This section covers the people, institutions and decisions that shape government and public life. Expect coverage of national leadership, legislation, elections, courts and policy debates, along with the officials and agencies carrying them out.
Stories here track how power is used and challenged, from budgets and regulations to campaigns and appointments, offering context on what these developments mean for citizens and communities.
Politics· Verified
A high-ranking CIA officer arrested after federal agents said they found more than 600 pounds of gold bars stashed in his home pleaded guilty to wire fraud under an agreement with federal prosecutors.
Politics· Verified
California officials denounced President Donald Trump for saying at a campaign rally in Nebraska on Monday that Iran could “take out” Los Angeles or San Diego, calling his remarks “deranged” and “irresponsible.”
Politics· Verified
President claims commercials were ‘positive promotion for our Great USA’ but says he will now cover their cost Sign up for Breaking News US email Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. Donald Trump has said he will stop using taxpayer funds for television advertisements glorifying himself, which sparked a major backlash, and instead tap his super PAC to cover ads going forward. Donald Trump said he was “doing great” as his approval rating sank to a record low 32%. The president made the remarks as he headed to Nebraska, to campaign for a Republican senator there. Pennsylvania is reporting the largest measles outbreak in the nation, with more than 1,000 cases this year. The governor of neighboring New York, Kathy Hochul, has declared a disaster emergency over an ongoing measles outbreak there. Politico was barred from traveling on Air Force One for Trump’s trip to Nebraska, according to a report by CNN. This comes after the administration previously stopped CNN from similarly traveling with the president, despite a federal judge putting a temporary block on Trump’s overall ban on Politico, CNN and MS Now from the White House. Karoline Leavitt, who stepped down as White House press secretary in August, is joining Fox News as an on-air contributor, according to an announcement from the network. Leavitt, 29, the youngest press secretary in White House history, left the administration after the birth of her second child earlier this year. The supreme court heard the first arguments of its 2026-27 term, in a case that focuses on whether states can sue oil companies for the impact of climate change on their communities. The lawsuit was filed by local officials in Boulder, Colorado, against Suncor Energy and ExxonMobil. Secretary of state Marco Rubio said there was no direct link between the sudden removal of US bombers from a UK airbase and a suspected Iranian plot at the site last week. “I wouldn’t just directly tie that to the move that was made,” Rubio told reporters, when asked about the B1 bombers. “The Department of War is constantly reallocating resources where they need to be,“ Rubio added, noting that the US has confidence in the security of all its bases. Continue reading...
Politics· Verified
The execution of Nidal Malik Hasan will be the first military execution since 1961 and the first by firing squad since the end of World War Two.
Politics· Verified
Election Day is four weeks from Tuesday and President Trump is back on the campaign trail, not in an effort to gain ground on Democrats, but to protect what has historically been Republican-friendly territory. Ed O'Keefe reports from Nebraska.
Politics· Verified
The administration took similar action last week against CNN. The cable news network, MS NOW and Politico sued after they were banned from the White House grounds.
Politics· Verified
The Trump administration has approved a plan to execute former Army Maj. Nidal Hasan — who killed 13 people in a 2009 shooting at Fort Hood — by firing squad, the Pentagon said.
Politics· Verified
President’s U-turn comes after Democrats and Republicans condemned use of tax dollars for pro-Trump ads Donald Trump said on Monday he would pay for taxpayer-funded, pro-Trump ads “with money I raised for MAGA, Inc.”, a political action committee, after the television advertisements glorifying himself sparked a major backlash. In a social media post, Trump characterized the ads, which cost at least $1.5m in federal funds, as “a positive promotion for our Great U.S.A.” and called them “a rather standard thing to do”. Continue reading...
Politics· Developing
Ethiopia's parliament has re-elected Abiy Ahmed as Prime Minister, confirming his continuation as head of government.
Politics· Verified
What may be troubling for the Greens institutionally is what this episode reveals about some of the dynamics in the party.
