Category Archives: Democrats

‘Unhinged madman’: US politicians react to Trump’s expletive-laden threat to Iran

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Marjorie Taylor Greene and Bernie Sanders among those responding with alarm to Trump writing ‘open the fuckin’ strait, you crazy bastards’

Some US politicians have reacted with alarm and questioned the US president’s mental state after Donald Trump issued an abusive, expletive-laden threat to Iran in which he called on the regime to “open the fuckin’ strait [of Hormuz], you crazy bastards”, as he threatened to further attack the country’s energy and transport infrastructure.

The US president wrote on his Truth Social platform: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

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New York councilmember and Hochul governor aide investigated for bribery

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Prosecutors investigate whether Farah Louis and Debbie Louis accepted bribes to help migrant shelter provider

Federal prosecutors are investigating whether a New York City councilmember and her sister, an aide to governor Kathy Hochul, accepted bribes or kickbacks in connection with the appropriation of city funds to a migrant shelter provider, according to a copy of a search warrant obtained by the Associated Press.

The warrant, signed on 19 March, seeks evidence of possible criminal violations involving councilmember Farah Louis, a Brooklyn Democrat, and Debbie Louis, who serves as Hochul’s assistant secretary of New York City intergovernmental affairs.

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Pro-Israel Democrats decry settler violence in West Bank amid attacks on Palestinians

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Aipac-backed lawmakers denounce ‘extremist’ violence in West Bank as support for Israel becomes a political liability

As Israeli settlers ramp up violent attacks on Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, often as Israeli forces stand by, denunciations are mounting in the US, even from Democratic legislators and public figures who are typically staunch defenders of Israel.

In recent days, dozens of settlers have torched homes and vehicles and attacked Palestinians in apparently coordinated attacks. Since the start of the month, Israeli settlers and police have killed at least 10 Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank, including two young brothers and their parents as they returned from a Ramadan shopping trip.

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Bernie Sanders and AOC introduce bill to pause building of new datacenters

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Lawmakers say moratorium on construction would buy time to create strong, federal guardrails for AI

Amid an unprecedented energy crisis and the rapid buildout of artificial intelligence infrastructure, progressive lawmakers have unveiled a new policy to place a moratorium on the construction of AI datacenters.

The policy, announced by Bernie Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democratic representative, on Wednesday morning, aims to ensure the AI boom protects the environment and communities, and benefits workers instead of harming them. A temporary ban, the lawmakers say, would give the US government time to create strong federal safeguards for AI, which is “affecting everything from our economy and wellbeing to our democracy, warfare and our kids’ education”.

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Democrats flip seat in Florida state house in district that includes Trump’s Mar-a-Lago

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Emily Gregory defeats Republican Jon Maples in district that is home to US president’s Palm Beach estate

Democrats managed to flip a seat in the Florida state house in the district that is home to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago.

Emily Gregory, a Democrat, defeated Republican Jon Maples, who had an endorsement from the US president, in the special election in Florida’s 87th state house district. The Associated Press called the race on Tuesday evening, with Gregory, a public health expert and small business owner, leading by more than 2 percentage points.

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Bill to fund US homeland security fails again as concern grows about airport lines

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Proposal fails to advance in Senate amid growing concerns about long lines to get through screening at some airports

A bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security failed to advance on Friday in the Senate amid growing concerns about long lines to get through screening at some of the country’s biggest airports.

Democrats declined to provide the support needed to move the funding measure toward final passage. Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, said he would offer an alternative measure on Saturday to fund just the Transportation Security Administration, which screens passengers and luggage for hazardous items. That too is likely to fail as lawmakers hold a rare weekend session.

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Senate votes down measure aiming to limit Trump’s war powers by 53-47 vote

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Republicans block resolution to take up the measure, which Democrats vow to bring up ‘again and again and again’

Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked a measure that aimed to rein in Donald Trump’s power to wage war against Iran without congressional authorization.

