Book challenges neared a record high in 2025, showing an increase in pressure from political groups and officials as opposed to parents, as well as new targets in the challenged titles. The American Library Association (ALA) found 4,235 unique titles were challenged in 2025, barely missing the 2023 record of 4,240, with the “Top 11 Most Challenged Books”...
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) broke ranks Thursday morning and voted against a budget resolution that could set the stage for ending the two-month shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. Murkowski, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, opposed the budget resolution because it would lay the groundwork for...
Four Republican senators voted against an amendment sponsored by Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) to instruct the Senate Rules Committee to find a way to add the core elements of the SAVE America Act to a budget reconciliation package that could pass next month with a simple-majority vote. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Thom...
Six candidates running for California governor squared off on the debate stage Wednesday, yet the forum may have created more questions than answers for politcal observers, as Democrats struggle to coalesce around a candidate ahead of the June primary The debate came just weeks after Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), who was seen as a Democratic frontrunner in the race, dropped out and resigned from...
Three Republican senators broke with the rest of the Senate GOP conference Wednesday night to vote in support of an amendment sponsored by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) to address insurance companies delaying or denying necessary medical care. Vulnerable Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) joined conservative Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) in voting with...
Senate Republicans on Wednesday defeated an amendment sponsored by Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) to create a reserve fund to lower grocery costs and reverse an estimated $187 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program enacted by last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Two vulnerable Republican senators — Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine)...
New York City Council member Chi Ossé (D) was arrested on Wednesday during a protest to stop a city resident from being evicted from her home. Ossé was later released, telling reporters outside the New York City Police Department's 79th Precinct that three men "manhandled" him, The Gothamist reported. "It takes a lot to lift...
Senate Republicans on Wednesday voted against an amendment sponsored by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) to create a point of order against any future budget reconciliation bill that doesn’t lower out-of-pocket health care costs for Americans. Schumer offered a motion to waive the Budget Act with respect to his amendment in order to put...
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) on Wednesday said she had a "positive discussion" with President Trump at the White House about Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance for areas of the city still recovering from last year's devastating Palisades and Eaton wildfires. Bass shared a photo on the social platform X of her and...
A bipartisan group of Senators on Tuesday introduced the "Hot Rotisserie Chicken Act" to help Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, recipients use their benefits to buy rotisserie chicken. The amendment would amend the 2008 Food and Nutrition Act by modifying the definition of food to add "hot rotisserie chicken," according to a joint statement...
Welcome to The Hill's Business & Economy newsletter {beacon} Business & Economy Business & Economy The Big Story Republicans fear string of shutdowns under Trump Senate Republicans who are scrambling to end the two-month shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) fear that Democrats will trigger an even bigger government shutdown in October...
President Trump has moved into an apparent holding pattern after his latest diplomatic retreat in the stalemate with Iran, trying to find an off-ramp to the war that would allow him to claim victory. Trump unilaterally extended a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday, after backing down from his threats to bomb Iran’s civilization into oblivion earlier...
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones (D) on Wednesday said he will appeal an injunction on the state's redistricting referendum approved by voters. "As I said last night, Virginia voters have spoken, and an activist judge should not have veto power over the People's vote," Jones said in a statement shared on the social platform X....
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) sent a Wednesday letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) strongly opposing the possibility of a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime partner and accomplice of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “I am writing to express my disgust at the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) reported willingness to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell,” Krishnamoorthi...
