Politics
- PoliticsAssociated Press
Justice Alito's home flew flag upside down after Trump's 'Stop the Steal' claims, report says
An upside-down American flag, a symbol associated with former President Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud, was displayed outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in January 2021, The New York Times reported Thursday. A photo obtained and published by the newspaper shows the flag flying on Jan. 17, 2021, days after Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The report could raise concerns about Alito’s impartiality as the court considers two major cases
3 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Matt Gaetz evokes 'standing by' language adopted by Proud Boys as he attends court with Donald Trump
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz evoked language adopted by the far-right Proud Boys extremist group as he appeared at court Thursday to support Donald Trump at his hush money trial, reflecting the undercurrent of activist elements present among the presumptive GOP nominee's supporters as he seeks a return to the White House. “Standing back, and standing by, Mr. President," Gaetz wrote as he posted a photo on social media of him with other congressional Republicans standing behind Trump in a hallway outsid
3 min read - PoliticsReuters
US House votes to force weapons shipments to Israel, rebuking Biden
The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday that would force President Joe Biden to send weapons to Israel, seeking to rebuke the Democrat for delaying bomb shipments as he urges Israel to do more to protect civilians during its war with Hamas. The Israel Security Assistance Support Act was approved 224 to 187, largely along party lines. Sixteen Democrats joined most Republicans in voting yes, and three Republicans joined most Democrats in opposing the measure.
2 min read - PoliticsReuters
US to speed up immigration cases of recent border crossers in new program
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration will speed up the immigration court cases of some single adults caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border under a new program announced on Thursday, part of a broader effort to reduce illegal immigration in the run-up to Nov. 5 elections, senior administration officials said. Single adults with court dates heading to five cities - Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City - could be placed in a "recent arrivals docket," senior
2 min read - PoliticsNBC News
In a split vote, Morehouse College faculty vote to award Biden an honorary doctorate
Morehouse College faculty voted in favor of conferring an honorary doctorate degree onto President Joe Biden during its upcoming graduation ceremony, where he is slated to deliver the commencement address.
3 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Trump and Biden hone their messages ahead of the first debate and stretch run
A little more than a month before they debate and less than six months before voters go to the polls, Biden and Trump are clarifying their overarching messages to voters.
6 min read - USReuters
U.S. unveils proposal to ease restrictions on marijuana
The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday unveiled a historic proposal to ease restrictions on marijuana, a rule that if enacted would also enable more research on its medicinal benefits. The proposal, first announced in April, would reclassify cannabis from a so-called schedule one drug to a schedule three. Schedule one drugs, such as heroin, are considered highly addictive with no medical benefits, while schedule three drugs are considered to have a moderate to low potential for physical and p
2 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Larry Hogan says he's 'pro-choice' and supports enshrining abortion rights in federal law
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, is casting himself as "pro choice," a significant shift from his earlier position on abortion.
2 min read - PoliticsNBC News
House passes Republican-backed bill designed to pressure Biden on delivering weapons to Israel
The Republican-led House passed a bill that would put restrictions on the president's ability to withhold weapons transfers to Israel in a vote that drew attention to a divided Democratic caucus on the war in Gaza.
3 min read - USNBC News
Trump trial Day 18 takeaways: Fireworks on the stand as finish line nears
Much of Thursday's court proceedings in Donald Trump's hush money trial were consumed by the defense cross-examining Michael Cohen, his former attorney and fixer.
4 min read - USReuters
Biden signs sweeping aviation safety, reform bill into law
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden signed on Thursday sweeping aviation legislation that will boost U.S. air traffic controller staffing, increase funding to avert runway close-call incidents and speed up refunds for canceled flights. The $105 billion, five-year measure reauthorizes the Federal Aviation Administration. It prohibits airlines from charging fees for families to sit together, requires airplanes to be equipped with 25-hour cockpit recording devices, raises maximum civil pena
3 min read - PoliticsHuffPost
Republicans Flock To Trump's Trial To Attack The Judge, The Court, The Law
The presidential hopeful is under a gag order in his hush money case to keep him from trashing the court anymore. His loyalists in Congress are eager to do it for him.
6 min read - PoliticsNBC News
A tense day at the Trump trial: From the Politics Desk
Michael Cohen returned to the witness stand for a tense cross-examination by Donald Trump’s defense attorneys. Closing arguments could come next week.
