Two Catholic bishops with ties to President Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission publicly criticized the administration after immigrant detainees were denied access to sacraments central to their faith. Citing a Broadview, Illinois facility and a class-action lawsuit alleging mass constitutional violations, Bishops Kevin C. Rhoades and Robert Barron noted clergy were...
New York City’s mayoral race thrust Zohran Mamdani and his platform into a fierce transatlantic debate. Critics at home called free buses, universal childcare, city-run groceries and rent freezes unaffordable, while European voices said such programs are routine. Examples ranged from Tallinn’s fare-free transit and Istanbul’s municipal groceries to Portugal...
USDA officials reversed course on food-stamp cuts, saying late Wednesday that SNAP recipients will receive up to 65% of their November benefits after recalculations showed payments should be reduced by 35%, not by half. The Justice Department said the agency recognized the error and sent states new guidance. The shift...
Trump administration officials told lawmakers the U.S. isn’t planning strikes inside Venezuela and lacks legal grounds for land targets, despite a Caribbean military buildup. An existing Justice Department opinion authorizes attacks on suspected drug boats, including 16 since September that killed at least 67 people, but not on land. Officials...
Nancy Pelosi announced she will retire from Congress, saying she won’t seek re-election when her term ends in January 2027. The California Democrat, 85, closes a decades-long career that made her the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House and a party leader from 2003 to 2023. In...
Both President Trump and Democrats said the record shutdown hurt Republicans in Tuesday’s off-year elections, as Democrats notched wins nationwide on affordability and opposition to Trump policies. Virginia and New Jersey races highlighted backlash to efforts to fire federal workers, cut spending and threaten Gateway Tunnel funding. Emboldened Democrats are...
Zohran Mamdani won New York City’s mayoral race on a promise to freeze rents for roughly two million rent stabilized tenants, but the housing battles awaiting him start well before any vote. He vowed to revive ailing NYCHA buildings, where $78 billion in repairs loom. He plans to evict Elizabeth...
A controversy over Nick Fuentes’s rise has exposed tensions on the right as national conservatism struggles to distance itself from explicit bigotry. After Tucker Carlson interviewed him, Republicans including Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Mitch McConnell and Mike Johnson condemned it, even as parts of the movement echo Fuentes on identity...
In a video framed as a farewell to San Francisco, Rep. Nancy Pelosi said she will not seek re-election in 2026, calling the coming year her final in Congress. The 85-year-old speaker emerita tied her decision to the passage of California’s Prop 50 and urged the city to know its...
On day 37 of the shutdown, President Trump pressed Republicans to scrap the Senate filibuster as Democrats, buoyed by election wins, resist. Bipartisan talks are exploring a short-term funding bill and limited appropriations, though expiring health care subsidies remain a hurdle. The Supreme Court heard arguments on Trump’s tariff authority...
