Politics
- USReuters
Biden administration delays plan to ban menthol cigarettes
(Reuters) -The Biden administration on Friday delayed its plan to ban menthol cigarettes, a move that reflected the potential for a political backlash from Black voters in an election year. For decades, menthol cigarettes have been in the crosshairs of anti-smoking groups who argue that they contribute to disproportionate health burdens on Black communities and play a role in luring young people into smoking. About 81% of Black adults who smoked cigarettes used menthol varieties, compared with
3 min read - PoliticsUSA TODAY
Top Education Department official steps down amid crisis over college financial aid
Richard Cordray, the official in charge of the Federal Student Aid office, which oversees the FAFSA, will conclude his tenure at the end of June.
4 min read - PoliticsThe New York Times
Conservative justices appear poised to rule ex-presidents have some immunity
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared ready on Thursday to rule that former presidents have some degree of immunity from criminal prosecution, a move that could further delay the criminal case against former President Donald Trump on charges that he plotted to subvert the 2020 election. Such a ruling would most likely send the case back to the trial court, ordering it to draw distinctions between official and private conduct. It would amount to a major statement on the
7 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Trump's criminal charges and Biden's age rank as voters' top worries about the candidates
Voters continue to rank President Joe Biden’s age and former President Donald Trump’s legal woes as the most compelling reasons to oppose them in November.
4 min read - PoliticsThe Guardian
The pro-Trump Arizona fake electors scheme: what’s in the charging document?
The indictment details the steps to push the concept of alternate electors in an alleged effort to overturn Biden’s victory
10 min read - BusinessThe New York Times
How a pirate-clad pastor helped ignite Trump Media's market frenzy
One afternoon last month, Chad Nedohin, a part-time pastor and die-hard supporter of Donald Trump, put on a pirate costume, set up his microphone and recited a prayer. Nedohin was opening his latest livestream on the right-wing video site Rumble, where he has about 1,400 followers who share a devotion to Trump Media & Technology Group, the former president’s social media company. “Faith comes from hearing — that is, hearing the good news about Christ,” said Nedohin, 40, his face framed by fake d
7 min read - PoliticsPolitico
Coal’s future dims as new regulations pile on and former defenders retreat
The industry's most influential bipartisan backers are leaving, but others will take their place — at least among the GOP.
10 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Former Rep. Peter Meijer ends his longshot bid for the GOP nomination in Michigan's Senate race
Former Rep. Peter Meijer withdrew his name from the U.S. Senate race in Michigan on Friday, ending a longshot bid to become the Republican nominee and return to Congress after being ousted by voters for supporting an effort to impeach then-President Donald Trump. Meijer announced his candidacy in November and contended for the Republican nomination against former U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers and Justin Amash, in addition to wealthy businessman Sandy Pensler. Meijer met an April 23 deadline to turn i
2 min read - USAssociated Press
Tennessee governor signs bills to allow armed teachers nearly a year after deadly Nashville shooting
Tennessee teachers and staff will be allowed to carry concealed handguns on public school grounds under legislation signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee on Friday. Lee, a Republican, had announced his support for the proposal just the day before while flanked by top Republican legislative leaders who had helped shepherd the bill through the GOP-dominant General Assembly. As the idea of arming teachers began to gain support inside the General Assembly, gun control advocates and families began swarm
2 min read - PoliticsThe Guardian
Trump on Trial: What we learned from David Pecker’s testimony
We’ve now finished our first week of testimony in former president Donald Trump’s criminal trial – and have one major witness in the books.
4 min read - PoliticsNBC News
In private, Biden shifts from frustration to confidence that he'll beat Trump
Over the past several weeks, Biden has privately expressed confidence that he’s going to win the November election, according to three people familiar with his comments, in a shift from the frustration with the status of his campaign that he was venting to aides just a couple months ago.
