Politics

At least four federal agencies will probably have to lay off thousands of employees this year unless Congress approves “buyouts” to speed voluntary departures, according to Clinton Administration officials. The Agriculture, Interior and Transportation departments and the Office of Personnel Management are at the most risk for reductions in force, or RIFs–the government jargon for … Read more

President Trump speaks at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. (Nati Harnik / Associated Press) With four weeks until the midterm election, President Trump whipped up a crowd of about 9,000 supporters here, reiterating his recent claims that Democrats are an “angry mob” intent on “policies of anger, division and destruction.” “You don’t hand … Read more

Vanessa Steinkamp at her home in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs. A lifelong conservative, she feels out of place in the current Republican Party. (Melanie Mason / Los Angeles Times) Vanessa Steinkamp is the kind of voter that Texas Republicans counted on. She’s a devoted conservative who volunteered for Bob Dole’s presidential campaign, interned for former … Read more

A federal grand jury has subpoenaed congressional records from Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) as part of an escalating Justice Department corruption probe aimed at determining whether Weldon used his influence to win favors for family members, people familiar with the investigation said. The previously unreported subpoena was issued by a grand jury in Washington before … Read more

A former staff member for Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. (D-Ohio) testified Thursday that most of the work he did while on the congressional payroll was at Traficant’s horse farm. Richard Rovnak said he was hired in 1990 to help constituents part time at Traficant’s Youngstown office. But Rovnak said he spent most of his … Read more

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appears before the Senate Finance Committee for his confirmation hearing Wednesday. (Ben Curtis / Associated Press) Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has pledged to “make America healthy again” as President Trump’s secretary of Health and Human Services, faced aggressive questions Wednesday from senators who were troubled by his skepticism of vaccines, … Read more

President Trump holds up the signed Laken Riley Act during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) President Trump on Wednesday signed the Laken Riley Act into law, giving federal authorities broader power to deport immigrants in the U.S. illegally who have been accused of … Read more

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses supporters in British Columbia on Aug. 4. Trudeau has proposed a ban on assault weapons as part of his current reelection campaign. (Associated Press) “I could never live in the States again,” a Canadian friend who once lived in San Francisco told me this week. “Your cities are just … Read more

Retired Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during President Trump’s first term, testifies before Congress in March 2024. Milley’s relationship with Trump turned sour as Milley tried to advise and contain the president on a host of issues. (Mark Schiefelbein / Associated Press) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is pulling security protections … Read more

Reading Time: 5 minutes Before she married into one of America’s most famous families, Cheryl Hines endured a difficult divorce. Could she be headed that way again? Cheryl, of course, is a longtime veteran of Hollywood who’s best known for her work on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Since 2014, she has been the wife of Robert … Read more