Federal shutdown threatens these Trump voters’ livelihoods but not their political loyalties
From federal paychecks to public benefits, the longest U.S. government shutdown in history is cutting lifelines for millions of Americans, many of whom voted for President Donald Trump. But conversations with five Trump voters – part of a group of 20 whom Reuters has interviewed monthly since February – show...
SNAP users brace for hungry weekend after Trump admin appeals order for full benefits
Tens of millions of Americans are spending the weekend anxious and hungry, as they await resolution of political and legal wrangling over federal food assistance. The Supreme Court late on Nov. 7 allowed the federal government to make only partial payments for now. The dispute ended up in the highest...
Trump urges lawmakers to give healthcare money ‘directly to the people’
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Saturday floated a potential compromise amid the impasse over the U.S. government shutdown, urging Republicans to redirect federal money that currently goes to health insurance companies under the Affordable Care Act and give it to individuals. “I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the...
Major retailers promise a cheaper Thanksgiving, but there’s a twist
Grocery giants Walmart, Target and Aldi are trumpeting their Thanksgiving meal deals as more affordable than ever. But those retailers are doing exactly what shoppers are doing, trading down to cheaper private-label alternatives or offering fewer items. Walmart’s meal this year features nine Great Value private-label brand items out of...
U.S. grants Hungary exemption on Russia sanctions after warm Trump-Orban meeting
WASHINGTON — The United States has granted Hungary a one-year exemption from U.S. sanctions for using Russian oil and gas, a White House official said on Friday, after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban pressed his case for a reprieve during a friendly meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington. Last...
Senate rejects bill to restore federal worker pay, remains at odds over shutdown
WASHINGTON -The U.S. Senate on Friday rejected legislation that would resume paychecks for hundreds of thousands of federal workers during the longest shutdown in U.S. history, as Democrats and Republicans remained at odds over how to reopen the government. The measure received 53 yes votes to 43 no votes in...
Cornell University research funds to be restored in deal with Trump administration
Cornell University’s $250 million in federal grants were restored under a deal with President Donald Trump’s administration announced on Friday, the fifth such agreement to be struck amid a conservative crackdown on institutions. The agreement requires the university, known for its agricultural programs, to pay the government $30 million and...
Successful lawsuit by Pa., other states, compels SNAP funds’ immediate release
Pennsylvania residents who rely on SNAP benefits and did not receive the monthly infusion of funds this month should be seeing their benefits cards replenished as early as Friday. That was the message an emphatic Gov. Josh Shapiro delivered during a press conference in Philadelphia on Friday. Shapiro said his...
Justice Department says Trump’s hush money conviction should be thrown out
NEW YORK — The U.S. government said President Donald Trump’s hush money criminal conviction in New York should be thrown out, because it was based on improper evidence and a legal theory preempted by federal law. In a Friday filing with a state appeals court in Manhattan, the Department of...
Judge bars Education Department emails blaming shutdown on Democrats
A federal judge ruled on Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration violated the free-speech rights of furloughed U.S. Department of Education employees by altering their out-of-office email messages to blame “Democrat Senators” for the ongoing government shutdown. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington, D.C., said that nonpartisanship is the...
Supreme Court lets Trump withhold $4 billion in food aid funding for now
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday allowed President Donald Trump’s administration to withhold for now about $4 billion needed to fully fund a food aid program for 42 million low-income Americans this month amid the federal government shutdown. The court’s order, known as an administrative stay, gives a...
James Watson, co-discoverer of DNA’s double helix, dead at 97
James D. Watson, the brilliant but controversial American biologist whose 1953 discovery of the structure of DNA, the molecule of heredity, ushered in the age of genetics and provided the foundation for the biotechnology revolution of the late 20th century, has died at the age of 97. His death was...
Trump meets Hungary’s Orban to discuss Russian oil, economic cooperation
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump welcomed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to the White House on Friday for a discussion about Hungary’s reliance on Russian oil at a time when Trump has been working to wean nations off of it. Orban, a long-time Trump ally, arrived at the White House...
