Poli Alert Politics & Civics

From toppling Venezuela’s leader to ordering mass deportations, from turning once-independent government entities into rubber stamps to demolishing the White House’s East Wing to build a massive ballroom, President Donald Trump has spent his first year back in office trampling political norms and testing the nation’s institutional guardrails. Some ideas …

A federal judge on Friday sharply limited the tactics federal law enforcement officers may use while policing protests in Minneapolis sparked by the Trump administration’s surge of immigration enforcement resources to the city. In an 83-page order, U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez barred federal agents from using pepper spray or …

President Donald Trump privately linked his increasingly aggressive posture toward Greenland to his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize last year, telling Norway’s prime minister that he no longer felt “an obligation to think purely of Peace,” according to two European officials familiar with the exchange. The message, sent …

The Justice Department has opened an investigation into Minnesota officials, including Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, over allegations they conspired to impede federal immigration agents, marking a dramatic escalation in the Trump administration’s confrontation with state and local leaders in Minnesota, according to multiple sources familiar …

A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit seeking extensive voting records and personal data on California’s 23 million registered voters, ruling that the Trump administration’s demand was “unprecedented and illegal.” U.S. District Judge David O. Carter said the federal government lacked authority to compel states to turn …

President Donald Trump said Thursday he may invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy U.S. troops into Minnesota, threatening a dramatic escalation of federal authority amid protests over a fatal shooting by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer and mounting tensions between the White House and Democratic state officials. “If the …

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said Thursday that she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump during a White House meeting, a striking symbolic gesture even as Trump has publicly questioned her ability to lead Venezuela following the U.S.-backed ouster of former President Nicolás Maduro. Machado …

The Trump administration on Thursday announced a new plan it says is aimed at lowering health care costs in the United States, but the proposal offers few details and largely repackages ideas President Donald Trump has floated for months, coming as Affordable Care Act open enrollment ends in most states. …

Michigan U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain is facing tough questions over a newly disclosed private investment her husband made in Elon Musk’s xAI company, right as the U.S. government planned to expand xAI for integration with military systems. Financial disclosures filed Dec. 15, 2025, show Michael McClain purchased between $100,001 and …

The Trump administration has reversed a decision to cut nearly $2 billion in federal grants supporting mental health and addiction treatment programs, following swift backlash from lawmakers and advocates. Thousands of grants administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration were abruptly terminated late Tuesday before the decision …

A federal immigration agent shot a man Wednesday evening after a scuffle in north Minneapolis, drawing a crowd of protesters blowing whistles and engaging in minor skirmishes with law enforcement who deployed chemical irritants. The shooting comes one week after the killing of Renee Good by federal immigration officer Jonathan …

The FBI searched the home of a Washington Post reporter Wednesday as part of a criminal investigation into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified national defense information, a move that has alarmed press freedom advocates and newsroom leaders. The reporter, Hannah Natanson, was at her Virginia home when …

Vice President JD Vance broke a tied Senate vote to block advancement of a war powers resolution that would have stopped President Donald Trump from taking further military action against Venezuela without congressional authorization. Senate Republicans used a procedural maneuver Wednesday night to halt debate on the Vietnam War-era statute …

The Trump administration is halting immigrant visa processing for people from 75 countries, including Brazil, Iran, Russia and Somalia, in the latest and most far-reaching step yet to restrict legal immigration pathways to the United States. The indefinite pause, which takes effect Jan. 21, is intended to limit applicants deemed …

U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin says she is the subject of a Justice Department investigation connected to a video in which she and several other Democratic lawmakers urged U.S. military and intelligence personnel to refuse “illegal orders.” The Michigan Democrat from Holly and former CIA officer, confirmed the inquiry in an …