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US Politics
Republicans press Trump on Iran war after key deadlines pass
Months after Trump notified Congress of hostilities with Iran, Republican senators are raising war-powers objections when the easiest points of intervention have already slipped.
Trump's Kentucky proxy fight tests room for GOP dissent
Trump's campaign to unseat Rep. Thomas Massie has turned a Kentucky primary into an early measure of whether anti-intervention Republicans still have room to break with the party's leader.
Cassidy primary tests Trump's grip on GOP incumbents
Bill Cassidy's Louisiana primary has become a measure of whether Donald Trump can still punish Republicans who broke with him and shape the 2026 midterms from inside the party.
Trump says West Potomac Park will host sculpture garden
Trump's decision to name West Potomac Park as the home of the National Garden of American Heroes raises questions over congressional funding, federal review and the politics of public space in Washington.
Texas settlement forces children's hospital to open detransition clinic
Texas Children's Hospital will open what officials call the nation's first detransition clinic, pay Texas $10 million and dismiss five doctors under state and federal settlements.
Trump 'seriously considering' making Venezuela 51st US state
President Donald Trump said he is 'seriously considering' statehood for Venezuela, extending US citizenship to 32 million Venezuelans and making it the second-most populous US state. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez rejected the proposal while calibrating a restrained response.
Warsh confirmed Fed chair as US inflation hits 3.8 per cent
The Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh as chair of the Federal Reserve in a 54-45 vote, the most divisive in the institution's history, as April consumer prices rose 3.8 per cent — the fastest pace since May 2023.
Who will win the 2026 midterm elections? Polls and predictions
Democrats hold a commanding lead in generic ballot polling and prediction markets, but structural gerrymandering, the Supreme Court's dismantling of Voting Rights Act protections, and the question of MAGA base turnout without Trump on the ticket complicate the path to a House majority.
Missouri Supreme Court Weighs Challenge to GOP-Drawn House Map
Missouri's Supreme Court weighed a GOP map that could flip a Democratic House seat, as Louisiana and South Carolina pursue redistricting.
Trump nominates Kari Lake as ambassador to Jamaica
Trump nominated Kari Lake, the former Fox News anchor who led an effort to dismantle Voice of America, as U.S. ambassador to Jamaica months after a judge ruled her tenure unlawful.
Democrats move to strip $1bn ballroom security from Senate immigration bill
Senate Democrats led by Chuck Schumer will use parliamentary rules to strip $1 billion in security funding for the White House East Wing ballroom from a $72 billion immigration enforcement package, setting up a floor fight over a project Trump once said would be privately funded.
Virginia asks Supreme Court to reinstate pro-Democrat map
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to revive a congressional map that would give Democrats 10 of 11 House seats.
Texas primary runoffs to set House nominees for November midterms
More than a dozen U.S. House primary runoffs on May 26 will settle races left unresolved after the March 3 primary, with several contests likely to determine who goes to Congress from Texas in November.
Supreme Court bars racial gerrymandering claims under Voting Rights Act
The US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that using race to draw election districts is unconstitutional, requiring plaintiffs to prove discriminatory intent rather than effects. Republican states began redrawing maps within hours.
Virginia Supreme Court voids redistricting referendum in 4-3 ruling
Virginia's Supreme Court struck down a voter-approved redistricting referendum on Friday in a 4-3 ruling, blocking a map that would have given Democrats four more congressional seats. Attorney General Jay Jones said Democrats would appeal to the US Supreme Court.
Voter Disapproval of Trump Economy Hits 58 Per Cent in FT Poll
A Financial Times poll finds nearly 58 per cent of US voters disapprove of Donald Trump handling of inflation and cost of living, with majority disapproval also registered on his management of jobs, the economy and the Iran conflict six months before the midterm elections.
Trump demands Jeffries be charged with inciting violence
President Donald Trump demanded House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries be charged with inciting violence, the sharpest escalation yet in a feud defining the closing months of the 2026 midterm campaign. Jeffries refused to back down from his "maximum warfare" rhetoric.
US Trade Court Rules Trump Global Tariffs Unlawful in Narrow Ruling
The US Court of International Trade ruled 2-1 that President Trump's 10 per cent global tariffs are unlawful under a 1974 trade law, but limited immediate relief to just three plaintiffs. The decision marks the second major judicial setback for the administration's tariff agenda in three months.
Pentagon $1.5tn budget pushes weapons makers to fund their own factories
The Trump administration's $1.5 trillion defence request would force contractors to fund their own factory expansions and meet binding production targets under multi-year deals lasting up to seven years. The framework targets the Valley of Death gap between prototype and fielded weapons.
Warsh nomination as Fed chair raises bull-market unwind risk, analysts warn
Kevin Warsh's arrival as Federal Reserve chair on May 15 sets in motion forces that could unwind the equity rally. His agenda to shrink the $6.7 trillion balance sheet and negotiate a new Treasury-Fed accord collides with Trump's demand for rate cuts.