The 53-47 vote against taking up the measure fell almost completely along party lines, with no movement from earlier this month when Republicans blocked Democrats’ bid to limit Trump’s war-making power in the days after the joint US-Israeli strikes, known as Operation Epic Fury, began across Iran.

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Cory Booker calls both parties ‘feckless’ for ceding war powers to Trump

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Democrat says Congress ‘doing nothing’ may embolden president to attack countries such as Cuba and North Korea

Democratic US senator Cory Booker has criticized both his own political party as well as its Republican counterpart for being “feckless” in ceding congressional war powers to Donald Trump, saying that their decision could embolden the president to unilaterally attack Cuba, North Korea and other countries.

“I’m going to be one of those Democrats [who] say I think both parties have been feckless in allowing the growth of the power of the presidency,” Booker said on Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union.

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Democrats deliver stunning flip in New Hampshire special election

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Bobbi Boudman’s win over Republican Dale Fincher marks the 28th seat Democrats have flipped since the 2024 election

A Democrat won a special election for a state house seat in New Hampshire on Tuesday, flipping a Republican district that Donald Trump carried and marking the latest in a string of 28 Democratic upsets that could usher in a blue wave in the midterms.

Bobbi Boudman beat Republican Dale Fincher in New Hampshire’s Carroll county district 7. It was Boudman’s third try at the seat – she lost to incumbent representative Glenn Cordelli the last two cycles by several points. Cordelli resigned from the seat after moving, leading to the special election on 10 March.

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Democrats file new war powers resolutions and call for public hearings on Iran strikes

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Senators say Trump allies such as Hegseth and Rubio should be forced to testify to Congress on ‘unnecessary war’

Democratic senators have filed a wave of new war powers resolutions as they call on Republicans to convene public hearings into the US hostilities with Iran or be forced to vote on continuing a conflict that polls show majorities of Americans do not support.

Late last week, Democrats Cory Booker of New Jersey, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Adam Schiff of California, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Chris Murphy of Connecticut filed resolutions under the War Powers Act that would force the US military to withdraw from the war with Iran unless Congress votes to authorize the engagement.

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‘We were ready’: Democratic attorneys general lead fight to stop Trump

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As some elected leaders choose to play nice with the president, Democratic AGs have done the opposite – to impressive effect

Four Democratic attorneys general, sitting in their offices from New York to California with state flags and books behind them, announced a new lawsuit on Thursday, alleging the president, yet again, had broken the law by attempting to create new tariffs without congressional approval.

It’s a now familiar scene for the group of top law-enforcement officials who have collectively filed more than 50 lawsuits against the Trump administration, serving as a counterweight to the president’s quest to expand his power and circumvent the constitution.

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Showdown over datacenter politics at heart of North Carolina primary

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Democratic rematch in Durham-area district draws focus to fight over AI datacenters increasingly shaping US elections

A North Carolina congressional primary held on Tuesday is an early test of datacenter politics – a fight increasingly shaping elections nationwide.

In the Durham-area fourth district, Congresswoman Valerie Foushee is seeking her third term against progressive challenger Nida Allam, a Durham county commissioner she defeated in 2022. The election was too close to call as of Wednesday morning, with Foushee up by less than one percentage point, and is likely headed for a recount.

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Democrats thrown into disarray as US offensive on Iran creates cracks

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Lawmakers from Sanders to Mark Kelly offer mixed feelings on Trump’s action and killing of Iranian supreme leader

As Republicans celebrated the death of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with praise for Donald Trump’s decisive action, Democrats faced their own divisions and a reckoning over how to present a united front.

Most were quick to condemn the US president for sidelining Congress to launch an illegal and unconstitutional war and demanded a swift vote on a war powers resolution that would restrain his military onslaught.

