List of All Articles with Tag 'politics'

The nation is days away from defaulting on its obligations. The Republican House speaker, pushed by conservatives in his party, demands deep spending cuts. The president, a Democrat, works on negotiating a package to avert a fiscal calamity.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy helped secure a debt limit deal -- now he has to secure its passage in the House, with little room for error.

As California Gov. Gavin Newsom stepped on stage at the state Democratic Party Convention this weekend, Vilma Dawson applauded with the visible faith of someone who had supported him through multiple elections and a recall campaign.

President Joe Biden on Monday scoffed at the idea of granting his predecessor, former president Donald Trump, a pardon absolving him of any crimes he may have committed during or after his presidency. Mr Biden was asked if he’d consider a reprieve for Mr Trump as he departed the White House en route to his Delaware home on Monday, the day before the eighth anniversary of his late son Beau Biden’s death. Asked whether he’d heard that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has said he’d pardon the disgraced ex-president — and if he’d consider doing so himself, the president flashed a smile and chuckled as he turned towards the South Lawn and his flight aboard Marine One. During his 2020 campaign for the presidency against Mr Trump, Mr Biden was asked if he’d commit to not following the example of the late Gerald Ford, who famously awarded his disgraced predecessor, Richard Nixon, “a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States” committed between the start of his aborted second term and his August 1974 resignation, if the same issue might arise with Mr Trump. The question about pardoning his then-opponent came during a Covid-era virtual town hall hosted by MSNBC in May 2015. The then-former Vice President replied: “Absolutely, yes. I commit”. He added that the question of whether to prosecute Mr Trump was “hands-off completely” because, in his view, the attorney general of the United States is “the people’s lawyer” and not “the president’s lawyer”. Mr Trump has already been indicted by a New York grand jury on more than 30 counts of falsifying business records, but US presidents cannot grant any pardons or reprieves for crimes prosecuted by state or local prosecutors. The twice-impeached former president could face federal charges as a result of two investigations being supervised by a Department of Justice Special Counsel, Jack Smith. Mr Smith, a former war crimes prosecutor, was appointed in November by Attorney General Merrick Garland shortly after Mr Trump declared his candidacy in next year’s presidential election, He is currently overseeing an investigation into Mr Trump’s alleged unlawful retention of national defence information at his Palm Beach, Florida home, and his alleged obstruction of that investigation, and has reportedly wrapped up questioning of witnesses before a Washington DC grand jury. Mr Smith is also looking into the ex-president’s role in fomenting the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, which came as Mr Trump pushed to remain in office despite losing the 2020 election to Mr Biden. Read More Ron DeSantis says he will consider pardon for Trump if elected Biden says he congratulated Turkey’s Erdogan in phone call Biden invokes late son Beau’s memory as he pays tribute to fallen US soldiers UK condemns ‘appalling’ Ugandan anti-gay legislation Beau Biden: The story of Joe Biden’s late son Biden marks Memorial Day nearly 2 years after ending America's longest war, lauds troops' sacrifice

Rep. Chip Roy accused House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday of cutting a deal that could complicate negotiators' efforts to pass a bill to raise the US debt ceiling this week.

SAN SALVADOR A court in El Salvador sentenced former President Mauricio Funes and his justice minister to over

A deal to raise the debt ceiling must now pass in the narrowly-divided House of Representatives.

President Joe Biden on Monday said his grief for his late son Beau Biden gives him insight into pain felt by parents and family of deceased US service members, as he commemorated the nation’s honoured dead the day before the eighth anniversary of his son’s death from brain cancer. Speaking at Arlington National Cemetery just feet from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where unidentified servicemen from the Korean War and both the First and Second World War are guarded by US Army sentries, Mr Biden urged Americans to “never forget the price that was paid to protect our democracy” by “those who died so our nation might live”. He noted that each of the “flags, flowers, and marble markers” at Arlington represents “a mother, a father, a son a daughter, a sister, a spouse, a friend” and “an American” whose loss may still be grieved by loved ones, even many years later. “Every year we remember and every year it never gets easier,” he said. Addressing America’s Gold Star families — those who’ve lost a family member in military service — Mr Biden said he knows how painful Memorial Day can be for them each year because it “can reopen ... that black hole in the centre of your chest”. “You feel like you're just sinking ... bringing you back to that exact moment you heard that knock on the door or the telephone ring, the exact moment you had to tell your children that mom or dad would not be coming home,” he said. “The hurt is still real — it's still raw”. The president noted that tomorrow, 30 May, will mark eight years since Beau Biden — his late firstborn son who served as Delaware’s attorney general as well as a Judge Advocate in the National Guard — passed away from brain cancer. Mr Biden, who has often been criticised for suggesting that his son’s death stemmed from his service in Iraq despite the fact that Beau Biden’s time overseas saw him exposed to toxic burn pits which medical experts say can cause cancer, took care this time to say that his late son “did not perish on the battlefield”. While he told attendees at the Arlington ceremony that Beau’s death and those of soldiers who lost their lives in combat were “not the same,” he said the pain of his loss is still “particularly sharp” on Memorial Day each year. He also said his late son, who held the rank of Major in the Delaware Army National Guard, lived by the same code as “all those you lost lived by”. “It’s the creed that millions of service members have followed, from the fields of Yorktown, to the shores of Normandy, to the rice paddies of Khe Sanh, to the valleys of Kandahar”. “Throughout history these women and men laid down their lives. Not for a place or a person or a president, but for an idea unlike any other idea in all of human history — the idea of the United States of America,” he said. He said the “sanctuary” of Arlington “honours that sacrifice and tells their stories, and in turn tells our story, the American story ... a story of the patriots who died to deliver a nation where everyone is entitled to certain unalienable rights, among them, life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness”. “Each of them is a link in a chain of honour that stretches back to our founding fathers,” he added. Read More Diverse Republican presidential primary field sees an opening in 2024 with voters of color Biden, GOP reach debt-ceiling deal, now Congress must approve it to prevent calamitous default Why Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment fight isn't finished yet Mechanical sails? Batteries? Shippers forming 'green corridors' to fast-track cleaner technologies Minnesota governor vetoes higher pay for Lyft, Uber drivers On 3rd anniversary of George Floyd's death, Biden stops GOP-led effort to block DC police reform law

