Politics Election category, Page 150
Maine governor expands access to abortion later in pregnancy
AUGUSTA, Maine — Democratic Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill into law Wednesday that expands access to abortions later in pregnancy in Maine, joining a half-dozen states that leave it to doctors and patients to make the decision without restrictions on timing. The new law allows abortions at any time...
Trump’s target letter suggests sprawling U.S. probe into 2020 election is zeroing in on him
WASHINGTON — A target letter sent to Donald Trump suggests that a sprawling Justice Department investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election is zeroing in on him after more than a year of interviews with top aides to the former president and state officials from across the country. Federal...
IRS whistleblowers will testify to Congress as they claim ‘slow-walking’ of the Hunter Biden case
WASHINGTON — Whistleblowers claiming the Justice Department improperly interfered with a yearslong investigation into Hunter Biden will testify before Congress on Wednesday as House Republicans accelerate their probes into the president and his family. Leaders of the House Judiciary, Oversight and Accountability, and Ways and Means committees will lead a...
Jill Biden touts airport funding, workforce development during Western Pa. visit
Flanked by scores of cranes, first lady Jill Biden visited the Pittsburgh region Tuesday in an effort to remind the region that the Biden administration supports, and provided funding for, many of its largest infrastructure projects. In a speech just outside of Pittsburgh International Airport, she praised Western Pennsylvania for...
House passes resolution to show support for Israel after Democrat’s comments about ‘racist’ state
WASHINGTON — The House on Tuesday passed a Republican-led resolution reaffirming its support for Israel with strong bipartisan approval — an implicit rebuke of a leading Democrat who, over the weekend, called the country a “racist state” but later apologized. The resolution, introduced by Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, passed with...
Michigan charges 16 fake electors for Donald Trump with election law and forgery feloniesVideo
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan’s attorney general filed felony charges Tuesday against 16 Republicans who acted as fake electors for then-President Donald Trump in 2020, accusing them of submitting false certificates confirming they were legitimate electors despite Joe Biden’s victory in the state. Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, announced Tuesday...
Trump says he’s been told he is a target of U.S. probe into efforts to overturn 2020 election
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has received a letter informing him that he is a target of the Justice Department’s investigation into efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election, an indication that he could soon be indicted by federal prosecutors. Trump made...
Alabama Republicans reject call for 2nd majority Black district, despite Supreme Court ruling
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Republicans, under orders of the U.S. Supreme Court to redraw congressional districts to give minority voters a greater voice in elections, rejected calls Monday to craft a second majority-Black district and proposed a map that could test what is required by the judges’ directive. Lawmakers must...
Measure to censure Rep. George Santos introduced in House
WASHINGTON — Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., faces another attempt from Democrats to hold him accountable in the chamber, this time with a censure resolution. The censure resolution, introduced Monday by Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., says Santos “repeatedly lied to voters in his district, donors, and the American public during his...
Abortion in Iowa is legal again, for now, after judge blocks new restrictions
DES MOINES — An Iowa judge on Monday temporarily blocked the state’s new ban on most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, just days after Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the measure into law. That means abortion is once again legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy while...
Watchdog calls for House committee to uninvite RFK Jr. after his comments are blasted as antisemiticVideo
NEW YORK — A Democratic watchdog group has called for a U.S. House committee to rescind an invitation to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after the Democratic presidential candidate was filmed falsely suggesting covid-19 could have been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people. Kyle Herrig, executive director of...
Sen. Ted Cruz on the Supreme Court? GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy lists his would-be picks
Biotech entrepreneur and Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy on Monday released a list of 16 people he’d nominate to the U.S. Supreme Court or federal appellate courts if he becomes president, making him the first in the party’s field to itemize his possible top judicial appointments. Ramaswamy’s list includes Sens....
DeSantis presidential campaign is cutting staff as new financial pressure emerges
NEW YORK — Republican presidential contender Ron DeSantis is cutting campaign staff as he struggles to catch former President Donald Trump in the GOP’s crowded primary contest while facing unexpected financial pressure. DeSantis, the Florida governor, let go fewer than 10 paid staffers late last week to help reduce operating...
