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US politics: the White House, Congress, the courts and the elections.
1032 articles · page 6 of 22
A Guatemalan man has been sentenced to 30 years in a United States prison for his role in a human-smuggling operation that killed 53 migrants trapped in a sweltering truck near San Antonio, Texas, in June 2022.
The Trump administration has removed 760,000 people from Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance plans in a sweeping anti-fraud effort. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) instructed insurers to disenroll policyholders who failed to respond to verification requests within 30 days. Supporters call the crackdown a necessary cleanup of the federal marketplace, but health policy experts and insurance industry sources warn that a lack of transparency and a rushed process have likely swept up legitimate enrollees. A second phase is now targeting an additional 419,000 sign-ups.
A 35-year-old Sacramento man has been indicted on federal charges over online threats to bomb a church full of children and carry out a mass shooting against Muslims, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California said Tuesday. Investigators recovered seven firearms, ammunition and possible explosive ingredients at his home.
House Republicans are entering the final two weeks of the 2026 midterm campaign with a rare fundraising advantage. The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) has outraised the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) by $1 million over the current cycle, taking in $250 million compared to the DCCC's $249 million, according to figures shared by Axios. The result marks a sharp turnaround from the 2022 and 2024 cycles, when Democrats held advantages of $74 million and $84 million respectively.
Florida carried out its 18th execution of the year on Tuesday, putting 77-year-old William Reaves to death by lethal injection for the 1986 murder of Indian River County sheriff's deputy Richard Raczkowski. Reaves was pronounced dead at 6:12 pm at Florida State Prison near Starke, minutes after the execution began, as Governor Ron DeSantis continues an aggressive push on capital punishment in his final term.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has commuted the death sentence of Toforest Johnson, the inmate convicted of the 1995 murder of a Jefferson County deputy sheriff, citing concerns that there was not enough direct evidence to support the death penalty. Johnson, who has long maintained his innocence, will now serve life in prison without parole.
· 2 sourcesPresident Donald Trump has pledged more than $400m to help Republican candidates in the November 3 midterm elections, saying more than $300m has already been spent, as his party fights to hold its slim majorities in Congress.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Tuesday urged a federal judge to block the Trump administration's attempt to force the state to set aside up to 20,000 ballots, calling the lawsuit "borders on the absurd." The filing came a day after federal prosecutors charged 28 California green card holders with voting or registering to vote illegally.
· 2 sourcesPresident Donald Trump brought his daily midterm rally tour to a full 6,500-seat arena in Park City, Kansas, on Monday night, urging supporters to vote as if he were on the ballot in a Senate race that one poll shows the Democrat narrowly leading. Trump told the crowd the reliably red state was "kind of trending towards purple," as he campaigned ahead of the November 3 midterm election.
New polling shows Americans increasingly blame Republicans for tax breaks that benefit Big Tech and the data centers powering the AI boom, giving Democrats a fresh line of attack weeks before the Nov. 3 midterms. The POLITICO Poll, conducted by PF Global, found 47% of respondents associate the GOP with giving tax incentives to tech companies, more than double the 21% who said the same of Democrats.
President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance are using the ongoing civil unrest in France to frame their midterm election messaging, blaming immigration and leftist ideology for the violence. Trump claimed without evidence that the situation is 'about immigration, not schools,' while Vance wrote on X that the scenes represent 'the future congressional Democrats seek for your country.'
US President Donald Trump is facing a fresh legal challenge to his tariffs on Canada, with the Liberty Justice Center filing a lawsuit on behalf of New Jersey food importer Gellert Global Group. The suit, lodged in the US Court of International Trade, argues that the 50% levy imposed on roughly $20bn of Canadian goods under Section 338 of the 1930 Tariff Act exceeds executive authority and violates the law.
· 8 sourcesThe Trump administration says it has revoked more than 300,000 visas held by foreign nationals in the United States, a pace it claims is faster than any previous administration, as it defended a crackdown on people who broke the law, committed fraud or posed national security threats.
President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance are set to announce a $25 million program on Tuesday that would pay members of the public up to $30,000 for tips leading to federal fraud convictions or significant enforcement actions, as the administration expands its push to eliminate government fraud.
· 3 sourcesThe Social Security Administration will raise benefits by 3.6% in January for about 72 million recipients, a cost-of-living adjustment that exceeds the 3.4% median wage growth seen by workers who stayed in their jobs, according to new data. Independent economist Aaron Terrazas says the gap reflects a shift from cost-of-labor to cost-of-living indexing and could deepen economic inequality.
