Poli Alert Politics & Civics

A federal judge on Friday barred President Donald Trump’s administration from enforcing an executive order that would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, ruling that the president overstepped his constitutional authority. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said Trump’s directive violated the separation of …

President Donald Trump is urging Senate Republicans to abolish the chamber’s 60-vote filibuster rule, calling it the only way to end the ongoing government shutdown without Democratic support. But his demand is being flatly rejected — not by Democrats, but by members of his own party. “It is now time …

The Trump administration has set the U.S. refugee admissions cap at just 7,500 for the new fiscal year, the lowest in modern history, while prioritizing white Afrikaners from South Africa under a controversial new policy announced Thursday in a memo published in the Federal Register. The Sept. 30 memo, signed …

A federal judge in Rhode Island on Friday ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to immediately distribute Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, one day before payments were set to lapse amid the ongoing government shutdown. U.S. District Judge John McConnell ruled from the bench that the USDA must use …

If the ongoing government shutdown extends into Saturday — and there is every indication that it will — funding will lapse for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as food stamps or SNAP, which helps feed some 42 million lower-income Americans. It will be the first such disruption to the …

President Donald Trump on Thursday called for the Senate to eliminate the filibuster, demanding that Republicans invoke the so-called “nuclear option” to end a 30-day government shutdown that has stalled funding for federal services and furloughed hundreds of thousands of workers. “It is now time for the Republicans to play …

The Senate voted Thursday to overturn many of President Donald Trump’s tariffs around the world, a rare rebuke of his trade policies that came just hours after Trump hailed his latest deal with China as a major economic victory. The resolution — passed 51-47 with four Republicans joining all Democrats …

The FBI is warning Congress that a proposal by House lawmakers to strip the bureau of its counterintelligence authority and transfer it to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard would “cause serious and long-lasting damage” to national security, according to a letter sent this week to Capitol Hill. In the …

The Justice Department placed two federal prosecutors on administrative leave this week after they described the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack as a “riot” carried out by a “mob” in a sentencing memorandum — language that diverged sharply from President Donald Trump’s characterization of the day’s events, according to three …

A federal grand jury has indicted Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh and five others for allegedly blocking vehicles and obstructing a federal agent outside a U.S. immigration facility in Broadview, Illinois — a flashpoint in ongoing protests over the Trump administration’s immigration policies. The indictment, filed Oct. 23, accuses Abughazaleh …

Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday called for a dramatic reduction in legal immigration, telling students at the University of Mississippi that the United States must “get the overall numbers way, way down” to allow the country’s “own society to cohere.” Speaking at an event organized by Turning Point USA, …

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he has directed the Defense Department to “immediately” begin testing U.S. nuclear weapons, ending a 33-year moratorium and signaling a major escalation in global nuclear tensions ahead of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the …

The Trump administration is moving to invalidate state laws that protect consumers’ credit reports from medical debt reporting, a major shift that could expose millions of Americans to renewed credit risks tied to healthcare costs. In a draft interpretive rule under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Consumer Financial …

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Bilal Essayli, the acting U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, has been unlawfully serving in the role, saying the Trump administration bypassed Senate confirmation requirements for the nation’s largest federal judicial district. In a 64-page decision, U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright …

A federal judge in San Francisco on Tuesday indefinitely blocked the Trump administration from firing federal employees during the ongoing government shutdown, ruling that the layoffs appeared to be politically motivated and outside the administration’s legal authority. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, issued a …