes with Democrats as she struggles to turn the page on Epstein files furorVideo
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Pam Bondi launched into a passionate defense of President Donald Trump Wednesday as she tried to turn the page from relentless criticism of the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, repeatedly shouting at Democrats during a combative hearing in which she postured herself as...
Russia says it will stick to New START’s nuclear arms limits as long as U.S. does
MOSCOW — Moscow will observe the limits of the last nuclear arms pact with the United States that expired last week as long as it sees that Washington is doing the same, Russia’s top diplomat said Wednesday. The New START treaty expired Feb. 5, leaving no restrictions on the two...
Potential conflicts over celebrating America’s 250th anniversary spill out in congressional hearing
WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats on Tuesday accused the Trump administration of trying to hijack plans to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary and using the nonprofit National Park Foundation to solicit money from private donors for some of the president’s pet projects, including the massive arch he wants to build in the...
Report: Grand jury rejects indictment against Deluzio, other lawmakers over ‘illegal orders’ video
Federal prosecutors failed to secure an indictment against six Democratic members of Congress, including U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio of Fox Chapel, who released a video last year telling servicemembers they have an obligation to refuse illegal orders, The New York Times reported Tuesday night, citing four unnamed people familiar with...
Trump-appointed judge dismisses attempt to obtain Michigan voter data in latest rejection of DOJ
LANSING, Mich. — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit from the Department of Justice that sought to obtain Michigan’s voter rolls, marking the latest judicial rejection in President Donald Trump’s wide-ranging attempts to gain access to voter data from states. The Justice Department has sued at least 23 states...
Annual governors’ gathering with White House unraveling after Trump excludes Democrats
WASHINGTON — An annual meeting of the nation’s governors that has long served as a rare bipartisan gathering is unraveling after President Donald Trump excluded Democratic governors from White House events. The National Governors Association said it will no longer hold a formal meeting with Trump when governors are scheduled...
Trump administration plans to hold back grant money for some Democratic-led states
President Donald Trump’s administration is planning to withhold some public health and transportation money from a group of Democratic-led states. Full details have not been released, including whether the states could take any steps to avoid losing the funding. The federal government cited concerns over fraud and mismanagement of taxpayer...
Tom Malinowski concedes to Analilia Mejia in Democratic U.S. House special primary in New Jersey
TRENTON, N.J. — Former congressman Tom Malinowski conceded on Tuesday to Analilia Mejia, a longtime progressive activist and former political director for Sen. Bernie Sanders, in the crowded Democratic primary in New Jersey’s U.S. House special election. The race attracted national attention as Democrats sparred over the best way to...
FBI search of Georgia offices relied on years-old claims of fraud, affidavit shows
ATLANTA — The FBI relied on years-old claims of fraud, many of them thoroughly investigated, to obtain a search warrant to seize ballots from election offices in Fulton County, Georgia, according to an affidavit unsealed Tuesday that shows the investigation began with a referral from an administration official who tried...
Casa San José goes virtual amid increased ICE presence in Pittsburgh
Casa San José has decided to temporarily move its operations to an all-virtual format in the wake of numerous ICE detainments across the Pittsburgh region. Casa San José is a nonprofit serving the local Latino community and immigrants from Central and South America, offering free services such as case management,...
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick acknowledges meetings with Epstein that contradict previous claimsVideo
WASHINGTON — Under questioning from Democrats on Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick acknowledged that he had met with Jeffrey Epstein twice after the late financier’s 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a child, reversing Lutnick’s previous claim that he had cut ties with him after 2005. Lutnick again downplayed his...
Governors won’t hold Trump meeting after White House only invited Republicans
WASHINGTON — The National Governors Association will no longer hold a formal meeting with President Donald Trump when the group of state leaders meet in Washington later this month after the White House planned to invite only Republicans. “NGA staff was informed that the White House intends to limit invitations...
Susan Collins announces reelection bid in pivotal Maine Senate race
PORTLAND, Maine — Republican Sen. Susan Collins announced her reelection bid Tuesday, betting that she can hold onto her coveted Maine seat despite a renewed Democratic effort to oust her in a race that could determine control of the U.S. Senate. The campaign will test Collins’ political survival skills. The...
ICE chief defends his officers’ actions before Congress after the deaths of 2 protesters
WASHINGTON — Todd Lyons, the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defended his agency’s officers before Congress on Tuesday, standing behind their tactics and saying they would not be intimidated as they carry out the president’s mass deportation plans. Lyons was one of the three heads of agencies implementing...
When conflict meets competition: Trump’s immigration agenda roils opening days of Winter Olympics
LIVIGNO, Italy — As the Winter Olympics opened in Milan, Vice President JD Vance hailed the competition as “one of the few things that unites the entire country.” That unity didn’t last long. The early days of the Milan Cortina Games have been roiled by the tumultuous political debate in...
Democrats say White House offer on ICE is ‘insufficient’ as Homeland Security funding set to expire
WASHINGTON — Democratic leaders say a proposal from the White House is “incomplete and insufficient” as they are demanding new restrictions on President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and threatening a shutdown of the Homeland Security Department. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a...
‘Blatant disrespect’: Md. Gov. Wes Moore responds to being uninvited to National Governors Association dinnerVideo
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said his disinvitation from the 2026 National Governors Association dinner is a “snub” to bipartisan federal-state partnerships, a move he said reflects a broader effort by President Donald Trump to divide institutions traditionally built on cooperation. “As the nation’s only Black governor, I can’t ignore that...
Trump loyalist Sen. Dave McCormick defends controversial White House aide Stephen Miller
Sen. Dave McCormick is among more than a dozen Republican senators who are defending senior White House aide Stephen Miller amid growing calls for his removal. McCormick, a staunch ally of the president, on Sunday told The Hill that Miller has been “instrumental in delivering on the promises President Trump...
Brentwood man remains in ICE custody after hospital stay, 1st hearing
Maklim Gomez Escalante remains in federal custody after returning from a hospital last week to the Moshannon Valley ICE Processing Center in Clearfield County, his family says. Gomez Escalante, 35, of Brentwood in Pittsburgh’s South Hills, was taken by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Jan. 20. His family...
