Politics Election category, Page 54
What you need to know about possible cuts to Medicaid
Nearly a quarter of Pennsylvanians are on Medicaid, the joint federal-state program that covers medical costs for poor people along with nursing home and personal care home expenses. If Republicans on Capitol Hill target Medicaid as they seek to slash federal spending by $2 trillion and enact $4.5 trillion in...
Pa. Republican says he’ll protect Medicaid’s ‘core mission’ while looking for budget savings
Democratic members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation railed against the budget blueprint that passed the House on Tuesday night, warning it could result in steep cuts to Medicaid. But an Altoona Republican who serves on a committee tasked with coming up with $880 billion in savings over 10 years says he...
Trump Gaza AI video draws online pushback
Using an artificial intelligence video, President Donald Trump shared his proposals for the potential development of the war-torn Gaza Strip. The video was posted Tuesday evening on Truth Social and then on Instagram. The AI 33-second video depicts Trump as a golden statue, along with mini golden statues for sale,...
The U.S. is missing again as G20 finance chiefs meet in South Africa
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of 20 developed and developing nations gathered in South Africa on Wednesday for a two-day meeting marked by the absence of U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and several other high-profile figures. Bessent’s absence follows a boycott...
The National Archives is nonpartisan but has found itself targeted by Trump
WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump moves to overhaul the federal government with astonishing speed, he has wreaked havoc on one agency long known for its nonpartisanship and revered for its mission: the National Archives and Records Administration. The independent agency and its trove of historic records have been the...
House GOP pushes ‘big’ budget resolution to passage, a crucial step toward delivering Trump’s agenda
WASHINGTON — With a push from President Donald Trump, House Republicans sent a GOP budget blueprint to passage Tuesday, a step toward delivering his “big, beautiful bill” with $4.5 trillion in tax breaks and $2 trillion in spending cuts despite a wall of opposition from Democrats and discomfort among Republicans....
Trump says he will offer ‘gold cards’ for $5 million path to citizenship, replacing investor visas
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he plans to offer a “gold card” visa with a path to citizenship for $5 million, replacing a 35-year-old visa for investors. “They’ll be wealthy and they’ll be successful, and they’ll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and...
Nearly 40% of contracts canceled by Musk’s DOGE are expected to produce no savings
Nearly 40% of the federal contracts President Donald Trump’s administration claims to have canceled as part of its signature cost-cutting program aren’t expected to save the government any money, the administration’s own data shows. The Department of Government Efficiency, run by Trump adviser Elon Musk, published an updated list Monday...
21 federal technology staffers resign rather than help Musk and DOGE slash size of government
WASHINGTON — More than 20 civil service employees resigned Tuesday from billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, saying they were refusing to use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services.” “We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential...
House Speaker Mike Johnson tries to push Trump’s ‘big’ agenda forward, but GOP votes are in jeopardy
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson will try against the odds to muscle a Republican budget blueprint to passage this week, a step toward delivering President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” with $4.5 trillion in tax breaks and $2 trillion in spending cuts over stiff opposition from Democrats — and...
Ending diversity push or fueling student anxiety? Trump administration’s anti-DEI stance sparks debate
The Trump administration’s plan to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs and initiatives on college campuses has sent universities scrambling to determine how to follow the guidelines or risk losing federal funding. Local colleges said they still are considering how to respond to U.S. Department of Education demands issued Feb....
Trump backs Musk as he roils federal workforce with demands, threats
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump backed Elon Musk’s demand that federal employees explain their recent accomplishments by the end of Monday or risk getting fired, even as government agency officials were told that compliance with Musk’s edict was voluntary. Confusion and anger over the situation spawned new litigation and added...
Millionaire Vivek Ramaswamy joins the Ohio governor’s race
COLUMBUS — Vivek Ramaswamy, the Cincinnati-born biotech entrepreneur who departed the Department of Government Efficiency initiative on President Donald Trump’s first day, launched his bid for Ohio governor Monday with promises to institute work requirements for Medicaid and merit pay for all public school teachers and administrators. Ramaswamy, 39, kicked...
