Politics Election category, Page 136
Pa. Senate committee has ‘no plans’ to move House-approved gun safety measures
A Democratic-led state House committee on Tuesday advanced two more firearms safety bills despite fresh indications that gun reform remains largely intractable along partisan lines. The measures — requiring secure gun storage around children and imposing parental liability — are the latest pitched in the Democratic-majority House this session. Two...
GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin challenges Teamsters leader to a fight in a fiery exchange at hearingVideo
WASHINGTON — A congressional hearing devolved into an angry confrontation between a senator and a witness on Tuesday after Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma challenged Sean O’Brien, the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, to “stand your butt up” and settle longstanding differences right there in the room....
Kevin McCarthy foe accuses former speaker of ‘sucker punch’ elbow in Capitol hallwayVideo
WASHINGTON — Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., accused former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., whom he helped oust from the post last month, of elbowing him in a Capitol Hill hallway on Tuesday. “You just don’t expect a guy who was at one time three steps away from the White House to...
New Speaker Mike Johnson formally endorses Trump
NEW YORK — House Speaker Mike Johnson endorsed Donald Trump for president on Tuesday, a move that was a symbolic departure from his ousted predecessor leading the House. Johnson, an ally and defender of the former president, said Tuesday morning in an interview on CNBC, “I have endorsed him wholeheartedly.”...
House votes to prevent a government shutdown as GOP Speaker Johnson relies on Democrats for help
WASHINGTON — The House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to prevent a government shutdown after new Republican Speaker Mike Johnson was forced to reach across the aisle to Democrats when hard-right conservatives revolted against his plan. The bipartisan tally — 336-95 with 93 Republicans voting no —showed Johnson’s willingness to leave his...
The Supreme Court says it is adopting a code of ethics, but it has no means of enforcement
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday adopted its first code of ethics, in the face of sustained criticism over undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices, but the code lacks a means of enforcement. The policy, agreed to by all nine justices, does not appear to...
Biden sees hopeful signs for his reelection in Democrats’ 2023 wins. Others in his party are worried
WASHINGTON — Surrounded by dozens of Democratic donors at a glass art gallery space in Chicago last week, President Joe Biden urged them to look beyond negative poll numbers and feel assured their donations were not being wasted. Then Biden joked to the crowd: “I could still screw up.” The...
Donald Trump Jr. lauds dad’s real estate exploits as ex-president’s civil fraud trial begins defense
NEW YORK — Donald Trump Jr. returned to court Monday as something of a character witness for his father’s real estate empire, waxing exuberantly about the former president’s “incredible vision” and portfolio of “great, iconic projects” at the New York civil fraud trial now threatening his company’s future. The namesake...
Biden’s initial confidence on Israel gives way to the complexities and casualties of a brutal war
WASHINGTON — In the early days and hours after the horrific Hamas attack on Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, President Joe Biden spoke with stark declarations and unqualified support for the longtime U.S. ally. Now, a month on, that unambiguous backing has given way to the complexities and haunting casualties...
Innamorato’s close victory showed the complexities of Allegheny County party politics
There were about 30 minutes of uncertainty during Sara Innamorato’s election night gathering. The Associated Press called the Allegheny County executive race for the progressive Democrat just before 10 p.m. Tuesday, but an announcement was not immediately made to the crowd of more than 200 supporters at Mr. Smalls Theatre...
Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott announces he is dropping out of the 2024 race
Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott announced late Sunday that he was dropping out of the 2024 race, about two months before the start of voting in Iowa’s leadoff caucuses. The South Carolina senator, who entered the race in May with high hopes, made the surprise announcement on Fox News Channel’s...
Capitol rioter plans 2024 run as a Libertarian candidate in Arizona’s 8th congressional district
PHOENIX — Jacob Chansley, the spear-carrying rioter whose horned fur hat, bare chest and face paint made him one of the more recognizable figures in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, apparently aspires to be a member of Congress. Online paperwork shows the 35-year-old Chansley filed a...