6 min read - USAssociated Press
Florida's Bob Graham remembered as a governor, senator of the people
Former Democratic Gov. and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham was remembered Friday by Republicans and Democrats alike as a man whose love for people and his state of Florida transcended partisanship, many of them smiling with memories of his five decades in politics as they passed by his casket in the historic old Capitol. A bouquet of white flowers sent by President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, was alongside the coffin, as Graham's wife, Adele, and four daughters greeted hundreds of mourners. “The true f
3 min read - USAssociated Press
Commerce Department announces new restrictions on U.S. firearms exports
The Commerce Department on Friday announced new restrictions on U.S. firearms exports in an effort to prevent the guns from ending up in the hands of drug traffickers and criminals in other nations. Oversight of legal firearms exports has become a political struggle in Washington since the Trump administration in 2020 moved oversight from the State Department to the Commerce Department — a move that was widely seen as favorable to the firearms industry. President Joe Biden during his 2020 camp
2 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Charges revealed against a former Trump aide and 4 lawyers in Arizona fake electors case
Authorities revealed Friday the conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges filed against an ex-aide of former President Donald Trump and four attorneys in Arizona’s fake elector case, but the names of former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and lawyer Rudy Giuliani remained blacked out. The Arizona attorney general's office released a copy of the indictment that revealed nine felony counts had been filed against Mike Roman, who was Trump’s director of Election Day operations, and attorneys John Eas
2 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Planning for potential presidential transition underway as Biden administration kicks it off
President Joe Biden's administration on Friday formally began planning for a potential presidential transition, aiming to ensure continuity of government no matter the outcome of November's general election. Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, sent memos to all executive departments and agencies, directing them to name a point person for transition planning by May 3. Next week, White House chief of staff Jeff Zients — who also chaired Biden's 2020 transition ef
2 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
A California bill aiming to ban confidentiality agreements when negotiating legislation fails
A bill that sought to ban the use of confidentiality agreements when negotiating potential laws in California has failed to pass a state legislative committee. The proposal by Republican Assemblymember Vince Fong failed to get enough votes to pass out of the Assembly Elections Committee on Thursday. The legislation was inspired by last year's negotiations over a bill that mandated a $20 minimum wage for fast-food workers.
3 min read - WorldNBC News
U.S. reviewing whether to sanction IDF unit accused of human rights abuses
The Biden administration is reviewing whether to restrict aid to an Israeli military battalion after determining that it was one of three battalions credibly implicated in gross human rights violations against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank prior to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, according to a letter obtained by NBC News.
4 min read - BusinessReuters
TikTok general counsel to move to new role focused on fighting US sale
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Erich Andersen, general counsel for TikTok and Chinese parent company ByteDance, will step down from that role in June to focus on fighting efforts to force a sale of the video app in the U.S., the company said on Friday. Andersen will remain at the company and become its special counsel to lead TikTok's effort to overturn legislation signed into law by President Joe Biden on Wednesday that gives ByteDance 270 days to divest short-video app TikTok in the United States or f
2 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Biden officials indefinitely postpone ban on menthol cigarettes amid election-year pushback
President Joe Biden’s administration is indefinitely delaying a long-awaited menthol cigarette ban, a decision that infuriated anti-smoking advocates but could avoid a political backlash from Black voters in November. In a statement Friday, Biden’s top health official gave no timeline for issuing the rule, saying only that the administration would take more time to consider feedback, including from civil rights groups. “It’s clear that there are still more conversations to have, and that will
3 min read - USAssociated Press
Judge upholds disqualification of challenger to judge in Trump’s Georgia election interference case
A judge upheld the disqualification of a candidate who had had planned to run against the judge presiding over former President Donald Trump’s 2020 Georgia election interference case. Tiffani Johnson is one of two people who filed paperwork to challenge Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee. An administrative law judge earlier this month found that she was not qualified to run for the seat after she failed to appear at a hearing on a challenge to her eligibility, and Secretary of Sta
3 min read - PoliticsThe New York Times
Talk of an Immigrant ‘Invasion’ Grows in Republican Ads and Speech
WASHINGTON — A campaign ad from a Republican congressional candidate from Indiana sums up the arrival of migrants at the border with one word. He doesn’t call it a problem or a crisis. He calls it an “invasion.” The word invasion also appears in ads for two Republicans competing for a Senate seat in Michigan. And it shows up in an ad for a Republican congresswoman seeking reelection in central New York, and in one for a Missouri lieutenant governor running for the state’s governorship. In West V
7 min read - PoliticsThe New York Times
How Abrupt U-Turns Are Defining U.S. Environmental Regulations
The Biden administration’s move on Thursday to strictly limit pollution from coal-burning power plants is a major policy shift. But in many ways it’s one more hairpin turn in a zigzag approach to environmental regulation in the United States, a pattern that has grown more extreme as the political landscape has become more polarized. Nearly a decade ago, President Barack Obama was the Democrat who tried to force power plants to stop burning coal, the dirtiest of the fossil fuels. His Republican s
9 min read - USAssociated Press
A ban in Kansas on gender-affirming care also would bar advocacy for kids' social transitions
A proposed ban in Kansas on gender-affirming care for minors also would bar state employees from promoting it — or even children's social transitioning. Teachers and social workers who support LGBTQ+ rights worry that they could be disciplined or fired for helping kids who are exploring their gender identities. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the proposed ban, and top Republicans anticipated Friday that the GOP-controlled Legislature will attempt to override her action before lawmakers adjo
5 min read - USThe Guardian
Jordan Klepper on campus protests: ‘You’re not going to resolve tension by adding violence’
Late-night hosts discuss the crackdown on, and Republican criticism of, college campus protests against Israel’s war in Gaza
3 min read - PoliticsBusiness Insider
Trump wishes Melania happy birthday from the hallway outside his NY criminal trial
Donald Trump did not address why Melania hasn't attended the trial to show her support.
