Politics Election category, Page 285

WASHINGTON — The FBI investigation into President Trump that was opened almost immediately after he fired then-director James Comey also included a counterintelligence component to determine if the president was seeking to help Russia and if so, why, according to people familiar with the matter. The decision by then-acting FBI...

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama stunned Republicans when he bypassed Congress and — relying on what he called his pen and his phone — used executive powers to enact his agenda, including protecting millions of young immigrants from deportation. Now, with President Donald Trump proposing an even more dramatic end-run...

SAN ANTONIO — Assailing President Donald Trump for “a crisis of leadership,” former Obama Cabinet member Julian Castro joined the 2020 presidential race Saturday as the rush of Democrats making early moves to challenge the incumbent accelerates, while anticipation grows around bigger names still considering a White House run. Castro,...

ATLANTA — Georgia’s new governor campaigned as a self-described “politically incorrect conservative” who sealed support among fellow Republicans with an endorsement from President Donald Trump and eked out a close November victory after lobbing a last-minute accusation that the state Democratic Party tried to hack the election. Now the question...

McALLEN, Texas — Taking the shutdown fight to the Mexican border, President Donald Trump edged closer Thursday to declaring a national emergency in an extraordinary end run around Congress to fund his long-promised border wall. Pressure was mounting to find an escape hatch from the three-week impasse that has closed...

FORT WORTH, Texas — Republicans in one of the most populous counties in Texas voted Thursday to keep a Muslim doctor as their party vice chairman following infighting over some members’ claims about his beliefs. The executive committee of the Tarrant County Republican Party voted 139-49 to reject the effort...

WASHINGTON — House Democrats said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin failed to convince them in a closed briefing Thursday that the United States should lift sanctions on a Russian aluminum company controlled by a Vladimir Putin ally, calling for more information and a delay. Treasury notified Congress last month that it...

WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Thursday criticized a fellow GOP lawmaker for making what they said were “racist” comments. Rep. Steve King of Iowa was quoted in The New York Times saying, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” The comment drew a denunciation...

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is informally scouring military construction projects it could cut or delay in preparation for a possible national emergency declaration by President Trump, which could force the Defense Department to divert funds from those planned initiatives to building a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico, according...

WASHINGTON — For the second time this month, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has apologized to female staff members from his 2016 presidential campaign who have said they were sexually harassed by co-workers — including one who was expected to play a role in a potential 2020 bid. On Thursday morning,...

President Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen has agreed to testify in a public hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in early February, panel Democrats announced Thursday. Cohen agreed to the Feb. 7 hearing voluntarily, panel chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said. “I want to make...

MCALLEN, Texas — President Trump threatened on Thursday to declare a national emergency to circumvent Congress if he can’t reach a deal with Democrats to fund his promised border wall. He spent most of the day in Texas near the U.S.-Mexico border to draw further attention to his case after...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A retired Army paratrooper and West Virginia lawmaker who formalized his campaign for the presidency on Veterans Day is stepping down from the state Senate. Democrat Richard Ojeda told news outlets that he’s resigning as of next week because he doesn’t want his seat to sit...

WASHINGTON — Challenging the Trump administration on a high-profile consumer issue, leading congressional liberals plan to unveil a package of bills Thursday designed to radically reduce what Americans pay for prescription drugs by linking prices to lower costs in other countries. The legislation has little chance of becoming law under...

WASHINGTON — Top Senate Republicans emerged Wednesday from meetings with attorney general nominee William Barr insisting that if confirmed, he would not hinder Robert Mueller III’s investigation of the Trump campaign’s Russia ties, despite previous statements blasting the probe for looking into whether President Trump attempted to obstruct justice. “Based...

NEW YORK — An estimated 35.3 million people saw President Trump and Democratic leaders speak to the nation on border security and the partial government shutdown. That’s about 10 million fewer viewers than Trump had for his 2018 State of the Union address. The Nielsen company said Wednesday it was...

SACRAMENTO — President Trump threatened Wednesday to withhold money to help California cope with wildfires, a day after new Gov. Gavin Newsom asked him to double the federal investment in forest management. Trump again suggested poor forest management is to blame for California’s deadly wildfires and said he’s ordered the...

DES MOINES, Iowa — Billionaire investor and Democratic activist Tom Steyer said Wednesday that he will not run for the White House in 2020 and will instead focus on calling for President Donald Trump’s impeachment. Steyer, who has spent $50 million on his Need to Impeach campaign and announced plans...

WASHINGTON — President Trump stalked out of his negotiating meeting with congressional leaders Wednesday — “I said bye-bye,” he tweeted soon after — as efforts to end the 19-day partial government shutdown fell into deeper disarray over his demand for billions of dollars to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., rebuttal to President Donald Trump’s address from the Oval Office drew lots sparked lots on comments and memes on Twitter Tuesday night. The top Democrats said Trump “has chosen fear” in his drive to build a southern border...

WASHINGTON — In his prime-time speech to the nation, President Donald Trump declared a border crisis that’s in sharp dispute, wrongly accused Democrats of refusing to pay for border security and ignored the reality of how drugs come into the country as he pitched his wall as a solution to...

WASHINGTON — Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed special counsel Robert Mueller and remains his most visible Justice Department protector, is expected to leave his position soon after William Barr is confirmed as attorney general, a person familiar with the plans said Wednesday. Barr, who served in the position...

Transcript of remarks by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer in response to President Trump’s address Tuesday on border security, as provided by Pelosi’s office: PELOSI: Good evening. I appreciate the opportunity to speak directly to the American people tonight about how we can end this...

A transcript of President Trump’s Tuesday night address about security along the U.S. southern border, as provided by the White House: My fellow Americans: Tonight, I am speaking to you because there is a growing humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border. Every day, Customs and Border Patrol agents...

Fighting for advantage in the government shutdown battle, President Trump aims to use a prime-time address Tuesday night to convince Americans he needs billions of dollars from Congress for his long-promised border wall to resolve security and humanitarian problems he contends have reached a crisis pitch. His remarks were to...