4 min read - PoliticsNBC News
'That was a lie!': Trump's lawyer gets heated during questioning of former fixer Michael Cohen
Michael Cohen will be back on the witness stand to continue facing off against Donald Trump's defense as the historic criminal case against the former president nears an end.
7 min read - PoliticsThe Guardian
Morehouse College faculty votes to give Biden honorary doctorate in split vote
Vote to confer was a 50-38 decision as students and alumni protest at Biden being commencement speaker over handling of Gaza war
3 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Justice Department takes 'major step' toward rescheduling marijuana
President Joe Biden's Justice Department took a significant step toward rescheduling marijuana as lower-risk and remove it from Schedule I.
4 min read - PoliticsThe Guardian
Michael Cohen accused of lying over phone call at Trump hush-money trial
Former lawyer and fixer for Donald Trump is under fierce attacks on his credibility by the ex-president’s legal team
5 min read - USReuters
Texas governor pardons man convicted of murdering Black Lives Matter protester
(Reuters) -Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Thursday granted a full pardon to a former U.S. Army sergeant and Uber driver who was convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison for fatally shooting a Black Lives Matter protester in 2020. Abbott, a Republican, in his pardon proclamation cited the state's "Stand Your Ground" self-defense law, one of the strongest such measures in the U.S. The clemency proclamation was issued shortly after the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole unanimously r
3 min read - PoliticsBusiness Insider
These 16 House Democrats voted to force Biden to deliver withheld aid to Israel
Most Democrats voted against the GOP bill, characterizing it as an effort to politicize the issue of Israel and unnecessarily constrain Biden.
3 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Biden moves to block release of audio of his classified documents interview with special counsel Hur
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has asserted executive privilege over audio recordings of his interview with special counsel Robert Hur, the Republican federal prosecutor who declined to recommend charges against the president over his handling of classified documents.
6 min read - USHuffPost
Hakeem Jeffries Calls Out Speaker Mike Johnson Over Missing Jan. 6 Plaque
Congress was supposed to put up a plaque honoring police officers who fought Donald Trump's mob, but there's been a holdup.
2 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Trump says he has 'no problem' welcoming RFK Jr. to debates if he qualifies
Donald Trump said in a new interview that he has “no problem” with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joining him and Joe Biden on the debate stage if he meets the criteria.
2 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
New immigration court docket aims to speed up removals of newly arrived migrants
The Biden administration said Thursday that a new fast-track docket in immigration courts will cut the time it takes decide asylum claims from years to months for some single adults. Migrants who settle in five cities — Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York — will be placed in a “recent arrivals docket” that aims to have judges rule on their claims within 180 days, instead of the four years or so that it currently takes. The Justice Department has assigned 10 judges to the effort.
3 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Here's everything you need to know about the upcoming presidential debates
Learn more about the upcoming 2024 presidential debates, including who will participate, when to watch and how the Trump and Biden camps agreed on the events' logistics.
6 min read - PoliticsBusiness Insider
Donald Trump's allies are doing his dirty work while tiptoeing around his gag order
While Trump has been uncharacteristically restrained, a cast of GOP lawmakers and Trump allies have traveled to court to attack the proceedings.
4 min read - USAssociated Press
Disability rights advocate says state senator with violent history shoved him at New York Capitol
A disability rights advocate made a complaint to New York State Police saying he was shoved twice in the state capitol building by state Sen. Kevin Parker, a Brooklyn Democrat with a history of violent behavior. Michael Carey said his confrontation with Parker took place Wednesday after he approached the senator before a committee meeting and asked him to cosponsor a piece of legislation. Parker lost his temper, Carey said, after the advocate described the legislation as tackling a “Dr. Martin
2 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
US proposes ending new federal leases in nation's biggest coal region
The Biden administration on Thursday proposed an end to new coal leasing from federal reserves in the most productive coal mining region in the U.S. as officials seek to limit climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions from burning the fuel. The Bureau of Land Management proposal would affect millions of acres (millions of hectares) of federal lands and underground mineral reserves in the Powder River Basin area of Wyoming and Montana. The immediate impact is likely to be limited because coal l
4 min read - PoliticsHuffPost
'Stand Back And Stand By': Matt Gaetz Parrots Trump's Call To Violent Extremists At His Trial
The House Republican, one of several who joined Trump at his criminal trial in New York, repeated a line hailed by the neo-fascist Proud Boys.
