Emergency Medicaid spending — a flashpoint in the ongoing government shutdown fight — accounts for less than 1% of the federal health insurance program’s total costs, according to a new study published Thursday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The research, which examined data from Washington, D.C., and …
Read More »Trump to Undergo Second “Routine” Checkup of the Year at Walter Reed Ahead of Possible Middle East Trip
President Donald Trump will undergo what the White House is calling his “routine yearly checkup” Friday morning at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, just six months after his last full physical exam at the same facility. The unusual timing has raised questions about why the president, 79, is receiving …
Read More »IRS to Furlough Nearly Half of Workers as Government Shutdown Deepens
The Internal Revenue Service was expected to furlough nearly half of its workforce on Wednesday as the federal government shutdown stretches into its second week, the agency announced in a newly updated contingency plan. According to the IRS, roughly 39,870 employees — or 53.6% of its current staff — will …
Read More »Israel, Hamas Reach Breakthrough Ceasefire Deal After Two Years of War
Israel and Hamas have agreed to a temporary pause in their two-year war and to exchange hostages for Palestinian prisoners, a breakthrough greeted Thursday with relief and cautious optimism as details of the U.S.-brokered plan emerged. The ceasefire, pushed by President Donald Trump and mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and the …
Read More »Comey Pleads Not Guilty to Trump-Driven Federal Charges
Former FBI Director James Comey pleaded not guilty Wednesday to federal charges sought by President Donald Trump, marking a dramatic escalation in the president’s campaign to punish former officials tied to the Russia investigation. It was Comey’s first appearance as a criminal defendant in a case that has rattled the …
Read More »Trump Again Raises Prospect of Using Insurrection Act
President Donald Trump this week repeatedly suggested he might invoke the Insurrection Act — a centuries-old law granting sweeping domestic powers to the commander in chief — to quell what he described as “lawlessness” in American cities, signaling a potential escalation in his administration’s approach to domestic unrest. “It’s been …
Read More »Trump Says Chicago Mayor and Illinois Governor ‘Should Be in Jail’
President Donald Trump escalated his war of words with two top Illinois Democrats on Wednesday, saying in a Truth Social post that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker “should be in jail” for opposing his administration’s deployment of federalized National Guard troops to the state. “Chicago Mayor should …
Read More »Trump, Carney Meet at White House as Tensions Rise Over North American Trade
President Donald Trump said Tuesday he was open to extending the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) through a renegotiation or by pursuing “different deals,” as he met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the White House amid growing trade tensions. Carney’s second visit to Washington comes ahead of next year’s …
Read More »A Combative AG Pam Bondi Confronts US Senate Judiciary over Trump Crackdown
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi aimed heated rhetoric at Democratic senators on Capitol Hill Tuesday as she faced questions over the administration’s surge of federal agents to blue cities, as well as a litany of controversial issues surrounding the Department of Justice. In one fervid exchange during the routine oversight …
Read More »Speaker Johnson Blocks Swearing-In of Arizona Democrat as Shutdown Standoff Deepens
Speaker Mike Johnson is refusing to allow Democrats’ newest congresswoman-elect to be sworn in until her party agrees to end the government shutdown, escalating a partisan standoff that has left large parts of the federal government shuttered for more than a week and deepened distrust across the Capitol. The move …
Read More »White House Memo Argues Furloughed Workers May Not Get Back Pay After Shutdown
A draft White House memo argues that furloughed federal employees may not be legally entitled to back pay once the government shutdown ends, press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Monday, setting off sharp pushback from unions and lawmakers who say the stance defies federal law. The memo, first reported by Axios, …
Read More »Fire at South Carolina Judge’s Home Under Investigation
Authorities in South Carolina are investigating a weekend fire that injured at least three people at the Edisto Island home of Circuit Court Judge Diane Goodstein and her husband, former state Sen. Arnold Goodstein, officials said Monday. Mark Keel, chief of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), said in …
Read More »GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt Announces Run for U.S. Senate, Joining Cornyn, Paxton in Primary
Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Houston, entered the Republican primary for U.S. Senate on Monday, complicating an already contentious race between two of the biggest names in Texas Republican politics. Hunt, a close ally of President Donald Trump, has laid the groundwork for a potential run for months. While the second-term congressman …
Read More »Greene Breaks with GOP, Urges Action to Extend Obamacare Subsidies
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., broke with Republican leadership Monday by calling for Congress to act before year’s end to prevent Affordable Care Act subsidies from expiring — a move that could cause health insurance premiums to double for millions of Americans. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Greene …
Read More »Illinois Sues to Block Trump’s Deployment of Federalized National Guard Troops to Chicago
Illinois officials filed a lawsuit Monday to stop the Trump administration from deploying federalized National Guard troops to Chicago, arguing that the move is unconstitutional and represents a dangerous overreach of presidential power. The complaint, filed in federal court by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on behalf of the state …
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