Federal law requires the director of national intelligence to “have extensive national security expertise.”
Election law expert Hans von Spakovsky says California's slow vote counting stems from mass mail voting, a seven-day ballot window, and cure periods.
The D.C. Circuit is reviewing an injunction issued by a judge who said "no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have."
President Donald Trump is desperate to maintain his hold on the Republican-dominated House, so he’s personally fighting for plenty of embattled seats. But some seats are going to be a much harder sell for him and his Republican Party."The Republicans are just in absolutely huge trouble in Wisconsin. I think that more so than any of the polls would say … the fact that all those Republicans are leaving the state Legislature, they're sort of telling us with their actions what they expect," said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball, a nonpartisan political newsletter at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics.Trump is making his first trip to the Badger State since he won here nearly two years ago, visiting one of the nation's few battleground congressional districts, but the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says he’s coming at a time “when his approval among Wisconsin voters is at an all-time low.“The visit comes at a time when the president's tariffs and recent attacks on Iran have produced gale-force headwinds for Republicans in their effort to preserve their power in Congress and in state government in Wisconsin, an effort made more complicated by the retirements of the Legislature's two GOP leaders and key members of both houses,” reports the Journal.Nevertheless, Trump is planning to discuss agricultural issues during a Friday roundtable event at a farm in Chippewa Falls, which lies in the 3rd Congressional District − a swing district held by Republican incumbent Rep. Derrick Van Orden. Van Orden's district is one of just 18 congressional districts considered a toss-up in the upcoming midterm election, and the Trump administration heavily focused upon it. The paper reports Trump's visit comes days after U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. held an earlier event with Van Orden.Van Orden won the district twice, but he defeated his opponent by about 3 points two years ago. Now one of those opponents, Democrats Rebecca Cooke, will be on his heels again this year, if she surpasses Democrat Emily Berge in the primaries.“But the political environment this year favors Democrats, who have won governor races and special elections in other parts of the country since Trump took office,” reports the Sentinel. “In Wisconsin, liberals won a seat on the state Supreme Court in April by a stunning 20-point margin. Republicans did not even bother to field a candidate in another election for a court that the GOP dominated just a handful of years ago.This is a hard fall for a state that voted for Trump in 2024.The Sentinel reports Trump's influence “remains strong among Republican voters – 71 percent said they would vote for a 2026 primary candidate endorsed by Trump. However, it also notes that a nationwide Marquette University Law School poll released two days before Trump's visit to western Wisconsin found his approval rating dropped to 38 percent, the lowest point so far in his second term.
President Donald Trump would welcome incoming acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte’s cutting the intelligence community’s workforce. “I wouldn’t mind if he cut,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Friday. “It’s been high for way too long.” The president reiterated that Pulte would “do a good job” and that the new spy […]
Democrats are choosing instead "to suppress their gag reflex for the 'greater good'" of getting the candidate elected, the Pennsylvania senator said.
A Florida Democrat snapped during a House Appropriations subcommittee meeting Friday, declaring the Republican fiscal year 2027 spending bill "a war on women and girls" after it moved to eliminate family planning funding for millions of Americans."I'm mad as hell! I cannot believe what I see!" Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL) shouted during the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies subcommittee markup. "This is a war on women and girls!"Frankel tore into the bill over a string of cuts she said would devastate low-income women and families. The Republican spending plan eliminates Title X family planning funding — a cut of $286 million — and zeroes out the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, slashing another $108 million. Title X serves nearly 3 million people annually, according to Frankel, mostly low-income or uninsured."This is our family planning money," Frankel said, "and not only that, preventative care, cancer screening, diabetes, keeping people healthy — mostly people who are very poor or uninsured."She didn't stop there. Frankel accused Republicans of pushing women toward unwanted pregnancies while simultaneously gutting the programs that would support them."I know you're against abortion. That's one thing. But forced pregnancy, that's another thing."The bill also cuts the Office on Women's Health within HHS by $14 million, according to Democratic appropriators, and replaces teen pregnancy prevention programs with abstinence-only education, which received a $5 million funding increase."Zeroing out teen pregnancy prevention — okay, let's see," Frankel said. "And lastly, not lastly — I go to another page — almost cutting in half the Office on Women's Health within HHS. This is a war! It's a war on women!"Frankel closed with a direct appeal to colleagues across the aisle."If you are a woman or you love a woman — you have a daughter, you have a sister, a mother, a cousin, an aunt — let's keep them healthy."According to Democratic appropriators, the bill cuts total spending by $19.1 billion — 9 percent — below fiscal year 2026 levels.
The House passed a spending bill Thursday night that included $141 million in cuts to a federal food assistance program focused on supporting women and children – a bill that would not have passed without the support of four House Democrats, who in turn drew scrutiny for their “puzzling” decision, The New Republic reported Friday.The spending bill would allocate funding for the Department of Agriculture and other federal agencies, and was passed by the House with a narrow vote of 213-210. The Supplemental Food Assistance Program, or SNAP, operates through the Agriculture Department, and a program within SNAP – referred to as WIC – specifically provides fruit and vegetable assistance to women, infants and children.The four Democratic lawmakers in question are Reps. Donald Davis (D-NC), Adam Gray (D-CA), Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), and Marie Glusenkamp Perez (D-WA). As to why they joined Republicans in helping advance a bill that could reduce food assistance for mothers, children and infants, The New Republic’s Hafiz Rashid was left puzzled.“Three of the Democrats who voted for the cuts, Gray, Gonzalez, and Perez, are members of the conservative Blue Dog Coalition, and Perez has a reputation for often voting against her party,” Rashid wrote. “But it’s puzzling why fruit and vegetable assistance for mothers and children was deemed acceptable to cut, especially during an economic crunch. It’s highly likely that WIC enrollment will go up in the coming months, and now, fruits and vegetables will be more expensive.”