Politics

A photo of then-President Trump, taken as he entered the Oval Office after speaking at the rally on the Ellipse on Jan. 6, is displayed at the House panel hearing Thursday. (Patrick Semansky / Associated Press) Then-President Trump sat in the West Wing’s dining room for more than 2½ hours after being informed of the … Read more

Wilton Gregory stood up to Trump. Now he’s the first Black cardinal in U.S. Few of his parishioners were surprised when Washington, D.C., Archbishop Wilton Gregory took on President Trump earlier this year. Gregory isn’t known to speak out often about issues specifically facing Black Americans. But when he does, it is unambiguous and forceful … Read more

Death came Monday to Alfred M. (Alf) Landon, the plain-spoken Kansas Republican who lost the 1936 presidential election in an unprecedented landslide but won the enduring respect and affection of his countrymen with his grace and dignity in defeat. Landon, who was 100 years old, died in the elegant Colonial-style mansion he built on the … Read more

While President Bush and Democratic nominee Bill Clinton worked Saturday to appeal to former Ross Perot supporters, political professionals in both parties voiced skepticism that the Perot movement could become a third force that determines who becomes President. Perot’s plan would face several formidable obstacles, according to political strategists and outside analysts, including questions about … Read more

Rep. Thomas Downey (D-N.Y.) charged Monday that Republican Rep. Robert Dornan of Buena Park grabbed him by the collar and tie and threatened him with “bodily harm” on the floor of the House of Representatives. Dornan admitted that he had held Downey’s tie but said that it was because it “needed to be straightened.” He … Read more

While inside-the-Beltway boys declared Al Gore’s spiffy new wardrobe evidence that “Al the Stiff” is casting about for a more salable image, fashion and media mavens viewed his new duds as, well, clothes. From Democratic media man Michael Sheehan to fashion historian Anne Hollander and GQ magazine editor Art Cooper, the consensus is that politicians … Read more

Alvin E. Toffel, a former president of the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena and national campaign manager for Rep. Paul N. “Pete” McCloskey’s antiwar run for the Republican presidential nomination in 1972, has died. He was 69. Toffel died Sunday of a stroke while vacationing in Las Vegas with his wife, singer Neile McQueen Adams, … Read more

President Obama plans to use his State of the Union speech Tuesday to articulate a centrist vision that will shape the remaining two years of his term and provide a template for his reelection campaign. Obama has been moving steadily to the political center since his midterm election drubbing two months ago, agreeing to extend … Read more

The Democratic-controlled Congress, closing ranks behind President Bush at a crucial moment in American history, voted Saturday to authorize U.S. troops to attack Iraq as early as Wednesday. Bush’s victory was decisive and bipartisan, even though the authorization was strongly opposed by the Democratic leadership and most aspirants for the Democratic presidential nomination. Many Democrats … Read more

State Assemblyman Lloyd Levine is not a vegetarian, is allergic to cats and doesn’t own a dog. (He does, however, admit to a “family of dust bunnies” under his bed.) This year, the only legislation that has come close to making him famous — both “Good Morning, America” and “The Colbert Report” took notice — … Read more