Trump administration seeks to block food aid funding order
The Trump administration asked a federal appeals court to block a judge’s order that the U.S. Department of Agriculture provide full November food stamp benefits to 42 million low-income Americans. U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Providence, R.I., on Thursday ordered the payout by Friday, accusing the administration of withholding...
U.S. government launches program to lower Medicaid drug prices
The U.S. government on Thursday unveiled a new program to cut prescription drug costs for Medicaid patients by tying prices to those paid in other countries. The announcement follows previous agreements between the White House and pharmaceutical companies to reduce drug prices for Americans, who often pay significantly more for...
Iranian plot to kill Israel’s ambassador to Mexico contained, U.S. official says
WASHINGTON — Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps plotted to assassinate Israel’s ambassador to Mexico starting late last year, but the effort was contained and there is no current threat, a U.S. official said on Friday. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the plot against the ambassador, Einat Kranz...
U.S. Army to buy 1 million drones, in major acquisition ramp-up
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army aims to buy at least a million drones in the next two to three years and could acquire anywhere from a half million drones to millions of them annually in the years that follow, U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll said. Driscoll detailed the major ramp-up...
Farmers’ Almanac announces last edition after over 200 years of publishing
The iconic and beloved Farmers’ Almanac, a guide to living in harmony with nature’s rhythm that has been published for two centuries, has reached its final season. The Lewiston, Maine-based company that produces the Almanac announced Thursday that the 2026 edition would be its last after it began publishing annually...
Trump loyalist Elise Stefanik to challenge Hochul for New York governor
Elise Stefanik plans to announce her bid for governor of New York on Friday, according to people with knowledge of the decision, pitting her against incumbent Kathy Hochul in a state that hasn’t elected a Republican candidate to the position since 2002. Stefanik, the 41-year-old representative for an upstate New...
Airlines cut hundreds of flights amid FAA shutdown directiveVideo
WASHINGTON — U.S. airlines on Friday scrambled to cut 4% of flights at 40 major airports after the government imposed an unprecedented cut to air travel citing air traffic control safety concerns because of a record-setting government shutdown. The cuts, which began at 6 a.m., include about 700 flights from...
Supreme Court allows Trump’s passport policy targeting transgender people
The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed Donald Trump’s administration to bar applicants for U.S. passports from designating the sex reflecting their gender identities on the document, part of the Republican president’s crackdown on the rights of transgender Americans. The court granted the Justice Department’s request to lift a judge’s order...
Horrific ‘Murder in a Choir Loft’ cold case now solved, investigators say
Carol Ann Dougherty was on her way to meet friends at the library in her small Pennsylvania hometown on an October day in 1962. The 9-year-old never made it there. She stopped, apparently to say a short prayer at St. Mark Roman Catholic Church, parking her bicycle outside. When she...
Elon Musk’s $1 trillion Tesla pay plan wins shareholder approval
SAN FRANCISCO — Tesla CEO Elon Musk won shareholder approval on Thursday for the largest corporate pay package in history as investors endorsed his vision of morphing the EV maker into an AI and robotics juggernaut. The proposal was approved with over 75% support, and Musk bounded to the stage...
Washington sandwich-thrower cleared of assaulting federal agent
WASHINGTON — A man who hurled a sandwich at a federal agent in a fit of fury over President Donald Trump’s law enforcement surge in Washington, D.C., was cleared on Thursday of a misdemeanor assault charge. Sean Dunn, a former U.S. Justice Department staffer, was found not guilty of assaulting...
Trump administration must fully fund food aid benefits by Friday, federal judge rules
A federal judge on Thursday ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to fully fund food aid for 42 million low-income Americans in November by Friday, blocking its plan to only provide reduced benefits during the government shutdown. U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Providence, Rhode Island accused the administration of withholding...
