Political News

Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix Jeremy Brown, a self-described Oath Keepers member and lauded 20-year U.S. Army Special Forces soldier, was sentenced on Friday in Tampa to more than seven years in federal prison on weapons charges related to a federal investigation into his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 riot …

Justin Jones, the Democratic Tennessee lawmaker who was expelled from the state Legislature on Thursday, said he was trying to protect all children from the scourge of gun violence—including the children of the Republican colleagues who subsequently voted to oust him—while vowing to keep fighting for gun control. Addressing the …

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Thursday that the U.S. House should impeach right-wing Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in the wake of ProPublica reporting that exposed the judge’s billionaire-funded luxury vacations. “This is beyond party or partisanship. This degree of corruption is shocking—almost cartoonish. Thomas must be impeached,” Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who …

Adam Friedman, Tennessee Lookout The Tennessee House of Representatives voted along party lines to expel Democratic Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson from its body for leading a floor protest over gun violence one week ago, but Rep. Gloria Johnson survived expulsion by one vote. The expulsion vote against Jones, …

Barbara Rodriguez Originally published by The 19th Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Wednesday signed into law a bill that repeals a 1931 abortion ban, cementing access in the state and fulfilling a promise she made during her reelection campaign. Whitmer signed the legislation surrounded by Michigan doctors, lawmakers and abortion …

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Wednesday made his state the first in the U.S. to restrict interstate travel for abortion care by signing legislation that aims to prevent minors from traveling to obtain an abortion without parental consent. The Republican-authored law, H.B. 242, creates a new …

Jennifer Shutt, Florida Phoenix U.S. Senate Democrats appear lukewarm about pursuing reproductive rights legislation in a divided Congress, even as a federal judge in Texas considers overturning access to abortion pills nationwide. Interviews by States Newsroom with Democrats who control the Senate by a narrow margin found little optimism they …

Jacob Fischler, Michigan Advance Both Republican and Democratic members of the U.S. Senate voted Wednesday to repeal the Biden administration’s intensely contested expansion of what qualifies as wetlands that the federal government can regulate. The Senate approved a resolution, sponsored by West Virginia Republican Shelley Moore Capito, that would revoke …

Sam Stockard, Tennessee Lookout Republican lawmakers sponsored resolutions Monday to expel three Democrats who led a protest on the House floor last week as hundreds of people rallied outside the chamber for tighter gun laws before the session devolved into a fracas. The bills are aimed at state Reps. Justin …

Henry Redman, Wisconsin Examiner As Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz took the stage at her election victory party Tuesday night, the three current members of the liberal minority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court watched from off stage, arm-in-arm, as they took in the moment they became a majority. Protasiewicz, a …

Jacob Fischler, New Jersey Monitor Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 34 New York state felony offenses related to what prosecutors say were hush money payments to an adult film star. In a brief but historic appearance in a Manhattan trial court, Trump, the first former president …

Stefanie Lindquist, Arizona State University A Manhattan grand jury has voted to indict former President Donald Trump. The specific state charges, reports The New York Times, “remain a mystery” but will be related to the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation of Trump for making hush money payments to a porn star …

Ashley Murray, Ohio Capital Journal The Biden administration, placing blame on Trump-era rollbacks, last Thursday called on federal banking regulators to reinstate safeguards for regional banks after the record-setting collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank of New York earlier this month. The White House wants the agencies to …

Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix With little fanfare, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation Monday making Florida the 26th state in the nation to allow residents to legally carry concealed weapons without having to obtain a permit through the state. The signature came in DeSantis’ office, where he was surrounded by GOP …

Hunter Field, Arkansas Advocate Asa Hutchinson, who served as Arkansas’ governor from 2015-2023, announced during a Sunday morning interview on ABC that he will run for the Republican nomination for president of the United of the States. Hutchinson, who has been a prominent critic of former President Donald Trump, has …