Politics Election category, Page 355
Clash between Republicans and Rep. Adam Schiff overshadows Russia intelligence hearing
WASHINGTON — Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday demanded that Chairman Adam B. Schiff step down from his post in light of his repeated allegations that President Trump’s campaign colluded with Russians in the 2016 election, the latest in growing GOP attacks against the California Democrat. The heated,...
Trump orders Treasury, HUD to develop new plan for how home sales are financed
WASHINGTON — President Trump ordered federal regulators on Wednesday to develop plans to change the way the country finances the majority of its home purchases. The plan could upend decades of housing policy while finally reckoning with a major piece of unfinished business from the financial crisis — the fates...
Mueller report is more than 300 pages, AG tells top Democrat
WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russia’s interference in the 2016 election spans more than 300 pages, a Justice Department official said Thursday. Attorney General William Barr confirmed the report’s length during a Wednesday phone call with Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. During...
Trump turns to health care with an eye on 2020
WASHINGTON — Buoyed by word that the special counsel didn’t find collusion with Russia, President Donald Trump is voicing new interest in policymaking, including a fresh effort to repeal and replace “Obamacare.” But Trump has few detailed policy proposals to back up his words, suggesting he’s as focused on highlighting...
After Mueller, Trump allies counsel against pardon push
NEW YORK — The end of the special counsel’s investigation sparked fresh speculation that President Donald Trump might pardon some of those charged in the probe. It’s also spawned a don’t-go-there chorus from some of Trump’s closest advisers and GOP allies. They’re warning that pardons could ignite a political firestorm...
Trump visits Michigan as Republicans confront ominous signs
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The 50 or so party faithful gathered at a western Michigan GOP headquarters prayed for President Donald Trump’s re-election and hummed with excitement about his upcoming visit — a meeting-turned-pep rally for the effort they’ll mount on his behalf in 2020. “Are we ready?” former Michigan...
Mueller’s evidence is likely a massive amount of material
WASHINGTON — Democrats say they want “all of the underlying evidence” in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. But what is all of that evidence? Mueller’s team issued more than 2,800 subpoenas, executed nearly 500 search warrants and interviewed more than 500 witnesses. That means the special counsel likely compiled thousands,...
Federal judge blocks Medicaid work rules in blow to Trump
WASHINGTON — A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Medicaid work requirements undermine the program’s mission of providing health care for the needy, dealing a blow to the Trump administration’s efforts to push the poor toward self-sufficiency. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg in Washington, D.C., blocked work requirements for low-income...
Poll: Most Republicans want to see the full Mueller report
WASHINGTON — Most Republicans think the full Mueller report should be released to the public, a new poll has found. It’s a sharp departure from the position GOP lawmakers have established as they call for some parts of the report to be redacted. Fifty-six percent of the 405 Republicans surveyed...
Trump Fed pick Stephen Moore owes $75,000 to IRS, court document says
Stephen Moore, whom President Trump said he’ll nominate for a seat on the Federal Reserve, owes more than $75,000 in taxes and other penalties, according to the U.S. government. A federal tax lien filed in the circuit court for Montgomery County, Md., where Moore owns a house, says that the...
Trump administration scrambles to defend budget cut for Special Olympics
The Trump administration faced withering attacks from Democrats and others as it scrambled Wednesday to defend its proposal to cut federal funding for the Special Olympics. President Donald Trump’s budget plan slashes programs of all stripes, but the idea of cutting federal support for a beloved organization appeared to generate...
Trump buoyant at luncheon while Pelosi urges focus on policy
WASHINGTON — An exuberant President Donald Trump took a victory lap on Capitol Hill, emboldened by the end of the special counsel’s Russia probe, even as Democrats pressed insistently for Robert Mueller’s full report and Justice Department officials said more information could be released in “weeks, not months.” Trump strode...
Trump’s 2020 machine a far cry from fly-by-night 2016 effort
WASHINGTON — In 2016, President Donald Trump compared Hillary Clinton’s campaign to the lumbering federal bureaucracy. Now he’s building one of his own. From an office tower across the Potomac River from Washington, from the bowels of the Republican National Committee’s headquarters on Capitol Hill and from field offices across...
Trump opposes further disaster aid for battered Puerto Rico
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s opposition to further disaster aid for hurricane-devastated Puerto Rico hardened on Tuesday as he told GOP allies at a Capitol Hill meeting that the U.S. island territory has gotten too much rebuilding money compared with mainland states like Florida and Texas. Trump’s ardent opposition to additional...
Deep cuts to Special Olympics student programs are warranted, Betsy DeVos saysVideo
WASHINGTON — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Tuesday defended deep cuts to programs meant to help students and others, including eliminating $18 million to support Special Olympics, while urging Congress to spend millions more on charter schools. “We are not doing our children any favors when we borrow from their...
Democrats cry foul as Trump calls for striking down ‘Obamacare’Video
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has told a federal appeals court it wants the entire Affordable Care Act struck down, an outcome that could leave millions uninsured and re-ignite a winning political issue for Democrats. The administration, in a terse filing Monday with the court in New Orleans, said it...
Pa. Democrats, Muslim lawmaker decry opening prayer as divisive
HARRISBURG — The first female Muslim member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives said Tuesday she was offended by a colleague’s decision to open a voting session with a prayer a day earlier that “at the name of Jesus every knee will bow.” Democratic Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell of Philadelphia said...
House fails to override Trump veto of his border emergency
WASHINGTON — The Democratic-controlled House fell short Tuesday in its effort to override President Donald Trump’s first veto, handing him a victory in his effort to spend billions more for constructing barriers along the Southwest border than Congress has approved. Lawmakers voted 248-181 in favor of overturning his veto, mostly...
Trump ramps up attacks on media in aftermath of Mueller probe
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday ratcheted up his attacks on the media following the conclusion of a two-year investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller that did not establish coordination between Trump and Russia on election interference. “The Mainstream Media is under fire and being scorned all over the...
Federal appeals court to consider whether Trump can block critics on Twitter
NEW YORK - President Donald Trump’s Twitter habits are up for argument Tuesday morning, as federal judges consider whether he and other elected officials can block critical voices from their social media accounts. Justice Department lawyers, defending the president, say the realDonaldTrump account is Trump’s personal platform to share his...
Buttigieg gains with crowds, TV spots and campaign cash
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg is riding in the back of a rented minivan to his last event of the day in South Carolina, munching on cold french fries and critiquing his stage performance so far. The enthusiastic crowds of hundreds who’ve packed his first two stops...
Trump says investigation abused him, led to ‘evil things’Video
WASHINGTON — House Democrats pressed the Justice Department to provide the full report from special counsel Robert Mueller even as Republicans gleefully called for them to “move on” from the Russia investigation. President Donald Trump accused those responsible for launching Mueller’s probe of “treasonous things against our country” and said...
Democrats ask for Mueller files; GOP exclaims ‘Move on’Video
WASHINGTON — House Democrats pressed the Justice Department on Monday to provide the full report from special counsel Robert Mueller even as Republicans gleefully called for them to “move on” from the Russia investigation. President Trump accused those responsible for launching Mueller’s probe of “treasonous things against our country” and...
Trump declares victory now but legal perils far from over
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump may be reveling in what he sees as “complete and total exoneration” from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, but his legal perils are far from over. Federal and state investigators in New York are deep into investigations of their own into Trump and those...
Mueller finds no Trump collusion, leaves obstruction open
WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence President Donald Trump’s campaign “conspired or coordinated” with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election but reached no conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice. That brought a hearty claim of vindication from Trump but set the stage for new rounds of...