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Democrats outraged at US military’s downing of CBP drone near Mexico border

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Second time in two weeks military used laser to attack what it mistakenly thought was a threat, disrupting air traffic

Democratic members of Congress have expressed astonishment and anger at what they claim is the incompetence of the Trump administration after the US military used a laser on Thursday to shoot down what it thought was a threatening drone on the US-Mexico border in Texas but later turned out to belong to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The apparent confusion between two entities in the US government led to airspace being closed around Fort Hancock, right along the border. It was the second time in two weeks that air traffic was disrupted in the region as a result of a high-energy laser being deployed against drones.

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Smokejumper and union leader aims to win in Montana by focusing on workers

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Sam Forstag, who parachutes from planes to fight wildfires, believes pro-worker polices can flip district from Trump ally

Sam Forstag is used to launching himself into heated territory.

As a smokejumper, his job is to jump out of airplanes 3,000 feet in the air and parachute down into the Montana wilderness. Going by air is often the easiest way to access the remote wilderness and combat the wildfires that burn an average of 7.2 million acres a year in the state.

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Abigail Spanberger to give Democratic response to Trump’s State of the Union address

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Virginia governor is seen as a model for the party to win back power in midterm elections

Virginia’s governor Abigail Spanberger will deliver the Democratic response to Donald Trump’s State of the Union address next week, elevating a pragmatic voice whose affordability-focused gubernatorial campaign is seen as a model for the party to win back power in the November midterm elections.

The Democratic rebuttal will immediately follow Trump’s address to Congress on 24 February. Spanberger, a former undercover CIA officer who served three terms in Congress, became Virginia’s first female governor earlier this year, resoundingly winning an office previously held by a Republican. She won the race by a double-digit margin, campaigning on affordability and lowering costs for families.

Shrai Popat contributed reporting

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Obama, Trump and Biden lead tributes to Jesse Jackson: ‘one of America’s greatest patriots’

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Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Al Sharpton, Donald Trump and more react to death of the civil rights leader at the age of 84

Three Democratic former presidents led a wealth of tributes to Jesse Jackson, a “titan” of the civil rights movement and “one of America’s greatest patriots” who has died at the age of 84.

Joe Biden said history would remember Jackson as “a man of God and of the people”, calling him in a social media post : “Determined and tenacious. Unafraid of the work to redeem the soul of our Nation.”

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Mark Kelly: call for troops to disobey illegal orders is ‘non-controversial’

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Senator hits back at Trump administration after Pentagon launches investigation for possible breaches of military law

US senator Mark Kelly said it was “non-controversial” for him and other Democrats to implore military personnel to disobey “illegal orders” from the Trump administration – hitting back at accusations of “serious allegations of misconduct” leveled against him by the Pentagon.

“I said something that was pretty simple and non-controversial – and that was that members of the military should follow the law,” the Arizona Democrat senator, a former US Navy officer and astronaut who flew on four separate space shuttle missions between 2001 and 2011, told MS Now on Monday night.

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US senator slams Republicans’ silence on Trump’s violent threats to Democrats

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Mark Kelly, a veteran and Democrat targeted by Trump over military comments, says he is ‘not going to be intimidated’

Senator Mark Kelly on Sunday urged congressional Republicans to publicly reject Trump’s threats against him and five other Democratic lawmakers who stated that military personnel are not obligated to follow illegal commands.

“We’ve heard very little, basically crickets, from Republicans in the United States Congress about what the president has said about hanging members of Congress,” Kelly, of Arizona, said on CBS’s Face the Nation.

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Politicians shocked by Marjorie Taylor Greene’s surprise resignation announcement

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Some Republicans offered congresswoman plaudits, but AOC was scathing in her dismissal of her frequent sparring partner

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s surprise resignation from Congress late on Friday, saying she refused to be a “battered wife” following her public fallout with Donald Trump, has been slammed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democratic congresswoman and Greene’s frequent sparring partner.

“She’s carefully timing her departure just 1-2 days after her pension kicks in,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement on her Instagram account, and criticized her voting record on healthcare.

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