Politics
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Competition for 9th Congressional District heats up as 2 Illinois state legislators join large Democratic field
CHICAGO — The race to replace longtime U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky is getting more crowded.
State Sen. Mike Simmons will launch his campaign Tuesday, he told the Tribune, joining recently announced state Rep. Hoan Huynh — who also planned a campaign kickoff event Tuesday evening — and some 10 other Democratic candidates vying for the seat. ...Read more

FAA administrator nomination headlines a respite week for senators
WASHINGTON — Senators will have the Capitol to themselves when they return Tuesday for an abbreviated work period, with the House taking the week off after narrowly pushing through Republicans’ sweeping domestic policy package.
The confirmation of the next head of the Federal Aviation Administration will headline the Senate floor agenda ...Read more

Latest tariff pause shows limits of Trump's frenzied dealmaking
On “Liberation Day” on April 2, Donald Trump gushed about how trade was finally going to tilt in America’s favor after decades of its workers and companies being “plundered.” For the president, unfettered tariffs would soon make the U.S. “an entirely different country.”
Spelling out his policy of so-called reciprocity with ...Read more

Reconciliation law offers radiation compensation to more people
WASHINGTON — The reconciliation law signed by President Donald Trump last week will provide greater compensation to more victims of radiation exposure from America’s nuclear weapons programs through 2028, putting an end to a yearslong lobbying effort.
The language in the fiscal 2025 law spearheaded by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., would expand ...Read more

Commentary: A university president stands up for higher education as it's under assault
The Trump administration’s attack on higher education is both wide-ranging and carefully targeted at certain institutions. It has included, figuratively speaking, cluster bombs and surgical strikes.
The ordinary human impulse when under assault is to flee or to hide. The more noble response, however, is to stand up and confront one’s ...Read more

Commentary: How Trump is purging and purifying the GOP
Forget the doomsday predictions about what President Donald Trump’s cuts might do — his “Big Beautiful Bill” has already notched its first major casualty: Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican.
Tillis, who couldn’t support a bill that would kick an estimated 660,000 North Carolinians off Medicaid, told reporters: “I respect ...Read more

Netanyahu says he nominated Trump for Nobel Peace Prize
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told President Donald Trump he nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize, using a visit to the White House to further cement the pair’s relationship as the U.S. presses for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“He’s forging peace as we speak,” Netanyahu told reporters at the start of a dinner with Trump and other...Read more

Trump plans Texas trip this week to survey flood devastation
President Donald Trump said he would travel to Texas on Friday, a trip that will allow him to survey firsthand the devastation from extreme floods that have left at least 100 people dead and scores still missing.
“We’ll be going on Friday,” Trump told reporters Monday at the White House, as he hosted a dinner for visiting Israeli Prime ...Read more
Republican primary to succeed Rep. Mark Green heats up in Tennessee
The campaign for the forthcoming special election to succeed Rep. Mark E. Green is heating up as the Tennessee Republican last week formalized his plans to step down.
Green said in a video on social media Friday that he would be resigning his 7th District seat and relinquishing his chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee to launch a new...Read more

They wanted to 'fix Congress.' They still do, modernizers say
Congressional modernization was having a moment. A select committee, convened to come up with ways of improving the House, drafted more than 200 recommendations over the course of the 116th and 117th Congress. A small but significant pool of money was allocated for modernization projects, and a subcommittee was spun off in the 118th to implement...Read more

Trump announces set of tariff rates with new August deadline
President Donald Trump unveiled the first in a wave of promised letters that threaten to impose higher tariffs rates on key trading partners, including levies of 25% on goods from Japan and South Korea beginning Aug. 1.
Trump also announced 25% rates on Malaysia and Kazakhstan, while South Africa would see a 30% tariff and Laos and Myanmar ...Read more

A political comeback? Alvarado, current Tennessee health commissioner, mulls Congress bid in Kentucky
Central Kentuckians may soon be hearing more from a familiar political figure.
Ralph Alvarado, a former state senator who ran as a lieutenant governor candidate alongside former Gov. Matt Bevin, told the Herald-Leader Monday that he’s considering running for the 6th Congressional District seat being vacated by Rep. Andy Barr.
In a statement ...Read more

Planned Parenthood challenges GOP reconciliation law
Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit Monday challenging a provision in Republicans’ budget reconciliation law that would make the abortion provider ineligible for Medicaid reimbursements for one year.
Federal funding cannot be used for abortion except in rare circumstances, under the annual Hyde amendment rider. But organizations that provide ...Read more
Trump yanks deportation protections for 50,000 Nicaraguans, Hondurans
The Trump administration Monday ended protections from deportation for about 50,000 immigrants from Honduras and Nicaragua, most of whom have lived and worked in the U.S. for more than 25 years.
The Department of Homeland Security said it has revoked temporary protective status from people from the two Central American nations who were allowed ...Read more

Justice Department, driven by Trump policy, plans to go after naturalized U.S. citizens
In his all-out war on illegal immigration, President Donald Trump has branded immigrants as “criminals,” “invaders” and “predators,” as his administration targets millions of Haitians, Latin Americans, gang members and foreign college students for deportation.
Now, the president has directed the Justice Department to bolster its ...Read more

Lexington state senator ends speculation, says she won't run for Congress
State Sen. Amanda Mays Bledsoe is not running for Congress after all.
After months of speculation about the Lexington Republican’s potential candidacy for the 6th Congressional District — which is set to become vacant with Rep. Andy Barr running for U.S. Senate — Bledsoe closed the door on a run for the district in a Monday interview with...Read more

Georgia appeals court rules election boards must certify results
Election board members are required to certify election results, even if they distrust the outcome, according to a Georgia Court of Appeals decision.
The decision resolves a dispute that overshadowed the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, when the State Election Board passed rules calling for an “inquiry” and more documents before ...Read more

Trump immigration crackdown sparks fresh unlawful-conduct claims
President Donald Trump’s escalating immigration crackdown has sparked a new round of lawsuits alleging illegal seizures by masked federal agents, as well as violations of U.S. privacy rights and environmental laws.
The Trump administration in the past month has ramped up raids on homes, workplaces and even courthouses as U.S. officials ...Read more
Trump administration moves to end TPS for Hondurans and Nicaraguans
The Trump administration is terminating Temporary Protected Status for Hondurans and Nicaraguans.
In a document posted in the Federal Register on Monday, the notice from the Department of Homeland Security said that, after reviewing conditions in those countries, Secretary Kristi Noem concluded that conditions in Honduras and Nicaragua no ...Read more

Californians get larger state and local tax deductions under Trump's big bill
Californians will be able to deduct more of their state and local taxes on their federal income tax returns thanks to the Big Beautiful Bill President Donald Trump has signed into law.
The measure will allow taxpayers with incomes of less than $500,000 to deduct up to $40,000 in state and local taxes, or SALT, on their federal income tax ...Read more
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