2 min read - USAssociated Press
The late Rev. Billy Graham is immortalized in a statue unveiled at the US Capitol
A bronze sculpture of the late Rev. Billy Graham was unveiled at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, with Christianity's most prolific evangelist once known as “America’s Pastor” immortalized in the halls of Congress on behalf of his native North Carolina. Graham's likeness, depicting the Charlotte-born minister with his archetypal gesture toward an open Bible in his hand, was revealed inside National Statuary Hall during a gathering attended by House Speaker Mike Johnson, Gov. Roy Cooper, former Vic
4 min read - PoliticsThe New York Times
Serbia Approves Contract With Jared Kushner for Hotel Complex
WASHINGTON — The Serbian government has approved a contract with Jared Kushner on plans to build a luxury hotel on the site of the former Defense Ministry in Belgrade, putting him directly into business with a European state as his father-in-law, Donald Trump, vies to return to the White House. Kushner is pursuing the $500 million hotel project in partnership with Richard Grenell. A former Trump administration aide, Grenell first proposed that U.S. investors attempt to redevelop the long-vacant
5 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Speaker Mike Johnson echoes Trump's 'frustration' with cases and believes threats to his gavel are behind him
House Speaker Mike Johnson defended visiting Donald Trump at his New York trial and said he doesn't expect another motion to remove him as speaker.
8 min read - USAssociated Press
Sen. Bob Menendez reveals his wife has breast cancer as his trial focuses on FBI raid of his home
Sen. Bob Menendez said Thursday that his wife will undergo a mastectomy after she was diagnosed with breast cancer, a revelation made just as the first evidence — pictures of 13 gold bars and over $480,000 in cash seized from the couple's home — was shown to jurors at his New York bribery trial. The New Jersey Democrat said he was revealing his wife's health crisis at her request after repeated inquiries from the media. Previously, lawyers for Nadine Menendez had requested her trial on charges
4 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
House votes to require delivery of bombs to Israel in GOP-led rebuke of Biden policies
The House delivered a rebuke to President Joe Biden Thursday for pausing a shipment of bombs to Israel, passing legislation that seeks to force the weapons transfer as Republicans worked to highlight Democratic divisions over the Israel-Hamas war. Seeking to discourage Israel from its offensive on the crowded southern Gaza city of Rafah, the Biden administration this month put on hold a weapons shipment of 3,500 bombs — some as large as 2,000 pounds — that are capable of killing hundreds in pop
6 min read - WorldReuters
US establishes Gaza pier to try to boost aid to hungry enclave
U.S. President Joe Biden announced the plan for the pier in March as aid officials implored Israel to improve access for relief supplies into Gaza over land routes. Below is a timeline of events leading to the arrival of the pier off Gaza. March 7 - Biden says in his State of the Union speech the U.S. military will build a temporary port on Gaza's Mediterranean coast to receive humanitarian aid by sea.
3 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Maverick Kentucky congressman has avoided fallout at home after antagonizing GOP leaders
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie has made a habit of antagonizing Washington's most powerful leaders in his own party, but so far it hasn't eroded his support back home in his staunchly conservative Kentucky district. Four years ago, Massie drew the wrath of then-President Donald Trump when the congressman singlehandedly caused a delay in passing a massive COVID-19 relief package. Trump called the Kentuckian a “third rate Grandstander" for his stalling tactic.
5 min read - PoliticsHuffPost
White House Blocks GOP Request For Audio Of Biden's Special Counsel Interviews
Republicans only want recordings of Biden's special counsel interviews "to chop them up, distort them, and use them for partisan political purposes," the White House said.
3 min read - PoliticsReuters
Garland swings back at House Republicans over attacks on US Justice Dept
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday criticized what he called "unfounded attacks" on the Justice Department by congressional Republicans as he rejected their request for audio recordings of a special counsel interview with President Joe Biden. In a letter to the chairmen of the House of Representatives Judiciary and Oversight committees, the Justice Department said the Biden administration was asserting executive privilege, a legal doctrine that shields certa
4 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
GOP advances Garland contempt charges after White House exerts executive privilege over Biden audio
Two House committees moved ahead Thursday with contempt charges against Attorney General Merrick Garland for refusing to turn over audio from President Joe Biden’s interview with a special counsel, advancing the matter after the White House's decision to block the release of the recording earlier in the day. In back-to-back hearings that nearly spilled into early Friday, the House Judiciary and Oversight and Accountability committees voted along party lines to advance an effort to hold Garland
5 min read - BusinessHuffPost
Billionaire Frank McCourt Planning Bid To Acquire TikTok’s U.S. Operations
The social media platform faces an uncertain future after Biden signed a bill that could ban it nationwide.
