Daily news coverage of politics, policy, and issues shaping the nation.
The House Freedom Caucus is calling on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to testify about allegations that he offered to spy on President Donald Trump or resign from office. “Tonight the Freedom Caucus took an official position that Rod Rosenstein needs to come testify before the Judiciary committee within the week or he needs to…
President Donald Trump defended the sovereignty of America—and every other country—before the 73rd United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, in his second address to the world body. To the other world leaders and diplomats, Trump delivered an unpopular message against globalism, while also calling for cooperation. He delivered tough talk to America’s enemies, while also…
The Washington, D.C., chapter of Antifa sent a message to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, early Tuesday morning after chasing him out of a restaurant, telling him that he is “not safe." Cruz was dining Monday night with his wife, Heidi, when a large crowd of protesters flooded the restaurant, shouting, “We believe survivors.” They were referring…
The White House is open to giving the second woman who accused Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault the opportunity to testify at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. “Certainly we would be open to that, and that process could take place on Thursday,” Sanders said Tuesday…
The Dallas Police Department fired off-duty officer Amber Guyger at a hearing Monday after she was charged with manslaughter for the Sept. 9 fatal shooting of her neighbor Botham Jean. Guyger had worked for the Dallas Police Department since 2013 and “has the right to appeal her discipline,” according to a Dallas Police Department press release…
The Trump administration has terminated a government contract to buy fetal tissue from a research firm and will conduct an audit of any such research subsidized by federal taxpayers. Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration signed a one-year, $15,900 contract with Advanced Bioscience Resources to acquire human fetal tissue “for implantation into severely…
In a letter sent Monday to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and ranking member Dianne Feinstein, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh categorically and unequivocally rejected a pair of accusations of sexual misconduct. “[Sunday] night, another false and uncorroborated accusation from 35 years ago was published,” Kavanaugh wrote in response to the newest allegation, by…
President Donald Trump and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein are set to meet Thursday in what likely will be an unpleasant encounter for both. The scheduled meeting follows a report Friday in The New York Times that Rosenstein talked to Justice Department and FBI officials about secretly recording Trump, then using the information to encourage…
The House of Representatives is set to vote this week on a resolution condemning voting by noncitizens and illegal immigrants as “devaluing” ballots cast by U.S. citizens. The nonbinding resolution, presented last week by Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., would make it the position of the House that “allowing illegal immigrants the right to vote…
A Democrat senator suggested that if President Donald Trump withdraws Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination, Democrats could hold the Supreme Court seat open until after the 2020 election. “The world does not come to an end because we don’t [approve] all of the nominees,” Sen. Mazie Hirono said on Politico’s “Off Message” podcast last week, when asked…
Up-from-poverty stories such as his own are a rebuke to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s statement that America “was never that great,” Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson told an audience of social conservatives. “There are so many people who have forgotten … who don’t cherish the America that we live in,” Carson said…
A second woman shared her account of alleged sexual misconduct on the part of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh Sunday night, claiming that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a party in college in either 1983 or 1984. The accuser, Deborah Ramirez, attended Yale University with Kavanaugh in the mid-1980s. The White House affirmed its…
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reaffirmed Friday that the Trump administration is committed to religious liberty, both at home and abroad. Speaking at the conservative Values Voter Summit in Washington, Pompeo said that more than 80 percent of the world’s population lives in countries that place significant limitations on religious freedom. He singled out Iran…
Jack Phillips, owner of the Masterpiece Cakeshop, is confronting yet another struggle with the state of Colorado. This time, the state is investigating the Christian baker for declining to bake a gender transition cake that is pink on the inside and blue on the outside. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission, which lost in a 7-2…
Women who have known Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh personally and/or professionally gathered Friday to assert that the allegations of sexual abuse against him are false. “Those of us who know Brett best, now and in high school, know that he is a man of honor, integrity, and compassion. He has always been a good…
“Here’s what I want to tell you: Judge Kavanaugh will be on the United States Supreme Court,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday morning to conservatives assembled at the annual Values Voter Summit in Washington. The Kentucky Republican counseled the crowd to “keep the faith” regarding nominee Brett Kavanaugh, vowing that the Senate won’t…
Protesters who swarmed the office of Sen. Chuck Grassley on Thursday say the woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teens should not have to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Grassley, R-Iowa, is chairman of the committee, which is weighing the nomination of the appeals court…
Are the allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh about justice or politics? And how will the accuser’s refusal to now come forward and testify affect the #MeToo movement? (After we filmed, Christine Blasey Ford indicated she might be willing to testify in the future.) We took our cameras “On the Streets” of D.C. to…
Christine Blasey Ford isn’t the only one facing harassment and violent threats—Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine and a swing vote, is, too. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., apparently thought those threats were funny, writing on Twitter in part, “Boo hoo.” Swalwell has since apologized, but is it enough? Plus: This week it’s not just Brett…
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is poised to implement a new regulation without legislative approval to join 10 other states in a climate change agreement based on restricting carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants. But lawmakers, policy analysts, and tea party activists in Virginia who oppose what they consider costly regulations of industry are raising…