Politics Election category, Page 349
Trump wants to charge asylum-seekers to apply
WASHINGTON — President Trump is proposing charging asylum-seekers a fee to process their applications as he continues to try to crack down on the surge of Central American migrants trying to cross into the United States. In a presidential memorandum signed Monday, Trump directed his attorney general and acting homeland...
Rod Rosenstein submits letter of resignation to Trump
WASHINGTON — Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein submitted his resignation Monday, ending a nearly two-year run defined by his appointment of a special counsel to investigate connections between President Trump’s campaign and Russia. His last day will be May 11. Rosenstein’s departure had been expected since the confirmation of William...
William Barr’s testimony to House on Mueller report in doubt
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has informed the House Judiciary Committee that Attorney General William Barr may not attend a Thursday hearing to review special counsel Robert Mueller’s report due to objections over the panel’s format, according to a Democratic senior committee aide. The department has balked at the panel’s...
Beto O’Rourke’s new climate plan: carbon emissions to net zero in 30 years
Former congressman Beto O’Rourke, Texas, in the first major policy plan of his presidential candidacy, proposed Monday slicing carbon emissions to net zero in 30 years, spending $5 trillion to make the country’s infrastructure more climate-friendly and having the United States rejoin the Paris climate agreement. O’Rourke, part of a...
Trump did ‘nothing wrong’ to warrant impeachment, Sen. Lindsey Graham contendsVideo
WASHINGTON — The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Sunday that President Trump did “nothing wrong” to warrant impeachment and removal from office, pushing back at Democrats who want the House to consider proceedings. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a stalwart Trump defender, had strongly advocated for...
Stephen Moore, Trump’s Fed nominee, apologizes for past comments about womenVideo
Stephen Moore, President Trump’s likely nominee for an opening on the Federal Reserve Board, apologized Sunday for his past controversial comments about women that caused a firestorm last week. Moore, a longtime conservative commentator, has come under scrutiny for columns he wrote in the National Review in the early 2000s...
Trump says ending family separation was ‘disaster’ that led to surge in border crossingsVideo
WASHINGTON — President Trump said in a television interview Sunday that ending the practice of separating children from their families at border crossings has been “a disaster” that has resulted in a surge of people coming into the country illegally, though he overstated the increase as measured by the government....
William Barr may withdraw from Mueller report hearing over terms of testimony, House Democrats sayVideo
WASHINGTON — Democrats and the Justice Department are in a standoff over the terms of Attorney General William Barr’s planned testimony before the House Judiciary Committee this week, raising the prospect that the hearing might not go forward at all. A senior Democratic committee aide said Sunday that Barr risks...
Trump not expected to attend White House ceremony for National Teacher of the Year
In May, President Trump welcomed the state Teachers of the Year to the White House and gave an award to the National Teacher of the Year, Mandy Manning of Washington state. During the ceremony, Manning made no secret of her opposition to some of Trump’s policies. This year, Trump is...
Trump’s executive privilege strategy could mean messy fight
WASHINGTON — Since George Washington’s time, presidents have used executive privilege to resist congressional inquiries in the name of protecting the confidentiality of their decision-making. President Donald Trump threatened this past week to broadly assert executive privilege to block a number of current and former aides from testifying, including some...
State laws highlight war over drug pricing
WASHINGTON — Recent laws in several states that protect drugmakers’ contributions toward patients’ prescription copays are highlighting an escalating battle in the larger war on drug pricing. In the past month, Arizona, Virginia and West Virginia became the first states to enact laws restricting insurance companies from excluding most drug...
Oliver North says he won’t serve 2nd term as NRA president
INDIANAPOLIS — Retired Lt. Col. Oliver North said Saturday that he will not serve a second term as the president of the National Rifle Association amid inner turmoil in the gun-rights group. In a statement read to members of the group Saturday, North said he believes a committee should be...
