Poli Alert Politics & Civics

The Justice Department will begin turning over records related to Jeffrey Epstein to Congress on Friday, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) announced Monday, following weeks of pressure from Democrats and some Republicans demanding more transparency into the disgraced financier’s case. “Officials with the Department of Justice have informed …

The Texas House on Monday gaveled in with a quorum for the first time in two weeks as Democratic lawmakers returned to Austin, ending a walkout over a GOP mid-decade redistricting plan and paving the way for the map’s passage. “We killed the corrupt special session, withstood unprecedented surveillance and …

Newsmax has agreed to pay $67 million to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems, which accused the conservative network of spreading false claims about its role in former President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss. The settlement, disclosed Monday in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, ends …

President Donald Trump said Monday he plans to sign an executive order banning mail-in ballots and eliminating what he called “seriously controversial” voting machines before the 2026 midterm elections, intensifying his yearslong campaign against methods of voting he has baselessly linked to fraud. In a lengthy post on his Truth …

Mayor LaToya Cantrell, the first woman ever elected to lead New Orleans, was indicted Friday on conspiracy, fraud and obstruction charges in what federal prosecutors described as a yearslong scheme to conceal a romantic relationship with her police bodyguard. The charges come less than five months before Cantrell leaves office …

Proposed congressional maps released Friday could give Democrats a chance to flip as many as five Republican-held seats in California while reinforcing several vulnerable Democratic incumbents, setting up a fierce national battle over redistricting ahead of the 2026 midterms. The draft maps, posted on the California State Assembly’s website, are …

European and NATO leaders will accompany Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to his high-stakes meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced Sunday, in a show of unity designed to prevent Kyiv from being sidelined in peace efforts with Russia. …

President Donald Trump on Saturday abruptly abandoned his call for a ceasefire in Ukraine, urging Kyiv and Moscow to move straight to a final peace agreement — a dramatic reversal that puts him closer in line with Russian President Vladimir Putin just hours after their summit in Alaska. Ukrainian President …

Washington, D.C., Police Chief Pamela Smith is once again the city’s top law enforcement official after the Trump administration abruptly rescinded a sweeping order that had stripped her of authority less than 24 hours earlier. The reversal came Friday as part of an agreement between the Department of Justice and …

District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a federal lawsuit Friday seeking to block the Trump administration’s takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department, arguing the move violates D.C.’s limited self-governance rights under the Home Rule Act. The legal challenge targets both President Donald Trump’s Monday order placing the city’s …

Texas House Democrats who left the state in protest of proposed congressional redistricting said Thursday they will return to the state after the Legislature adjourns Friday and California’s state lawmakers introduce a retaliatory redistricting map in their state assembly. In a statement, members of the minority party said their lawyers …

A federal judge in Maryland has overturned two Trump administration directives aimed at eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs in U.S. schools and universities, ruling the Education Department violated the law by threatening to pull federal funding from institutions that maintained such initiatives. U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher, appointed by …

Local leaders and advocates Thursday said that President Donald Trump’s decision to seize the District of Columbia’s 3,400-member police force and deploy 800 National Guard members is a continuation of his administration’s immigration crackdown. Since the president’s decision Monday to invoke the district’s Home Rule Act, checkpoints are being set up …

A now-former Justice Department employee has been charged with felony assault after authorities say he threw a Subway sandwich at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer in Washington, D.C., during a heated confrontation near a busy nightlife district. Sean Charles Dunn, who worked in the criminal division’s international affairs …

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday urged California lawmakers to approve a November ballot measure that would allow Democrats to bypass the state’s independent redistricting commission and redraw the state’s congressional map, framing the move as a direct response to Republican-led mid-decade redistricting efforts in Texas. The proposal, called the Election …