Poli Alert Politics & Civics

As a historically hot summer nears its end, U.S. government scientists on Monday announced that the nation endured 23 separate weather and climate disasters that caused at least $1 billion in damage from January to August—setting a new annual record with four months of the year left. The previous record …

Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an executive order saying gun violence in the state “constitutes a statewide public health emergency of unknown duration.” The order issued on Sept. 8 encourages local mayors and sheriff’s offices to ask for “an emergency proclamation and implementation …

Amanda Becker Originally published by The 19th When the U.S. House of Representatives joins the Senate back in Washington this week, both chambers will be racing to complete the annual government-funding process and avoid a shutdown at the end of September. Among the major sticking points are proposals offered by …

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service on Friday won praise from congressional Democrats and progressive groups for announcing “a sweeping, historic effort to restore fairness in tax compliance by shifting more attention onto high-income earners, partnerships, large corporations, and promoters abusing the nation’s tax laws.” The IRS effort is enabled by …

Seth Tupper, South Dakota Searchlight A Friday event intended to rally the South Dakota Republican Party around Donald Trump’s visit to the state instead showcased division at the party’s highest levels. The state’s all-Republican, three-member congressional delegation — Sens. John Thune and Mike Rounds, and Rep. Dusty Johnson — did …

Stanley Dunlap, Georgia Recorder Donald Trump’s former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows suffered a legal setback Friday afternoon when a federal judge ordered that his Fulton County election interference case remain in state court. U.S. District Court Steve Jones’ decision to reject Meadows’ attempt to thwart the Fulton …

Jennifer Shutt, Iowa Capital Dispatch The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday asked the Supreme Court to decide whether the abortion pill should remain on the market after two lower courts issued differing opinions about its use. The case, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, will …

A special grand jury in Georgia, tasked with investigating efforts to undermine the 2020 election, recommended criminal indictments for several allies of Donald Trump, including Senator Lindsey Graham, who had not been charged by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. The report from this special grand jury, which was filed …

A federal jury on Thursday found Peter Navarro, who served as a trade adviser to former U.S. President Donald Trump, guilty of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the congressional panel that probed the January 6, 2021 insurrection. Despite a February 2022 subpoena from the House Select Committee …

Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix Gov. Ron DeSantis, back in Florida amid his presidential campaign, urged Americans to defy any new federal public health guidance to wear masks, take vaccines, or engage in social distancing in light of an upsurge in COVID cases and emergence of a new viral variant. The …

Julia Conley, Common Dreams Just as the Biden administration announced this week that 4 million people have enrolled in its new income-driven repayment plan for student loan borrowers just two weeks after it was launched, Republican lawmakers in Congress announced plans to rip the debt relief away from Americans—saddling them …

Stephen Fowler, GPB News The Fulton County District Attorney’s office says it would take an estimated four months and 150 witnesses to present its case against 19 people accused of violating the state’s anti-racketeering law in a failed effort to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential results. Special prosecutor Nathan Wade gave …

Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix The Florida Supreme Court is bracing for a crowd during oral arguments on Friday over the future of abortion rights in the state, as organizations on both sides of that issue planned to wave their flags in the state capital and the whole country will be …

Migrant rights groups and Texas Democrats on Wednesday welcomed a federal judge’s order that the state remove from the Rio Grande about 1,000 feet of orange buoys fastened together with metal cables and anchored with concrete blocks. The federal Department of Justice sued Texas and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott over …

Quentin Young, Colorado Newsline A lawsuit filed in Colorado seeks to bar former President Donald Trump from appearing as a 2024 presidential candidate on ballots in the state. The suit was filed by the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington on behalf of six Colorado voters, who …