US politics

US politics

The International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) at the Poynter Institute strongly opposes the Trump administration's recent decision to deny U.S. visas to European public officials and civil society leaders. This action, which includes the blacklisting of individuals for their professional contributions to information integrity, represents a disturbing departure from historic principles of free expression. These bans punish public servants and researchers and are antithetical to democratic values.

Sensitive details of around 4,500 ICE and Border Patrol employees-including almost 2,000 agents working in frontline enforcement-have allegedly been released by a Department of Homeland Security whistleblower following last week's fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good. The Jan. 7 killing of the mother by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has sparked nationwide protests and worldwide outrage, including among some DHS employees.

An independent investigation found that San Leandro Councilmembers Victor Aguilar Jr. and Fred Simon retaliated against Councilmember Xouhoa Bowen and engaged in gender-biased and abusive conduct following her vote to censure them in November 2024. This finding should concern every San Leandro resident. Disagreements are inevitable in public service, but retaliation, harassment and gender-based abuse are wholly unacceptable - especially from elected officials entrusted with serving the public.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that starting Feb. 1 he will deny federal funding to any states that are home to local governments resisting his administration's immigration policies, expanding on previous threats to cut off resources to the so-called sanctuary cities themselves. The video featured in the media player above is the ABC7 Los Angeles 24/7 streaming channel Such an action could have far-reaching impacts across the U.S., potentially even in places that aren't particularly friendly to noncitizens.

This script is based on a theory proposed by Bruce Ackerman, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale Law School. Ackerman's idea is laid out in his 1991 book We The People: Foundations, and is discussed in the second of his Oliver Wendell Holmes Lectures of 2006. It's gained prominence since the 2024 election and the wholesale assault on our governmental system by Trump.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that starting Feb. 1 he will deny federal funding to any states that are home to local governments resisting his administration's immigration policies, expanding on previous threats to cut off resources to the so-called sanctuary cities themselves. Such an action could have far-reaching impacts across the U.S., potentially even in places that aren't particularly friendly to noncitizens.

I worry about that Trump is looking for this kind of pandemonium to go on like you just described. So that he could declare martial law or something and also cancel the midterms,

And a ruling is very likely to break on predictable, ideological lines, 6-3, unless the case is handed back to a lower court. The Supreme Court gave a win to trans rights back in 2020, with the help of new conservative justice Neil Gorsuch, in the case which correlated employment discrimination based on both sexual orientation and gender identity with discrimiation "on the basis of sex," which is a violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Star Comes Out said the men were homeless and living under a bridge near the Little Earth housing complex in the East Phillips neighborhood in Minneapolis. According to Star Comes Out, when the tribe demanded information about the detained tribal members, federal officials told the tribe it would release information only if the tribe entered into an agreement with ICE. The tribe declined, saying such an agreement would violate its treaties with the U.S. government.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground.

A new union representing Portland City Council aides and operations staff filed an unfair labor practice (ULP) complaint against the city for alleged anti-union conduct from Councilor Loretta Smith's office. The complaint, filed January 13, alleges Smith retaliated against and fired a former aide due to his role in organizing the Council staff union. The aide, Adam Murray, worked as a policy staffer in Smith's office for about nine months until he was fired last week.

This bipartisan legislation makes clear that US taxpayer dollars cannot be used for actions that would fracture NATO and violate our own commitments to NATO, said Shaheen, who represents the state of New Hampshire, in a statement. This bill sends a clear message that recent rhetoric around Greenland deeply undermines America's own national security interests and faces bipartisan opposition in Congress, the Democratic senator said.

Potylo said federal agents in Minneapolis targeted him after the Portland arrest, calling the situation surreal. These guys are out to send a message, and yeah, if you get under their skin, they will target you. And you know what? Who gives a sh? I am representing marginalized people that don't have a fing voice in this country, man, he said. I do it for them.

Trump is trying to reverse his sagging approval ratings by brute force, leaning on populist instincts to deliver visible cost relief before November. The result: institutional stability and capitalist norms - like so much else in the Trump era - are increasingly subordinate to raw presidential power. Zoom in: Trump has denied knowledge of the Justice Department's criminal inquiry into Fed chair Jerome Powell, which is nominally focused on cost overruns from the central bank's renovation of its D.C. headquarters.

He also hinted at another round of action in Iran, a symptom of his growing affinity for military force. Another sign: Nigeria was the seventh country bombed in less than a year. Asked about guardrails to global power, Trump told the New York Times: "My own morality. My own mind. It's the only thing that can stop me." "I don't need international law," he added. "I'm not looking to hurt people."

In Washington, D.C., the U.S. Supreme Court includes, for the first time, a Black woman. In Multnomah County's Midland Library last week, visitors viewed a pair of shackles, a whip, and a Ku Klux Klan hood. The jarring juxtaposition kicked off Multnomah County Library's annual communitywide Everybody Reads program, which this year takes up Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's memoir, .

Gold keeps cranking higher with spot prices moving to a new all-time high a whisker off $4,640, while silver extended its parabolic rally to clear $90. Crude prices were at three-month highs with Brent (continuous) running into resistance at the 200-day moving average around $65.75, as flagged in yesterday's note. WTI spiked to $61.50 - as noted on Friday a clear break above $59 was likely to see a swift move toward the $60-61 area.

Donald Trump claimed victory on the economy after 12 months back in office on Tuesday, declaring it to be the greatest first year in history as many Americans express alarm over the cost of living. In a stream-of-consciousness speech at the Detroit Economic Club, the US president delivered his gold-tinted view of how the economy has fared on his watch. Prices were down, he claimed, despite official data showing otherwise, and productivity was smashing expectations.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said on Friday he would call for a one-year cap of 10% on credit card interest rates, arguing that consumers are being "ripped off" by rates that he said can be as high as 20% or 30%. Congress, not the president, has the power to implement such a cap. Similar proposals have previously stalled on Capitol Hill.

Tony, we have now the hottest country in the world, and a year and a half ago, our country was dead. We had a dead country. You wouldn't have a job right now. If she got in, you probably wouldn't have a job right now. Your boss, who's an amazing guy, might be bust, okay? Might be what? Dokoupil asked. Might be bust. I doubt it in his case, but you never know, Trump continued.

It also was and is devastatingly revealing about the foreign-policy apparatus of this White House. At the top, of course, is President Donald Trump, who makes his decisions based on caprice and ego rather than strategy or principle. Having spent years lambasting his predecessors for intervening in complex societies that they did not even understand, such as Iraq and Afghanistan, he has now decided possibly spontaneously during a press conference that the U.S. should run Venezuela.