2020 candidates to pitch working-class credentials to union
LAS VEGAS — A half-dozen Democratic presidential candidates will descend on Las Vegas on Saturday to pitch themselves to one of America’s largest unions as champions of workers and kitchen-table issues. The daylong forum is organized by the liberal Center for American Progress Action Fund and the Service Employees International...
Infighting erupts at NRA convention, threatening leadership
INDIANAPOLIS — The National Rifle Association was plunged into deeper internal turmoil Friday amid an effort by opponents of top executive Wayne LaPierre to drive out the man who has long been the public face of the gun-rights group. LaPierre sent a letter to board members Thursday outlining that the...
Rod Rosenstein fires back at critics over Mueller report
NEW YORK — Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein hit back hard against politicians and the press Thursday night, and warned that hacking and social media manipulation are “only the tip of the iceberg” when it comes to Russian efforts to influence American elections. Speaking at the Public Servants Dinner of...
Trump won’t make immigration adviser Stephen Miller available to Congress
WASHINGTON — The White House blocked adviser Stephen Miller from testifying before congressional committees on immigration and a staff shakeup at the Department of Homeland Security, prompting lawmakers on Thursday to demand internal communications on the topic from Homeland Security officials. In a letter dated Wednesday, the White House counsel...
Judges: Michigan must redraw congressional, legislative maps
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan must redraw dozens of congressional and legislative districts for the 2020 election because Republicans configured them to unconstitutionally guarantee their political dominance and dilute the power of Democratic voters, federal judges ruled Thursday. In a 3-0 ruling — which will be appealed — the panel gave...
Joe Biden spotted on Amtrak train after announcing presidential run
“Amtrak Joe” lived up to his old nickname Thursday when he took a modest train ride after becoming a 2020 candidate. Former Vice President Joe Biden was photographed riding an Amtrak train to New York just hours after his campaign announced his candidacy for president via an online video. BBC...
George Conway launches ‘Deranged Donald’ nickname in Trump Twitter rant
The husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Thursday coined a new nickname for President Trump: Deranged Donald. George Conway started using the hashtag #DerangedDonald and it didn’t take long to start trending nationally on Twitter. “Deranged Donald is at back at it again. Deranged Donald can do things...
Democratic candidates: Guide to 20 potential presidents
With the entrance of former Vice President Joe Biden into the 2020 Democratic presidential contest on Thursday, the field is largely set, with all the big names included. The sprawling Democratic field features candidates ranging from 37 to 77 years old; liberals and moderates; senators, governors and mayors; and an...
Trump disputes finding that he directed McGahn to seek Mueller’s ouster
President Donald Trump disputed Wednesday that he had told former White House counsel Donald McGahn to seek the firing of special counsel Robert Mueller in the midst of his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The episode, detailed in the report by Mueller that was publicly released last...
Sen. Bob Casey endorses Biden in Democrats’ 2020 race for president
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey is endorsing Joe Biden for president, just minutes after the former vice president entered the crowded 2020 race. In a statement Thursday, Casey touted Biden as a fighter for the middle class who can beat President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania if Biden...
Joe Biden to kick off 2020 presidential campaign in Lawrenceville
Democrat Joe Biden will kick off his campaign for president in the Pittsburgh area Monday. The former vice president announced his candidacy Thursday morning, after months of hints and “will he or won’t he” speculation. His first campaign event will be at the Teamsters Local 249 banquet hall in Lawrenceville,...
Ex-Vice President Joe Biden officially launches 2020 presidential campaign
WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Joe Biden formally joined the crowded Democratic presidential contest on Thursday, betting that his working-class appeal and ties to Barack Obama’s presidency will help him overcome questions about his place in today’s increasingly liberal Democratic Party. He made his announcement in a video posted on...
Former DHS head Kirstjen Nielsen took up cyber despite White House aversionVideo
WASHINGTON — A top White House official told Kirstjen Nielsen, then Homeland Security secretary, not to bring up election security with President Trump, steering her away from discussing a critical national security threat with a president who bristles at suggestions that Russian interference contributed to his 2016 victory, according to...
