Daily news coverage of politics, policy, and issues shaping the nation.
The nation’s acting homeland security chief defended the U.S. Border Patrol against political attacks in testimony at a House hearing Thursday where he also denounced some employees’ unprofessional conduct on Facebook. “The incendiary and overwrought attacks on the men and women securing our border and enforcing immigration laws in the interior are unwarranted and damaging,”…
Netflix’s latest quarterly report shows the streaming service giant experienced a chill in growth with its first quarterly loss of paid domestic subscribers in eight years. The dip in subscriptions came in the same quarter as Netflix’s decision to take a stance against Georgia’s pro-life “heartbeat bill.” Netflix “on Wednesday reported a loss of 126,000…
The House voted 231-199 Thursday to raise the national minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour over six years, with Democrats contending the bill would raise wages for millions of Americans. “If the advocates of this legislation really cared about American workers, they would not fire them,” Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., said on the…
The U.K., most notably London, has experienced a sharp increase in knife-related crime, despite “knife control” efforts to curb the violence, newly released figures detail. Knife crime in both England and Wales is up 8% from April 2018 to May 2019. U.K. police reports from 43 departments recorded 47,136 incidents involving sharp objects, an Office…
One of California’s most liberal cities voted Tuesday to revamp its city code book by replacing terms like “manhole” and “manpower” with gender-neutral terms. The Berkeley City Council voted to replace around three dozen terms found in the municipal code. Terms like “policeman,” “policewoman,” “chairwoman,” and “chairman” will be changed, as will “he,” “she,” “him,” and…
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called out a Google vice president Tuesday afternoon for the tech giant’s decision to dissolve an advisory council on artificial intelligence after inviting Heritage Foundation President Kay Coles James to join the panel. Cruz asked Karan Bhatia, Google’s vice president of government affairs and public policy, about the worldwide internet company’s…
As polarized as politics might seem to have become, both sides seem to agree on one thing that advantages conservatives, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney says. “You’ve got an audience of people who say, ‘OK, [the federal] government doesn’t work,’” Mulvaney said Wednesday at a Heritage Foundation forum on federalism. The event,…
A Justice Department summit on fighting anti-Semitism brought together Trump administration leaders such as Attorney General William Barr and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos with prominent figures in the Jewish community. “I am deeply concerned about the rise in hate crimes and political violence that we have seen over the past decade,” Barr said in his…
Google denies viewers access to educational content on its YouTube subsidiary without explanation, radio host and commentator Dennis Prager testified Tuesday at a Senate hearing. “Google, which owns YouTube, has restricted access to 56 of our 320 five-minute videos and other videos we produce,” Prager, co-founder of Prager University, told the Judiciary subcommittee on the…
Texas Democratic Rep. Al Green introduced articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump Tuesday, paving the way for the first vote on the measure since Democrats took control of the House. Green introduced the resolution after the House voted to condemn Trump over his weekend remarks about four freshmen House Democrats. Trump tweeted that Democratic Reps….
Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, the war hero and Republican corporate lawyer who became the leader of the court’s liberal wing, died Tuesday night in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was 99. The Supreme Court’s public information office said Stevens died from complications of a stroke suffered earlier in the day. “A son of…
Planned Parenthood removed Leana Wen from her position Tuesday after she had served only 10 months as president. The Planned Parenthood board voted Wen out of her position Tuesday and temporarily replaced her with the co-founder of the progressive Perception Institute, Alexis McGill Johnson, according to The New York Times. McGill Johnson will temporarily serve as…
After being convicted, fined, and imprisoned under the Clean Water Act for digging ponds to protect his Montana home from forest fires, Joe Robertson had his name cleared last week. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated Robertson’s conviction in a legal victory that comes posthumously, since the Navy veteran died four months ago…
Illegal immigrants released by local police in California after their arrests for minor offenses go on to be charged with more serious crimes such as murder, rape, and assault, according to a new government report. Those crimes could have been prevented if these sanctuary jurisdictions had turned over those accused to federal immigration officials for…
President Donald Trump is pushing back against critics of the tweets he posted Sunday, saying that they were not inappropriate or racist, even as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi promotes a resolution condemning the president. “Those Tweets were NOT Racist,” Trump tweeted Tuesday, referring to tweets where he called out “’progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came…
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri announced Tuesday he will introduce two pieces of legislation this week targeting institutions of higher education, one of which would put universities on the hook financially if students are unable to repay their student loans. Americans hold nearly $1.5 trillion in outstanding student debt, 10.9% of which is over…
The Justice Department decided Tuesday it will not level charges against the New York City police officer responsible for the death of Eric Garner whose last words—“I can’t breathe”—became a rallying call for the Black Lives Matter movement. Police confronted 43-year-old Garner—a black man—in July 2014 when he was alleged to have sold cigarettes individually—a…
President Donald Trump defended tweets that suggested unnamed congresswomen “go back” to their countries of origin, but House Democrats planned to introduce a resolution to denounce his remarks as racist. Republican lawmakers also criticized the president after he didn’t back down from the tweets. Trump, speaking to reporters Monday at a White House event, noted…
Two of the country’s staunchest big tech critics are asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate social media companies’ perceived censorship practices. Facebook, Google, and Twitter exercise lots of influence on Americans and they also use their tools to censor some content while amplifying others, Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri…
While waiting for Congress to act on closing immigration loopholes, the Trump administration is imposing a new rule to limit asylum claims by requiring professed refugees to first seek asylum in another country closer to home. The Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security announced the new rule for asylum-seekers, which is set to…