4 min read - HealthReuters
US bird flu spreads to Colorado dairy herd as lawmakers call for action
(Reuters) -Colorado became the ninth U.S. state to report a dairy herd infected with bird flu on Friday as federal lawmakers urged the Biden administration to further contain the virus' spread and tests of milk suggested the outbreak is more widespread than previously thought. The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed milking cows in Colorado tested positive, following earlier infections in Texas, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio, Idaho, New Mexico, North Carolina and South Dakota. One person, a Texa
4 min read - BusinessHuffPost
First Amendment Law Firm Recruiting TikTok Creators To Challenge Possible Ban: Report
TikTok has already announced it is planning legal action against the divestiture bill recently signed by President Joe Biden.
3 min read - USAssociated Press
AP Decision Notes: What to expect in New York's special congressional election
House Republicans’ majority could tighten by another vote after Tuesday’s special congressional election in Buffalo — at least, temporarily. Voters are choosing a replacement for Democrat Brian Higgins, a longtime House member who cited the “slow and frustrating” pace of Congress before resigning in February. Democrats have a long record of success in the 26th Congressional District, and their nominee is highly favored to win on Tuesday.
5 min read - PoliticsThe Guardian
Arizona’s abortion U-turn points to Republican break from anti-abortion movement
As support for abortion even in states as red as Kentucky and Kansas grows, the GOP appears to be breaking ranks with the hardliners
5 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Charges against Trump's 2020 'fake electors' are expected to deter a repeat this year
An Arizona grand jury's indictment of 18 people who either posed as or helped organize a slate of electors falsely claiming that former President Donald Trump won the state in 2020 could help shape the landscape of challenges to the 2024 election. The indictment issued Wednesday is part of a campaign to deter a repeat of 2020, when Trump and his Republican allies falsely claimed he won swing states, filed dozens of lawsuits unsuccessfully challenging Democrat Joe Biden's victory and tried to ge
5 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Pennsylvania brings protest votes to center stage
Beneath the surface of Pennsylvania’s mostly sleepy primary was a trend that's stalked Joe Biden and Donald Trump across the country: a substantial protest vote.
8 min read - USReuters
Trump compares campus Israel protests to 2017 white nationalist rally
Donald Trump on Thursday criticized the mostly peaceful protests on U.S. college campuses over Israel's war in Gaza, describing them as "tremendous hate," while saying that the violence at a white nationalist rally in Virginia when he was president was by comparison "a little peanut." Trump, the Republican candidate for president in the November elections, also sought to place blame for the campus protests on Democratic President Joe Biden. In remarks to media following the day's testimony in
3 min read - USAssociated Press
Tennessee lawmakers adjourn after finalizing $1.9B tax cut and refund for businesses
Tennessee's GOP-controlled General Assembly on Thursday adjourned for the year, concluding months of tense political infighting that doomed Republican Gov. Bill Lee's universal school voucher push. For months, Lee declared enacting universal school vouchers his top priority for the legislative session. At the same time, he warned that lawmakers must pass the major tax cut and refund for businesses to prevent a potential lawsuit as critics alleged the state violated the U.S. Constitution.
