Politics Election category, Page 74
Trump’s Pentagon pick paid woman after sex assault allegation but denies wrongdoing, his lawyer says
WASHINGTON — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault to head off the threat of a baseless lawsuit, according to Hegseth’s lawyer. Hegseth was accused of sexual assault in 2017 after a speaking appearance at a Republican women’s event...
4 formerly undecided Pennsylvanians explain how they voted
HARRISBURG — The 2024 presidential election is over. And after months at the center of the political universe, Pennsylvania voters have shown the nation how they feel politically: Most picked Donald Trump. Trump beat Kamala Harris in the commonwealth by a little less than 2 percentage points. It was a...
Trump’s pick to lead Defense Department was accused of sexual assault in 2017
WASHINGTON — Pete Hegseth, a popular Fox News host who is Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Defense, was accused of sexual assault in 2017 after a speaking appearance at a Republican women’s event in Monterey, California, according to a statement released by the city. No charges were...
Rudy Giuliani has turned over his luxury watches in defamation case, rep says
NEW YORK — A representative for Rudy Giuliani says the former New York City mayor is relinquishing his cherished watches ahead of a Friday deadline to turn over his assets to two former Georgia election workers who won a $148 million defamation judgment against him. A judge last week ordered...
As he fills his new administration, Trump values loyalty above all else
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump spent much of his first term feeling stung and betrayed by those he’d placed in power. This time, he’s not taking chances. As he works to fill his administration a second time, Trump has turned to a head-spinning mix of candidates. Many of those he’s chosen...
Trump wants to end ‘wokeness’ in education. He has vowed to use federal money as leverage
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s vision for education revolves around a single goal: to rid America’s schools of perceived ” wokeness ” and “left-wing indoctrination.” The president-elect wants to keep transgender athletes out of girls’ sports. He wants to forbid classroom lessons on gender identity and structural racism. He wants to...
Trump is already testing Congress and daring Republicans to oppose him
WASHINGTON — After a resounding election victory, delivering what President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans call a “mandate” to govern, an uneasy political question is emerging: Will there be any room for dissent in the U.S. Congress? Trump is laying down a gauntlet even before taking office challenging the Senate, in...
The last actions the Biden administration will take before Trump takes over the White House
WASHINGTON — Biden administration officials are working against the clock doling out billions in grants and taking other steps to try to preserve at least some of the outgoing president’s legacy before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. “Let’s make every day count,” President Joe Biden said in an...
Pressure mounts to release House ethics report on Matt Gaetz sex trafficking allegations
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, abruptly resigned his Florida congressional seat on Wednesday ahead of the potential release of a House Ethics Committee report about alleged sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old high school girl that a congressional source described to the Miami Herald as...
Trump rewards legal defense team, picks lawyer Todd Blanche as No. 2 Justice official
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Todd Blanche, an attorney who led the legal team that defended the Republican at his hush money criminal trial, to serve as the second-highest ranking Justice Department official. A former federal prosecutor, Blanche has been a key figure on Trump’s defense team both...
Pa. House Democrats spent more than $18 million to hold on to their narrow majority, as legislative races get more expensive
HARRISBURG — The campaign arms behind both parties in the Pennsylvania House and Senate spent more than $35 million to influence the outcome of last week’s election — nearly half of which was spent by House Democrats to hold on to their narrow majority as the GOP swept races throughout...
Trump expected to choose vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretaryVideo
NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump is expected to nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, putting him in charge of a massive agency that oversees everything from drug, vaccine and food safety to medical research and the social safety net...
Pennsylvania courts get lawsuits over ballot-counting in Senate contest headed toward a recount
HARRISBURG — Republicans went to court in Pennsylvania on Thursday amid vote counting in the U.S. Senate election between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican David McCormick, as the campaigns prepare for a recount and press counties for favorable ballot-counting decisions. The lawsuits ask courts not to allow counties to...
Food prices worried most voters, but Trump’s plans likely won’t lower their grocery bills
Americans are fed up with the price of food, and many are looking to President-elect Donald Trump to lower their grocery bills. Trump often railed on the campaign trail against hefty price increases for bacon, cereal, crackers and other items. “We’ll get them down,” he told shoppers during a September...
Matt Gaetz once faced a sex trafficking investigation by the Justice Department he could now lead
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, was once embroiled in a sex trafficking investigation by the Justice Department he’s been tapped to lead, and has been under scrutiny by the House Ethics Committee over allegations including sexual misconduct. That probe effectively ended...
Trump’s mainstream picks for top foreign policy posts could reassure allies — and worry China
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump is famously unconventional, but he made conventional picks for his two top foreign policy positions. That could be reassuring to American allies, while China and Iran have reasons to be wary. Trump on Wednesday announced his choice of Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state....
Trump issues early challenge to GOP Senate with defiant nominations
WASHINGTON — Just hours after Republican Sen. John Thune was elected as the incoming Senate majority leader on Wednesday, President-elect Donald Trump presented him with one of his first tests — an announcement that he intends to nominate controversial Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general. The Florida Republican is one...
Liberals pressure Senate Democrats to confirm more Biden judges while they can
WASHINGTON — Demand Justice, a progressive organization focused on the judiciary, is set to bombard Capitol Hill with a message for the closing weeks of the 118th Congress: Do “whatever it takes” to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominees as a second Donald Trump presidency looms. The Republican president-elect’s victory and...
Gaetz pick shows value Trump places on loyalty — and retribution — as he returns to Washington
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump has had few defenders in Congress as reliable as Matt Gaetz, who has thundered at one prosecutor after another for perceived bias against the president-elect and emphatically amplified the Republican’s rallying cry that the criminal investigations into him are “witch hunts.” That kinship was rewarded Wednesday...
Republicans win 218 U.S. House seats, giving Donald Trump and the party control of government
WASHINGTON — Republicans have won enough seats to control the U.S. House, completing the party’s sweep into power and securing their hold on U.S. government alongside President-elect Donald Trump. A House Republican victory in Arizona, alongside a win in slow-counting California earlier Wednesday, gave the GOP the 218 House victories...
Gov. Shapiro gives ‘wait and see’ response to Trump pledge to begin mass deportations
Gov, Josh Shapiro said Wednesday he will hold off until hearing President-elect Donald Trump’s plan on mass deportations before determining how he will respond. “Let’s wait and see,” Shapiro said after remarks at an economic development event at a machine construction company in Dillsburg. Shapiro’s comments come as post-Trump election...
Casey-McCormick race heads to automatic recount
Pennsylvania’s hard-fought U.S. Senate race is being extended potentially another two weeks. With the contest between Democratic incumbent Bob Casey and Republican businessman Dave McCormick within 0.5 percentage point, the race is legally required to go to automatic recount under Pennsylvania law, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt announced Wednesday....
Trump says he will nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to be attorney general
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to serve as U.S. attorney general, a surprising and highly controversial pick that could set up a confirmation battle in the Senate as the congressman continues to battle accusations of illicit drug use and sex trafficking. At a...
Trump picks ex-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence, Rubio for Secretary of State
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic member of Congress and presidential candidate, to serve as director of national intelligence, continuing to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities complimentary to his own, rather than long-term professionals in their requisite fields. “As a...
Republican John Thune of South Dakota is elected the next Senate majority leader
WASHINGTON — Republicans have elected South Dakota Sen. John Thune as the next Senate majority leader, completing a momentous shift in their leadership that elevates a top deputy of Mitch McConnell into a key position as President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House. Thune, 63, is in his fourth...
