Elon Musk amplified a clip of California attorney Erin Friday this week that alleges school staff and child welfare officials can pressure parents into affirming a child’s gender identity — reigniting a long-running fight in the state over student privacy, parental rights and what triggers intervention by Child Protective Services. Musk wrote, “Those who pushed…
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer accused the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday of lying about the circumstances surrounding the death of a nearly blind refugee who was found dead in Buffalo days after U.S. Border Patrol agents dropped him off alone at a Tim Hortons on a cold night. Schumer posted…
CHAPPAQUA, N.Y. — Former President Bill Clinton said Friday that he had no knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse and would have reported the financier to authorities if he had “any inkling” of what was happening, as Clinton sat for a closed-door deposition before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. “As someone who grew…
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi credited President Barack Obama with using diplomacy to block Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon and accused President Donald Trump’s administration of “throwing away” that progress as U.S.-Iran tensions rise and nuclear negotiations continue. “President Obama masterfully used diplomacy to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon,” Pelosi said in…
BOSTON — A claim circulating widely on social media that “the first openly trans lawmaker” has pleaded guilty to child sex charges refers to Stacie-Marie Laughton, a former New Hampshire state representative who pleaded guilty in federal court to child sexual exploitation charges stemming from sexually explicit images taken at a Massachusetts day care, according…
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz accused President Donald Trump’s administration of cutting off health care funding as political payback, pointing to the president’s own past warning that “retribution is coming” as the state faces a widening dispute with Washington over Medicaid money and fraud claims. Walz, a Democrat, wrote on social media…
HOUSTON — Oil prices swung sharply this week as renewed U.S.–Iran diplomacy forced traders to recalibrate the two biggest variables driving crude right now: the risk of a military flare-up that could disrupt shipments from the Persian Gulf, and the possibility that progress at the negotiating table could eventually bring more Iranian oil into global…
GENEVA — Indirect U.S.–Iran talks have returned with both sides signaling a deal is possible, but any agreement “this time” would almost certainly look different from the 2015 accord, shaped by war damage to Iranian sites, reduced international access for inspectors and President Donald Trump’s insistence on faster, tougher limits. Negotiators have offered few public…
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump used his State of the Union address this week to declare a “turnaround for the ages,” arguing his policies have reversed high inflation, shut down illegal immigration and strengthened U.S. leverage abroad — but independent fact-checkers say several of his headline claims were false, exaggerated or missing key context. The…
WASHINGTON — Rep. Summer Lee said she will introduce articles of impeachment against U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, accusing her of obstructing justice and “weaponizing” the Justice Department as Democrats escalate a confrontation over the Trump administration’s handling of records tied to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Lee, a Pennsylvania Democrat and the ranking member on…
WASHINGTON — A guest of Rep. Ilhan Omar was removed from the House gallery during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address and cited on an “unlawful conduct” charge after what Capitol Police described as prohibited “demonstrating” inside the chamber. Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, said in a statement Wednesday that her guest, Aliya Rahman,…
WASHINGTON — “Last Night, President Trump gave the BEST and LONGEST State of the Union speech in history,” House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote in a social media post after President Donald Trump’s prime-time address to Congress, praising what he called a year of “wins” and claiming the administration has “reversed the damage” it inherited. Trump’s…
Sen. Raphael Warnock accused Republicans of “taking food away from working families to give their donors another tax cut” after President Donald Trump claimed in his State of the Union address that his administration “lifted 2.4 million Americans — a record — off of food stamps.” The two lines are colliding because they describe the…
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries took direct aim at President Donald Trump’s new “war on fraud” messaging — and he didn’t bother with subtlety. “The President announced a war on fraud,” Jeffries wrote. “You can begin with the most corrupt administration in American history. The Trump Cartel.” The jab lands because it’s tied to something…
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) is daring critics to argue with his wording after posting a blunt claim about President Donald Trump just hours before the State of the Union. “Just two weeks ago, Donald Trump tried to have me arrested because he didn’t like what I said,” Kelly wrote on X on Feb. 24, adding…
Rep. Ro Khanna says he’s bringing Haley Robson — a woman he describes as “a survivor of Epstein’s abuse” — as his guest to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union, and the announcement instantly set off a familiar online fight: who gets to speak for victims, who counts as a survivor, and what “justice”…
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is escalating a growing legal fight over U.S. vaccine guidance, saying the state is helping lead a multi-state lawsuit against Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the CDC for “illegally removing 7 childhood vaccines from the federal list of universally recommended shots.” In a post circulating online, Newsom framed the…
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro says he’s suing the Trump administration over what he calls an “illegal overhaul” of the CDC’s long-standing recommendations for children’s vaccinations, framing it as a public-health and trust issue — and accusing the White House and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of putting politics ahead of medical…
Sen. Ted Cruz is leaning hard into a simple message as Washington heads into another prime-time political moment: “Gas prices are down. Murder rates are down. Illegal border crossings are down. Don’t pay attention to the media, look at the substance.” It’s the kind of post that spreads fast because it bundles three everyday stress…
A blunt line from Rep. Jim McGovern is racing around social media hours before President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address — and it’s becoming the shorthand for a bigger Democratic strategy fight: show up and sit stone-faced… or don’t give Trump the visual at all. In a post circulating online, the Massachusetts Democrat…