Gov. Shapiro says the Trump administration has unfrozen billions in grants, loansVideo
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Monday that President Donald Trump ‘s administration has freed up billions in federal aid that the Democrat had accused it of withholding illegally and unconstitutionally. Shapiro said in a news conference that more than $2 billion that his administration had identified as either...
Judge rejects immediately restoring AP’s access to White House but urges government to reconsider
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Monday refused to immediately order the White House to restore The Associated Press’ access to presidential events, saying the news organization had not demonstrated it had suffered any irreparable harm. But he urged the Trump administration to reconsider its two-week-old ban, saying that case...
Trump’s Justice Department enforcer is no stranger to complaints about his conduct
WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of Manhattan criminal defense attorneys was so concerned about prosecutor Emil Bove’s professionalism that they banded together to send an email to his bosses. One lawyer complained in the 2018 email that Bove was “completely reckless and out of control” in how he handled his...
Ex-Secret Service agent and conservative media personality Dan Bongino picked as FBI deputy director
WASHINGTON — Dan Bongino, a former U.S. Secret Service agent who has penned best-selling books, ran unsuccessfully for office and gained fame as a conservative pundit with TV shows and a popular podcast, has been chosen to serve as FBI deputy director. President Donald Trump announced the appointment Sunday night...
Pete Hegseth defends Trump’s firings of Pentagon leaders and says there may be more dismissals
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insists President Donald Trump ‘s abrupt firing of the nation’s senior military officer amid a wave of dismissals at the Pentagon wasn’t unusual, brushing aside outcry that the new administration is openly seeking to inject politics into the military. He also suggested more firings...
Trump administration is firing 2,000 USAID workers and putting thousands of others on leave
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said Sunday that it was placing all but a fraction of staffers at the U.S. Agency for International Development on leave worldwide and eliminating 2,000 U.S.-based staff positions. The move was the latest and one of the biggest steps yet toward what President Donald Trump...
Kathy Hochul says she made a case to Trump for NYC’s congestion pricing, yet predicts courts will decide
NEW YORK — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul says she told President Donald Trump in a private meeting at the White House that congestion pricing tolls in New York City are necessary and working, yet the Democrat predicted the courts will likely decide the matter. Last week Trump withdrew federal...
Key agencies, including some led by Trump loyalists, refuse to comply with Musk’s latest demand
NEW YORK — Key U.S. agencies, including the FBI, State Department and the Pentagon, have instructed their employees not to comply with cost-cutting chief Elon Musk’s demand that federal workers explain what they accomplished last week — or risk losing their jobs. That resistance has intensified a pervasive sense of...
Trump and Musk aren’t the first to make deep cuts, Clinton-era Reinventing Government saved billions
DENVER — A new administration swept into Washington and announced plans to shake it up, using corporate know-how and new technology to streamline the federal bureaucracy. It offered millions of government employees buyouts and slashed costs to balance the budget. It might sound like the controversial cost-cutting push led by...
Hegseth defends Trump’s firings of Pentagon leaders and says there may be more dismissals
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is defending President Donald Trump ‘s firing of the nation’s senior military officer and a wave of dismissals at the Pentagon, insisting that they weren’t unusual despite accusations that the new administration is injecting politics into the military. “Nothing about this is unprecedented,” Hegseth...
Michigan state lawmaker beats out loyal Trump ally charged in fake elector case for GOP party chair
DETROIT — Michigan Republicans gathered in Detroit on Saturday to elect a new chair who will lead the party into the 2026 midterms in the battleground state, when several key races will be decided including a critical U.S. Senate seat. A state lawmaker beat out two other candidates, including a...
Trump revels in mass federal firings and jeers at Biden before adoring conservative crowd
OXON HILL, Md. — President Donald Trump said Saturday that “nobody has ever seen anything” like his administration’s sweeping effort to fire thousands of federal employees and shrink the size of government, congratulating himself for “dominating” Washington and sending bureaucrats “packing.” Addressing an adoring crowd at the Conservative Political Action...
