Poli Alert Political & Civics

President Joe Biden confirmed on Sunday that four-year-old Abigail Mor Edan, an American girl held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, is now free. President Biden shared the positive development with reporters from Nantucket, where he was spending the Thanksgiving weekend with his family. “Abigail was among 13 hostages released today …

Zachary Roth, Michigan Advance Back in July, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. A federal court had recently granted a temporary injunction, in Missouri v. Biden, finding that the Biden administration had violated the First Amendment by coercing social media companies to remove content, …

Patrick Svitek, The Texas Tribune Vice President Kamala Harris is heading to Houston on Monday to tout the Biden administration’s accomplishments for the Latino community, a key voting bloc as the president runs for reelection next year. Harris will take part in a “community conversation” hosted by the Congressional Hispanic …

Julia Conley, Common Dreams New York City police on Wednesday evening arrested Stuart Seldowitz, a former U.S. State Department official, for harassing and stalking a food cart vendor on the Upper East Side after multiple videos of Seldowitz launching racist rants at the man surfaced on social media. Seldowitz has …

Rachana Pradhan, KFF Health News, Louisiana Illuminator Anti-abortion groups are firing off a warning shot for 2024: We’re not going anywhere. Their leaders say they’re undeterred by recent election setbacks and plan to plow ahead on what they’ve done for years, including working through state legislatures, federal agencies, and federal …

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been confronted with accusations of sexual assault dating back to 1993, as disclosed in a legal summons filed in New York Supreme Court on Wednesday. The plaintiff, who asserts she was a city employee at the time of the alleged incident, is pursuing …

Recent news out of Michigan, where actor and union organizer Hill Harper is running for U.S. Senate and U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib has recently angered pro-Israel lawmakers and donors for her staunch support for Palestinian rights, offered an illustration of the “corruption” of the American political system, said one progressive …

Progressive Democrats are holding firm in their call for an extended cease-fire in Gaza, expressing dissatisfaction with the recent hostage agreement between Israel and Hamas that is set to halt hostilities for four to five days. Despite this diplomatic breakthrough, lawmakers aligned with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party …

Ashley Murray, Georgia Recorder Israel and Hamas have reached a deal for a short-term humanitarian ceasefire that will allow the release of some hostages and increase humanitarian aid into the besieged Gaza Strip, U.S. officials said late Tuesday. President Joe Biden praised the agreement to release 50 of the approximately …

Ariana Figueroa, Arkansas Advocate Most of the candidates in this year’s 2024 Republican race for the presidential nomination mirror hard-line immigration policies set by the front-runner, former President Donald Trump. What were once considered far-right policies are now common talking points among the GOP candidates. That includes support for building …

Anna Liz Nichols, Michigan Advance Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation aimed to keep guns out of abusers’ hands in Kalamazoo, 24 years after the tragic death of Maggie Wardle, 19, at the hands of an ex-boyfriend. “I could jump for joy,” Maggie’s mother, Martha Omilian, told the Advance after Whitmer …

Chase Woodruff, Florida Phoenix The widely anticipated next phase of a challenge to former President Donald Trump’s constitutional eligibility to seek office again began on Monday with separate appeals filed by Trump and the plaintiffs who brought the case to the Colorado Supreme Court. A Denver District Court judge ruled last …

Patrick Svitek and Maia Pandey, The Texas Tribune Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday endorsed Donald Trump’s comeback campaign for the White House, while hosting the former president at the Texas-Mexico border. “We need Donald J. Trump back as our president of the United States of America,” Abbott said during a …

Lynn Bonner, NC Newsline Two Black northeastern North Carolina residents are suing to invalidate the state Senate redistricting plan approved last month. The federal lawsuit filed Monday claims that the legislature ignored the history of racially polarized voting in northeastern North Carolina, federal law, and a state Supreme Court opinion …

  In a contentious 2-1 decision, a panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis ruled that private individuals and groups, such as the NAACP, lack the authority to sue under a crucial section of the federal Voting Rights Act. This decision contradicts decades of precedent and …