How a ban on food dye in West Virginia has forged an unlikely alliance

GOP lawmakers and consumer advocates have found common ground in banning preservatives and chemicals

A West Virginia law signed this week bans synthetic dyes and preservatives in food – a first-in-the-nation consumer protection led by Republicans in the face of vociferous industry opposition.

West Virginia’s law is one of dozens of bills introduced across the country, as Republican state lawmakers get on board with one of the most powerful forces to emerge from the 2024 presidential campaign – the movement to “make America healthy again” or Maha.

Continue reading...

The Signal fiasco is a political gift to Democrats but their power is limited

The ball now appears to be in the Republicans’ court, where there have been some signs of diverging from Trump

For beleaguered and divided congressional Democrats desperate to find an effective line of attack against Donald Trump, news that the US president’s national security team discussed plans to bomb Yemen on a widely available messaging app in the presence of a journalist came at just the right time.

The leak has put the White House and the Republicans on the defensive, generated multiple days of aggressive media coverage and forced top officials to publicly twist themselves in knots as they seek to explain – or downplay – the blunder.

Continue reading...

‘I’m not stepping down’: Chuck Schumer defies Democrats’ calls over funding bill

Party leader faces backlash over his decision to support Republican-led bill to avoid government shutdown

Chuck Schumer defied calls to give up the top Democratic position in the Senate after he voted for Republicans’ funding bill to avoid a government shutdown, saying on Sunday: “I’m not stepping down.”

Schumer has faced a wave of backlash from Democrats over his decision to support the Republican-led bill, with many Democrats alleging that the party leader isn’t doing enough to stand up to Donald Trump’s agenda.

Continue reading...

Trump revokes security clearances for Biden, Harris and other political enemies

In Friday memo, president also pulls clearances for Antony Blinken, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger and Letitia James

Donald Trump moved to revoke security clearances for Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and a string of other top Democrats and political enemies in a presidential memo issued late on Friday.

The security-clearance revocations also cover the former secretary of state Antony Blinken, the former Wyoming representative Liz Cheney, the former Illinois representative Adam Kinzinger and the New York attorney general, Letitia James, who prosecuted Trump for fraud, as well as Biden’s entire family. They all will no longer have access to classified information – a courtesy typically offered to former presidents and some officials after they have left public service.

Continue reading...

Minnesota Republican charged with soliciting a minor resigns from state senate

Justin Eichorn, 40, faces federal charge after allegedly trying to meet with underage girl found through sex ad

A Minnesota state lawmaker who is accused of trying to buy sex from an underage girl resigned from the state senate on Thursday before his colleagues were set to vote to expel him.

Justin Eichorn, a Republican, was charged with a felony in federal court Wednesday for attempted coercion and enticement of a minor after responding to online sex ads and trying to arrange a meetup with a 17-year-old.

Continue reading...

Trump to dramatically downsize education department but it will still handle student loans, says White House – live

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt says DoE will be ‘much smaller’ due to executive order Trump will sign as critics say it is ‘dark day’ for US children

Another, perhaps more worrying sign, of the Trump administration’s approach to economic policy was revealed yesterday, when commerce secretary Howard Lutnick recommended in a Fox News interview that people buy Tesla stock.

That’s the electric car company led by Elon Musk, who is busy right now cutting down the US government at the behest of Lutnick’s boss, Donald Trump.

I think if you want to learn something on this show tonight, buy Tesla. It’s unbelievable that this guy’s stock is this cheap. It’ll never be this cheap again. When people understand the things he’s building, the robots he’s building, the technology he’s building, people are going to be dreaming of today, and … thinking gosh, I should have bought Elon Musk’s stock.

The Fed would be MUCH better off CUTTING RATES as U.S.Tariffs start to transition (ease!) their way into the economy. Do the right thing. April 2nd is Liberation Day in America!!!

Continue reading...

Pentagon reportedly planning to cut workforce by at least 50,000 – US politics live

Cuts are expected to come from hire freezes, dismissing some probationary workers and by people taking up an offer to resign

The Washington Post reports that the Trump administration is planning additional tariffs on imports to the US running into “trillions” of dollars.

