Politics Election category, Page 131

WASHINGTON — The Senate passed a stopgap spending bill Thursday that avoids a short-term shutdown and funds the federal government through Feb. 18 after leaders defused a partisan standoff over federal vaccine mandates. The measure now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. Earlier in the day,...

TRENTON — Disorder and confusion erupted outside the New Jersey Assembly as several Republican lawmakers defied a new requirement to show proof of covid-19 vaccination or a negative test and were blocked — albeit briefly — by state troopers from entering the ornate chamber Thursday. Ahead of an expected voting...

Gov. Tom Wolf followed through on his veto threat Thursday, rejecting Republican-penned legislation to allow people to carry a firearm openly or concealed, without a permit, adding to his total for Pennsylvania’s chief executive with the most vetoes in more than four decades. Wolf, a Democrat, called the bill “dangerous.”...

WASHINGTON — The federal government could be heading for temporary shutdown, with Republicans poised to stall a must-pass funding bill in their effort to force a debate in Congress on rolling back the Biden administration’s covid-19 vaccine mandates for some workers. Conservative Republicans in the House and Senate who are...

It’s the moment conservatives have been waiting for. Oral arguments at the Supreme Court on Wednesday represent the best opportunity leaders on the right have had in decades to gut the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which codified a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion before a fetus can...

Dr. Mehmet Oz’s claim to residency in Pennsylvania may be both recent and tenuous, but that won’t keep him off the crowded GOP ballot of contenders seeking to replace U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey. The Associated Press reported that Oz, 61, a longtime New Jersey resident, is planning to announce his...

PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania’s new congressional map will help shape political power for a decade — and Gov. Tom Wolf is laying down some rules as it gets drawn. Wolf plays a key role in the decennial redistricting: The Republican-controlled state Legislature will draw a map, but Wolf, a Democrat, can...

WASHINGTON — Mark Meadows, Donald Trump’s former chief of staff, is cooperating with a House panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, putting off for now the panel’s threat to hold him in contempt, the committee’s chairman said Tuesday. The panel “will continue to assess his degree of compliance,” Mississippi...

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrity heart surgeon best known as the host of TV’s Dr. Oz Show after rocketing to fame on Oprah Winfrey’s show, is planning to run for Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate seat as a Republican, according to three people familiar with his plans. Should...

This article is part of a yearlong reporting project focused on redistricting and gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. It is made possible by the support of Spotlight PA members and Votebeat, a project focused on election integrity and voting access. LEHIGH VALLEY — Over the past five years, Victor Martinez has noticed...

WASHINGTON — Days after firebrand conservative Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado was harshly criticized for making anti-Muslim comments about Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat whom she likened to a bomb-carrying terrorist, the two spoke by phone Monday. By both lawmakers’ accounts, it did not go well. The conversation, which...

President Joe Biden called the new coronavirus variant omicron a cause for concern but “not a cause for panic” Monday and said he was not considering any widespread U.S. lockdown. He urged Americans anew to get fully vaccinated, including booster shots, and return to face masks indoors in public settings...

WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious diseases expert, blasted Sen. Ted Cruz for suggesting that Fauci be investigated for statements he made about covid-19 and said the criticism by the Texas Republican was an attack on science. “I should be prosecuted? What happened on Jan. 6, senator?”...

WASHINGTON — Democrats wielded demands to fix the nation’s broken immigration system as a cudgel against Republicans in the 2020 campaign. Elect us, went the argument, and we’ll stop the cruel treatment of migrants at the border and put in place lasting and humane policies that work. A year into...

NEW YORK — Chris Christie is everywhere. The former New Jersey governor and onetime Republican presidential candidate denounced “conspiracy theorists” during a September appearance at the Ronald Reagan Library in California. He followed up with a speech this month to influential Republicans in Las Vegas, warning that the party will...

HARRISBURG — The Republican field of candidates aiming to capture Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate seat in next year’s election is churning anew, with the candidate endorsed by former President Donald Trump out and intriguing new candidates possibly in. Out is Sean Parnell — a favorite of Donald Trump Jr. —...

COLUMBUS, Ohio — It was supposed to be a moment of triumph for Joe Biden. The Democratic president had just signed into law the most significant infrastructure package in generations. And he had done it by bringing Democrats and Republicans together, just as he promised during last year’s campaign. But...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Republicans fighting President Joe Biden’s coronavirus vaccine mandates are wielding a new weapon against the White House rules: natural immunity. They contend that people who have recovered from the virus have enough immunity and antibodies to not need covid-19 vaccines, and the concept has been invoked by...

WILMINGTON, Del. — A difficult political atmosphere for President Joe Biden may have become even more treacherous with the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse. Biden was already facing sliding poll numbers with an electorate worn down by the coronavirus pandemic and increasing inflation. Now, the president finds himself caught between outraged...

HARRISBURG — Republicans in the Pennsylvania Senate said Friday they will pay up to $270,000 over the next six months to have an Iowa consulting firm examine the 2020 election with an eye toward developing changes to state election law. The “forensic investigation” is being launched in response to pressure...

BETHESDA, Md. — President Joe Biden briefly transferred power to Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday while he underwent a routine colonoscopy, setting up a history-making moment as Harris became the first woman to hold that authority during the short time she stepped in as acting president. Biden transferred power...

President Joe Biden’s choice to run one of the agencies charged with overseeing the banking industry faced sharp questioning Thursday from Republican senators, who tried to label Saule Omarova as someone who would nationalize the U.S. banking system. Omarova, 55, was nominated in September to be the nation’s next comptroller...

TALLAHASSEE — Florida Republicans approved a sweeping bill Wednesday to hobble coronavirus vaccine mandates in businesses, rejecting claims that they were sacrificing public health to hand Gov. Ron DeSantis a win in his fight against White House virus rules. Lawmakers in GOP-controlled statehouse expedited the measure, along with a package...