Politics

The Hill reports: Former first lady Michelle Obama will launch a podcast with her brother, Craig Robinson, the Obamas’ media company, Higher Ground, announced Monday. Obama said the “IMO” podcast will be a space to have “thoughtful conversations about life,” according to Higher Ground. “With everything going on in the world, we’re all looking for answers and people to turn …

ABC News reports: Democrats want to force President Donald Trump’s administration to rehire veterans who were laid off as part of large-scale efforts by Trump and Elon Musk to reshape the federal government and its workforce, ABC News has exclusively learned. Sens. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Andy Kim of New Jersey plan to introduce the Protect Veteran Jobs Act …

“Well, first, just to set the stage for this, I want to make it clear that Republicans control the House, Republicans control the Senate, and they, of course, control the White House. If there is a government shutdown, it will be because Republicans want one. That’s number one. Number two, we are already in a government shutdown or at least …

The New York Times reports: Amid a generational crisis in Canada’s relationship with the United States, the Liberal Party of Canada on Sunday chose an unelected technocrat with deep experience in financial markets to replace Justin Trudeau as party leader and the country’s prime minister, and to take on President Trump. Mark Carney, 59, who steered the Bank of Canada …

The Guardian reports: Israel is to cut off any remaining electricity supplies to Gaza in an apparent attempt to ramp up pressure on Hamas amid increasingly chaotic multi-track negotiations over the fragile ceasefire in the territory. Humanitarian officials in Gaza contacted on Sunday afternoon said they thought the only functioning desalination plant would be forced to shut down, reducing the …

South Carolina’s The State reports: With the United States Supreme Court having rejected his final appeal, Brad Sigmon will be executed by firing squad Friday barring last minute clemency from South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster. It will be the first time that a person in South Carolina has been executed by firing squad and only the fourth time a person …

Axios reports: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and his leadership deputies said Friday they will not lend their support to the stopgap spending bill being proposed by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). Democrats are holding out for language that will restrict Trump and DOGE from being able to slash government programs already authorized and funded by Congress. House Democrats from across …

The Hill reports: In letters exclusively provided to The Hill, AARP’s senior vice president of government affairs Bill Sweeney addressed leaders of the House Energy & Commerce Committee and Senate Finance panel. “More than half of all the funds for long-term care in America come from Medicaid. As our country gets older, and as millions of Baby Boomers continue to …

Politico reports: Pete Buttigieg met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer last week to discuss a possible Senate bid in Michigan, according to two people familiar with the meeting and granted anonymity to describe private conversations. The former Transportation secretary is still undecided about a Senate run in his adopted home state, according to five people familiar with the situation. …

The Texas Tribune reports: Six years after Texas lawmakers inadvertently triggered the state’s booming consumable hemp market, one chamber of the Legislature is pushing to shut down the industry by barring products that contain THC. Yet even with the backing of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the powerful Texas Senate leader, the proposal to ban THC faces uncertain prospects in the …

Houston’s ABC affiliate reports: Sylvester Turner, the former mayor of Houston who won election last November to fill late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee’s seat in District 18, has died, ABC13 learned Wednesday morning. He was 70. Turner served two terms as mayor of the City of Houston after being elected in 2016. His tenure ended last January. Ten months later, …

USA Today reports: First lady Melania Trump today made her first public comments against the publication of non-consensual sexually explicit images at a roundtable on Capitol Hill on Monday, a day before she joins President Donald Trump for his first joint congressional address of his second presidency. The remarks are in support of the Take it Down Act, which was …

Axios reports: Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that voting to approve Rubio’s nomination in January was “a mistake.” “I think a lot of us thought that Marco Rubio was going to stand up to Donald Trump” on issues like Russia’s years-long war in Ukraine, Murphy said. “I thought when Donald Trump decided to …

“This week started with administration officials refusing to acknowledge that Russia started the war in Ukraine. It ends with a tense, shocking conversation in the Oval Office and whispers from the White House that they may try to end all U.S. support for Ukraine. “I know foreign policy is not for the faint of heart, but right now, I am …

The BBC reports: Israel has blocked the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza as it demands Hamas agree to a US plan for a ceasefire extension. The first phase of the ceasefire expired on Saturday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Hamas had so far refused to accept a temporary extension under a proposal by Donald Trump’s envoy, …

The Middle East Eye reports: Draft legislation could see “biological sex” written into law in Turkey and the “promotion” of LGBTQ rights criminalised. The Turkish penal code would mandate that a “person who publicly encourages, praises or promotes attitudes and behaviours contrary to the biological sex at birth and public morality shall be sentenced to imprisonment of one year to …

Gothamist reports: A state panel is exploring whether former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s law license should be in jeopardy for his alleged sexual harassment of women. The previously undisclosed probe by the Attorney Grievance Committee in New York’s Third Judicial Department is still in its early stages, but it could eventually result in the suspension or disbarment of Cuomo, a licensed …

The Guardian reports: Hungary’s Budapest Pride should be held in a “closed venue” this year rather than on a city centre avenue as in previous years, the prime minister Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff has said, citing child protection. The plan, announced on Wednesday, appeared to be part of Orbán’s restrictions on the activities of the LGBTQ+ community as the …

The New York Times reports: Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, who rose from relative obscurity to become the Democratic nominee for vice president last year, will not run for his state’s open Senate seat in 2026 and will instead begin the process to seek a third term as governor, his spokesman said Wednesday. “Governor Walz is not running for the …

The New York Times reports: Speaker Mike Johnson revealed on Monday why Representative Elise Stefanik of New York has yet to have her confirmation vote to serve as ambassador to the United Nations: He cannot afford to lose another Republican vote in the House. Mr. Johnson is under pressure this week to hold his fractious conference together to pass a …