Politics
- PoliticsPolitico
A return of the resistance?
Group of former Biden officials assembles to fight Trump’s executive orders in court and rally public opinion.
2 min read - 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 - BusinessAssociated Press
FTC sues Deere & Co. for monopolizing farm-equipment repair market
Deere & Co. unfairly forces farmers to visit authorized dealers to repair their equipment, resulting in higher prices than if they could fix it themselves or get help from independent shops, the Federal Trade Commission claims in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday with the attorneys general of Illinois and Minnesota. The Moline, Illinois-based manufacturer produces repair software that is available only to its dealers, making it impossible for owners to seek less-costly remedies, according to th
3 min read - PoliticsWashington Post
Republicans may try budget math that doesn’t count Trump tax cuts
Republican plans to pass a massive new tax cut in the early days of President-elect Donald Trump’s second term are running into a major obstacle: the price tag. Extending Trump’s 2017 tax law would add $4.6 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office, lawmakers’ nonpartisan bookkeeper. But now some leading GOP tax writers are arguing that extending the law wouldn’t add to the nation’s $36.2 trillion debt at all.Subscribe to The Post Most newsl
5 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Speaker Johnson removes chair of powerful House Intelligence Committee
House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday removed the GOP chairman of the powerful House Intelligence Committee, who was a vocal supporter of assistance for Ukraine and held other views that put him at odds with President-elect Donald Trump. Johnson told reporters late Wednesday that Rep. Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican, would no longer lead the committee, which oversees the nation's intelligence agencies and holds tremendous influence over law enforcement and foreign policy. During Trump's firs
2 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Some parents could be able to join Georgia's Medicaid program without working
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced Wednesday he wants to let low-income parents with young kids enroll without working in a Medicaid program that provides coverage for some able-bodied adults. Kemp's announcement came as President-elect Donald Trump returns to office and more state and federal officials consider Medicaid work requirements. Georgia is the only state that requires some people to work, study or volunteer to enroll in Medicaid, under the program Georgia Pathways.
3 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Biden issues directive allowing Cyprus to buy American arms from the US government
President Joe Biden issued a directive Wednesday that allows Cyprus to buy arms from the U.S. government and get surplus American military equipment in a move welcomed as promoting stability in the eastern Mediterranean. From Cyprus’ perspective, the development is a key step after the United States in 2020 lifted a decades-long arms embargo on the island nation. The government in Nicosia also see it as an acknowledgment of Cyprus' reliability as a U.S. partner in the region.
2 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
White House holds homeland security tabletop exercise with senior Trump officials
Senior officials from President-elect Donald Trump's administration, including the majority of his designated Cabinet nominees, were at the White House on Wednesday to participate in a transition exercise hosted by President Joe Biden's team. The transition tabletop exercise was chaired by Homeland Security Adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall in the White House Situation Room, the White House said, and included a substantial share of Biden's outgoing Cabinet for the two-hour session.
3 min read - USAssociated Press
Texas developer at the center of attorney general's impeachment pleads guilty to federal charge
A real estate developer whose relationship with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was at the center of the Republican's historic impeachment trial in 2023 pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal charge of lying to a financial institution. The plea by Nate Paul, whose company is based in Texas, was entered before a U.S. magistrate judge and still must be reviewed by a district judge, court documents show.
1 min read - USPolitico
Don’t be ‘passive’: DeSantis needles legislators with new hard-line illegal immigration proposals
DeSantis wants to hold a special session, setting up a clash with Republican leaders in the Legislature.