Texas GOP backs resolution affirming states right to repel border invasion
The Texas Republican congressional delegation is pushing a House resolution that would affirm states' constitutional authority to repel border invasions when the federal government fails to protect them.
DOJ prosecutors sidelined as Comey indictment push roils Virginia office
More than half a dozen prosecutors have been demoted or pushed out of the Eastern District of Virginia as the Justice Department pursues former FBI director James Comey across three indictment attempts.
Nebraska Democrats split over blue dot risk before Tuesday primary
State Sen. John Cavanaugh and political operative Denise Powell are at odds over whether his election to Congress would expose Nebraska's lone Democratic electoral vote to Republican repeal. Six Democrats compete for retiring Rep. Don Bacon's seat.
Indiana primary sweep restates the Republican rule on crossing Trump
Trump-backed challengers ousted at least five Indiana state senators who blocked his redistricting push. As the Texas Senate runoff still waits on a presidential endorsement, the Indiana result reads as a narrow but emphatic verdict on the enforcer question.
Republicans seek $1bn for White House ballroom security in $70bn immigration bill
Senate Republicans tucked $1bn for Secret Service upgrades tied to Donald Trump's East Wing ballroom into a $70bn immigration enforcement package, drawing immediate Democratic accusations of self-dealing.
Iran war pushes tariff and rare earth talks down Trump-Xi summit agenda
The May 14-15 Beijing summit was meant to lock in tariff and rare-earth deliverables. The Iran war has rewritten the agenda. Hormuz, not soybeans, will dominate leader-level time as Trump becomes the first US president back in China since 2017.
Trump Ousts Five Indiana GOP Senators Who Blocked His Redistricting Map
Five of seven Indiana Republican state senators targeted by President Donald Trump over a redistricting vote lost their primaries on Tuesday to challengers he endorsed. The purge of state-level incumbents was the sharpest display yet of Trump's grip on the Republican Party ahead of the November midterms.
Trump signs counterterrorism strategy targeting drug cartels, left-wing groups
President Donald Trump signed a new 16-page counterterrorism strategy on 6 May that places the neutralisation of drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere at the centre of American counterterrorism operations. The document identifies four threat categories and marks the first such strategy of Trump's second term.
George Conway says he wants only two terms in Congress to remove Trump
George Conway, the conservative attorney turned Trump critic, told PIX11 he wants two terms in Congress: one to remove the president and a second for an 'American legal reconstruction.' Conway is among nine candidates running in the Democratic primary for New York's 12th Congressional District.
Florida, Tennessee maps and Virginia ruling tilt 2026 House
Three redistricting events in 10 days have moved the 2026 US House map decisively toward Republicans. Democrats, citing Trump's approval slump and a string of special-election overperformances, insist the GOP advantage of six to seven seats will not be enough to hold the chamber.
Trump turns sights on Cassidy and Massie after Indiana rout
Trump's political operation turned to two of his sharpest Republican critics on Wednesday after Indiana primaries handed his endorsed challengers a sweep, with Senate and House contests in Louisiana and Kentucky following on the next two Tuesdays.
California Republican Incumbents Turn on Each Other as Redistricting Forces Primary Fight
Republican Representatives Ken Calvert and Young Kim are locked in an intraparty battle for California's redrawn 40th Congressional District after Democratic-led redistricting merged their constituencies into a single Republican-leaning seat ahead of the June primary.
US Lawmakers Urge Trump to Press Xi on Jailed Hong Kong Publisher
A bipartisan group of 107 US lawmakers urged President Trump to press President Xi for the humanitarian release of jailed Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai during their upcoming summit. Lai, 78, was sentenced to 20 years under the National Security Law.
Powell's final week as Fed chair begins as Senate prepares to confirm Warsh
Powell's final week as Fed chair begins with Kevin Warsh's Senate confirmation set for May 11, the DOJ probe of Powell freshly closed, and bond yields, banks and the dollar already trading the handover.
Alabama Republicans push primary reset as redistricting fight nears federal courts
Alabama lawmakers could vote Friday to scrap the state's May 19 congressional primary in some districts and replace it with a new ballot if federal courts allow Republicans to switch maps after a recent Supreme Court ruling weakened the Voting Rights Act.
Virginia Supreme Court throws out Democratic-backed US House map
The Virginia Supreme Court threw out the Democratic-backed congressional map that would have flipped four Republican-held US House seats, ruling that the rushed referendum used to enact it failed constitutional muster. Existing district lines stand for 2026.
Michigan Republican files bill to end Iran war by July 30
Rep. Tom Barrett, a 22-year Army veteran in a Lansing-area swing district, introduced legislation that would authorise the Iran conflict only through July 30 and bar ground occupation, breaking with the Trump White House view that War Powers deadlines no longer apply.
Judge blocks Trump's $100 million humanities grant cancellation as unconstitutional
A federal judge in Manhattan permanently blocked the Trump administration from cancelling more than $100 million in National Endowment for the Humanities grants on Thursday, ruling that the use of ChatGPT to classify projects for termination represented unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination. The judge found the Department of Government Efficiency lacked authority to cut congressionally approved funding.