President Joe Biden marked Memorial Day by paying tribute to "those who died so our nation might live" during his annual speech on the day that the US honors those who have served and died in its service.

By Khalid Abdelaziz DUBAI (Reuters) -Sustained clashes and air strikes could be heard on Monday in parts of Sudan's capital,

Former Congresswoman Liz Cheney spoke about the political test she faced in the immediate aftermath of January 6 during her address to graduates of Colorado College this weekend. Ms Cheney, once a member of Republican leadership and now a pariah in her own party, spoke to graduates on Sunday. She graduated from the school with a degree in political science in 1988. The ex-lawmaker has left open the possibility of running for office again in the future after her defeat in Wyoming’s GOP primary to now-Congresswoman Harriet Hageman last year. She has even hinted that she may run for president in 2024, setting herself up for a potential debate-stage clash with former President Donald Trump himself. “After the 2020 election and the attack of January 6th, my fellow Republicans wanted me to lie. They wanted me to say the 2020 election was stolen, the attack of January 6th wasn’t a big deal, and Donald Trump wasn’t dangerous,” she told students and families in her address Sunday, according to the Associated Press. “I had to choose between lying and losing my position in House leadership.” The former congresswoman also referenced recent comments by an adviser to Mr Trump, Cleta Mitchell, who recently told a Republican National Committee gathering that the GOP should work to make it harder for college students to vote, given the demographic’s progressive bent. The comments, Ms Cheney said, were an example of the Trump movement’s continued threat to American democracy. “Cleta Mitchell, an election denier and adviser to former President Trump, told a gathering of Republicans recently that it is crucially important to make sure that college students don’t vote,” Ms Cheney said. “Those who are trying to unravel the foundations of our republic, who are threatening the rule of law and the sanctity of our elections, know they can’t succeed if you vote.” She would be a longshot contender for the GOP nomination, given the Republican primary electorate’s continued support for Mr Trump. There’s little reason to suggest that any Cheney 2024 bid would end differently than her 2022 bid for re-election, where her refusal to support Mr Trump’s continued lies and conspiracies about his loss to Joe Biden cost her a seat in Congress. But she remains an active player on the national stage, maintaining her political profile, as she and other anti-Trump Republicans like Maryland’s Larry Hogan and New Hampshire’s Chris Sununu bide their time and hunt for openings and opportunities in a party that by and large no longer resembles them. Though Ms Cheney’s defeat marked a pattern of Trump rivals losing their races in 2022, the former president’s work to purge the GOP of his enemies was not without its own setbacks; in two key races in Georgia, where Mr Trump and his legal team sought to overturn the valid results of the 2020 election, the former president saw two Republican who had opposed those efforts, Gov Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, re-elected against his endorsement. Read More Trump says DeSantis to blame for Disney becoming ‘woke’ and ‘disgusting’ Trump's welcome of Scott into 2024 race shows his calculus: The more GOP rivals, the better for him Texas GOP attorney general Ken Paxton impeached by Republican-controlled Statehouse Donald Trump Jr shares doctored Office clip showing Ron DeSantis wearing a woman’s suit Kimberly Guilfoyle threatens DeSantis: ‘You’re going to get hurt, and damaged – badly’ Biden marks Memorial Day nearly 2 years after ending America's longest war, lauds troops' sacrifice

Ron DeSantis is facing three new lawsuits after he signed a new law just hours before announcing his presidential campaign – legislation which makes it harder to vote in Florida. The bill allows Mr DeSantis to continue as governor in the Sunshine State as he campaigns for the White House, but it also restricts the use of mail-in ballots, attempts to make it easier to purge voting rolls, and places limits on third-party voter registration organisations, according to Mother Jones. Meanwhile, Mr DeSantis is facing fresh fire from his top 2024 rival Donald Trump. The ex-president took to Truth Social this weekend to claim that Mr DeSantis is responsible for entertainment giant Disney becoming “woke”. “Disney has become a Woke and Disgusting shadow of its former self, with people actually hating it. Must go back to what it once was, or the ‘market’ will do irreparable damage,” he wrote on Truth Social. “This all happened during the Governorship of ‘Rob’ DeSanctimonious. Instead of complaining now, for publicity reasons only, he should have stopped it long ago. Would have been easy to do - Still is!” Read More Donald Trump Jr shares doctored Office clip showing Ron DeSantis wearing a woman’s suit DeSantis accuses Trump of ‘moving to the left’ as he tells ex-president: ‘You’ve changed’ Trump's welcome of Scott into 2024 race shows his calculus: The more GOP rivals, the better for him Disney opposes DeSantis request to disqualify judge in free speech lawsuit