Joe Biden wants to complete his goals on civil rights, taxes, and social services if he’s reelected
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has a simple reelection pitch to voters — let him “finish the job.” So what does that mean? What’s left for him to get done? Unlike Donald Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination who has been releasing videos and statements detailing...
House Republicans look to pass two-step package to avoid partial government shutdown
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled his proposal on Saturday to avoid a partial government shutdown by extending government funding for some agencies and programs until Jan. 19 and continuing funding for others until Feb. 2. The approach is unusual for a stopgap spending bill. Usually, lawmakers extend funding...
Trump’s plans if he returns to the White House include deportation raids, tariffs and mass firings
NEW YORK — A mass deportation operation. A new Muslim ban. Tariffs on all imported goods and “freedom cities” built on federal land. Much of the 2024 presidential campaign has been dominated by the myriad investigations into former President Donald Trump and the subsequent charges against him. But with less...
Biden and Xi set to meet next week at the APEC summit — no detail too small to sweat
WASHINGTON — When President Joe Biden meets Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday, there will be no such thing as a small detail. How they greet? If they eat? Where they sit? Will there be flowers? Bottled water or in a glass? “Pretty intense,” senior administration officials say of navigating...
Republican faction seeks to keep courts from interpreting Ohio’s new abortion rights amendment
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Four Ohio Republican state lawmakers are seeking to strip judges of their power to interpret an abortion rights amendment after voters opted to enshrine those rights in the state’s constitution this week. Republican state Reps. Jennifer Gross, Bill Dean, Melanie Miller and Beth Lear said in a...
Senate Judiciary delays votes on subpoenas over Supreme Court ethics
WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee abruptly adjourned Thursday without voting on whether to authorize subpoenas for a billionaire Republican donor and a conservative judicial activist as part of the panel’s probe into Supreme Court ethics. Members of the Senate panel were set to vote Thursday on whether to authorize...
House Speaker Johnson is running out of time to avoid shutdown
Speaker Mike Johnson, the little-known Louisiana congressman who emerged from a hardliner revolt as House Republicans’ new leader, is short on both time and experience to avert a US government shutdown. The novice to major Washington negotiations plans to release as soon as Thursday his proposal for temporary government funding...
Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin won’t seek reelection, giving GOP a key pickup opportunityVideo
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced Thursday that he won’t seek reelection in 2024, giving Republicans a prime opportunity to pick up a seat in the heavily GOP state. Manchin, 76, said in a statement that he had made the decision “after months of deliberation...
Can Michigan activists keep Trump off the ballot? A judge heard arguments today
A judge in Michigan heard arguments Thursday on whether Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has the authority to keep Donald Trump’s name off state ballots for president. Activists sued Benson in the Michigan Court of Claims to force her to keep Trump’s name off ballots and to assess Trump’s constitutional...
Minnesota Supreme Court dismisses ‘insurrection clause’ challenge and allows Trump on primary ballot
MINNEAPOLIS — Former President Donald Trump will stay on the Minnesota primary ballot after the state supreme court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit seeking end his candidacy under a rarely-used constitutional provision that forbids those who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office. The Minnesota Supreme Court declined to become the...
GOP presidential candidates unified on Israel but divided on China as they debate without TrumpVideo
MIAMI — In their first debate since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, the Republican presidential candidates all declared hawkish support for Israel but squabbled over China and Ukraine as they faced growing pressure to try to catch Donald Trump — who was again absent. At center stage were Ron...
How Steve Zappala was reelected as Allegheny County DA running on the GOP ticket
Ben Wren parked himself Tuesday night in the back of Cupka’s Cafe II on the South Side, the “war station” of Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala’s reelection effort. Politicians, supporters and reporters flowed like koi past Wren’s table. He constantly checked information on two tablets and a laptop....
Innamorato’s win caps a wave of women’s political victories in Allegheny County
Sara Innamorato’s victory Tuesday night means that Allegheny County will see a woman as its top elected official for the first time in history. Only men have served as Allegheny County executive since the position was created more than 20 years ago. “I stand on the shoulders of so many...