Speaking anonymously to the paper, a person described as familiar with the planning confirmed the sum involved would be in the “trillions” of dollars.

Continue reading...

Schumer says no to Republican funding bill as US shutdown risk intensifies

Senate minority leader says Democrats will not provide votes for stopgap measure and calls for bipartisan effort

Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, said on Wednesday that Democrats would not provide the necessary votes to pass a stopgap funding bill, dramatically raising the risk of a partial government shutdown at the end of the week.

Announcing the decision in a speech on the Senate floor, Schumer urged Republicans to consider a shorter funding extension that would give congressional negotiators more time to consider a bipartisan path forward.

Continue reading...

Canada to impose 25% tariffs on nearly $30bn in US imports as trade war flares – live

Canadian foreign minister condemns ‘unjustified’ trade war and condemns ‘Trump’s talks of annexing our country through economic coercion’

Congressional brinkmanship, including repeated near-misses with shutdowns and over the nation’s $36 trillion in debt, has contributed to global ratings agencies’ moves to downgrade the US federal government’s once-pristine credit rating, reports Reuters.

Democrats have long chided Republicans for threatening or voting for government shutdowns, and Republicans were quick to call them out for considering votes that could risk one.

Continue reading...

Lauren Boebert accused of racism and ableism over her criticism of Al Green

Republican faces backlash for saying Democrat shook ‘his pimp cane’ at Trump during congressional address

The extremist Republican US House member Lauren Boebert has been accused of racism, ableism and hypocrisy in one fell swoop after criticizing a Black Democrat for “shaking his pimp cane” at Donald Trump during the president’s recent speech to Congress.

“Al Green was given multiple opportunities to stand down, to sit down, to behave, to show decorum,” Boebert told Real America’s Voice, a far-right outlet, while discussing the Texas Democratic congressman’s ejection from the House chamber for shouting about Trump’s threats to social benefits spending on 6 March.

Continue reading...

Kristi Noem names new Ice leadership and vows to punish media ‘leakers’

Homeland security secretary pledges lie detector tests for employees she suspects are passing information to press

Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday announced new leadership at the agency tasked with immigration enforcement as she also pledged to step up lie detector tests on employees to identify those who may be leaking information about operations to the media.

Noem confirmed, in addition, that the government will expand immigration detention operations further into the military sphere, following reports of the intention to use the huge Fort Bliss army base close to the US-Mexico border in Texas for that purpose.

Continue reading...

US rise of cryptocurrency and fall of regulation pose ‘profound risks’ – report

Center for Political Accountability, which advocates for corporate disclosure, warns of fallout from Trump’s efforts

A new report warns of “profound risks” in American politics as cryptocurrency companies increase their political spending and Donald Trump oversees regulatory retreat while promising to create a “crypto strategic reserve”.

The situation “illustrate[s] the profound risks that unchecked corporate political spending presents, particularly within the volatile and often unpredictable cryptocurrency industry”, reads the report, from the Center for Political Accountability (CPA), a non-profit that advocates for corporate political disclosure.

Continue reading...

IRS workforce ‘could halve’ after Trump hails cuts to federal staffing in marathon Congress speech – US politics live

Federal agencies have until 13 March to formulate staff reduction plans as allies and critics react to Trump’s marathon Congress speech

The Trump administration has listed over 300 buildings for sale in a further move to gut the federal government. It describes the properties as “not core to government operations”.

In a posting to US general services administration website, the administration says the 320 properties across multiple states are “designated for disposal”.

We are identifying buildings and facilities that are not core to government operations, or non-core properties for disposal. Selling ensures that taxpayer dollars are no longer spent on vacant or underutilized federal spaces. Disposing of these assets helps eliminate costly maintenance and allows us to reinvest in high-quality work environments that support agency missions.

I also have a message tonight for the incredible people of Greenland. We strongly support your right to determine your own future. And if you choose, we welcome you into the US.

We need Greenland for national security and even international security. And we’re working with everybody involved to try and get it. But we need it really for international world security. And I think we’re going to get it — one way or the other, we’re going to get it.