Tens of thousands of California state government workers are expected to walk off the job Wednesday in a one-day strike that could disrupt services at the Department of Motor Vehicles, unemployment offices and state parks. Members of SEIU Local 1000, the state's largest public employee union representing about 100,000 workers, are protesting what they call bad-faith bargaining by Governor Gavin Newsom's administration as negotiations for a new contract have stalled.
Five officers have resigned and a sixth remains suspended from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department after allegedly exchanging racist text messages, including slurs and an apparent reference to a Ku Klux Klan rally. Chief Estella Patterson has launched a full review of body-worn camera footage and arrest records and requested the FBI conduct a civil rights investigation.
President Donald Trump announced an $8 billion Harvest Fuel Relief program for U.S. farmers at a Kansas rally on Monday. The payment, which won't reach farmers until late November or early December at the earliest, comes with deep uncertainty over funding and timing that has exposed the political calculus behind the last-minute aid.
· 5 sourcesArizona's 2026 race for governor has become a contest between two members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs and former Mesa mayor John Giles, with the state's Latter-day Saint voters poised to play a pivotal role in an election that both parties see as a referendum on the future of Arizona Republicanism.
· 2 sourcesThe US Department of Justice has charged 28 green card holders in California, accusing them of fraudulently registering to vote and casting illegal ballots. The arrests, with 11 people currently in custody, mark an escalation in federal efforts against alleged noncitizen voting, coming days after the DOJ sued California to block the state from tabulating certain ballots in the upcoming November midterm elections.
· 2 sourcesThe U.S. budget deficit swelled to $2 trillion in fiscal year 2026, the largest since 2021, driven by rising debt service costs at higher interest rates that experts say are being pushed up by the inflationary effects of the Iran war. Net interest payments reached $1.052 trillion, surpassing defense outlays and becoming the third-largest federal expenditure after Social Security and Medicare.
Ahead of the US midterm elections, President Donald Trump has been touting the American economy as "the hottest country anywhere in the world." A BBC Verify analysis finds the economy is growing faster than other G7 nations, but inflation has risen above the rate he inherited, job creation has slowed, and most households are worse off than they would have been, according to independent estimates.
· 2 sourcesWith two weeks until the 2026 midterm elections, independent analysts project Democrats are poised to regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives, driven by President Donald Trump's low approval ratings and discontent over the economy and the war in Iran. The Cook Political Report predicts a net Democratic gain of 10 to 20 House seats, well above the three needed for a majority, according to analysts speaking at a Brookings Institution panel Monday.
· 3 sourcesVice President JD Vance declined to endorse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for re-election on Monday, saying he would not get involved in Israeli elections, a day after President Donald Trump explicitly backed the Israeli leader. In an interview with journalist Mark Halperin, Vance laughed before responding: 'I'm not anti-endorsing him. I'm not pro-endorsing him. I'm not getting involved in Israeli elections.'
· 3 sourcesThe UK government has laid regulations in Parliament to end benefits for serious criminals detained in hospital, closing a loophole that allowed offenders to receive up to £800 a month in universal credit while their living costs were already covered by the NHS. The move, which follows a campaign by the families of victims of high-profile cases, is expected to come into force early next year and save tens of millions of pounds annually.
· 4 sourcesPresident Donald Trump has confirmed that SpaceX shares Elon Musk pledged to give to every child in America will be distributed through Trump Accounts, backing a plan Musk outlined earlier in the day and posted about on Truth Social.
Republican candidates in the closing weeks of the US midterm campaign are dramatically reducing their public association with President Donald Trump, with new analysis showing just 2.4% of advertising dollars spent since September 1 have promoted ties to the president, down from 27% in the 2018 midterms. The figures come from an analysis by Cory Alpert, a former Biden-Harris administration staffer now at the University of Melbourne, as the party struggles with an unpopular president whose approval rating has fallen below levels seen after the January 6 insurrection.
· 4 sourcesGas prices have risen 37% since President Trump took office, driving frustration among even the most loyal Republican voters. At campaign events for top GOP leaders, attendees repeatedly raised the cost of fuel, forcing candidates to acknowledge a problem they had promised to fix. Republican leaders blame Democratic policies and the Iran war, but some acknowledge that simply dismissing concerns may not work.
Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University demonstrator whose case became a flash point in the Trump administration's crackdown on anti-Israel foreign students, has asked the Supreme Court to hear his case, his lawyers said Monday.
· 2 sourcesHouse Majority Leader Steve Scalise is publicly refusing to entertain the possibility of losing the House majority, despite polling that shows Democrats leading the generic ballot by eight points and President Trump's approval at a record low. Scalise argues that his presence in competitive districts is evidence Republicans are still on offense, even as outside GOP allies pull nearly $1 million in advertising from one such race.
