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President Donald Trump reached for poetry and conjured a vision of common national purpose Tuesday during his first address to Congress, shifting his tone from the dark, searing approach of his previous big speeches to the nation. Trump adopted a statesmanlike cadence, hitting notes of inspiration.
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Cory Booker , criticized by supporters of Bernie Sanders for opposing efforts to allow imports of prescription drugs, has joined forces with the Vermont senator and former Democratic presidential candidate on the issue. Booker and Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Senate Democrats, agreed on drug importation legislation that both could support.
Facing a fierce backlash after she called historically black colleges and universities "real pioneers" of school choice, Betsy DeVos, the education secretary, spent Tuesday afternoon backtracking on the controversial statement and highlighting the institutions' roots in racism and segregation. DeVos, in a series of Twitter posts on Tuesday and in remarks at a luncheon with presidents from some of the schools, repeatedly acknowledged that the schools were not created simply to give African-Americans more choices but because black students across the country were not allowed into segregated white schools.
Bill Ayers first achieved notoriety as a leading voice in 1960s radical-left groups such as Students for a Democratic Society and the Weather Underground. Now 72, he's spent his life involved in activism, particularly eduction reform, while teaching at the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Speaking on Fox News Wednesday, Rubio said Democrats are aghast at current efforts by the Trump administration to deport illegal immigrants. But he said that attitude is going to hurt any effort by the federal government to crack down on illegal immigration and pass reform that can help the country.
From compromise on immigration to a renewed focus on economic growth, lawmakers latched onto presidential comments that lined up with their own political agendas. Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree said she felt "encouraged to hear President Trump touch on several things tonight where we can find agreement, including rebuilding our country's infrastructure, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, strengthening trade, and finding compromise on comprehensive immigration reform."
President Donald Trump said he believes that Barack Obama is riling up protesters against his administration and that his predecessor's "people" may be the source of unflattering national-security leaks to the news media. "I think he is behind it.
The Senate on Monday confirmed billionaire investor Wilbur Ross as commerce secretary, helping President Donald Trump fill out his economic team. Ross has said the Trump administration will work quickly to redo the North American Free Trade Agreement, the pact with Canada and Mexico that has boosted trade but still stings laid-off workers across the Midwest.
Republicans confronted a conservative rebellion in their own party Tuesday over their long-promised plans to repeal and replace the health care law, and they beseeched President Donald Trump to settle the dispute. "He's the leader on this issue right now; he's the one that's got to hold us together," said Rep. Dennis Ross of Florida as he left a meeting during which, he said, Republican leaders urged the rank and file to "stay strong" on the issue and told them: "'Now is not the time to back down.'
Last week White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer predicted "greater enforcement" of the federal ban on marijuana in the eight states that have legalized the drug for recreational use. This week Attorney General Jeff Sessions, an old-fashioned drug warrior who thinks "good people don't smoke marijuana," seemed to confirm Spicer's warning, telling reporters, "We're going to look at it...and try to adopt responsible policies."
Barack and Michelle Obama have signed a deal to publish their memoirs with New York-based Penguin Random House, in a coveted contract reportedly worth tens of millions of dollars. He has frequently declared himself to have a "writer's sensibility" and has said he does not want to write a conventional blow-by-blow account of his time in the White House.
Just five weeks into Donald Trump's presidency, Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham have already proven to be major headaches for the new President. While many of their Republican colleagues in Congress have worked to make inroads with the new administration, hoping to capitalize on GOP control over two branches of government, the two senators have repeatedly broken with the White House.
President Donald Trump's plan to impose sharp cuts to foreign aid and domestic programs is running into opposition on Capitol Hill - and that's just from his Republican allies. Trump's proposal to slash the foreign aid budget by more than one-third, for example, came in for criticism from the Senate's top Republican, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Those were among questions from members of the Senate Intelligence Committee during Tuesday's confirmation hearing for Coats, who was part of the panel before leaving office in January.
Since the Memphis Mayor's race of 2015 became about how best to build a larger Memphis Police Department , the discussion has always had an element of controversy to it on a larger scale than a head count of who has a badge. The police retention bonuses announced by the city this week with a four-year Crime Commission grant of $6.1 million comes with a call for yet another freeze of the city's deferred retirement option program.
If Hillary Clinton had won the presidency last year, Tom Perez, the freshly elected Democratic National Committee chair, might well be entering his second month running her Justice Department. Instead, Perez was welcomed into his new job on Saturday by jeering progressive activists, who for the second time in a year, saw their preferred pick to lead the party defeated after a protracted and unexpectedly feisty campaign.
President Donald Trump's first address to Congress gives him a welcome opportunity to refocus his young administration on the core economic issues that helped him get elected - and, his allies hope, to move beyond the distractions and self-inflicted wounds that have roiled his White House. Trump's advisers say he will use the speech to declare early progress on his campaign promises, including withdrawing the U.S. from a sweeping Pacific Rim trade pact, and to map a path ahead on thorny legislative priorities, including health care and infrastructure spending.
Methodist pastor Keary Kincannon participates in a rally opposing President Trump's immigration agenda outside Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia, on Feb. 16, 2017. Photo courtesy of GBCSUMC Many of the guests invited by Democrats to President Trump's address to Congress were picked to showcase opposition to the president - and in particular what many consider his hostility to immigrants.
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says she expects to meet face to face Wednesday with members of U.S. President Donald Trump's government as she continues a visit to Washington, D.C. "I'm not going to get into specific names until those meetings are finally confirmed, but, yes, we do anticipate meeting with people in the Trump administration," Notley said Tuesday in a conference call from the U.S. capital. Trump is contemplating changes to the trade relationship with Canada, including a new border tax.
With his image projected upon a huge screen, U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, in Oxon Hill, Maryland, U.S., February 24, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque) Donald Trump gets a chance to put the rocky start to his presidency behind him on Tuesday night with a speech to the US Congress where he will lay out his plans for the year including a healthcare overhaul and military buildup.