Trump Election Order Faces Lawsuits Over Constitutionality
President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to overhaul the nation’s elections faced its first legal challenges Monday as the Democratic National Committee and a pair of nonprofits filed two separate lawsuits calling it unconstitutional. The Campaign Legal Center and the State Democracy Defenders Fund brought the first lawsuit Monday afternoon. The DNC, the Democratic Governors Association, and Senate and House Democratic leaders followed soon after with a complaint of their own. Both lawsuits filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ask the court to block Trump’s order and declare it illegal. “The president’s executive order is an unlawful action that threatens to
Trump’s Tariff Plan Sparks Trade War Uncertainty
By Wyatt Grantham-Phillips As the trade wars launched by U.S. President Donald Trump continue to escalate, all eyes are on Wednesday. Trump has repeatedly called April 2 “Liberation Day,” with promises to roll out a set of tariffs, or taxes on imports from other countries, that he says will free the U.S. from a reliance on foreign goods. To do this, Trump has said he’ll impose “reciprocal” tariffs to match the duties that other countries charge on U.S. products. But a lot remains unknown about how these levies will actually be implemented. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that Trump would unveil his plans to place
Cory Booker Delivers Overnight Senate Speech Against Trump
By Morgan Rimmer, Clare Foran and Ted Barrett, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker’s marathon speech on the Senate floor is stretching overnight into Tuesday morning as he protests actions taken by President Donald Trump’s administration, saying that he will keep going “as long as I am physically able.” The Democratic senator has spoken for hours, beginning his remarks at 7 p.m. ET Monday evening, and is undertaking this effort at a time when Democratic leaders in Washington are under pressure from their base to do more to stand up to Trump. Booker is a member of the Senate Democratic leadership team. As of 5 a.m.
Trump-Era Elections Test GOP, Musk’s Influence in WI, FL
By Adam Edelman, Bridget Bowman, Ben Kamisar and Kailani Koenig The first major elections of President Doanld Trump’s second term will take place on Tuesday, as voters head to the polls in Wisconsin, a perennial battleground, and in Trump-friendly territory in Florida. Tens of millions of dollars have poured into Wisconsin ahead of Tuesday’s state Supreme Court race in a contest that could have huge national implications. It’s the first major statewide contest in a battleground since the 2024 election — and it’s happening in the state where Trump saw his narrowest margin-of-victory in November. Elon Musk has emerged as a major player in the Wisconsin race
Wisconsin Supreme Court Race Draws Record Spending, Fire
Many of the country’s most contested issues and hottest partisan politics are playing out in a race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The election is Tuesday. At the state level, abortion rights, voting rights and the powers of public employee unions could all be in the balance in future court rulings. And impacting the national scene, the court could determine whether the state redraws its congressional districts along lines that end up narrowing or ending the majority that Republicans hold in the U.S. House of Representatives. Money is pouring in from around the country, with millions of dollars in support of
Trump Hints at Third Term, Challenges Constitution Limits
By Chris Megerian President Donald Trump said Sunday that “I’m not joking” about trying to serve a third term, the clearest indication he is considering ways to breach a constitutional barrier against continuing to lead the country after his second term ends at the beginning of 2029. “There are methods which you could do it,” Trump said in a telephone interview with NBC News from Mar-a-Lago, his private club. He elaborated later to reporters on Air Force One from Florida to Washington that “I have had more people ask me to have a third term, which in a way is a
HHS Pulls $11.4B in COVID Funds From Health Departments
By Laura Ungar Federal health officials said Tuesday they are pulling back $11.4 billion in COVID-19-related funds for state and local public health departments and other health organizations throughout the nation. “The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago,” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement. The statement said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects to recover the money beginning 30 days after termination notices, which began being sent out on Monday. Officials said the money
Waltz Takes Blame for Yemen Strike Chat Leak with Journalist
By Barbara Tasch US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz has taken responsibility for a group chat in which high-ranking officials planned military strikes in Yemen in the company of a journalist who was inadvertently added. “I take full responsibility. I built the group,” Waltz told Fox News on Tuesday, adding it was “embarrassing”. President Donald Trump and US intelligence chiefs have downplayed the security risks and said no classified material was shared. But Democrats and some Republicans have called for an investigation into what several lawmakers have described as a major breach. Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg reported that he
Trump Slashes Minority Business, CDFI Agency Operations
By Brandon Patterson On March 14, President Trump signed an executive order slashing the operations of two federal agencies supporting growth in minority business and neighborhoods as he continued his attacks on programs supporting people of color and on the size of the federal bureaucracy. The latest executive order targeted several federal agencies, including the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, ordering that their programs and staff be reduced “to the minimum presence and function required by law.” The executive order targeted more agencies that Trump “has determined are unnecessary,” the order stated. The
Trump Orders Proof of Citizenship to Register to Vote
By Jude Joffe-Block President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order that would require prospective voters to show proof of citizenship to register to vote. The order’s sweeping changes test the power of Trump’s presidential authority. Voting rights advocates worry the new provisions could block millions of Americans from voting if enacted, and say Trump lacks the legal authority to make such changes. The order claims the United States “fails to enforce basic and necessary election protections.” The order calls for updating the federal form voters can use to register to vote, to include a requirement that voters show proof of