Fresh polling released this week shows President Donald Trump's approval rating has fallen to 31 percent, a record low for his political career, with his Republican Party trailing Democrats by 12 points on the generic congressional ballot ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
The US Department of Homeland Security has granted a temporary reprieve from deportation to more than 100,000 migrants from Ukraine and Sudan, allowing them to remain in the country after their temporary protected status was set to expire on Monday. The department said in a statement that Ukrainians and Sudanese covered by the measures retain protection but did not specify how long the reprieve will last or when a final decision will be made.
· 2 sourcesThe Trump administration has waived sanctions on Russia's trading partners, following a previous waiver on Russian diesel, sparking a fresh wave of Republican criticism as experts warn the moves could pad Moscow's tax revenue.
A coalition of Texas nonprofits claims the state's environmental agency has continued to process data center permits after Governor Greg Abbott ordered a pause on September 21, citing publicly available records that show reviews and approvals for dozens of projects since the directive.
A Kansas man has been charged with threatening to kill President Donald Trump after posting comments online about shooting him and claiming to have mapped out nearby rooftops ahead of Trump's scheduled rally in Wichita, according to a federal criminal complaint filed this week.
More than three dozen members of US Congress have had their offices targeted with envelopes containing white powder, less than three weeks before the November 3 midterms, as federal agents work to identify who is behind the widespread campaign, according to law enforcement sources and statements from affected lawmakers.
· 2 sourcesPresident Donald Trump on Monday said he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in China next month, though he downplayed Ukraine as the primary topic, instead emphasising nuclear weapons talks. He renewed his criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying it is time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine. The remarks come amid rising tensions between Washington and Kyiv over sanctions relief, degraded Starlink service and stalled peace efforts.
· 8 sourcesThe US Department of Justice has notified the District of Columbia it will open a civil rights probe into the treatment of prisoners and conditions inside D.C. jails and prisons. The investigation, announced Monday, will look for any pattern or practice of constitutional violations.
The US Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a challenge to the lottery-based admissions policy used at four magnet middle schools in Montgomery County, Maryland, a case that will test when a race-neutral policy can be attacked as intentional racial discrimination. The justices will decide whether the parents' group must show that Asian American students were disproportionately harmed as a group before its claim can proceed.
· 5 sourcesPresident Donald Trump's recent actions on Russia and Ukraine have drawn sharp criticism from security experts and Ukrainian leaders, who say he is embracing Vladimir Putin's positions and harming Kyiv's interests. Trump reversed US sanctions on Russian oil, unilaterally announced an energy ceasefire that Russia ignored, and called for a new president in Ukraine, prompting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to say he feels betrayed.
· 2 sourcesMayor Zohran Mamdani announced on Monday that New York City will add 10,000 more seats to its free childcare program for two-year-olds, expanding the 2-K initiative to cover all school districts in the Bronx and Staten Island by fall 2027. The move aims to stem an exodus of young families from the city, where the under-five population fell 18% between April 2020 and July 2024, driven by high childcare and housing costs.
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a case that could decide whether a 158-year-old federal ban on home distilling is constitutional. The 1868 law, enacted as part of a post-Civil War tax reform, makes it a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine to distill spirits at home. The court will review conflicting rulings from two federal appeals courts that split on whether Congress had the authority to impose the prohibition.
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed criminal charges against 28 lawful permanent residents in California for allegedly registering to vote or casting ballots illegally, escalating a pre-election clash with the state. The charges, announced Monday under an operation dubbed "Protect the Vote," come days after the DOJ sued California to block the counting of mail ballots from up to 20,000 people federal authorities suspect may be non-citizens.
· 7 sourcesThe Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to the nearly 160-year-old federal ban on distilling alcohol in private homes, a case that could reshape Americans' ability to make their own spirits. The court will review an April ruling by the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that found the ban unconstitutional and an overreach of Congress' taxing power.
President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order establishing a Women’s Health Division at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and a White House Women’s Health Task Force, aiming to close gaps in research and improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment for women across all stages of life. The order overturns two Biden-era women's health research initiatives and arrives two weeks before the midterm elections, prompting mixed reactions from advocacy groups.
· 13 sourcesThe U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal from a Democratic-appointed member of the National Labor Relations Board who challenged the legality of her firing by President Donald Trump, marking another step in the erosion of protections for independent federal agencies.
A growing exodus of American and international scientists from the United States has reached unprecedented levels, according to new reports and interviews, as foreign universities actively recruit researchers disheartened by federal grant delays, political interference in scientific funding, and concerns about academic freedom under the Trump administration.
Top Trump adviser Ric Grenell allegedly offered a Turkish billionaire access to President Trump and administration officials in exchange for a donation to the Kennedy Center, according to a text message reviewed by Axios. The White House counsel is investigating the claims.