5 min read - USAssociated Press
17 states challenge federal rules entitling workers to accommodations for abortion
Republican attorneys general from 17 states filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging new federal rules entitling workers to time off and other accommodations for abortions, calling the rules an illegal interpretation of a 2022 federal law. The lawsuit led by Tennessee and Arkansas comes since finalized federal regulations were published April 15 to provide guidance for employers and workers on how to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. The language means workers can ask for time off to ob
2 min read - PoliticsReuters
At US Supreme Court, clashing views presented on presidential immunity
During arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on Donald Trump's claim of presidential immunity from prosecution, two starkly different views of the consequences were on display on Thursday. Trump's lawyer, D. John Sauer, painted a dire picture of presidents facing "de facto blackmail and extortion by his political rivals while he is still in office" because of the threat of future prosecution without the immunity the former president is seeking. Michael Dreeben, arguing on behalf of Special C
3 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Debates to play a major role in Pennsylvania's 2024 US Senate election
Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania on Thursday proposed a series of debates with his Republican challenger David McCormick leading up to the November general election, and McCormick readily accepted. The race for a Senate seat in the battleground state is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars and to help decide control of the chamber next year. Casey, in a statement, said he intends to participate in three debates in the fall, one apiece in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and H
2 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Tennessee lawmakers OK bill penalizing adults who help minors receive gender-affirming care
Tennessee's GOP-controlled Statehouse on Thursday gave their final approval to legislation penalizing adults who help minors receive gender-affirming care without parental consent, clearing the way for the first-in-the-nation proposal to be sent to Gov. Bill Lee's desk for his signature. The bill mirrors almost the same language from a so-called anti-abortion trafficking proposal Tennessee Republican lawmakers approved just a day prior. Lee, a Republican, hasn't publicly commented on either bi
3 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
These people were charged with interfering in the 2020 election. Some are still in politics today
As Donald Trump seeks a return to the White House, criminal charges are piling up for the people who tried to help him stay there in 2020 by promoting false theories of voter fraud. At least five states that were won in 2020 by President Joe Biden have investigated efforts to install slates of electors who would cast Electoral College votes for Trump despite his loss. Several of those charged or accused of involvement in election interference across the states are still involved in Republican
8 min read - PoliticsReuters
Trump's three US Supreme Court appointees thrash out immunity claim
When the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately rules on Donald Trump's claim of presidential immunity from prosecution, a third of those deciding the matter will be justices he appointed to their lifetime posts. Those three - Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch - posed questions from various angles as the nation's top judicial body heard arguments on Thursday in a case that provides a vital test of the power of the presidency. A key question, Gorsuch said, is "how to segregate private
4 min read - PoliticsYahoo News
Key takeaways from Supreme Court hearing on whether Trump has presidential immunity that shields him from criminal trials
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday in a landmark case regarding former President Donald Trump's bid for criminal immunity. Here are the key takeaways.
5 min read - USPolitico
California Senate candidate Steve Garvey calls student protesters ‘terrorists’
The former baseball star and Republican rival to Adam Schiff sharply condemned the student activism that has roiled colleges around the nation.
2 min read - USNBC News
'It's on everybody's mind': Morehouse faculty and students raise concerns about Biden's graduation speech
Morehouse College’s leadership is set to hold a call on Thursday to address concerns over having President Joe Biden as the school’s commencement speaker next month.
4 min read - PoliticsYahoo News
Trump trial updates: David Pecker testifies about election-year hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, Karen McDougal
David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, told the jury in former President Donald Trump's hush money trial about negotiations in 2016 with two women looking to sell their stories about alleged sexual relationships with Trump.
4 min read - PoliticsAssociated Press
Key moments from landmark Supreme Court arguments on Trump's immunity claims
The Supreme Court heard more than 2 1/2 hours worth of arguments on the landmark question of whether former President Donald Trump is immune from prosecution in a case charging him with plotting to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Justice Neil Gorsuch conveyed concern that prosecutors, or political opponents, could have bad motives in pursuing political rivals. Michael Dreeben, a lawyer for special counsel Jack Smith's team, responded that this fear was inapplicable in this case.
7 min read - WorldReuters
Northern Gaza still heading toward famine, says deputy WFP chief
The northern Gaza Strip is still heading toward a famine, the deputy U.N. food chief said on Thursday, appealing for a greater volume and diversity of aid to be allowed into the enclave and for Israel to allow direct access from its Ashdod port through Erez crossing. Israel pledged three weeks ago to improve aid access, including reopening Erez and allowing the use of Ashdod port. The move came after U.S. President Joe Biden demanded steps to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying t
4 min read - PoliticsNBC News
Supreme Court signals further delay in Trump election interference case as it weighs immunity claims
The Supreme Court considers Donald Trump’s assertion of total immunity from criminal charges over his attempt to overturn the 2020 election results.
7 min read - PoliticsBusiness Insider
Trump's lawyer says presidents could get away with crimes if they aren't discovered until after they leave office
As the saying goes: It's not the crime; it's the cover-up. If former President Donald Trump gets his way, a good cover-up will be enough.
2 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Putin announces plans to visit China in May
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he plans to visit China in May, in what could become the first foreign trip for the Russian leader after he extended his rule by six more years in an election that offered voters little real choice. Putin announced the plans for the visit at a congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs in Moscow. Putin's inauguration is scheduled for May 7, Russian lawmakers said earlier this week.
2 min read - USThe Guardian
House speaker condemned for remarks on pro-Palestine student protests
Republican Mike Johnson accused of ‘wilfully spreading misinformation’ and ‘inciting violence’ after CNN interview
3 min read - USAssociated Press
Planned Parenthood announces $10 million voter campaign in North Carolina for 2024 election
Abortion continues to be a key part of Democrats' election playbook in North Carolina, which for 2024 will include what abortion-rights advocates call an unprecedented investment in get-out-the-vote efforts. Planned Parenthood affiliated groups in North Carolina announced on Thursday a $10 million campaign in the state that largely focuses on persuading people concerned about narrowing abortion access to vote in November. The spend, according to representatives for Planned Parenthood Votes and
3 min read
