The Justice Department has accused Thomas Barrack, a longtime friend of former President Donald Trump and his 2017 inaugural committee chairman, of engaging in a wide-ranging scheme to favorably influence U.S. policy toward the United Arab Emirates without registering as a foreign agent as required by U.S. law. A seven-count indictment was handed down Tuesday against…
read moreThe U.S. Justice Department will appeal a judge’s ruling that determined a federal program protecting young immigrants living in the U.S. from deportation is illegal, President Joe Biden said Saturday.U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, in the south-central state of Texas, invalidated former President Barack Obama’s program Friday, ruling that Obama acted unlawfully when he created…
read moreEven as Donald Trump faces the threat of lawsuits over his company’s business dealings and continues to be banned on social media platforms, the former president wields an outsized influence over the Republican Party.Unlike most former presidents who stay out of the political limelight, Trump is still holding rallies, attacking President Joe Biden and amplifying…
read moreCalifornia lawmakers on Thursday approved the first state-funded guaranteed income plan in the U.S., $35 million for monthly cash payments to qualifying pregnant people and young adults who recently left foster care with no restrictions on how they spend it. The votes — 36-0 in the Senate and 64-0 in the Assembly — showed bipartisan…
read moreFormer President Donald Trump is struggling to put himself back at the center of America’s attention. His recent lawsuits against Google, Facebook and Twitter highlight the platforms’ power to control digital speech, even that of world leaders. Michelle Quinn reports.Producer: Michelle Quinn. …
read morePresident Joe Biden made the case for his sweeping, two-track infrastructure initiative Wednesday on Capitol Hill, a day after leading Senate Democrats agreed on a $3.5 trillion plan billed as the biggest boost in decades for U.S. families. Biden joined fellow Democrats for a closed-door lunch where he sought their support and discussed strategy for passing…
read moreU.S. President Joe Biden heads to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to meet with Senate Democrats after the lawmakers announced an agreement on a $3.5 trillion plan to expand spending on health care for the elderly, climate change and programs to help families, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said. The package would be “the biggest investment in the middle…
read moreU.S. President Joe Biden was in Philadelphia Tuesday to urge the passing of voting rights legislation that has stalled in Congress, but he did not outline a path to overcome Republican opposition. The speech came as Republicans in state legislatures sought to pass measures restricting access to voting. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this report.Produced by: Barry Unger …
read moreU.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday assailed Republican-led states pushing to tighten voting rules, calling it an “unfolding assault … on liberty.” Republicans say they are tightening voting rules so that no election fraud occurs in the future and that Americans can have confidence that votes are fairly counted. But Biden, in perhaps the most emotional speech…
read morePresident Joe Biden on Tuesday spoke in Philadelphia, the birthplace of the U.S. constitution, to charge that Republican maneuvering is putting democracy in the worst peril since the Civil War.The speech in the city where the founding document of the U.S. democratic system was drawn up and signed in 1787 was Biden’s highest profile foray yet…
read moreDemocrats in the Texas Legislature bolted Monday for Washington, and said they were ready to remain there for weeks in a second revolt against a GOP overhaul of election laws, forcing a dramatic new showdown over voting rights in America. Private planes carrying a large group of Democrats took off from an airport in Austin, skipping town just…
read morePresident Joe Biden on Friday fired the commissioner of Social Security after the official refused to resign, and Biden accepted the deputy commissioner’s resignation, the White House said.Biden asked Commissioner Andrew Saul to resign, and his employment was terminated after he refused the Democratic president’s request, a White House official said.Deputy Commissioner David Black agreed…
read moreU.S. civil rights leaders emerged Thursday from a White House meeting with President Joe Biden vowing a “summer of activism” to battle new voting restrictions enacted in Republican-led states in recent months.Vice President Kamala Harris also said Thursday that the Democratic Party would invest $25 million in voter registration and education efforts.Harris, whom the president…
read moreFormer U.S. President Donald Trump has announced class-action lawsuits against three major tech companies, accusing them of wrongfully censoring him and other conservatives.“We’re asking the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to order an immediate halt to social media companies’ illegal, shameful censorship of the American people,” said Trump on Wednesday.Trump is…
read moreSecretary of State Antony Blinken met virtually on Tuesday with Uyghur Muslims who were detained in camps in China’s Xinjiang region to hear about their experiences and seek advice on how best to pressure China to halt repression there. The State Department said Blinken wanted to hear directly from the seven former detainees, relatives of others…
read morePresident Joe Biden focused on cherries Saturday during a trip to Michigan — and cherry pie and cherry ice cream — and voters who were mask-free as coronavirus restrictions have eased. It had all the hallmarks of a campaign stop that he couldn’t make last year.Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer greeted Biden when he arrived midday…
read moreAs U.S. President Joe Biden looks for revenue sources to fund his proposed social spending programs, America’s richest people are facing the possibility that popular methods of passing enormous wealth from generation to generation while avoiding taxes could be disappearing.The Biden administration has made no secret of its belief that capital gains — money earned…
read moreWomen make up 60% of the White House staff appointed by President Joe Biden, while people from racially or ethnically diverse communities account for 44%, the White House said Thursday as it released an annual personnel report to Congress. The White House said the report — which includes the names, titles and salaries of all political…
read moreAfter months of disagreement, the U.S. House is set to vote on a select committee to investigate the events of Jan. 6, when supporters of former President Donald Trump rioted at the U.S. Capitol. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has more. …
read moreDonald Rumsfeld, a forceful U.S. defense secretary who was the main architect of the Iraq war until President George W. Bush replaced him as the United States found itself bogged down after 3.5 years of fighting, has died at age 88, his family said in a statement on Wednesday.”It is with deep sadness that we…
read moreThe House of Representatives is poised Wednesday to create a select committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by hundreds of supporters of former President Donald Trump as lawmakers were certifying that Democrat Joe Biden had defeated him in last November’s election. The vote, formalizing creation of the committee that House…
read moreU.S. President Joe Biden is holding talks Wednesday with a group of governors from eight Western states about wildfire preparedness as much of the region deals with drought. Biden and other administration officials are speaking from the White House with the governors joining by video.White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters last week the meeting will “focus…
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