List of All Articles with Tag 'politics'

All charges have been dropped against a US Secret Service employee and driver for former first lady Michelle Obama who was charged with criminal harassment and witness intimidation, according to his attorney.

Jamie Dimon is arguably the most powerful person in corporate America. Dimon has built a banking empire at JPMorgan Chase and his advice is sought by presidents, prime ministers and central bankers.

The Justice Department announced a lawsuit Wednesday against West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice's coal empire, seeking more than $5 million in unpaid civil penalties and fees.

An agreement to raise the debt ceiling would expand the age bracket for eligibility for food assistance, adding a punitive and unnecessary barrier for poor Americans with only negligible savings for the federal government, advocacy groups have warned. Most Americans with low or no incomes who qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) must comply with certain work requirements to be eligible to receive funds to help pay for groceries. But under a deal struck between President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, adults up to age 54 would be required to show proof of work. Republican lawmakers have pushed for years to expand those work requirements, but anti-poverty advocacy groups and progressives have argued that adding any such limitations to critical aid will only deepen hunger and poverty in the US, pointing to Congress’ own research showing that work requirements don’t appear to have any measurable effect on employment. “SNAP is a symptom of shortcomings in the economy,” Luis Guardia, president of the Food Research & Action Center, said in a statement. “Cutting off food for people unless they document sufficient hours of work does not improve their chances to secure family-sustaining wages, but does increase their food hardship.” In simple terms, a congressional vote to raise the debt ceiling would allow the US Department of Treasury to continue borrowing money to pay the country’s bills. But Republican lawmakers have leveraged the often routine though critical vote process to advance their agenda, as the nation stares down an imminent deadline that risks putting the US in default. “While we all recognize the catastrophic impact of a default, we are deeply disappointed that this deal includes cuts that further harm people experiencing hunger and poverty,” said Lisa Davis, senior vice president of Share Our Strength and its No Kid Hungry campaign. “As a whole, the punitive and ineffective SNAP changes included in this bill will save the US very little money,” she added. “They will also do nothing to remove barriers to make employment more attainable or available for those they impact. Nor are they based on evidence or experience. Instead, they are born from and rely on pervasive myths and misperceptions about SNAP and the people who benefit from the program and stand only to restrict food assistance for some Americans.” Republicans hold a fragile majority in the House of Representatives, where Mr McCarthy is relying on a slim margin of support from a far-right caucus that argues the cuts don’t go far enough. Meanwhile, progressive lawmakers – frustrated with the GOP’s “hostage crisis” process for negotiating a debt deal – strenuously object to stiffening work requirements and cuts to aid programs on which millions of Americans rely. Democratic US Rep Pramila Jayapal, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, will not support the debt plan, pointing to members who are “deeply, deeply concerned” about the proposals and the way in which Republicans threatened to steer the US into default to get GOP concessions. On a call with reporters on 30 May, Ms Jayapal compared Republicans’ threats on the debt limit to the party’s attempts to undermine the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. “We cannot have these constitutional obligations, including the very clear mandate to pay the country’s debts, as well as of course to ratify an election of a president that was voted upon by the democratic process ... taken hostage,” she said. The Biden administration has touted some new proposals in the deal as a victory: Military veterans, young people who have aged out of foster care, and people experiencing homelessness would be exempt from the SNAP work requirements. But “burdensome reporting requirements and bureaucratic red tape leave little confidence that this will outweigh the harmful expansion of these requirements for others in this category,” Ms Davis said in a statement. The nation’s largest food assistance program supported more than 42 million people in February, according to the latest data from the US Department of Agriculture. More than 65 per cent of SNAP recipients are in families with children, 36 per cent are in families with members who are older or disabled adults, and 41 per cent are in families that work, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. SNAP requires “able-bodied adults” without dependents to work or join job training programs for at least 80 hours a month to receive more than three months of benefits over three years. “SNAP’s primary objective is to help people put food on the table; any attempt to turn it into an employment program – particularly when extensive research shows that work requirements actually make it much harder, not easier, for people to find and keep jobs – runs contrary to the program’s mission and intent,” said Eric Mitchell, executive director of the Alliance to End Hunger. “In a time when food insecurity is rising and food prices remain high, we should be expanding our nation’s social safety net, not restricting it,” he added. The maximum monthly SNAP benefit for an individual is $281, “which makes the 80-hour work program route effectively the same as a job that pays $3.51 per hour,” or less than half the federal minimum hourly wage of $7.25, People Policy Project’s Matt Bruenig noted. Progressive lawmakers and advocacy groups have also lambasted the debt deal for tying the fate of federal programmes for some of the poorest Americans to a politically volatile debate. What happens for someone over 50 years old who is unable to work and is cut off from assistance? How can they navigate a difficult labour market rife with age discrimination? Anti-poverty advocates and critics of so-called “means-testing” structures around receiving government aid have argued that adding additional burdens for work requirements underscores their futility. “We shouldn’t be playing politics with programs that help Americans meet their basic needs,” Ms Davis said. Anti-hunger groups have also objected to other changes to other assistance programs for lower-income-earning Americans, including changes to a federal cash assistance program that House Republicans had previously threatened with drastic cuts. “Hungry people cannot wait – but now they will need to wait even longer,” Mr Garcia said. “Our leaders should be creating pathways to progress, not pulling out the rug from those trying to get back on their feet.” Read More Debt ceiling vote – live: AOC, Boebert and Gaetz join growing opposition as Biden-McCarthy deal faces full House vote today What’s in the cliffhanger deal struck by Biden and McCarthy to raise the debt limit? House Republican majority cut by one after shock resignation of congressman

Two Senate Democrats want the Biden administration to take another look at whether airplane seats are too cramped.

