Ramaphosa Trump Onslaught: Oval Office Diplomacy Unshaken
By Gary O’Donahue Three months into Donald Trump’s second term, foreign leaders should be aware that a coveted trip to the Oval Office comes with the risk of a very public dressing down, often straying into attempts at provocation and humiliation. Wednesday’s episode with South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa was a classic of its kind, with the added twist of an ambush involving dimmed lights, a lengthy video screening and stacks of news story clippings. As television cameras rolled, and after some well-tempered discussion, Trump was asked by a journalist about what it would take for him to be convinced
House GOP Proposes SALT Deduction Cap Increase to $40,000
SALT deduction cap increase to $40,000 phased above $500K, with remittance cut, silencer tax breaks, Trump accounts now! House Republicans are planning to quadruple the cap on state and local tax deductions to $40,000, under a catch-all amendment for their sweeping domestic policy legislation. The amendment would also tweak provisions affecting remittances from people in the U.S. to those in foreign countries, gun silencers and new savings accounts for children. Plans to kill a 10 percent tax on indoor tanning imposed by the Affordable Care Act were dropped. Republicans released the slew of proposed changes to their tax, border, defense
Trump’s Tax-Cut Bill Faces Rare Overnight House Stress Test
By Bo Erickson and David Morgan President Donald Trump‘s tax cut and spending bill faces a critical stress test on Wednesday as Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives try to overcome internal divisions about cuts to the Medicaid health program and tax breaks in high-cost coastal states. The gate-keeping House Rules Committee has scheduled an unusual 1 a.m. ET (0500 GMT) hearing that is expected to run well into daylight hours where members will debate details of the measure. If passed by Congress, it would reduce some health and food benefits for low-income Americans, cancel green-energy programs and provide
Justice Dept Civil Rights Exodus and Mission Overhaul
By Ryan Lucas The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is in upheaval amid a mass exodus of attorneys as the Trump administration moves to radically reshape the division, shelving its traditional mission and replacing it with one focused on enforcing the president’s executive orders. Some 250 attorneys — or around 70% of the division’s lawyers — have left or will have left the department in the time between President Trump’s inauguration and the end of May, according to current and former officials. It marks a dramatic turn for the storied division, which was created during the civil rights movement and
US DOJ Opens Civil Rights Investigation into Chicago Mayor
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division says it’s opened an investigation into Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s hiring. Why it matters: The letter outlines what the Trump administration and some MAGA activists have identified as race-based hiring that they say discriminates against white candidates. The DOJ says the investigation is to determine whether Johnson has violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans hiring based on race. Driving the news: The letter from DOJ Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon references remarks Johnson made Sunday at a church on Chicago’s South Side. What they’re saying:
Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with prostate cancer
Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. Biden’s health has been in the back of some supports minds as he has updated the nation aboutwell-being. Last week, Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms. The cancer is a more aggressive form of the disease, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 out of 10. This means his illness is classified as “high-grade” and the cancer cells could spread quickly, according to Cancer Research UK. Biden and his family aresaid to be reviewing
Trump’s massive tax cut bill passes key US House committee vote
United States President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax-cut bill has won approval from a key congressional committee to advance towards possible passage in the House of Representatives later this week. The rare Sunday night vote marks a big win for Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, after hardline Republican conservatives on Friday blocked the bill from clearing the House Budget Committee over a dispute involving spending cuts to the Medicaid healthcare programme for lower-income Americans and the repeal of green energy tax credits. Four hardline members of the committee’s 21 Republicans allowed the legislation to advance by voting “present”. The bill
Democratic governors blast GOP’s “impossible” Medicaid proposal
Democratic governors warned en masse Monday that it will be “impossible” for states to make up for the hundreds of billions in Medicaid spending cuts that House Republicans are proposing. Why it matters: The country’s 23 Democratic governors are trying to amplify their Medicaid message by speaking in a unified voice. The proposed spending cuts are “disastrous,” the governors said in a statement first shared with Axios. The group includes seven Democratic governors who run states won by President Trump in 2024. They also represent five of the seven swing states and more than a majority of the country’s population. Driving the news: House
FedEx Board Member David Steiner Named New USPS Chief
David Steiner, a former CEO of the nation’s largest waste management company who currently serves on the FedEx board of directors, is poised to take over control of the U.S. Postal Service, becoming the nation’s 76th postmaster general. The announcement of Steiner’s appointment, which heightened concerns from postal unions over possible efforts to privatize the USPS, was made Friday by Amber McReynolds, chairperson of the USPS’ Board of Governors, during a meeting of the independent group that oversees the service. “We anticipate that Mr. Steiner will join the organization in July, assuming his successful completion of the ethics and security clearance
U.S. and China to Ease Tariffs for 90 Days, Says White House
By Tucker Reals The U.S. and China have agreed to a temporary but significant easing of the tariffs imposed over the last couple months, the country’s said in a joint statement shared by the White House, heralding significant success in trade negotiations that ramped up over the weekend. In the joint statement released early Monday morning, the two sides said they had agreed that ongoing “discussions have the potential to address the concerns of each side in their economic and trade relationship,” and that “moving forward in the spirit of mutual opening, continued communication, cooperation, and mutual respect,” both parties had committed