Politics· Verified
Former Rep. Dennis Hastert, who spent eight years as House speaker and later served prison time for scheming to cover up sexual abuse allegations, is dead.
Politics· Verified
President to visit Grand Island as his plan to allow more foreign beef imports proves unpopular in agriculture-rich state Sign up for the Breaking News US email The White House has defended a newly hired press aide who posed for a holiday photograph in 2021 wearing a “Fuck Joe Biden” T-shirt and holding a rifle. Beni Rae Harmony, the new assistant White House press secretary, revealed on Friday that she was going to work for Donald Trump just days after covering him as a correspondent for Real America’s Voice, a partisan rightwing outlet originally created as a video podcast platform for the president’s former adviser Steve Bannon. The White House has defended a newly hired press aide who posed for a holiday photograph in 2021 wearing a “Fuck Joe Biden” T-shirt and holding a rifle. Beni Rae Harmony, the new assistant White House press secretary, revealed on Friday that she was going to work for Donald Trump just days after covering him as a correspondent for Real America’s Voice, a partisan rightwing outlet originally created as a video podcast platform for the president’s former adviser Steve Bannon. Trump on Sunday named Jay Clayton, the director of national intelligence, to also serve as the new White House AI czar. Clayton, who leads the US’s 18 intelligence agencies, previously served as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan and led the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first term. The United States has removed its B-1 bombers from a British air base one week after five men were arrested nearby on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts, a suspected plot that British prime minister Andy Burnham said was likely backed by Iran. The planes had been stationed at RAF Fairford, the preferred European base for US bombers 90 miles west of London, which had recently been used for US strikes on Iran. Continue reading...
Politics· Verified
The justices return from summer break to hear arguments in Boulder, Colorado’s lawsuit against Exxon Mobil and Suncor Energy.
Politics· Verified
Justice Samuel Alito discussed his opinion in the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the leaked draft and its aftermath, same-sex marriage rights and why he's not retiring yet.
Politics· Verified
Latino voters helped propel Donald Trump back to the White House.
Politics· Verified
Rallies have been mainstay of president’s brand but even some in his own party fear voters are sick of the sight of him “Get your asses in that car.” That was Donald Trump’s order, he later recalled, to his motorcade after foul weather grounded Air Force One in Texas on Thursday. The 85-mile dash to Oklahoma at nearly 100mph was proof that nothing can keep Trump from a Trump rally. Which might not be the good news for Republicans it once was. As the US president embarked on a 32-day campaign blitz aimed at helping them defend narrow congressional majorities in next month’s midterms, some fear that he is driving them towards an electoral wipeout. Continue reading...
Politics· Verified
President Donald Trump promised on Friday to give $90 rebate checks to offset premiums for millions of U.S. seniors on Medicare, his latest pledge to send money to Americans ahead of the midterm elections.
Politics· Verified
Frank Strada leaving position as state launches independent investigation into what went wrong Tennessee’s top prison official is stepping down in the aftermath of the failed execution of death row prisoner Christa Pike, the state’s governor Bill Lee announced Saturday. Frank Strada, the department of correction commissioner, will leave his position later in October as the state launches an independent investigation into what went wrong during Wednesday’s botched execution of Pike, according to Lee. Continue reading...
Politics· Verified
Pike survived two lethal injections on Wednesday and is currently in critical condition in hospital.
Politics· Verified
Frank Strada facing mounting questions after Pike survives injection with lethal drugs in Tennessee Tennessee’s prison chief is under fire for the failed execution of Christa Pike, which lawyers say was the fifth “botched” execution under his leadership across two states since 2022. Frank Strada, the commissioner of the Tennessee department of correction, has faced mounting questions about the state’s highly secretive death penalty protocols since Wednesday evening when Pike became the first death row prisoner in the US to to be injected with lethal drugs and survive. Continue reading...
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