US politics

US politics

Marjorie was given this vote this week to buy her vote on the National Defense Authorization Act. Everybody knows it. It happened right there on the floor of the House. The majority leader said, Marjorie, would you like to have your bill brought up to the floor? And guess what? Got a yes vote on a rule for the National Defense Authorization Act.

And now we're sitting here and we're listening to nonsense about healthcare. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle [are] sitting here saying, Well, you guys aren't doing anything about the massive, expensive cost of healthcare. Why do you think it is expensive?! Because you literally cut a deal with insurance companies to run healthcare. You think that's gonna run wild?

Nationals from Syria, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and South Sudan will be prohibited from coming to the US People on Palestinian Authority issued-travel documents are also subject to a total ban Sierra Leone and Laos moved from partial to full restrictions Measures come after an Afghan immigrant was charged in November in the shooting of two National Guards New restrictions to go into effect on January 1

Elon Musk, a billionaire who decimated the United States federal workforce using the Department of Government Efficiency, is not remembered fondly by the most powerful woman in Washington: Susie Wiles, White House Chief of Staff and the gatekeeper to President Donald Trump. In several on-the-record interviews with Vanity Fair's Chris Whipple conducted over the past year, Wiles, who had corralled the notoriously backstabby Trump political operation into coherence and discipline, described Musk as a "complete solo actor"

In recent months, the Trump administration has blown up several boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, alleging that the vessels were carrying drugs. Most of the boats originated in Venezuela, and at least 90 people have been killed in the strikes. Notably, Venezuela does not produce fentanyl, which is by far the deadliest illicit substance in the U.S. Last week, the Trump administration also seized an oil tanker from Venezuela, whose government it sought to overthrow during Trump's first term.

A new Justice Department memo from Attorney General Pam Bondi instructs the FBI to create a "cash reward system" to incentivize providing information against domestic terrorists. However, it also makes it clear that the targets of such domestic terrorist investigations will be "Antifa-aligned extremists," including those promoting "radical gender ideology."

President Trump just signed an executive order attempting to block states from regulating AI an unprecedented step that would strip states of the ability to protect their residents at a moment of extraordinary technological volatility. This move is overwhelmingly unpopular ( polling has found that Americans oppose AI moratoriums by a 3-1 margin), and certain to be litigated in the courts.

According to Gallup polling, Americans who support legalizing marijuana has jumped from 12% in 1969 to 64% in 2025. People who admit to having used marijuana has also moved from just 4% in 1969 to 47% in 2024. You rarely get two in three Americans to agree on anything, but they do in fact agree that marijuana should be legal, Enten said.

The U.S. job market is sluggish and confusing this fall. American companies are mostly holding onto the employees they have. But they're reluctant to hire new ones as they struggle to assess how to use artificial intelligence and how to adjust to President Donald Trump's unpredictable policies, especially his double-digit taxes on imports from around the world. The uncertainty leaves jobseekers struggling to find work or even land interviews.

Donald Trump appears to be struggling to let go of the fact that Colorado's governor will not bend to his will. The president hurled insults at "incompetent" out gay Gov. Jared Polis (D) on Monday over the fact that he refuses to pardon a woman who was convicted in the state of illegally accessing voting data to "prove" the 2020 election was rigged in favor of Joe Biden.

Attorney General Rob Bonta said the U.S. Department of Transportation did not have the authority to suspend $180 million to fund EV charging programs in California which Congress and former President Biden had already approved in 2021 as part of the landmark Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. This is funding that was lawfully directed to states and local communities by Congress, Bonta said at a news conference.

Less than 12 hours after the mass shooting at Brown, a terror attack stunned Sydney's Bondi Beach, targeting Jews. This was another blow to us as Jews at Amherst. Between Bondi Beach and Brown, 17 are dead, and more than 40 wounded. And we are left thinking about what can be done in this country to make it possible for students and faculty not to have to look over their shoulders during classes or final examinations?

The "Big Beautiful Bill" allocated $170 billion to support ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). This amount is unprecedented in U.S. history. And the presence of ICE agents in all corners of the United States has been a hotly controversial issue, to be understated. The news stories go on and on. The fact is that the current administration seems to be under the impression that a core problem in the United States today is found in the high number of undocumented immigrants living in the country.

On February 24th, advocacy group Frequency Forward and journalist Nina Burleigh filed a public records request to the FCC, seeking details about DOGE's activities and whether they created conflicts of interest with DOGE creator Elon Musk. But the FCC has so far produced largely useless documentation that creates more questions than answers. Now, DOGE's role is among the many topics FCC Chair Brendan Carr could face during a highly anticipated oversight hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday.

Residents deserve an assessor chosen for competence, not by the preferences of entrenched political players and old guards. We cannot continue to see the same failures of the past three decades - outdated IT systems that crash, payment portals that fail and taxpayers penalized for mistakes not their own. We don't need a lawyer in charge - we need a leader who understands modernization, who has led large teams and who has a reputation of getting things done. Kumar fits that shoe.

Courts play an important role in authoritarian regimes. They legitimize the actions of despots by declaring them "legal" or "constitutional." They ensure institutional compliance with the regime's rules. And they make politically unpopular decisions that align with the authoritarian's goals while giving the authoritarian political distance from those goals. Quite simply, you can't instigate a strongman takeover of a constitutional democracy without having a robust judicial power that's willing to play along.

Former special counsel Jack Smith and three other former prosecutors who investigated President Donald Trump and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol are starting their own law firm, which will launch in January, Law.com reports.