Trump orders Pentagon to release UFO files, says public can decide for themselves
President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the Pentagon to release a trove of classified UFO files, including 120 PDFs, 28 videos and 14 images, telling Americans “the people can decide for themselves, ‘WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?’”
Appeals court rules lawmakers may continue ICE detention inspections
A federal appeals court on Friday unanimously required the Trump administration to continue allowing members of Congress to inspect immigration detention facilities without advance notice, preserving Democrats' ability to conduct unannounced oversight visits.
US nears $400m TikTok settlement over child privacy violations
The Justice Department is finalising a $400 million settlement with TikTok over allegations the platform collected personal data from millions of children under 13 without parental consent.
Trade court strikes down Trump 10 per cent tariff on most imports
A federal trade court has voided President Trump's 10 per cent blanket tariff on most imports, the second major legal defeat for the administration's trade agenda this year. The 2-1 ruling found the White House had overstepped its authority by reimposing duties under a different statute after the Supreme Court struck them down.
Eleventh Circuit rejects Trump no-bond ICE policy as circuit split deepens
Atlanta-based appeals court rules 2-1 that 8 U.S.C. 1226(a) entitles immigrants present in the US to bond hearings; second appellate loss for the no-bond policy in two weeks.
Federal court order halts White House ballroom as Republicans push $1bn taxpayer top-up
A federal court order barring above-ground construction of Donald Trump's $400 million White House ballroom remains in force, with the DC Circuit set to hear the administration's appeal in mid-June. Senate Republicans have moved separately to inject $1 billion of taxpayer money into the project's security perimeter.
Republicans seek $1bn for Trump ballroom security in ICE funding bill
Senate Republicans wrote $1 billion for Secret Service security upgrades to Donald Trump's White House ballroom into a $72 billion ICE funding package released Monday. Trump on Wednesday defended a project whose cost has doubled to nearly $400 million.
Stanford's Fingar calls Trump tariff policy a complete failure ahead of Xi summit
Former US Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Fingar told the Shanghai Forum that the Trump tariff regime has missed every stated goal. Refunds of $166bn loom as the Supreme Court ruling bites.
Trump motorcade arrives in Beijing as Xi summit goes ahead through Iran war
Armoured Secret Service vehicles spotted on Beijing highways and four C-17s already on the ground signal that the May 14 Trump-Xi summit is on track, even as US forces remain engaged against Iran.
Tennessee Republicans set Thursday vote on map that splits Memphis into three districts
Tennessee Republicans were due to vote Thursday on a congressional map that would split Memphis into three districts and end the state's only Democratic House seat, days after the Supreme Court's Callais ruling.
Tennessee Republicans pass map splitting Memphis as Cohen vows lawsuit
House votes 64-25 to split majority-Black 9th District. Cohen says he will sue in state court on First Amendment timing grounds.
King Charles tells Congress US and UK 'stand united' as Trump-Starmer rift deepens
King Charles III became only the second British monarch to address a joint meeting of Congress, lobbying for the Atlantic alliance and NATO as President Donald Trump's public feud with Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the Iran war casts a shadow over US-UK ties.
Vance presses Trump on Iran war intel as US missile stockpile fears mount
Vice President J D Vance has privately pressed President Donald Trump on whether the Pentagon is giving the White House an accurate read of the Iran war, including the scale of US missile-stockpile depletion. The report opens a rare crack in the administration's national-security discipline.
Republican-led states race to redraw maps after Supreme Court guts Voting Rights Act
Republican legislators in Louisiana, Alabama and Tennessee moved this week to redraw their congressional maps after a Supreme Court decision hollowed a core provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The moves could yield Republicans an additional dozen House seats before November.
Lutnick faces House panel on Epstein ties as Trump cabinet record falls under scrutiny
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick became the first sitting Trump cabinet official to sit for a transcribed interview with House Oversight investigators looking into Jeffrey Epstein. Chairman James Comer said Lutnick was not fully truthful about the extent of his contact.
FBI raids Virginia state senator Louise Lucas's office and cannabis store in corruption probe
FBI agents executed a search warrant on Wednesday at the Portsmouth office and a marijuana retailer co-owned by Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, weeks after she helped lead a successful Democratic redistricting effort.
Powell hands divided Fed to Warsh as 'integrity' speech caps tumultuous chairmanship
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, in what was almost certainly his last press conference at the helm, said 'integrity is priceless' and warned the Trump administration's 'illegal attacks' on the Fed risked compromising monetary policy. He will stay on the Board of Governors after his May 15 term ends.
Indiana primaries become first big test of Trump's grip on the GOP
Voters in Indiana cast ballots on Tuesday in a state Senate primary that has become the first concrete test of Donald Trump's ability to discipline Republicans who defy him, after seven sitting state senators became targets of presidential endorsements over a redistricting fight they had blocked in December.