4 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Trudeau vows Canada will respond to Trump's tariffs, but says burden will be shared across regions
Canada's outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday that “nothing is off the table” when it comes to responding to proposed tariffs by President-elect Donald Trump, but that no single region of the country should bear the full brunt of that response. Trump has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all Canadian imports. “We have to respond to the challenge we’re facing,” Trudeau said following a five-hour meeting in Ottawa with Canada's provincial premiers to discuss Trump’s threats
3 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Guatemalan president says he's optimistic of finding common ground with Trump
Guatemala's President Bernardo Arévalo said Wednesday he anticipates issues like immigration will generate tension with the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, but the former peacebuilder also sees shared interests. At the start of the second year of his presidency, Arévalo said in an interview with The Associated Press that Guatemala is “one of the United States’ few trusted partners” in the region. For example, Arévalo pointed out that in the first year of his presidency
3 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Canadian minister warns that Americans will experience economic pain from Trump tariffs
Canada's energy minister came to Washington this week to warn U.S. lawmakers about President-elect Donald Trump's tariffs threat on Canada: They'd inflict economic pain on Americans, with higher prices and job losses. Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada's minister of energy and natural resources, said he feels obligated to sound the alarm about the inflationary risks being created by a president who was elected in large part on the promise of bringing down prices. "It will mean higher gas prices, it wi
5 min read - PoliticsHuffPost
5 Big Questions Pam Bondi Dodged In Her Senate Confirmation Hearing
Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Justice Department ducked questions about judicial independence, Trump's 2020 election loss, Jan. 6 pardons and more.
5 min read - PoliticsPolitico
Trump’s pick for budget chief echoes his ‘power of the purse’ dreams
The president-elect's nominee for White House budget director reiterated that Trump believes law protecting Congress’ funding power is unconstitutional.
3 min read - USAssociated Press
New Washington governor plans to build an efficient government that helps people
Incoming Washington state Gov. Bob Ferguson outlined his plans Wednesday to help individuals while also making government more responsive and efficient, during his inaugural address as the state Legislature convened for its first week of session. Ferguson, 59, was the state’s top prosecutor for more than a decade before being elected Washington’s 23rd governor. Ferguson, a Democrat, takes over at a time when Washington faces a budget shortfall of at least $12 billion over the next four years.
3 min read - PoliticsBusiness Insider
Google CEO Sundar Pichai will join the list of tech leaders attending Donald Trump's inauguration
Google CEO Sundar Pichai is attending Donald Trump's inauguration, a source familiar with the matter tells BI. He joins a list of Big Tech leaders.
1 min read - USAssociated Press
New York City shutters sprawling migrant tent camp on remote former airfield
New York City has shuttered a sprawling tent complex that housed hundreds of migrant families on a remote former airport in Brooklyn, as it shrinks the emergency shelter system built up in response to a surge from the southern border that has been steadily receding in recent months. The last of the roughly 2,000 people living on a windswept tarmac at Floyd Bennett Field, once the city’s first airport, departed the gated encampment over the weekend, and crews were seen this week dismantling the
4 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Montana House endorses transgender bathroom ban affecting fellow lawmakers
Montana’s Republican-controlled House on Wednesday endorsed a ban on transgender people using bathrooms in public buildings that do not align with their sex assigned at birth — a change that would complicate daily life for two fellow lawmakers. The move comes a month after Montana legislators rejected a more narrow rule that would have kept transgender Rep. Zooey Zephyr out of women’s restrooms in the state Capitol on the heels of her return from a legislative exile. Zephyr and nonbinary Rep.
3 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Trump attorney general pick Pam Bondi faces questions over DOJ independence
Senators will on Wednesday begin their public deliberations over Donald Trump's choice to lead the Justice Department, former Florida state Attorney General Pam Bondi.
