Poli Alert Political & Civics

Eleanor Klibanoff, The Texas Tribune Federal regulations do not require emergency rooms to perform life-saving abortions if it would run afoul of state law, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. After the overturn of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sent hospitals …

Elisha Brown, Michigan Advance With the general election in November, abortion rights are set to be directly on the ballot in Maryland and New York after Democratic-controlled legislatures approved those measures. While Democratic lawmakers in Pennsylvania and Virginia have proposed resolutions to protect abortion access, state rules require legislatures to …

Jimmy Williams Special counsel Jack Smith has strongly opposed former President Donald Trump’s bid to dismiss the federal election interference case against him, arguing that presidential immunity doesn’t shield Trump from criminal charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. In an extensive 80-page filing to the U.S. …

Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams Amid expectations that the U.S. Supreme Court will soon consider legal arguments that former President Donald Trump should be disqualified from 2024 Republican primary ballots, Democratic Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin on Sunday called for Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from any such cases. Raskin—a constitutional …

Abby Livingston and Pooja Salhotra, The Texas Tribune Retired U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson has died, her family said Sunday on social media. She was 88. A towering Dallas political figure — once a nurse, state legislator and congresswoman — Johnson was the dean of the Texas Congressional delegation before …

Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams A U.S. federal judge on Friday blocked key parts of what critics called a “sweeping Iowa law that seeks to silence LGBTQ+ students, erase any recognition of LGBTQ+ people from public schools, and bans books with sexual or LGBTQ+ content.” Judge Stephen Locher determined that none …

Jimmy Williams A federal appeals court has given the green light for a lawsuit filed by a group of U.S. Capitol Police officers against former President Donald Trump to move forward. The lawsuit centers on Trump’s alleged actions during the January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol. The three-judge …

Jimmy Williams In a move bypassing the usual congressional approval, the Biden administration has greenlit a second emergency weapons sale to Israel. This decision comes as Israel faces criticism for its actions in the ongoing conflict with Hamas in Gaza. The State Department revealed on Friday that Secretary of State …

Quentin Young, Michigan Advance The Colorado Republican Party has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that blocks former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 presidential ballot. The party, which filed its appeal Wednesday in Anderson v. Griswold, argues that a majority on the …

Joshua Fechter, The Texas Tribune The U.S. Department of Justice has threatened to sue to stop a new Texas law that allows state police to arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the border — unless Gov. Greg Abbott backs off of enforcing the law. The new law, known as Senate …

Sarah Kallis, Georgia Recorder U.S. District Court Judge Steve Jones approved Georgia’s new congressional and legislative voting districts drawn by the state legislature. Jones found Thursday that all three maps added majority-Black opportunity districts in the areas he identified in October, when he found that the maps drawn by the …

Evan Popp, Maine Morning Star Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows on Thursday disqualified Donald Trump from the state’s primary in a closely-watched decision that makes Maine the second state where the former president has been kicked off the ballot. Bellows’ decision comes after Trump lawyers on Wednesday argued that the …

Quentin Young, Colorado Newsline U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Silt Republican in her second term representing Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, announced Wednesday she plans to run for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District seat next year. A MAGA provocateur who is vulnerable after almost losing her seat to a Democratic challenger in …

JImmy Williams 2024 GOP candidate Nikki Haley, former UN Ambassador and South Carolina governor, stirred controversy during a town hall event in Berlin, New Hampshire on Wednesday. When asked about the cause of the Civil War, Haley avoided mentioning slavery, a primary factor in the war. Instead, she attributed the …

Jon King, Michigan Advance Former President Donald Trump will remain on the ballot for Michigan’s presidential primary following an order by the Michigan Supreme Court. The unsigned decision released Wednesday morning did not rule on the merits of the case itself, saying that they were “not persuaded that the questions …