US Politics

344 articles · page 4 of 8

US Politics

NTSB Preliminary Report Blames Temporary Ellipse Site for Marine One Near-Miss with Passenger Jet

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a preliminary report Thursday attributing a close-call incident in early August involving President Trump's Marine One helicopter and a passenger jet to the placement of a temporary landing zone on the Ellipse, the park just south of the White House. The report found that Marine One came within approximately one mile of the commercial aircraft after twice attempting to contact air traffic controllers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

28 Aug·2 min
US Politics

Trump to Mark 9/11 Anniversary at Pentagon After Ground Zero Memorial Bars Speeches

President Trump has opted to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks at the Pentagon rather than at Ground Zero in New York, after the 9/11 Memorial & Museum's organizers declined to accommodate a speaking program, according to officials familiar with the planning. The decision marks a significant shift from the President's initial intention to deliver remarks at the site of the World Trade Center attacks.

28 Aug·3 min
US Politics

Federal judge blocks Trump administration overhaul of housing grant program

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the Trump administration’s plan to overhaul a decades-old grant program that helps combat housing discrimination, siding with fair housing groups that argued the changes would undermine their ability to work. U.S. District Judge Myong Joun, a Biden appointee, ruled that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) had not provided adequate justification for the restructuring and that the proposed changes were likely to cause irreparable harm to organizations reliant on the grants.

28 Aug·2 min
US Politics

Trump Declares National Emergency, Bans Some Foreign Equipment From US Energy Grid

President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order declaring a national emergency over threats to the US energy grid and banning certain foreign-made equipment from use in critical grid infrastructure. The White House said the action was necessary to counter an 'unusual and extraordinary foreign threat' to the nation's electricity system, though it provided limited public detail on which equipment and countries are covered.

28 Aug·3 min
US Politics

Judge Refuses to Block Pentagon's Firing of Three Stars and Stripes Journalists

A federal judge has declined to block the Pentagon's dismissal of three Stars and Stripes journalists, dealing an early legal blow to their First Amendment lawsuit against the Department of Defense. The ruling, issued on September 4, came just days after the Justice Department formally defended the firings as justified by alleged insubordination, rejecting claims that the terminations were retaliation for the military outlet's reporting on conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

28 Aug·2 min·6 sources
US Politics

Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff Condemns Racist Posts Linked to Republican Challenger's Former Staffer

Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff (D) has denounced a report that a former staffer for his Republican opponent, Representative Mike Collins, shared online images of a swastika and a person in Ku Klux Klan robes, calling the revelations 'stunning' and 'disgraceful and disqualifying.' The incident marks the latest in a series of controversies linking Collins's associates to white nationalist and antisemitic conduct.

28 Aug·2 min
US Politics

Trump administration proposes revisions to Biden-era climate assessment, citing UN scenario concerns

The Trump administration has proposed changes to the 2023 Fifth National Climate Assessment, aiming to reframe how the report treats its high-emission worst-case scenarios after United Nations scientists deemed such scenarios implausible. A notice published this week argues that the assessment should align with the latest scientific understanding from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which earlier this year stated that the highest greenhouse gas emissions pathway is no longer considered likely under current trends.

28 Aug·2 min
US Politics

GOP Seeks Supreme Court Review of Ruling on TV Ad Prices for Political Parties

Republican campaign committees have petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that blocked a Trump-era Federal Communications Commission order requiring broadcast TV stations to offer their lowest advertising rates to political parties and joint fundraising committees. The case, which could reshape political advertising ahead of future elections, centers on whether existing federal law mandates these discounts only for individual candidates or extends to party organizations as well.

28 Aug·3 min
US Politics

Florida grand jury: DeSantis administration misappropriated $10m from Medicaid settlement for political activity

A Florida grand jury has concluded that the administration of Governor Ron DeSantis misappropriated $10 million in taxpayer money from a Medicaid settlement, transferring it to a charity linked to the governor's wife before the funds were reportedly funneled into two political action committees. The grand jury report, obtained by CBS News Miami, described a 'sophisticated scheme to fund political activities' but declined to indict anyone, citing insufficient evidence for criminal charges.

28 Aug·3 min·2 sources
US Politics

RFK Jr. Faces Backlash Over Anti-Vaccine Posts After First U.S. Measles Deaths of 2026, Including Newborn

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is facing sharp criticism after responding to the first U.S. measles deaths of 2026 — including a newborn — with a series of anti-vaccine posts on social media. The two deaths, both in unvaccinated individuals in Pennsylvania's Lancaster County, are the state's first measles fatalities in 35 years and come amid a nationwide surge of nearly 2,800 cases.

28 Aug·3 min
US Politics

Federal Appeals Court Upholds Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, Rejects PhRMA Challenge

A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected a lawsuit by pharmaceutical industry representatives challenging the Medicare drug price negotiation program, ruling that drugmakers have no constitutional right to dictate prices paid by the federal program. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the program, which allows Medicare to negotiate prices for certain high-cost drugs, marking a significant legal victory for the Biden administration’s prescription drug cost reduction efforts.

28 Aug·3 min
US Politics

Judge Orders Mental Health Evaluation for Man Found with Gun Near Trump Golf Course in LA

A California judge has suspended criminal proceedings against a man found with a loaded gun near Donald Trump's golf course in Los Angeles, ordering a mental health evaluation after ruling the suspect unfit to face a felony charge. Jeanine John Taele, 38, was arrested for weapons violations days before the former president spoke at a Republican fundraiser at the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes on August 5.

28 Aug·2 min
US Politics

US Postal Service Enacts New Mail Ballot Rules Under Trump Order, Legal Challenges Loom

The US Postal Service announced Thursday that new requirements for mail-in voting are now in effect, implementing a Trump administration executive order aimed at tightening federal oversight of elections. The rules — which mandate state election leaders submit their voter rolls for inspection — are expected to trigger a fresh wave of legal challenges from voting rights groups and state officials.

