Skepticism and backlash follow US deal with China’s ZTE

The United States had banned ZTE, a state-controlled Chinese smartphone maker, from buying American parts, saying it breached a 2017 deal in which it admitted to violating sanctions on Iran and North Korea. Most unusual, though, is a provision that will allow a US-appointed oversight team to keep tabs on the company from the inside.

House GOP in tentative deal to help ‘Dreamers’

House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas, answers questions from reporters as House Republicans try to bridge their party's internal struggle over immigration at a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 7, 2018. Top Republicans want to head off an election-year showdown that divides the party.

Sobering report teases out factors leading to suicides

All eyes are on Nevada Republican Sen. Dean Heller's re-election bid,... A pair of Democratic U.S. House seats that will be up for grabs in Nevada in November could be key to the party's effort to cut into GOP majorities in Congress. A pair of Democratic U.S. House seats that will be up for grabs in Nevada in November could be key to the party's effort to cut into GOP majorities in Congress.

Utah Rep. Mia Love in tight race with Democratic challenger, poll finds

A new poll in Utah shows Rep. Mia Love essentially tied with the Democrat she is likely to face in the general election this November. Love, a second-term Republican, led Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams 47 percent to 43 percent in the 4th District race, the Utahpolicy.com survey found.

Trump plan to cut $15B in spending squeaks through House

The House on Thursday only narrowly passed a White House plan to cut almost $15 billion in unused government money, a closer-than-expected tally on legislation that's designed to demonstrate fiscal discipline in Washington even though it wouldn't have much of an impact on spiraling deficits. The measure, which passed 210-206, would take a mostly symbolic whack at government spending because it would basically eliminate leftover funding that wouldn't have been spent anyway.

Immigration Debate Shines Spotlight On Divided GOP

Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., represents a district where 70 percent of his constituents are Hispanic and nearly half are foreign born. House Republicans huddled for hours Thursday morning in another attempt to find party unity on an issue that divides the GOP like no other: immigration.

Mortgage rates fall for the second week in a row

A Freddie Mac sign stands outside the company's headquarters in McLean, Virginia, U.S., on Tuesday, April 8, 2014. Senator Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat and a member of the Senate Banking Committee, said a bipartisan bill to replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is too complicated and doesn't do enough to address too-big-to-fail concerns or provide assistance for affordable housing.

Senate Judiciary votes 11 to 10 to forward Ryan Bounds’ 9th Circuit nomination to Senate floor

The Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday voted 11 to 10 along party lines to forward the nomination of Oregon assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Bounds for a vacancy on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to the Senate floor for confirmation. The vote followed recriminations by Democratic senators who accused Republicans of "gutting checks and balances,'' in their rush to stack the federal courts with conservative judges who are ideologically aligned.

Trump brings ZTE, sanctions-busting smart phone giant, back to life….

The Trump administration agreed Thursday to resurrect Chinese phone maker ZTE, in exchange for a $1 billion fine and a management overhaul meant to ensure the tech giant won't bust U.S. sanctions against Iran and North Korea again. The move was widely condemned in Congress, where lawmakers in both parties -- including Texas Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn -- had warned President Donald Trump not to cave to Chinese pressure or use the enforcement action against ZTE as a bargaining chip in trade talks.

Route 66 gets its signs

That highway "runs the entire width of Texas, and there's not one song that talks about Interstate 10," said Quandt, who is the vice president of Amarillo's Convention and Visitor Council. "Interstate 35 thinks it's pretty important, running up the central part of the state, but there's not one club in Germany or England celebrating I-35.

Democrats apparently did get shut out of one California congressional district

For all their worrying about Orange County, it could be San Bernardino County where Democrats are once again shut out of a congressional race. Unofficial results posted by the California Secretary of State on Wednesday, June 6 showed Republican Tim Donnelly leading Democrat Marge Doyle by 760 votes for second place in the 8th Congressional District, a sprawling district covering the High Desert, Lake Arrowhead and Crestline along with Inyo and Mono counties.

Euless’ first Muslim council member says goal wasn’t to win, but to…

Weeks before the May 5 election, Republican state Rep. Jonathan Stickland of Bedford published several Facebook posts describing Bhojani as "a dangerous man" and "a Muslim, lawyer and lifelong Democrat who supports raising your taxes." Some voters asked if he planned to bring Shariah law into Euless.

Trump administration will no longer defend the Affordable Care Act in court

The Trump administration declared that it will no longer defend the Affordable Care Act from a challenge filed by 20 states in a brief filed Thursday night because it agrees that the law's individual mandate is unconstitutional and that key parts of the act - including the provisions protecting those with pre-existing conditions - are invalid. President Trump has long declared the ACA, also known as Obamacare, to be a "disaster" and the brief is the latest attempt by his administration to weaken President Barack Obama's signature health-care law.

Voters wanted a revolution. How’d they get stuck with corrupt Bob Menendez? | Will Bunch

Will Bunch has worked at the Daily News for 20-plus years and is now senior writer. Since 2005, he's written the uber-opinionated, fair-but-dangerously unbalanced opinion blog "Attytood," covering a range of topics ; it's been named best blog in the state by the Associated Press Managing Editors and best blog in the city by Philadelphia Magazine.

Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney running for N.Y. attorney general Source: Cox Media Group

He's looking to fill a seat left vacant by Eric Schneiderman, who abruptly resigned last month after he was accused of abusing women he dated. Maloney, who was first elected in 2012, said he sees the race for the open attorney general seat as an opportunity he could not pass up - despite a crowded Democratic field of three women running for the party's nomination.

Pruitt aide resigns after she describes personal errands

Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt laughed off questions about whether he used his office to try to help his wife get a "business opportunity" with Chick-fil-A, while a close aide abruptly resigned amid new ethics allegations against her boss. Pruitt said in a statement Wednesday that his scheduling director, Millan Hupp, 26, had resigned.

House GOP in eleventh-hour attempt for immigration accord

In this May 16, 2018 file photo, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has a light-hearted exchange with reporters at the start of a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. House GOP factions will meet with Ryan to try to resolve a looming immigration showdown.

EPA head laughs off Chick-fil-A questions; senior aide quits

Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt laughed off questions Wednesday about whether he used his office to try to help his wife get a "business opportunity" with Chick-fil-A, while a close aide abruptly resigned amid new ethics allegations against her boss. Pruitt said in a statement that his scheduling director, Millan Hupp, 26, had resigned.