Politics
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The US ambassador to the UN is tasked with doing a careful dance between Washington and the world
New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican, is set to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Jan. 16, 2025, as part of her confirmation process to become the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
International diplomacy is the essence of the U.N. As a former United Nations official and an academic who has ...Read more
Soaring wealth inequality has remade the map of American prosperity
One need only glance at headlines about Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and other super-wealthy individuals to understand that wealth in America is increasingly concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. Inequality is sharply on the rise.
Until now, however, little has been known about where the richest households are located, which cities are the ...Read more
Joe Biden leaves a complicated legacy on the federal courts
President Joe Biden’s farewell to elected office on Jan. 20, 2025, presents an opportunity to reflect on the legacy he left on the federal courts.
Many will perceive Biden’s influence on the courts primarily based on his appointment of Ketanji Brown Jackson, the nation’s first Black, female Supreme Court justice.
But ...Read more
In the wake of LA-area fires, Congress will consider new measures. Here are some of them
WASHINGTON — As congressional leaders wrestle over whether to add conditions to federal aid in response to the Los Angeles County wildfires, a first wave of bills has been put forward by Republicans and Democrats alike in response to the devastation.
The measures come as President Joe Biden has pledged 100% federal backing for disaster ...Read more
Voters backed abortion rights but state judges have final say
In November, Montana voters safeguarded the right to abortion in the state’s constitution. They also elected a new chief justice to the Montana Supreme Court who was endorsed by anti-abortion advocates.
That seeming contradiction is slated to come to a head this year. People on polar sides of the abortion debate are preparing to fight over ...Read more
Could a stock trading ban for Congress get new life in the Trump era?
WASHINGTON — Zach Nunn’s military background tells him that success in any given mission requires an understanding of the battle-space — and in the fight to ban congressional stock trading, it will always “be stacked against” those urging change, the Iowa Republican and Air Force Reserve colonel said.
Members who trade stocks may not ...Read more
Editorial: Jack Smith's final word: The special counsel's pursuit of Trump's election crimes ran out of time
With the public release of former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report to Attorney General Merrick Garland, the saga of Donald Trump’s federal prosecution for election interference has come to an end, less than a week before he’s sworn in to a second term. That it was short-circuited before trial is partly the fault of Garland, who waited ...Read more
Editorial: Trump's delight in disruption threatens the economy
Just how far President-elect Donald Trump will press his promises on trade and economic policy once he takes office is hard to say. One thing is already apparent: The harms won’t be limited to the direct consequences of his actual policies. Even if his commitments in the end amount to little, they’re already burdening companies, unsettling ...Read more
Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal: Why now and what next?
A much-anticipated Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal is set to take effect on Jan. 19, 2025 – subject to an Israeli government vote on the package scheduled for the morning of Jan. 16.
The breakthrough comes 15 months into the bloody conflict sparked by an Oct. 7 2023, attack by Hamas gunmen in which about 1,200 Israelis were killed ...Read more
Biden’s move to remove Cuba from terror list continues ‘yo-yo’ policy likely to be reversed by Trump
The Biden administration has signaled to Congress its intention to remove Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism.
But here’s the twist: The move will only become legal upon the publication of a Federal Register notice – and that will likely happen under President Joe Biden’s successor, Donald Trump, who looks set ...Read more
Analysis: President Biden's farewell speech comes too late for many Americans
President Joe Biden’s farewell speech Wednesday night came too late for many Americans, including members of his Democratic Party who wanted him to step aside before the primary.
The doggedness that marked Biden’s early congressional career, with him becoming known as a widowed dad traveling home every night on Amtrak to be with his sons, ...Read more
Biden cites threat from 'extreme wealth' in farewell address
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden warned Americans of a “dangerous concentration of power” in the hands of a “very few ultrawealthy people” and the impact he feared it would have on the country’s democracy as he delivered a farewell address Wednesday from the Oval Office.
“Today an oligarchy is taking shape in America — of ...Read more
Q&A: How an 8-year break from Congress has reenergized Indiana congressman
WASHINGTON — After an eight-year break, Rep. Marlin Stutzman of Indiana is back in the House and ready to get to work on President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda. “It’s a new day,” he says.
First elected to Congress in 2010, Stutzman was an active member of the House Freedom Caucus, and perhaps best known for voting against then-Speaker ...Read more
Trump's idea to rebrand Gulf of Mexico would face hurdles -- if he's even serious
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s out-of-the-blue pledge to rebrand the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” — as well as some of his other renaming ideas — would likely take more than the stroke of a presidential pen to make good on.
During a wide-ranging press conference last week at his Florida resort, the president-elect said a ...Read more
Trump's AG nominee won't say who won the 2020 election but repeats fraud claims about Pa.: 'I saw so much'
Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. attorney general, repeatedly brought up Pennsylvania as she declined to answer who won the 2020 presidential election in her Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday.
“I accept, of course, that Joe Biden is president of the United States,” Bondi said in response to a question from ...Read more
Now that the U.S. House has passed bill on transgender athletes in women's sports, here's what to know
The U.S. House passed a bill Tuesday that would ban transgender athletes from participating in women’s and girls’ sports, the first step in what is expected to be a long and controversial process.
Locally, this issue became a flashpoint as Andraya Yearwood of Cromwell High and Terry Miller of Bloomfield competed in Connecticut ...Read more
Trump blames Newsom for Los Angeles wildfires. How has California governor responded?
Donald Trump is treating California Gov. Gavin Newsom “as his punching bag,” triggering an extraordinary battle between a president and a governor at a time when thousands are suffering and dozens are dying from the wildfires that have ravaged Southern California.
“He’s treating Gavin Newsom as his punching bag before he’s even in ...Read more
Rubio says Cuba belongs on list of sponsors of terrorism a day after Biden removed it
Just a day after President Joe Biden took Cuba off the list of nations that sponsor terrorism in exchange for the release of political prisoners, the deal is falling apart.
During his Senate confirmation hearing to become the next secretary of state, Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said Cuba belongs on the list, adding the incoming Trump ...Read more
Rubio says Trump won't intervene in Haiti but will support current mission: 'No easy answer'
WASHINGTON — Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said Wednesday that the answer to Haiti’s gang-fueled security crisis will not come from U.S. military intervention, but could still come from a multinational support effort spearheaded by the Biden administration, indicating President-elect Donald Trump will stay the current U.S. policy course on the ...Read more
Supreme Court leans in favor of state-enforced age limits on porn websites
WASHINGTON — Thanks to the internet and smartphones, children today have instant access to vast amounts of online pornography, much it graphic, violent and degrading, Texas state attorneys told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
They urged justices to restore the rules of an earlier era, when X-rated theaters and bookstores had an adults-only ...Read more
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