Daily news coverage of politics, policy, and issues shaping the nation.
President Barack Obama granted 153 commutations and 78 pardons Monday, the most individual acts of clemency granted in one day by any president in American history. The president has now commuted the sentences of 1,176 individuals, including 395 life sentences, and he has pardoned 148 individuals. âTodayâs acts of clemency, and the mercy the president has shown…
Conservatives in Congress have a plan to undo a large number of regulations from the last few months of President Barack Obamaâs time in office. The recently imposed regulations include a new rule from the Department of Health and Human Services that protects federal funding for Planned Parenthood as well as regulations from the Department…
A vocal opponent of confirming Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., as U.S. attorney general recanted part of his critical testimony 30 years ago against Sessions being confirmed as a federal judge. âMy recollection on this matter has now been refreshed,â @GerryHebert says. J. Gerald Hebert, a former Justice Department lawyer, made racially charged allegations against Sessions…
As part of his quest to overhaul the American justice system, liberal billionaire George Soros is targeting local prosecutor races like the one in Harris County, a large jurisdiction that includes the city of Houston. Morris Overstreet, a former judge who was the first African-American elected to statewide office in Texas since Reconstruction, was one…
President-elect Donald Trump chose one of the most outspoken fiscal conservatives in Congress, Rep. Mick Mulvaney, to be director of the Office of Management and Budget. Mulvaney, a South Carolina Republican, is a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus, the most conservative group in Congress. He has pushed to cut both domestic and defense…
On Monday, 538 presidential electors selected by voters on Nov. 8 will choose a president when the Electoral College votes in states across the country. This year marks the fifth time in history the popular vote winner lost the presidency. The other elections were in 1824, 1876, 1888, and 2000. Though Donald Trump won 306…
President Barack Obama used part of his final White House press conference of the year to take shots at Russia and the media, and to argue that Ronald Reagan would disapprove of what he called Republican votersâ warming to Russian leader Vladimir Putin. âRonald Reagan would roll over in his grave,â @Potus says of Trump, GOP…
KYIV, UkraineâUkraineâs May 25, 2014, presidential election was a pivotal moment for the country. A revolution that February, in which more than 100 died, had overthrown pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych. Two weeks prior to the election, on May 11, pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian cities of Donetsk and Luhansk declared their independence from Kyiv….
Convincing lawmakers in Congress to limit their time in office has always been a tall order, but a presidential megaphone for the issue also has been rare. A dozen senators and 36 House members so far have signed on to a pledge to support term limits according to U.S. Term Limits, an advocacy group. Those…
President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday he has selected Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., a former Navy SEAL who broke with the Republican platform over federal lands, to be the next interior secretary. âAs a former Navy SEAL, [Zinke] has incredible leadership skills and an attitude of doing whatever it takes to win,â Trump said in a…
Facebook announced Thursday an aggressive plan to combat so-called âfake news,â giving users more power to report hoaxes and empowering fact-checking outlets as arbiters. The social media giant faced criticism internally and from liberals following the election of Donald Trump last month. Critics pointed to âfake newsâ sites spreading false information as a factor in…
In one of its final acts for a political constituency, the Obama administration issued a regulation Wednesday to block states from defunding Planned Parenthood, the nationâs largest abortion provider. âThere is a real chance of overturning Roe v. Wade,â a @March_for_Life VP says. But pro-life activists expect the political environment to change rapidly in their…
A lawyer representing a Kentucky print shop owner who chose not to print gay pride festival T-shirts argued in a hearing this week that the government cannot force a person to create speech against his or her beliefs. Blaine Adamson, owner of Hands On Originals in Lexington, Kentucky, turned down business due to his religious…
GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill are committed to using a budget tool called reconciliation to send a bill repealing Obamacare to President-elect Donald Trumpâs desk. Though Republicans are settled on getting rid of the Affordable Care Act, fault lines have emerged between GOP lawmakers who disagree on when exactly the health care law should be…
During one of his final weeks on the job, President Barack Obamaâs secretary of education called for education leaders to unite around support for charter schools. âIf we believe that public schools will always be the bedrock of American democracy and opportunityâas I doâwe should welcome good public charter schools as laboratories for innovation that…
Two conservative lawmakers plan to fight for term limits in the next Congress, saying the effort will foster accountability and complement President-elect Donald Trumpâs promise to âdrain the swamp.â Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., announced they will introduce a constitutional amendment that would limit members of the House to three two-year…
Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy had âselfish political and ideological motivesâ when he made secret overtures to the Soviet Unionâs spy agency during the Cold War to thwart then-President Ronald Reaganâs re-election, a Reagan biographer said in an interview with The Daily Signal. When they came to light years later, Kennedyâs secret contacts with the Russians…
Another U.S. congressman is heading to prison for criminal charges related to earmarksâthe once-prolific practice of directing taxpayer money to special interests. Former Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Pa., faces up to 10 years in prison for criminal behavior that, according to The Washington Post, included money laundering and bribery. He was sentenced Monday by U.S. District…
Editor's note: West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced Aug. 3, 2017, that he's switching his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican, and introduced President Donald Trump at a rally in Huntington, West Virginia. In this profile from December, Melissa Quinn captures some reasons why. As results rolled in on election night, most political consultants and…
Students at the University of Pennsylvania have removed a portrait of William Shakespeare and replaced it with a picture of a black, lesbian poet for the sake of having greater diversity. The large Shakespeare portrait had resided near a staircase in Fisher-Bennett Hall for years, until a gaggle of activist students removed it and placed it in…