28 Aug·2 min·2 sources
US Politics

US Designates Host of Anarchist Blogging Platform Noblogs.org as Global Terrorist

The US government has designated the host of Noblogs.org, a blogging platform popular with anarchist and activist communities, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT), according to a report from the anarchist collective CrimethInc. The action, reportedly taken in late August 2026, freezes any US-based assets of the individual and bars Americans from engaging in financial transactions with them. The designation has sparked immediate debate over the boundaries between national security and freedom of expression online.

28 Aug·3 min
US Politics

Trump endorsement yields slim 52% win in South Carolina GOP runoff, strategist says

Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha said Wednesday that President Trump's endorsement of Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.) in Tuesday's GOP Senate runoff produced a weaker-than-expected 52% margin, raising questions about the strength of Trump's influence in a reliably Republican state. Graham, the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, defeated Rep. Ralph Norman after a competitive primary race.

28 Aug·2 min·2 sources
US Politics

West Point Fires Only Climate Scientist for Teaching Human Causes of Climate Change

The United States Military Academy at West Point has fired its only climate scientist, Dr. Adam Kalkstein, after he refused to cease teaching that human activity is a primary driver of climate change, according to a lawsuit filed this week. Kalkstein, a civilian professor of geography, was terminated in May 2026 following a contentious meeting with Brigadier General Shane Reeves, the academy’s dean of the academic board, who reportedly ordered him to remove discussion of human causes from his curriculum.

28 Aug·2 min
US Politics

Bipartisan lawmakers threaten sanctions on Serbia's president over corruption, ties to adversaries

A bipartisan pair of U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation Thursday threatening sanctions and visa bans on Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić unless he takes concrete steps to address corruption and cut ties with America's adversaries, including Russia and China. The move by Reps. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) and Bill Keating (D-Mass.) comes as Serbia prepares for national elections and escalates congressional pressure on a leader long seen as a strategic wedge in the Balkans.

27 Aug·2 min
US Politics

RFK Jr misled Senate about Samoa trip, documents show

Newly obtained correspondence indicates that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now US health secretary, misrepresented the purpose of a 2019 trip to Samoa during at least two Senate confirmation hearings last year, telling lawmakers the visit had “nothing to do with vaccines” despite writing to the Samoan prime minister that he wanted to study the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine there, according to documents shared by the Guardian and the Associated Press.

27 Aug·3 min
US Politics

Growing Friction Within Trump’s Inner Circle as Allies Resist Policy Agenda

President Donald Trump is facing increasing resistance from within his own inner circle, according to sources familiar with internal dynamics. Vanity Fair writer Chris Whipple, who recently spent time inside the administration, told NPR that a number of longtime allies are now openly questioning the president’s plans on trade, immigration, and foreign policy, marking a shift from the near-uniform compliance of earlier years.

27 Aug·2 min
US Politics

Democrats Push Senate Vote on Israeli Human Rights Practices in West Bank

Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland is leading a group of Senate Democrats in forcing a floor vote on a resolution that would require the Biden administration to report on human rights abuses by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank. The move, announced Wednesday, comes as violence against Palestinians has surged and progressive lawmakers demand that U.S. military aid be conditioned on adherence to international law.

27 Aug·2 min
US Politics

Pro-Israel Democrats Appointed to Leadership Roles on Key House Committee Amid Party Divisions Over Israel Aid

House Democratic leadership has appointed lawmakers with strong pro-Israel voting records to top positions on a major committee, a move that underscores the party's ongoing support for U.S. military aid to Israel even as internal divisions over the issue deepen among its voter base. The appointments, announced this week, come at a time when a growing number of rank-and-file Democrats and progressive voters are calling for conditions or outright reductions in aid to Israel following the Gaza conflict.

27 Aug·2 min
US Politics

Trump Appoints Mark Paoletta, a Close Thomas Associate, to Lead Agency Overseeing Federal Construction

President Trump has named Mark Paoletta, a longtime conservative lawyer and close associate of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, to lead the National Capital Planning Commission, a federal agency responsible for reviewing major construction projects in the Washington, D.C., region. The appointment, reported by The New York Times, places a figure with deep ties to the Trump administration and the judiciary at the helm of a panel that could soon weigh projects linked to the president's own business interests.

27 Aug·3 min
US Politics

Military Judge Sets June 2028 Trial Date for Alleged 9/11 Mastermind and Three Co-Conspirators

A military judge at Guantánamo Bay has set a June 2028 trial date for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks, along with three other alleged conspirators, according to an order issued Wednesday. The ruling marks the first firm trial date after more than 20 years of legal delays, pre-trial hearings, and contentious debates over the military commission system's legitimacy.

27 Aug·2 min·2 sources
US Politics

Fed Governor Lisa Cook Rebukes Trump Over Mortgage Fraud Allegations

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa D. Cook publicly pushed back on Tuesday against President Trump’s accusation that she committed mortgage fraud, marking the most direct confrontation yet in the president’s ongoing campaign to oust her from the central bank. Cook, who has been a target of Trump’s criticism since her appointment, denied any wrongdoing and called the allegations baseless, while supporters of the Fed’s independence warned that the attack threatens to politicize monetary policy.

27 Aug·3 min·2 sources
US Politics

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Rejoins Democratic Socialists of America After Seven-Year Lapse

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has renewed her membership in the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) after letting it lapse for seven years, a move that comes amid growing speculation about a potential presidential campaign in 2028. The New York Democrat, who initially joined the organization in 2018 during her first run for Congress, had not renewed her membership after her first year, according to reports first published by The Guardian.

27 Aug·2 min