Political News

Ashley Murray, Georgia Recorder The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Thursday over former President Donald Trump’s pursuit of absolute immunity from criminal charges alleging that he schemed and knowingly fed lies to subvert the 2020 presidential election, eventually leading to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. In the …

Jacob Fischler, Tennessee Lookout The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s criminal case in New York appeared to strongly disagree Tuesday with the former president’s lawyers’ explanation for why he should be considered in compliance with a gag order in the case. In a Tuesday morning hearing to determine whether to fine …

Ariana Figueroa, Georgia Recorder The U.S. Department of Labor Tuesday announced a final rule that means millions of salaried workers who are employed in the executive, administrative or professional industries will become eligible for overtime pay. The rule will affect roughly 4 million workers in the first year of implementation …

Anna Liz Nichols, Michigan Advance The U.S Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it reached a $138.7 million settlement with survivors of disgraced former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse for the failures of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to properly investigate Nassar’s abuse. The FBI’s response to Nassar’s …

Ashley Murray, Florida Phoenix Oral arguments in former President Donald Trump’s historic case in New York began Monday in a Manhattan courtroom where jurors will be tasked with deciding whether deceptive hush money payments to hide an affair amount to a criminal conviction. The first-ever criminal trial of an ex-U.S. …

Julia Conley, Common Dreams As housing rights advocates and people who have been unhoused themselves rallied outside the U.S. Supreme Court Monday to demand an end to the criminalization of homelessness, the court’s three liberal justices demanded to know how the city of Grants Pass, Oregon can penalize residents who …

Nadra Nittle Originally published by The 19th Advocates for the LGBTQ+ community and sexual violence survivors are largely applauding the Department of Education’s newly released federal regulations to protect the rights of these groups in schools, though they also expressed reservations about the lack of clear protections for transgender athletes. …

Jimmy Williams On Saturday, President Biden signed legislation that renewed a crucial U.S. surveillance law. The move comes amidst debates regarding whether the FBI should face limitations on accessing Americans’ data through the program, a disagreement that almost led to the law’s expiration. The Senate voted to extend Section 702 …

Jennifer Shutt, Pennsylvania Capital-Star Military and humanitarian aid could be on its way to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan within weeks after the U.S. House took a series of overwhelmingly bipartisan votes Saturday to approve $95 billion in emergency assistance — and the Senate appeared poised to agree. The approval in …

Jennifer Shutt, Nebraska Examiner The U.S. House on Friday moved one step closer to approving billions in military and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, with Democrats providing crucial support to Republican leaders after defections by their hard-right members. Lawmakers in the broadly bipartisan 316-94 vote approved a rule …

Jacob Fischler, Rhode Island Current The New York state court trying former President Donald Trump on criminal charges empaneled a full 12-person jury on the third day of the trial Thursday, according to reports. The trial approached the end of its first phase Thursday afternoon as one of six alternate …

Barbara Rodriguez Originally published by The 19th Tate Fall has only been the top elections administrator in her Atlanta suburb for a few months, but she is already hyper aware of safety. As the new director of elections in Cobb County, Georgia, Fall trains poll workers on how to deescalate …

Gloria Rebecca Gomez, Arizona Mirror For the second time in as many weeks, Arizona Republicans refused to strike down a near-total abortion ban from 1864, using a procedural move to block a Democratic effort to repeal the law. On April 9, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that a near-total ban …

Jennifer Shutt, Georgia Recorder House Republicans unveiled three bills Wednesday that would provide $95 billion overall in assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, instead of voting on a similar bipartisan Senate-approved package that’s been waiting around for months. The Ukraine bill would provide $60.84 billion, the Israel bill would appropriate …

Jimmy Williams Senate Democrats wasted no time in shutting down an impeachment trial against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The trial, which started just hours earlier, saw both articles of impeachment swiftly dismissed by the Democratic-controlled Senate. Republicans, who aimed to highlight Mayorkas’ perceived failures in border security, faced embarrassment …