US politics

US politics

Contractors would confirm home and work addresses for people targeted for removal by-among other techniques-photographing residences, documenting comings and goings, and staking out workplaces and apartment complexes. Those filings cast the initiative as a substantial but limited pilot program. Contractors were guaranteed as little as $250 and could earn no more than $90 million each, with the overall program capped at $180 million. That structure pointed to meaningful scale but still framed the effort as a controlled trial, not an integral component of ICE's removal operations.

The 70th and final conviction in a sweeping New York City corruption probe was secured on Tuesday, concluding a decade-long bribery scheme in which public housing employees steered work to contractors in exchange for bribes. The arrests in February 2024 were the largest single-day bribery takedown in the history of the U.S. Justice Department, prosecutors said, and targted current and former employees of the New York City Housing Authority, many of them former supervisors.

"All orders, lawful orders are presumed to be legal by our service members. You can't have a functioning military if there is disorder and chaos within the ranks," Leavitt said.

And it left little doubt that the most important gains Trump made between his 2020 defeat and his 2024 win were not among young voters or Black voters or white working-class voters, but among Latino voters: In 2020, Joe Biden won Hispanic voters by 25 percentage points, and Hispanic voters supported Hillary Clinton by an even wider margin in 2016. But Trump drew nearly even with Kamala Harris among Hispanic voters, losing among them by only 3 points.

The figures suggest that Americans are increasingly wary of high costs and sluggish job gains, with perceptions of the labor market worsening, the survey found. Declining confidence could pose political problems for Trump and Republicans in Congress, as the dimmer views of the economy were seen among all political affiliations and were particularly sharp among independents, the Conference Board said.

I know for a fact that Zelensky has said many times that he's been grateful. The people of Ukraine are grateful for our help. But he tends to blame Ukraine for Russia's invasion. I don't get it. And so I do not have confidence. The president has periodically said the right things, but more often that seems to waver back into the Russian camp, the invader camp. That's why I think the House and the Senate need to take the lead here.

The lengthy pledge states in part that the CFPB's "goal is to work collaboratively with the entities to review entities' processesfor compliance and/or remedy existing problems," and the agency "is doing so by encouraging self-reporting and resolving issues in Supervision, where feasible, instead of via Enforcement." CFPB Union president Cat Farman inquired: "Is this fan fiction I'm reading? What's next, 'Russell Vought Tells CFPB Examiners to Serve Tea to Their Wall Street Masters in Tiny French Maid Aprons'?"

The United States has unveiled visa restrictions against an unnamed Haitian government official for alleged ties to the country's gangs. But while the US did not identify the official, one has since stepped forward: Fritz Alphonse Jean, a member of Haiti's transitional presidential council. On Tuesday, Jean spoke to The Associated Press news agency, saying he was targeted with visa restrictions and denying the US government's allegations as false.

He joked about sending the turkeys to an infamous prison in El Salvador that has been used to house migrants deported from the United States. He said the birds should be named Chuck and Nancy after Democratic stalwarts Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi but I would never pardon those people. Trump claimed that last year's turkey pardons, issued by President Joe Biden, were invalid because he used an autopen. Where's Hunter? he said, suggesting that his predecessor's son could once again face legal jeopardy. And all of that was before Trump turned his attention to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat who has resisted the White House's plans to deploy the National Guard in Chicago. Trump said he had a joke prepared about Pritzker, but I refuse to talk about the fact that he's a fat slob. I don't mention it.

He used an autopen last year for the turkey's pardon[s], so I have the official duty to determine, and I have determined last year's turkey pardons are totally invalid, Trump said, drawing some laughs from the assembled crowd. The president then moved on from clowning Sleepy Biden to his son, Hunter Biden. As are the pardons of about every other person that was pardoned, other than, uhh, where's Hunter? Trump said, drawing a couple more chuckles. No, Hunter's was good.

The 20 largest civilian federal agencies collectively spent 63% less money in October 2025 - during the government shutdown - compared to October 2024, according to reported spending data pulled from the Federal Procurement Data System by Deltek in mid-November. Reported spending at some large agencies, including NASA and the departments of State and Energy, declined by 84% or more compared to October 2024.

An attorney for Justice and his wife, Cathy, entered into a joint motion for consent judgment with the federal government Monday, the same day that the government filed a lawsuit saying that the couple "have neglected or refused to make full payment" for the income taxes dating to 2009. An attorney for the U.S. Justice Department's tax division signed off on the agreement.

When we ask readers what they would change about Streetsblog San Francisco, the top result is always the same: they'd like to see more coverage. More coverage of transit agencies and elected boards, more coverage outside of the major Bay Area cities of San Francisco and Oakland, and of course more coverage of their favorite mode of transportation. And we'd love to do all of that, but the reality is it's just not possible to cover everything with one full-time editor.

The US Department of Defense on Tuesday awarded Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) a 10-year, $931 million contract to bring cloud conveniences, like unified management and multi-tenancy, to the US military's most sensitive datacenters. The Distributed Hybrid Multi-Cloud contract, awarded by the DoD's Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), will see the deployment of HPE's Green Lake Private Cloud offering across its IT footprint.

This is a major problem. And one of the many reasons why these ridiculous side shows and secret meetings need to stop. Allow Secretary of State Marco Rubio to do his job in a fair and objective manner.

Fox News anchor Bret Baier pressed Trump Secretary of Energy Chris Wright on prices that are increasing or only moderately abating, asking when Americans will begin to feel different about costs. Trump has been fighting a battle over affordability since the Election Day bloodbath, insisting concerns over prices are a con job, and repeatedly claiming he's already solved the issue. A raft of new polls show Trump getting clobbered on the economy a potential indication voters aren't convinced he's particularly expert on the issue.

While he has been more reluctant than some presidents to put US troops in harm's way, Trump has dismissed checks on his use of military force, saying, "We're just gonna kill people." As US forces continue to engage in illegal attacks on boats in the Caribbean and with the growing threat of direct US military intervention in Venezuela, you might be wondering, "What happened to Trump's promises to avoid foreign military entanglements?"

Kelly is at least as qualified to lead the Pentagon as other recent appointees, and would probably be an easy addition to any future Democratic administration's shopping list for senior defense or national security roles. (He was also short-listed to be Kamala Harris's running mate in 2024.) A Navy pilot, Kelly flew 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm. He has a uniform heavy with awards, including medals with the combat "V," a special addition that denotes valor and heroism.

URGENT Two days ago I was contacted by a high-ranking employee of the French Government. After determining this person's position and proximity to the French couple, I have deemed the information they gave me to be credible enough to share publicly in the event that something happens. In short, this person claims that the Macrons have executed upon and paid for my assassination. Yes, you read that correctly.

SW: Yuri, Yuri, here's what I would do. My recommendation. YU: Yes, please. SW: I would make the call and just reiterate that you congratulate the president on this achievement, that you supported it, you supported it, that you respect that he is a man of peace and you're just, you're really glad to have seen it happen. So I would say that. I think from that it's going to be a really good call.