4 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Trump's pick for budget director won't say whether he would release Ukraine aid
Russell Vought, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for White House budget director, declined Wednesday to fully commit to doling out congressionally approved funds, specifically U.S. military aid to Ukraine. Vought faced questions at his confirmation hearing over his tenure as director of the Office and Management and Budget during Trump's first term. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., accused him of withholding $214 million in military aid for Ukraine in 2019, an event that led to Trump’s first i
2 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Vivek Ramaswamy, an Ohio native, is interested in filling Vance's old Senate seat, AP source says
Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has expressed interest in the Ohio U.S. Senate seat that was vacated by Vice President-elect JD Vance, two people with direct knowledge of the biotech entrepreneur's wishes told The Associated Press. The 39-year-old from Cincinnati had been weighing a campaign for Ohio governor in 2026 and hoped to build his policy portfolio as partner to billionaire Elon Musk leading a non-governmental effort to cut federal government spending, regulatio
2 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Key takeaways from Trump's energy secretary pick's confirmation hearing
Chris Wright, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for energy secretary, told senators during his confirmation hearing Wednesday that he would promote all sources of American energy, while also acknowledging the burning of fossil fuels causes climate change. Wright, a fossil fuel executive, has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change.
4 min read - USAssociated Press
Biden administration cancels loans for 260,000 former Ashford University students
More than 260,000 former students of the now-defunct for-profit Ashford University are getting their student loans erased as the Biden administration presses ahead with debt forgiveness in its final days. Ashford was once one of the nation’s largest for-profit college companies, with more than 100,000 students. It was owned by the company Zovio until the University of Arizona bought the online college in 2020.
3 min read - PoliticsBusiness Insider
Meet Donald Trump's 10 grandchildren
Donald Trump has 10 grandchildren ranging from ages 5 to 17. The oldest, Kai, is already stepping into the spotlight.
5 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Tennessee Gov. Lee renews push for school vouchers, adds hurricane relief and immigration to effort
Republican Gov. Bill Lee on Wednesday doubled down on his efforts to enact universal school vouchers throughout Tennessee by ordering the GOP-dominant Statehouse to pause their regular legislative duties and focus on passing a bill that would allow families to use public dollars for private school tuition. Tennessee's lawmakers kicked off their regular monthslong legislative session this week and are easing in with administrative tasks.
3 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
US recovers $31 million in Social Security payments to dead people
The U.S. government clawed back more than $31 million in Social Security payments that improperly went to dead people, a recovery that one official said Wednesday was “just the tip of the iceberg.” The money was reclaimed as part of a five-month pilot program after Congress gave the Department of Treasury temporary access to the Social Security Administration ’s “Full Death Master File” for three years as part of the omnibus appropriations bill in 2021. The SSA maintains the most complete fede
2 min read - USAssociated Press
Biden administration withdraws rules to save endangered whales from collisions
The federal government is withdrawing a proposal that would require more ships to slow down in East Coast waters to try to save a vanishing species of whale, officials said Wednesday. The move in the waning days of the Biden administration will leave the endangered North Atlantic right whale vulnerable to extinction as the Trump administration is signaling a shift from environmental conservation to support for marine industries, conservation groups said. The new vessel speed rules proposed by
3 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Minnesota Democrats ask state Supreme Court to resolve state House power struggle
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon and House Democrats have asked the state's highest court to intervene in a partisan power struggle that has roiled the start of the 2025 legislative session session, as the standoff extended into a second day Wednesday. Simon, a Democrat, petitioned the Minnesota Supreme Court late Tuesday to declare that he legally remains the presiding officer in the Minnesota House, for now, and that Tuesday's election of GOP leader Lisa Demuth as speaker was invalid.
4 min read - USAssociated Press
Pro-Stacey Abrams groups fined $300,000 after admitting they broke Georgia campaign finance law
The Georgia Ethics Commission voted unanimously on Wednesday to fine two advocacy groups that were founded by Democrat Stacey Abrams and led by Raphael Warnock before voters elected him to the U.S. Senate. The commission found that the New Georgia Project and its affiliated New Georgia Project Action Fund illegally did election work for Abrams and others without disclosing their campaign contributions and spending. The groups' current leadership admitted 16 instances of illegal activity in a c
4 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Mike Johnson eyes April deadline to pass one big MAGA bill through the House, but GOP senators are skeptical
House Speaker Mike Johnson is laying down a highly ambitious timeline to approve President-elect Donald Trump’s big-ticket legislative agenda.
6 min read
