Featured Articles in National Politics

White House Touts Cooling Inflation, Rising Real Wages in New CPI Report

The Trump administration on Wednesday pointed to a stronger-than-expected consumer inflation report as evidence that price pressures are easing and real wages are rising, arguing that the economy has rebounded from what officials describe as the prior administration’s inflation surge. In a statement, White House Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai said the latest Consumer Price Read More…

Taxpayer group urges Trump, Congress to confront rising federal debt

(The Center Square) – A national taxpayer advocacy group is calling on President Donald Trump and Congress to address the nation’s rising debt, warning that interest payments and long-term spending commitments are putting increasing pressure on the federal budget. The warning comes after the Congressional Budget Office projected that federal debt held by the public will reach Read More…

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U.S., States Step Up Pressure on Facebook

Government officials ratcheted up pressure Monday on Facebook Inc. over its handling of user data, with federal regulators saying they are investigating the social-media giant’s privacy policies and 37 state attorneys general demanding explanations for its practices. The Federal Trade Commission, in a statement, signaled that its probe of Facebook is broad. Tom Pahl, a Read More…

EXCLUSIVE: Fired FBI official authorized criminal probe of Sessions, sources say

Nearly a year before Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired senior FBI official Andrew McCabe for what Sessions called a “lack of candor,” McCabe oversaw a federal criminal investigation into whether Sessions lacked candor when testifying before Congress about contacts with Russian operatives, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. Democratic lawmakers have repeatedly accused Read More…

Rod Rosenstein, deputy attorney general, says Robert Mueller is ‘not an unguided missile’

WASHINGTON — Despite unrelenting criticism from the White House on the course of the investigation into Russia’s election interference, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Monday offered unqualified support for special counsel Robert Mueller. “The special counsel is not an unguided missile,” Rosenstein said in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY. “I don’t believe there is Read More…

Pro-gun section scrubbed from Gov. John Kasich’s website

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A pro-Second Amendment section of John Kasich’s website was removed Sunday, after the Republican governor appeared on CNN and said reasonable gun control measures should be enacted following last week’s deadly Florida school shooting. JohnKasich.com, his political website that is separate from his governor’s site, had previously contained text and photos illustrating Read More…

Rasmussen: Trump’s Approval Surpasses Obama on Same Date

President Donald Trump’s approval rating is now higher than former President Barack Obama’s on the same date of his first term, Rasmussen Reports daily tracking data shows. In its presidential daily tracking poll released Thursday, the Rasmussen Reports showed Trump’s approval at 48 percent, statistically tied with his disapproval rating of 50 percent. READ THE Read More…

Republicans and Democrats trade blame as Congress barrels toward a possible government shutdown

House Speaker Paul Ryan warned on Wednesday against “playing political games” as Democrats threatened to block a last-ditch spending deal this week if they cannot also pass a plan to protect young undocumented immigrants from deportation. Parts of the government will shut down if Congress cannot pass a spending bill by the end of Friday. Read More…

House Republicans seethe at tight-lipped Bannon

Republican lawmakers fumed at Steve Bannon on Wednesday, and some threatened to hold the former Trump White House strategist in contempt of Congress a day after he stonewalled the House’s Russia investigation. In the latest political battle for the deposed Brietbart News chief, House Republicans showed little patience with a political agitator who has often Read More…

Bannon, Lewandowski to Testify in Russia Probe Behind Closed Doors

Stephen Bannon and Corey Lewandowski are scheduled to testify in the coming week as the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation of possible Russian interference in the 2016 election reaches a crescendo. President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist and former campaign manager, respectively, are part of a hectic schedule that Democrats fear is being engineered by Republicans Read More…

Trump Administration Seeks to Change Rules on Bank Lending to the Poor

The Trump administration plans to unveil a major revision to decades-old banking rules that mandate lending to low-income borrowers. Changes to the regulations of the Community Reinvestment Act—a law first enacted in 1977—could potentially transform the way banks make billions of dollars in loans, investments and donations to customers in low- and moderate-income areas. In Read More…

Judge dismisses suits claiming Trump violated emoluments clause

A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a pair of lawsuits claiming that President Donald Trump’s failure to divest himself of his real estate empire and other business holdings violated the Constitution’s provision banning receipt of foreign “emoluments” while in public office. U.S. District Court Judge George Daniels ruled that the two suits were fatally flawed Read More…

Federal appeals judge announces immediate retirement amid probe of sexual misconduct allegations

Alex Kozinski, the powerful judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit who was facing a judicial investigation over allegations that he subjected 15 women to inappropriate sexual behavior, announced Monday that he would retire effective immediately. In a statement provided by his lawyer, Kozinski apologized, saying that he “had a broad Read More…

Bernie Sanders’ wife’s land deal still under FBI probe; witness recently questioned

A federal investigation launched in 2016 into possible bank fraud by Jane Sanders, wife of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, is still underway — with “a potential” grand jury review possible. The probe could thwart Sanders’ 2020 presidential ambitions — as well as the Vermont political plans of Jane Sanders’ daughter, Carina Driscoll. Individuals questioned by Read More…

Zinke booked government helicopters to attend D.C. events

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke spent more than $14,000 on government helicopters this summer to take himself and staff to and from official events near Washington, D.C., in order to accommodate his attendance at a swearing-in ceremony for his replacement in Congress and a horseback ride with Vice President Mike Pence, according to previously undisclosed official Read More…

Democrats line up to call for Al Franken’s resignation; senator plans ‘announcement’ Thursday

Fourteen Democratic senators and the DNC chief urged Sen. Al Franken to resign Wednesday following the latest sexual misconduct allegation against him. After the resignation calls, Franken’s office said the senator would make an “announcement” on Thursday. It didn’t elaborate. Earlier Wednesday, Politico reported that a former Democratic congressional aide is accusing the Minnesota Democrat Read More…