3 min read - PoliticsHuffPost
The Pro-Palestinian Movement Finds Its Footing As Biden Inches Left
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s team encouraged progressives to applaud President Biden’s ultimatum to Israel. Not every activist is ready to cheer just yet.
10 min read - PoliticsThe New York Times
Why Biden Wanted to Debate Trump Early, and Why Trump Said Yes
WASHINGTON — Tens of millions of dollars of advertising has not changed President Joe Biden’s polling deficit. Donald Trump’s criminal trial has not altered the race’s trajectory. And Biden’s significant cash and infrastructure advantages have yet to pay political dividends. So on Wednesday, the one weekday Trump is not confined to a courtroom, the Biden campaign shook up the race, publicly offering to bring forward the first presidential debate by three months. The move was meant to jolt Americ
7 min read - PoliticsReuters
Democratic divide on Gaza war, campus protests hurting Biden, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds
Democrats are deeply divided over President Joe Biden's handling of both the war in Gaza and the U.S. campus protests against it, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found, fraying the coalition that he relied on four years ago to defeat Republican Donald Trump. Some 44% of Democratic registered voters responding to the May 7-14 poll said they disapprove of Biden's handling of the crisis. Democrats who disapproved of his response were less likely to say they would vote for Biden in the Nov. 5 election --
4 min read - PoliticsReuters
Trump, allies are laying the groundwork to contest potential election loss
Donald Trump and his allies are laying the groundwork to contest a potential loss in November, stoking doubts about the election's legitimacy even as opinion polls show the Republican presidential candidate leading in battleground states. In recent interviews, Trump has refused to commit to accepting the election results. At his rallies, he has portrayed Democrats as cheaters, called mail-in ballots corrupt and urged supporters to vote in such large numbers to render the election "too big to r
6 min read - PoliticsBusiness Insider
Here's what the economy could look like with a Biden or Trump presidency
BI looked at President Joe Biden's and former President Donald Trump's plans for eight major economic categories that affect Americans' daily lives.
23 min read - PoliticsHuffPost
Ex-Trump Lawyer Explains How GOP Stooges Could Hurt The Case More Than Anything
Tim Parlatore recalled one moment in particular that could have “a negative impact” on the jury in Donald Trump’s hush money trial.
2 min read - USReuters
Biden commemorates Brown v. Board of Education anniversary with White House meeting
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday met with family members of the plaintiffs in the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, which outlawed racial segregation in American public schools. Biden, a Democrat who is running for re-election in November, commemorated 70 years since the ruling took place during a meeting in the White House Oval Office. Despite the landmark ruling, racial segregation in schools effectively continues across the country, and the U.S.
3 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Biden's upcoming graduation speech roils Morehouse College, a center of Black politics and culture
When he gives the commencement address at Morehouse College, President Joe Biden will have his most direct engagement with college students since the start of the Israel-Hamas war at a center of Black politics and culture. Morehouse is located in Atlanta, the largest city in the swing state of Georgia, which Biden flipped from then-President Donald Trump four years ago.
7 min read - PoliticsReuters
Donald Trump is supportive of AUKUS defence pact, former Australian PM says
Donald Trump gave the AUKUS defence pact a "warm reception", during a meeting with former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the latter said, one of the few public signs about Trump's view of the deal. Morrison, who left office in 2022, met Trump on Tuesday at the former president's home in New York for talks that covered AUKUS, China's assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific, and the threat to Taiwan, he said in a post on X.
2 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Michael Cohen pressed on his crimes and lies as defense attacks key Trump hush money trial witness
Donald Trump's lawyers accused the star prosecution witness in his hush money trial of lying to jurors, portraying Trump fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen on Thursday as a serial fabulist who is bent on seeing the presumptive Republican presidential nominee behind bars. As Trump looked on, defense attorney Todd Blanche pressed Cohen for hours with questions that focused as much on his misdeeds as on the case's specific allegations and tried to sow doubt in jurors’ minds about Cohen’s crucial testi
6 min read - PoliticsNBC News
'I'm really curious about the dog': Trump weighs in on Kristi Noem at a private fundraiser
Donald Trump told a room of wealthy donors that he had questions about Cricket, the 14-month-old dog who was shot and killed by South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem.
4 min read
