Politics
- USAssociated Press
Banning cellphones in schools gains popularity in red and blue states
Arkansas' Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and California's Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom have little in common ideologically, but the two have both been vocal supporters of an idea that's been rapidly gaining bipartisan ground in the states: Students' cellphones need to be banned during the school day. Here is a look at the push by states for such bans. Why are states banning cellphones at schools? The push for cellphone bans has been driven by concerns about the impact screen time has
4 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Some immigrants are already leaving the US in 'self-deportations' as Trump's threats loom
Michel Bérrios left the United States a few days before the new year, giving President-elect Donald Trump's campaign for mass deportations a small victory before they even started. A former leader of a Nicaraguan student uprising, Bérrios had been in the U.S. legally, with nearly a year remaining under President Joe Biden's unprecedented use of humanitarian parole authority for citizens of certain vulnerable countries. Advocates and immigration experts who have noticed such departures say Bérr
5 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Biden administration looks for ways to keep TikTok available in the U.S.
President Joe Biden’s administration is considering ways to keep TikTok available in the U.S. if a ban that’s scheduled to go into effect on Sunday proceeds, according to three people familiar with the discussions.
5 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Italy’s Meloni to leverage strong ties with Trump — but as president whisperer or Trojan horse?
After forging unexpectedly fond ties with U.S. President Joe Biden, Italy’s right-wing Premier Giorgia Meloni is poised to leverage a more natural alliance with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump that positions her as a key interlocutor between the U.S. and Europe. Weeks before his inauguration, Meloni met Trump at his Mar-a-Lago retreat, a visit that she said went “beyond expectations.”
6 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Trump's pick to oversee US public lands faces Senate hearing
Former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is due before a Senate committee Thursday as lawmakers consider the Republican's nomination to be chief steward of U.S. public lands and waters. President-elect Donald Trump in November tapped Burgum to be interior secretary and to lead the new National Energy Council, which is charged with promoting oil, gas and other energy development. The Interior Department oversees a half-billion acres of federal land and vast areas offshore.
2 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Battle over 'conversion therapy' ban, separation of powers before Wisconsin Supreme Court
The Wisconsin Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments Thursday over whether a Republican-controlled legislative committee’s rejection of a state agency rule that would ban the practice of “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ people was unconstitutional. It is also part of a broader effort by the Democratic governor, who has vetoed Republican bills targeting transgender high school athletes, to rein in the power of the GOP-controlled Legislature. Here are things to know about the case: What is
4 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Biden argues 'oligarchy,' social media are threats to democracy in farewell address
President Joe Biden's farewell address on Wednesday came with a series of warnings for the future of the country, including a rising “oligarchy taking shape” that he said threatens American democracy.
4 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Former Presidents Obama, Clinton and Bush won't attend Trump's inaugural lunch
Former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will not attend President-elect Donald Trump's traditional inaugural lunch.
2 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Treasury nominee plans to say at confirmation hearing that Trump will unleash 'economic golden age'
U.S. Treasury nominee Scott Bessent plans to say Thursday during his confirmation hearing that President-elect Donald Trump has an opportunity to unleash “a new economic golden age." According to prepared testimony given to The Associated Press, Bessent will say the U.S. must secure vulnerable supply chains, levy sanctions to address national security concerns “and critically, we must ensure that the U.S. dollar remains the world’s reserve currency.” Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are set to questi
2 min read - WorldBusiness Insider
China has been stockpiling a key US crop before Trump takes office
President-elect Donald Trump has threatened tariffs of 60% against all Chinese goods, igniting fears of retaliatory tariffs from China.
3 min read - USAssociated Press
Nevada GOP governor tells Democratic-controlled Legislature to set politics aside, find compromise
Nevada's Republican governor extended a hand Wednesday to the Democratic-controlled state Legislature, saying they need to come together to find solutions for urgent issues like affordable housing and access to adequate health care. Gov. Joe Lombardo's address in the state capital of Carson City sets the tone for how he plans to advance his policies even as his party is outnumbered. Nevada lawmakers meet every other year in odd years.
2 min read - USNBC News
Nonprofit founded by Stacey Abrams to pay record Georgia fine for violating state campaign laws
The nonprofit agreed to pay a $300,000 fine over its spending in support of the Georgia Democrat's candidacy during the 2018 governor's race.
2 min read - PoliticsPolitico
Biden warns of rising democracy-threatening 'oligarchy' in grim farewell speech
He didn’t mention Donald Trump but said no president should be immune from crimes committed while in office.
4 min read - PoliticsPolitico
Even progressives think Trump deserves some credit for the ceasefire
Critics of Biden’s approach to negotiations with Israel say the deal should have happened much earlier.
5 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Speaker Johnson removes Mike Turner as House Intelligence Committee chairman
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has informed Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, he will no longer be chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, according to a GOP leadership source and a Republican lawmaker familiar with the matter.
4 min read - PoliticsBusiness Insider
Biden warns of a 'tech industrial complex' and says America must lead the way on AI, not China, in farewell address
President Joe Biden warned that an oligarchy was taking shape in America during his farewell address on Wednesday.
3 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
California's Newsom will join GOP governors in raising flag for Trump inauguration
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom will join Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and some GOP governors around the country in directing U.S. flags be raised to full height on Inauguration Day. Newsom’s spokesperson Izzy Gardon confirmed Wednesday that the governor would temporarily direct the raising of flags at the state Capitol in Sacramento for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. Flags at the U.S. Capitol and at statehouses around the country have been lowered to half-staff
1 min read - USAssociated Press
Governor forces out homeless people by New Orleans Superdome before Super Bowl
As New Orleans prepares to host the Super Bowl next month, Louisiana authorities cleared homeless encampments around the stadium on Wednesday and relocated many to a temporary warehouse facility that costs millions of dollars to operate. Gov. Jeff Landry framed the sweep — which city officials say undermines their efforts to address homelessness — as part of a move to secure New Orleans, especially in the aftermath of the New Year’s Day attack that killed 14 people. The tough-on-crime Republic
4 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Cuba starts freeing prisoners a day after the US said it would lift terror designation
Cuba started releasing some prisoners Wednesday as part of talks with the Vatican, a day after President Joe Biden's administration announced his intent to lift the U.S. designation of the island nation as a state sponsor of terrorism. More than a dozen people who were convicted of different crimes — and some of them were arrested after taking part in the historic 2021 protests — were released during the day, according to Cuban civil groups following the cases of detainees on the island. Among
3 min read - USAssociated Press
$1.8 billion isn't missing after all in South Carolina but questions remain about accounting error
It turns out that $1.8 billion in South Carolina state funds weren't just sitting in a bank account waiting to be spent. Instead, it was an accounting error compounded over years instead of being reconciled, an independent forensic audit determined. "In the private sector, if anybody had made a blunder of $1.8 billion -- whether it was an error, negligence, misfeasance, malfeasance, fraud or a cover-up, they would lose their job,” said Republican state Sen. Larry Grooms, who leads a committee
4 min read
