Politics Election category, Page 138
Pittsburgh rabbis urge Rep. Summer Lee to take stand against Hamas, terrorism
A group of 40 rabbis and cantors from the Pittsburgh region are denouncing recent votes by U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, in connection with the Israel-Hamas war. Rabbi Dan Fellman of Temple Sinai in Squirrel Hill organized an open letter, released Tuesday, and said its signatories represent a broad swath...
U.S. military and diplomatic leaders urge a divided Congress to send aid to both Israel and Ukraine
WASHINGTON — The nation’s top military and diplomatic leaders urged an increasingly divided Congress on Tuesday to send major immediate aid to Israel and Ukraine, arguing at a Senate hearing that broad support for the assistance would signal U.S. strength to adversaries worldwide. The testimony from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin...
Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki writes about her years in government in ‘Say More’
NEW YORK — Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has a two-book deal with Scribner, starting with a book in which she will reflect on her years in government and offer advice on both public and private communication. Scribner announced Monday that Psaki’s “Say More: Lessons from Work, the...
Lawyers argue whether the Constitution’s ‘insurrection’ clause blocks Trump from the 2024 ballot
DENVER — Lawyers for a group of Colorado voters on Monday focused on the January 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol and former President Donald Trump’s role, opening a trial that could determine whether the Constitution’s insurrection clause bars Trump from running again for the White House. Attorney Eric Olson...
Trump says ‘no way’ Iowa votes against him as he flubs city’s name during state campaign stopVideo
DES MOINES, Iowa — Donald Trump predicted Sunday he would win Iowa’s Republican presidential caucuses in January, tossing aside what he called advisers’ caution not to overstate expectations, even as he greeted his audience by naming a city in a neighboring state. “I go around saying of course we’re going...
Biden will visit a Minnesota family farm this week as top officials kick off stops in rural America
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will visit a family farm in Minnesota on Wednesday as part of two weeks of stops in rural America by top administration officials that are intended to highlight how increases in government spending can help improve peoples’ lives. Biden’s focus on the state comes just...
Wisconsin judge rules GOP-controlled Senate’s vote to fire elections official had no effect
MADISON, Wis. — A vote by the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Senate last month to fire the state’s nonpartisan top elections official had no legal effect, and lawmakers are barred from ousting her while a lawsuit plays out, a Dane County judge ruled Friday. Administrator Meagan Wolfe will continue serving as head...
Pittsburgh synagogue shooting victims honored in Congressional resolution
Five years after tragedy struck Pittsburgh and the lives of 11 congregants at the Tree of Life synagogue were taken, U.S. Congress is honoring their memories. U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, have introduced resolutions to remember the lives of the 11 victims and the...
Radio host Larry Elder ends Republican presidential campaign and endorses Donald Trump
Conservative talk radio host Larry Elder announced Thursday that he was ending his 2024 Republican campaign for president and endorsing former President Donald Trump. Elder, who sought to replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom in a failed 2021 recall effort, said in a statement that he had made the “difficult decision”...
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee votes against pro-Israel resolution on Hamas attack
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, voted against a pro-Israel resolution that passed the House on Wednesday in the aftermath of the Hamas attacks on the Middle Eastern country. Lee, who has condemned Hamas’ recent attack on Israel, said she voted against Wednesday’s Meeks-McCaul resolution because it fell short of acknowledging...
DeSantis is sending weapons to Israel in move that could bolster him in the GOP primary
MIAMI — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday he’s arranged to send drones, weapons, and ammunition to Israel as it prepares for an incursion of Gaza in response to Hamas’ attack. It’s the latest official response DeSantis has taken to back Israel as he competes in the 2024 Republican primary....
Judge says Georgia’s congressional and legislative districts are discriminatory and must be redrawn
ATLANTA — A federal judge ruled Thursday that some of Georgia’s congressional, state Senate and state House districts were drawn in a racially discriminatory manner, ordering the state to draw an additional Black-majority congressional district. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones, in a 516-page order, also ordered the state to draw...
New U.S. House speaker tried to help overturn the 2020 election, raising concerns about the next one
The new leader of one of the chambers of Congress that will certify the winner of next year’s presidential election helped spearhead the attempt to overturn the last one, raising alarms that Republicans could try to subvert the will of the voters if they remain in power despite safeguards enacted...