If passed into law, the bipartisan debt ceiling deal will dash any hope borrowers might have that the federal student loan payment pause would be extended for a ninth time.

Watch live as Hakim Jeffries, minority leader of the House of Representatives, and other Democrats hold a news conference ahead of a vote on the US debt ceiling on Wednesday evening (31 May). The House is due to vote on a bill to lift the government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, a critical step to avoid a destabilising default that could come early next week without congressional action. Republicans control the House by a narrow 222-213 majority, meaning the bipartisan deal - agreed days ago - will need support from both Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s Republicans and Joe Biden’s Democrats to pass. Mr McCarthy has predicted that the vote will succeed. “It’s going to become law,” he told reporters. Meanwhile, Mr Biden took to Twitter to outline what failure to pass the bill could mean for America. “Our bipartisan budget agreement prevents the worst possible crisis: a default for the first time in our nation’s history – an economic recession, retirement accounts devastated, and millions of jobs lost,” he wrote. Read More Biden and McCarthy’s debt ceiling deal expected to go to full House vote today – live Australian Parliament takes step toward holding a referendum on Indigenous Voice this year Why Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment fight isn't finished yet

FBI Director Christopher Wray is scheduled to speak Wednesday with House Oversight Chairman James Comer and Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley regarding a dispute over an internal law enforcement document that Republicans believe will shed light into an allegation that then-Vice President Joe Biden was involved in a criminal scheme with a foreign national.

A lawyer for a Texas man urged the Supreme Court late Tuesday to let stand a lower court opinion that

Zimbabwe's national elections will take place on Aug. 23, the country's president announced Wednesday. The vote is expected to be another closely watched affair in a country with a history of violent and disputed elections. The announcement through a government gazette also set Oct. 2 for a presidential runoff vote if required. Opposition parties have already made allegations of violence and intimidation against their supporters in the buildup to the elections, and human rights groups have said President Emmerson Mnangagwa is silencing criticism. The southern African nation has only had two leaders since it gained independence from white minority rule in 1980. Robert Mugabe led Zimbabwe for 37 years until he was removed and replaced by Mnangagwa in a coup in 2017. Mnangagwa had served as a vice president under Mugabe. The last general election was held in 2018, nearly a year after the coup. Once a close ally of Mugabe, Mnangagwa, 80, has tried to present himself as a reformer despite accusations that he is even more repressive than the man he helped remove from power. Mnangagwa is expected to face a strong challenge from Nelson Chamisa, the 45-year-old leader of the main opposition party, Citizens Coalition for Change. Chamisa narrowly lost to Mnangagwa in 2018, with the Constitutional Court dismissing his claims of election rigging. Apart from the presidency, the election will also decide the composition of the 300-seat parliament and close to 2,000 local council positions. Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF ruling party and the government have denied allegations of violence and intimidation by ruling party activists and security forces. But rights groups have accused Mnangagwa’s government of intimidation and of suppressing any criticism and opposition amid a currency crisis and a sharp rise in food prices. Zimbabwe has faced severe economic problems for years and has been under U.S. sanctions for two decades over human rights abuses. Mugabe died in 2019. Chamisa said this week he is ready for the election, but has made allegations of voting roll irregularities. Compounding that, Chamisa said his party is at a disadvantage because Mnangagwa and ZANU-PF control state–run media and hold sway over the police, other security forces and the judiciary, which are used to clamp down on dissent. On Wednesday, Fadzayi Mahere, spokeswoman for the Citizens Coalition for Change, tweeted: “No govt that’s popular & knows it’s winning behaves like this. They’re terrified cause, like all of us, they know that ZANU PF can never win a free & fair election in Zimbabwe." "That’s why they’re trying to stitch & doctor the voters’ roll but it won’t work. People want change.” Opposition parties had accused Mnangagwa of delaying announcing a date for the election that must take place before the end of August. Mnangagwa's announcement came a day after Zimbabwe's foreign ministry summoned the United States’ deputy ambassador over a series of tweets the embassy sent calling for a peaceful election. The ministry accused the embassy of “election-related social media posts bordering on activism and meddling in Zimbabwe’s internal affairs.” Deputy Ambassador Elaine French was called to a meeting with Zimbabwe foreign affairs acting permanent secretary Rofina Chikava on Tuesday following the posts on the U.S. Embassy's official Twitter account. The Zimbabwe foreign ministry said it had a particular issue with a May 26 tweet that called for Zimbabweans to “Register to vote and make sure your voice is heard.” Another tweet from the embassy said “Zimbabwe’s constitution grants citizens the right to choose their representatives in legitimate, credible, & peaceful elections.” The foreign ministry said the tweet urging people to register to vote was against diplomatic protocols. “We stand by our recent social media posts calling for peace during the election season," U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Meg Riggs said in a statement. “Elections are a part of a functioning democracy.” ___ More AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Zimbabwe releases prisoners in amnesty, reducing overcrowding AOC warns Elon Musk is ‘testing waters’ to interfere in 2024 election Nevada Republican governor approves abortion protections in rare cross-party move

Manchin helped secure a provision to approve all remaining permits for the Mountain Valley Pipeline and shield the project from further litigation.

The Manhattan District Attorney's office is arguing that former President Donald Trump's criminal case involving hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels should not be moved to federal court because it had nothing to do with Trump's official duties as president.