The Iowa caucuses are six months away. Some Republicans worry Trump may be unstoppable
NEW YORK — He’s been indicted twice. Found liable for sexual abuse. And he’s viewed unfavorably by about a third of his party. But six months before Republicans begin to choose their next presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump remains the race’s dominant front-runner. Early leaders don’t always go on...
U.S. Rep. George Santos repays himself $85K raised from lackluster reelection fundraising
NEW YORK — Embattled freshman U.S. Rep. George Santos, a Republican from New York charged with a host of financial crimes, including embezzling money from his campaign, withdrew $85,000 from his campaign to help repay hundreds of thousands of dollars he loaned himself to get elected in 2022. Congressional campaign...
Efforts to deceive are a top concern among state election officials heading into 2024
WASHINGTON — Efforts to deceive the public about voting and elections remain a top concern for state election officials as they dig into preparations for the 2024 election. Misinformation and the emergence of generative artificial intelligence tools to create false and misleading content were cited in interviews with several secretaries...
DeSantis makes play for evangelical voters to chip away at Trump
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said signing a law restricting abortion in his state had cost him donors and support, defending the decision as he sought to burnish his credentials with evangelical voters in Iowa. “I lost a lot of really big supporters — some of them just aren’t pro- life,...
House Republicans push through defense bill limiting abortion access, halting diversity efforts
WASHINGTON — The House passed a sweeping defense bill Friday that provides an expected 5.2% pay raise for service members but strays from traditional military policy with Republicans add-ons blocking abortion coverage, diversity initiatives at the Pentagon and transgender care that deeply divided the chamber. Democrats voted against the package,...
Trump asks top Georgia court to disqualify election probe prosecutor and toss grand jury report
ATLANTA — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump are asking Georgia’s highest court to prevent the district attorney who has been investigating his actions in the wake of the 2020 election from prosecuting him and to throw out a special grand jury report that is part of the inquiry. Fulton...
Former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, a key witness at Jan. 6 hearings, has book deal
NEW YORK — A former White House aide to President Donald Trump who became a prominent congressional witness against him and his allies in the wake of the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol has a book deal. Cassidy Hutchinson’s “Enough” will be released Sept. 26 by Simon &...
Mark Cuban rules out running for president in 2024
And for those reasons, he’s out. Mt. Lebanon native Mark Cuban, who’s fond of using that line when he declines to invest in a pitch on “Shark Tank,” has decided he will not mount a third-party campaign for president in 2024. “No. My family would disown me,” Cuban wrote in...
DeSantis has hammered Biden on rising prices. Now Florida is an inflation hotspot
As he relentlessly accuses President Joe Biden and national Democrats of fueling rising costs and fiscal mismanagement, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is facing stubbornly high inflation in his own backyard. New data released this week show prices in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro area jumped 9% in the 12...
First Amendment group sues Texas Governor and others over the state’s TikTok ban on official devices
NEW YORK — A First Amendment group sued Texas Governor Greg Abbott and others on Thursday over the state’s TikTok ban on official devices, arguing the prohibition — which extends to public universities — is unconstitutional and impedes academic freedom. The complaint was filed by The Knight First Amendment Institute...
Pennsylvania budget still in turmoil over school vouchers and equity funding case
HARRISBURG — A court’s ruling earlier this year that the way Pennsylvania funds public schools is unconstitutional helped make education spending one of the thorniest issues in state budget negotiations. Along with a partisan divide over spending taxpayer money to help students attend private and religious schools, education funding has...
Jill Biden to visit Pittsburgh to tout Bidenomics
First Lady Jill Biden is coming to Pittsburgh next week to tout her husband’s efforts in revitalizing the economy. Biden will lead the Bidenomics tour that will go through Pittsburgh, Columbus, Ohio, and Augusta, Ga., according to Bloomberg. No details have been provided yet on when and where the Pittsburgh...
