Politics
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Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro says he and Trump 'agreed to stay in touch' during phone call
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Gov. Josh Shapiro on Tuesday said he and President Donald Trump "agreed to stay in touch" at the end of a phone call in which Shapiro filled in the president on details of the April 13 arson attack on the Governor's Residence.
Shapiro spoke to reporters after a children's Easter egg hunt on the lawn just outside the fire-...Read more

Marco Rubio plans to cut programs, close offices in State Department overhaul
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced plans to reorganize what he called a “bloated” State Department, vowing Tuesday to cut programs and close offices but stopping short of a proposed executive order that outlined even more drastic changes.
The top U.S. diplomat circulated a new organizational chart that would downgrade ...Read more

Supreme Court appears to favor parents' right to opt out of LGBTQ+ stories for their children
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court justices sounded ready on Tuesday to give parents a constitutional right to opt out of public school lessons for their children that offend their religious beliefs.
At issue are new "LGBTQ-inclusive" storybooks used for classroom reading for pre-kindergarten to 5th grade in Montgomery County, Maryland, a suburb ...Read more

Some politicians who share harmful information are rewarded with more clicks, study finds
What happens when politicians post false or toxic messages online? My team and I found evidence that suggests U.S. state legislators can increase or decrease their public visibility by sharing unverified claims or using uncivil language during times of high political tension. This raises questions about how social media platforms shape public...Read more

I study local government and Hurricane Helene forced me from my home − here’s how rural towns and counties in North Carolina and beyond cooperate to rebuild
Last year was a record year for disasters in the United States. A new report from the British charity International Institute for Environment and Development finds that 90 disasters were declared nationwide in 2024, from wildfires in California to Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.
The average number of annual disasters in the U.S. ...Read more

A warning for Democrats from the Gilded Age and the 1896 election
More than five months after President Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris, Democrats are still trying to understand why they lost the election and the Senate majority – and how the party can regroup.
These concerns have only increased in the wake of Trump’s sustained activity at the start of his second term. The American public ...Read more

Habeas corpus: A thousand-year-old legal principle for defending rights that’s getting a workout under the Trump administration
In some parts of the world, a person may be secreted away or imprisoned by the government without any advanced notification of wrongdoing or chance to make a defense. This has not been lawful in the United States from its very inception, or in many other countries where the rule of law and respect for individual civil rights are paramount....Read more

Vance calls for closer US-India ties as trade talks progress
Vice President JD Vance pushed for stronger ties between the U.S. and India across a range of areas from energy to defense, in remarks delivered during a four-day trip to the South Asian country that brought the two nations closer to a trade deal.
“This is very much a win-win partnership,” Vance said in Jaipur on Tuesday. “The future of ...Read more

Federal court rulings have slowed down Trump deportation plans. What you need to know
A flurry of recent federal court rulings have stalled, for the moment, the Trump administration’s efforts to deport as many as one million undocumented migrants this year, as judges increasingly determine that individuals cannot be removed from the country without due process.
Some of the most significant decisions have centered on the ...Read more

Trump is killing life-saving health research
As a virologist and a former associate director of the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, I observed firsthand the development of various treatments and cures — a process that is complex, sometimes frustrating and often exhilarating. Now President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr....Read more

Harvard sues Trump administration as funding fight escalates
Harvard University sued several U.S. government agencies and top officials for freezing billions of dollars in federal funding, significantly ratcheting up a high-stakes showdown with the Trump administration.
The Trump administration unlawfully suspended Harvard’s funding after it refused to comply with “unconstitutional demands” to ...Read more

Trump says he and first lady will attend Pope Francis' funeral
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he and first lady Melania Trump would attend the funeral of Pope Francis, embarking on the first foreign trip of his second term to honor the late spiritual leader.
“Melania and I will be going to the funeral of Pope Francis, in Rome. We look forward to being there!” Trump said Monday in a post to ...Read more

China-linked company donated $1 million to Trump inauguration after GOP criticism
WASHINGTON — The fundraising committee for GOP President Donald Trump's inauguration reported accepting $1 million from Gotion Inc., a China-connected battery manufacturer that Michigan Republicans repeatedly attacked Democrats for being tied to during the 2024 campaign.
Trump's inaugural committee released a list of $239 million in accepted ...Read more

Brian Fitzpatrick raised $1.22 million this quarter as Democrats plan to target his Pa. district in the 2026 midterms
PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania Republican incumbent congressional lawmakers have dominated fundraising in the first quarter of 2025, according to campaign finance reports, likely preparing to protect their seats and the House majority in the 2026 midterms.
Leading the pack is U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.), a moderate Republican ...Read more

Harvard sues Trump administration, escalating fight over funding
Harvard University said it sued the U.S. government for freezing billions of dollars in federal funding, ratcheting up a showdown with the Trump administration.
The Trump administration unlawfully suspended Harvard’s funding after it refused to comply with “illegal demands” to overhaul governance, discipline and hiring policies, as well ...Read more

Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro said President Donald Trump called him to offer 'warm regards' nearly a week after arson attack
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Nearly a week after an arsonist set fire to the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion in Harrisburg while Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family were inside, President Donald Trump called Shapiro to share his “warm regards,” Shapiro said Monday.
Shapiro — whose family and extended family had been sleeping in the governor’s ...Read more

Early voting kicks off in close election for Australia's leader
CANBERRA, Australia — Australians started early voting ahead of a national election on May 3, with polls showing the center-left Labor government holding a narrow lead over the opposition with two weeks to go until the campaign ends.
Almost 50% of Australians cast their ballots early in the last election in 2022, either by post or in person, ...Read more

Supreme Court again faces question of Trump immigration move
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court could soon say more about the legal process for migrants whom the government decides to remove from the country expeditiously under a centuries-old wartime law, in one of several legal challenges happening in federal courts.
The justices early Saturday put a pause on the Trump administration’s efforts to ...Read more

Tish James' rights and wrongs: AG is wrongly targeted by Trump
Donald Trump is abusing the levers of government to launch an attack against New York Attorney General Tish James on what seem to be pretty flimsy claims of fraud.
In a referral letter from the Trump-appointed Federal Housing Finance Agency director, Bill Pulte, to Pam Bondi and Todd Blanche, former Trump private lawyers now serving as the U.S....Read more
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