Continue reading...

Trump declares administration ‘just getting started’ in address to Congress

President boasts about efforts to slash federal workforce and reorient foreign policy as Democrats protest from chamber

Donald Trump on Tuesday declared that his administration was “just getting started”, boasting in a marathon address to Congress that his efforts to slash the size of the federal workforce, reorient US foreign policy and escalate a risky trade war marked the beginning of the “most thrilling days in the history of our country” as Democratic lawmakers protested with placards that read “lies” and “false”.

“America is back,” Trump declared, opening his primetime speech to a joint session of Congress, the first of his second term and the longest in American history. Republicans broke into a boisterous chant of “USA”.

Continue reading...

Wyoming governor vetoes ultrasound requirement for medication abortions

Republican Mark Gordon says bill ‘goes too far’ despite having signed several anti-abortion laws in past three years

A bill that would have required women seeking medication abortions to get ultrasounds has been vetoed by Wyoming’s Republican governor, who questioned whether it was reasonable and necessary especially for victims of rape and incest.

“Mandating this intimate, personally invasive, and often medically unnecessary procedure goes too far,” Mark Gordon wrote in a letter explaining his veto late on Monday.

Continue reading...

Chain, chain, chain: political theatre confirms Elon Musk’s Maga hero status at jubilant CPAC

Emboldened and exultant, speakers put less emphasis on baiting liberals and more on spreading the Maga gospel

What do you give the man who has everything? A ballroom full of cheering conservative activists found out this week when Elon Musk was presented with a chainsaw by Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, who has used the power tool as a symbol of his push to impose fiscal discipline.

Wearing sunglasses, a black Maga baseball cap and a gold necklace, Musk giddily wielded the chainsaw up and down the stage. “This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy!” he declared. Members of the audience shouted: “We love you!” Musk replied: “I love you guys, too!” And he quipped: “I am become meme.”

Continue reading...

US politics live: Donald Trump addresses Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland

US president’s 75-minute tirade of repeated false claims ranges from voter fraud and stolen-election lies to foreign wars

Donald Trump launched into his speech by assailing “the fraudsters, liars … globalists and deep-state bureaucrats” that he said “are being sent back”.

“We’re draining the swamp and restoring government by the people for the people,” he said before going on to his oft-repeated claims of Washington DC being controlled by a “sinister group of radical-left Marxist warmongers”.

Continue reading...

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner refused to sign memo saying Trump was not antisemitic, book says

Pair declined to give public endorsement of Trump in wake of 7 October attacks, All or Nothing by Michael Wolff reveals

Donald Trump’s Jewish daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, refused to sign a statement saying Trump was not antisemitic, according to a new book by the veteran Trump tell-all author Michael Wolff.

“As he kept seeming to be incapable of offering absolute support for Israel in the wake of October 7,” Wolff writes, referring to the deadly 2023 attacks by Hamas, “Trump, not for the first time, turned to Jared for Jewish cover, explicitly asking him and Ivanka for a public endorsement.

Continue reading...

Mitch McConnell won’t seek Senate re-election in 2026

Republican Kentucky lawmaker formally announced his retirement in a Senate floor speech on Thursday

Senator Mitch McConnell announced he will not run for re-election next year, bringing an end to a decades-long career for a Republican leader who marshaled his party through multiple administrations with a singleminded focus on power that enraged his critics and delighted his allies.

The Associated Press broke the news of McConnell’s retirement on Thursday, which marked the Republican senator’s 83rd birthday. McConnell formally announced his retirement in a Senate floor speech on Thursday.

Continue reading...

Reagan-era Republicans aghast as Trump turns Russia policy on its head

Officials who served in 1980s say Trump is opposing friends and supporting enemies: ‘It makes me sick what’s going on’

Republicans who served under President Ronald Reagan during the cold war have condemned Donald Trump’s move to soften relations with Russia and undermine the 75-year-old transatlantic alliance.

European leaders were left reeling last week when the US vice-president, JD Vance, told the Munich Security Conference that the greatest danger facing Europe was “the threat from within” and the “retreat from fundamental values”.

Continue reading...