Most of Justice Thomas’ $267,000 loan for an RV seems to have been forgiven, Senate Democrats say
WASHINGTON — All or most of a $267,000 loan obtained by Supreme CourtJustice Clarence Thomas to buy a high-end motorcoach appears to have been forgiven, raising tax and ethics questions, according to a new report by Senate Democrats. Anthony “Tony” Welters, a longtime friend of Thomas who made the loan...
Putting an armed security officer in every school gains Pa. Senate panel’s support
Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering requiring every public school building to have a trained armed security officer present during school hours. The Senate Education Committee on a party-line vote sent legislation to the full Senate for consideration that would impose this mandate, starting in 2024-25. Having an armed school police officer,...
Western Pa. congressional delegation weighs in on new House speaker
After weeks of turmoil and inaction, the U.S. House of Representatives elected Louisiana conservative Mike Johnson as its new speaker on Wednesday. The vote came more than three weeks after former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was booted from the position in a historic vote. Johnson was the fourth nominee...
Mike Johnson, staunch Louisiana conservative, elected House speaker with broad GOP support
WASHINGTON — Republicans unanimously elected Rep. Mike Johnson as House speaker on Wednesday, eagerly elevating a deeply conservative but lesser-known leader to the major seat of U.S. power and ending for now the weeks of political chaos in their majority. Johnson, 51, of Louisiana, swept through on the first ballot...
Biden won’t appear on New Hampshire Democratic primary ballot. But write-ins are still an option
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden won’t file to have his name appear on the 2024 New Hampshire Democratic primary ballot, his reelection campaign said Tuesday, opting to skip a contest that the state plans to hold in defiance of a revamped primary order that the White House has championed. Julie...
Georgia Supreme Court sends abortion law challenge back to lower court, leaving access unchanged
ATLANTA — The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a lower court ruling that the state’s restrictive abortion law was invalid, leaving limited access to abortions unchanged for now. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney said last November that the ban was “unequivocally unconstitutional” because it was enacted in...
Florida officials ask Supreme Court to block rulings limiting anti-drag show law
ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block lower court rulings that prohibit the enforcement of a new law targeting drag shows. Florida officials filed an application with the nation’s highest court Friday asking that the prohibition against enforcing the anti-drag show law only be limited...
Republicans nominate Mike Johnson for House speaker after Emmer’s withdrawal, desperate to end chaos
WASHINGTON — Republicans chose Rep. Mike Johnson as their latest nominee for House speaker late Tuesday, hours after an earlier pick, Rep. Tom Emmer, abruptly withdrew in the face of opposition from Donald Trump and hardline GOP lawmakers. Johnson of Louisiana, a lower-ranked member of the House GOP leadership team,...
In court faceoff, Michael Cohen testifies against Trump in fraud trial. Trump shrugs: ‘Proven liar’
NEW YORK — In a courtroom showdown five years in the making, Donald Trump’s fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen testified Tuesday that he worked to boost the supposed value of the former president’s assets to “whatever number Trump told us to.” Trump’s lawyers — and outside court, Trump himself — by turn...
There’s a long list of candidates for House speaker as Republicans try voting again on a new leader
WASHINGTON — Three weeks now since the ouster of Kevin McCarthy, House Republicans are meeting privately Tuesday to try nominating a new House speaker to accomplish the seemingly impossible job of uniting a broken, bitter GOP majority and returning to the work of governing in Congress. Having dispatched their speaker...
Jenna Ellis becomes latest Trump lawyer to plead guilty over efforts to overturn Georgia’s electionVideo
ATLANTA — Attorney and prominent conservative media figure Jenna Ellis pleaded guilty Tuesday to a felony charge over efforts to overturn Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia, tearfully telling the judge she looks back on that time with “deep remorse.” Ellis, the fourth defendant in the case to enter...
Trump’s lawyers file challenges to Washington election subversion case, calling it unconstitutional
WASHINGTON — Lawyers for Donald Trump are raising new challenges to the federal election subversion case against him, telling a judge that the indictment should be dismissed because it violates the former president’s free speech rights and represents a vindictive prosecution. The motions filed late Monday in the case charging...
