Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared South African ambassador to the U.S. Ebrahim Rasool “persona non grata” and accused the diplomat of being a “race-baiting politician” over his recent comments about President Trump. “South Africa's Ambassador to the United States is no longer welcome in our great country,” Rubio said in a Friday post on...
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) brushed off questions surrounding his leadership and defended his decision to vote to advance the six-month GOP-crafted continuing resolution (CR) that will fund the government through the end of September, saying during an interview that he and his caucus are on the same page. Schumer was asked on CNN...
The Senate approved a House GOP-crafted spending bill hours before the shutdown deadline Friday evening, capping off the first funding fight of President Trump’s second term — a saga that ripped apart the Democratic Party. The legislation funds the government through Sept. 30, boosts defense funding by $6 billion and imposes $13 billion in cuts...
Presented by GE Aerospace — Hamas said Friday it agreed to release U.S.-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander and the bodies of four other Americans, following a proposal from mediators to resume negotiations with Israel over a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. {beacon} Defense &National Security Defense &National Security The Big Story Hamas agrees to restart Gaza...
Senators voted Friday to pass legislation to prevent cuts to the District of Columbia's local budget after city officials warned the District faced a $1 billion hit under a stopgap government funding bill approved by the Senate moments earlier. The bill, which allows D.C. to continue operating at its adopted fiscal 2025 budget, passed by...
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) praised his colleague Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) during an interview this week, stating the Pennsylvania lawmaker has “come a long way” and is the “only” Democrat in the upper chamber “speaking common sense.” “John Fetterman has come a long way. He’s had all kind of health issues since he got here,...
A federal judge on Friday declined to grant temporary injunctive relief to plaintiffs in two lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to detain migrants at Guantánamo Bay. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols said the plaintiffs — in one lawsuit, a coalition of migrant family members and immigrant legal services organizations, and in the other, 10 migrants...
Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) were blocked Friday from passing a package of health policies, including changes to the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) industry that was left out of December’s government spending bill. Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, attempted to pass the bipartisan legislation by unanimous consent. It...
President Trump on Friday lamented that Supreme Court Justices “can’t really fight back” and “get weak” in the face of unfavorable media coverage as he railed against what he framed as "horrible" treatment toward the nation's highest court. “What the lawyers do is, they're doing it to the Supreme Court Justices, hoping that they'll be...
Most Americans disapprove of President Trump’s approach to the country's relationship with Russia and his handling of the situation in Ukraine, according to a new survey published on Friday. The CNN poll, which was conducted by SSRS, found that 59 percent of respondents disapprove of Trump’s handling of Washington’s relations with Moscow. Some 41 percent...
Ten Senate Democrats helped Republicans advance a GOP-crafted stopgap spending bill, paving the way for it to pass ahead of the midnight deadline despite concerns from scores of their colleagues. The Democrats who voted to advance the measure were: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) and Sens. Catherine Cortez...
President Trump railed against the media on Friday, suggesting that some of the actions of the press be deemed illegal and should be investigated. In a speech at the Department of Justice (DOJ), during which Trump railed against people and entities that he claims have targeted him, said that he views CNN and MSNBC as...
