Politics
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Senate GOP pushes spending bills as Democratic anger builds
WASHINGTON — Senate Republican appropriators want their leadership to bring an initial package of fiscal 2026 spending bills to the floor before August recess, Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Thursday.
The committee has reported four of its 12 annual bills: the Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, Legislative Branch and ...Read more

Planned Parenthood, Idaho AG Raúl Labrador agree on out-of-state abortion referrals
BOISE, Idaho — Idaho doctors are free to refer patients out of state for abortions without concern for criminal prosecution thanks to an agreement signed by the state’s top attorney that ended a lawsuit over the issue.
Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, along with the Ada and Valley County prosecutors, on Thursday signed a consent ...Read more

Senate, House NDAAs address Confederate military names
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has undone a 2022 congressionally chartered commission’s renaming of military bases and ships that had for years celebrated the Confederacy, but as of this week both the House and Senate are poised to consider at least a partial reversal of President Donald Trump’s moves.
The House fiscal 2026 NDAA ...Read more

Trump resists bipartisan calls to release Justice Department files on Jeffrey Epstein
WASHINGTON — The case of Jeffrey Epstein, closed long ago by investigators but nevertheless a constant source of fascination to conspiracy theorists, is the story that won't go away for President Donald Trump, who this week continued to resist releasing documents in the case against bipartisan calls and increasing national interest.
The case ...Read more

Congress slashes public media funding in 'worst-case scenario' for some Minnesota stations
Sarah Bignall didn’t get much sleep overnight Wednesday.
The general manager of KAXE radio in northern Minnesota was still awake at 2:45 a.m. watching C-SPAN’s livestream of the U.S. Senate vote on the rescissions package.
Shortly after senators approved the cancellation of some $9 billion in already-appropriated federal funds from the ...Read more

South Bay residents protest Trump administration in honor of civil rights leader John Lewis
SAN JOSE, Calif. — South Bay Area residents protested the Trump administration Thursday in downtown San Jose as part of a wave of demonstrations across the country on the fifth anniversary of former congressman and civil rights activist John Lewis’s passing.
Organized by the San Jose chapters of Indivisible and 50501, the protest began at ...Read more

Crypto market gets major win as Congress passes stablecoin bill
Congress delivered a watershed victory for the crypto industry on Thursday, passing the first federal legislation to regulate stablecoins and clearing the way for broader use of the technology in everyday finance.
Backed by Republicans and championed by President Donald Trump, the bill imposes federal or state oversight on dollar-linked tokens ...Read more

Here's who's up and who's down in the battle for California campaign cash
WASHINGTON — California Rep. Adam Gray, one of the nation’s most vulnerable House incumbents, has a huge financial lead over his Republican challengers.
Republican Rep. David Valadao had a lot more cash on hand than his Democratic opponents.
Republicans criticized Democratic Rep. Jim Costa’s financial showing, saying it was unusually ...Read more

Trump is winning in the Supreme Court because its conservatives believe in strong executive power
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court signaled again this week that it believes the president has the full power to control federal agencies, including by sharply cutting their staffs and their spending.
It's the latest example of the court's conservative majority intervening to rule for President Donald Trump and against federal district judges. ...Read more

Trump's controversial former attorney, Emil Bove, is one step closer to becoming a federal judge
Despite unusually public opposition from dozens of former judges, hundreds of former federal prosecutors, and many Democratic lawmakers, the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday agreed to advance the judicial nomination of Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official and former personal attorney for President Donald Trump...Read more

Trump diagnosed with vein condition that causes ankle swelling
President Donald Trump was diagnosed with a treatable medical condition known as chronic venous insufficiency after undergoing an unscheduled examination prompted by swelling in his ankles, the White House said Thursday.
Trump, 79, was deemed in “excellent health” and there was no sign of more serious health problems like heart failure or ...Read more

Four takeaways from second-quarter fundraising reports
WASHINGTON — The second quarter of the year brought more big fundraising hauls for House Republicans and millions more for Senate Democrats’ most endangered incumbent.
The fundraising reports, which were due by midnight Tuesday to the Federal Election Commission, offer the latest updates on how candidates fared in their money-raising ...Read more

Trump lawyer Bove gets 3rd Circuit backing as Democrats walk out
WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced, 12-0, the nomination of Emil Bove for an appeals court post Thursday after Democrats walked out of the vote for a controversial figure in the administration’s aggressive shake up of the Justice Department.
Republicans brushed past outrage from Democrats over accusations that Bove ...Read more

Q&A: Alex Warren has a chart-topping hit with 'Ordinary.' So why is he his own 'No. 1 hater'?
LOS ANGELES — Of all the pop hits vying to become the song of the summer, Alex Warren's "Ordinary" might be the most improbable: A stark and brooding ballad full of lurid Christian imagery — "Shatter me with your touch/ Oh Lord, return me to dust," goes one line — it's about a guy seeking the kind of sexual-spiritual fulfillment not ...Read more

Sinema left office but her campaign continues to spend lavishly
WASHINGTON — Kyrsten Sinema retired from the Senate more than six months ago, but the Arizona independent’s campaign account remains quite active.
The latest filing by her Sinema for Arizona committee shows disbursements totaling more than $391,000 from March 31 to June 30 on hotels, entry fees to airport lounges, in-flight WiFi, office ...Read more

Donald Trump remakes American diplomacy in Florida's image
MIAMI — From Panama to Singapore, President Donald Trump is deploying an unprecedented number of Floridians to represent the United States as he transforms the country’s approach to diplomacy.
One out of every three nominees to ambassador-level positions in the Trump administration hails from the president’s adopted home state of Florida,...Read more

Commentary: Stunts in LA show Democratic states and cities that Trump's forces can invade anytime
Early this month, the U.S. military and masked federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and from Customs and Border Protection invaded a park near downtown Los Angeles — ironically, a park named after Gen. Douglas MacArthur. They came ready for battle, dressed in tactical gear and camouflage, with some arriving on horseback, ...Read more

Four takeaways from second-quarter fundraising reports
WASHINGTON — The second quarter of the year brought more big fundraising hauls for House Republicans and millions more for Senate Democrats’ most endangered incumbent.
The fundraising reports, which were due by midnight Tuesday to the Federal Election Commission, offer the latest updates on how candidates fared in their money-raising ...Read more

Chicago-area candidates file funding reports in crowded congressional races as Jesse Jackson Jr. gears for comeback effort
With Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Jan Schakowsky set to retire and Rep. Danny Davis potentially ready to join them, next year’s election will mark a significant changing of the guard in Illinois’ congressional delegation.
But one member of the old guard says he’s gearing up for a comeback attempt. Former U.S. Rep. Jesse ...Read more

Lawmakers hope to modify crucial dates in reconciliation bill
WASHINGTON — While efforts to sway initially reluctant GOP moderates and ultraconservatives to vote for the Republican reconciliation package resulted in a law with little wiggle room for change, some lawmakers are already working to find that room.
A few of the package’s health provisions took immediate effect, but implementation of the ...Read more
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