US politics

US politics

Every day on this program, we try to address the talk of the nation, the most important, the most compelling stories, like landmark Supreme Court decisions, civil war in Syria, climate change, politics and tough times. On our last day, we think it's appropriate for you to set the agenda. Call, tell us: What's the talk of the nation? It might be a big international story you've been following for weeks, or a local news event that has your neighborhood abuzz.

the White House released the text of a sprawling executive order allegedly designed to ensure the integrity of U.S. elections. It demanded that states share their voter rolls with federal officials; mandated onerous proof-of-citizenship rules for people registering to vote (rules which didn't include drivers' licenses as valid forms of ID for this purpose); threatened local and state officials who didn't cooperate with this power grab with legal sanctions; and ostensibly outlawed the counting of any mail-in ballots received after Election Day.

Catch up quick: Trump issued an executive order Saturday directing the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission to establish task forces on anti-competitive behavior in the food supply chain. The order specifically directs them to look at "whether control of food-related industries by foreign entities is increasing the cost of food products in the United States or creating a national or economic security threat to Americans." The task forces are expected to brief congressional leaders within six months.

From President Donald Trump's first full month returning to office in February through August, federal immigration judges in San Francisco and Concord denied 54% of the 4,019 asylum cases they decided, according to the latest data from University of Syracuse's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a nonpartisan research center that collects and analyzes immigration court data. During the previous seven months, when Joe Biden was president, the courts rejected 26% of 3,355 cases.

The government continues to reach into her life, and prevent her from taking advantage of her educational program, cutting off career opportunities for her,

(J. Scott Applewhite for AP) Hope Walz, the daughter of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), lambasted President Donald Trump on Saturday, saying the president's cult members have been f*cking disgraceful to her and her family, ever since Trump recently called the governor seriously retarded. The president calling my dad what he did has unleashed a f*cking sh*tstorm, regarding, like, offensive language towards me, and my family, and specifically my brother, Hope Walz said in a searing TikTok video on Saturday.

Things are very different now, which might explain why major cuts to PBS to NPR, enacted this summer, haven't generated much news now that they're actually working their way through the system. But they're very top of mind for PBS CEO Paula Kerger, who instituted a 21% budget cut following the clawbacks. She's been spending a lot of time looking for donations to shore things up. She is also still holding out hope that Congress can be convinced to restore the funding.

Donald Trump may walk away from the Ukrainian war, the US president's oldest son has said in comments to a Middle East conference. In a lengthy tirade against the purpose of continued fighting in Ukraine, Donald Trump Jr also said Ukraine's corrupt rich had fled their country leaving what they believed to be the peasant class to fight the war.

Something about living under those bright lights and napping in 20-minute increments appears to warp even the most ordinary cravings. Over the centuries, commanders-in-chief have often clung to comfort food with a kind of desperate loyalty - odd sandwiches whipped up in the dead of night, condiments used with such abandon they veer into performance art, or entire meals consumed with the single-minded fervor of a man attempting to outrun his own briefings.

This is a great evening, it's a great honor, Trump said. And I'm delighted to welcome to the Oval Office the world-famous, most famous office in the world, most powerful office in the world our truly exceptional 2025 Kennedy Center honorees. Trump said the honorees inspired, uplifted and unified millions and millions of Americans, calling them the most accomplished and renowned class of Kennedy Center honorees ever assembled.

In the US, voters can register to vote in elections as an "independent," as opposed to a Republican or Democrat. Of course, there's little practical reason to go independent, because the two parties have had a stranglehold on US politics since the era of Civil War reconstruction. Yet as Independent Center senior advisor Adam Brandon , AI could be just the tool to shake things up.

The big picture: Homeland Security officials started broadcasting a plan to target sanctuary jurisdictions from the start of President Trump's second term. This has put local leaders - because of the law, past litigation and public sentiment - directly at odds with Trump's mass deportation campaign. Driving the news: Homeland Security officials are getting a cold shoulder from local leaders as they decamp to New Orleans for "Operation Catahoula Crunch."

continues to work with partners around negotiations,

All asylum procedures were suspended indefinitely "until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible," Joseph Edlow, director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), posted on X. Further restrictions have since been imposed on nationals from 19 countries. These include entry bans and the suspension of all immigration applications and naturalizations. The granting of permanent residence and work permits, known as green cards, has also been suspended for people of the nationalities in question.

What does that actually look like? I guess I'm just having a hard time picturing, and I think a lot of people will have a hard time picturing what that looks like for a police officer to intervene in with federal, you know, immigration enforcement and what that would entail, what it would look like, Daniels said on Saturday after reading O'Hara's comment.

Mr. Dickinson criticizes the East Bay Times for never publishing anything positive about the current president. I have no doubt the East Bay Times will publish such a story if and when such a situation occurs. The Times did report on the president's efforts in getting to a ceasefire and hostage release regarding the war in Israel and Gaza. Other than that, I honestly can't point to anything positive the president has done, especially given all his campaign promises of lowering prices and only deporting the "worst of the worst."

Kalshi and Polymarket maintain their platforms offer "event contracts" between private parties that should be regulated like commodities rather than traditional gambling subject to state oversight; an argument that has received pushback from government officials, NBC Chicago said. Companies like Kalshi and Polymarket should "package sports betting as events contracts" to circumvent established gaming regulations, state attorneys general claimed in a lawsuit in June.

The West Virginia national guard soldier who was wounded in the 26 November shooting that killed a colleague of his in Washington DC is slowly healing, according to West Virginia's governor. Andrew Wolfe, 24, was shot alongside fellow West Virginia national guard soldier Sarah Beckstrom, 20, while they patrolled the US capital as part of the Trump administration's push to deploy military members on to the city's streets. Beckstrom died of her injuries the day after she was shot while Wolfe was hospitalized

The deadline for extending the Affordable Care Act subsidies is approaching this month. This is happening even as consumers who depend on the ACA Marketplace are faced with the tough decision. Should they forego health plans that will no longer be affordable for them once the subsidies expire or hope that Congress will reach a bipartisan agreement to extend the subsidies until workable alternatives can be hashed out and approved?

WEBSTER SPRINGS, WV. In West Virginia, many of the thousands of bridges spanning mountain valleys and gorges are named for local veterans and on Main Streets in small towns, banners feature hometown soldiers, some of whom fought and died in past conflicts. It's a state with one of the country's highest per-capita populations of veterans. Service in the military including the various branches of the National Guard has long been seen not just as a patriotic duty, but as an economic lifeline.

I have no doubt the East Bay Times will publish such a story if and when such a situation occurs. The Times did report on the president's efforts in getting to a ceasefire and hostage release regarding the war in Israel and Gaza. Other than that, I honestly can't point to anything positive the president has done, especially given all his campaign promises of lowering prices and only deporting the worst of the worst. His administration has been nothing but cruel and heartless decisions affecting millions of hard-working people who need economic help, health care, food, education and protection from ICE.

Republicans - who control the Senate and the House - joined Democrats in seeking answers from the Defense Department after The Washington Post reported last week that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had given a verbal order before the strike to kill all of the boat's crew members. But as of Friday evening, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Mike D. Rogers (R-Alabama), his counterpart inthe House, have yet to signal how they will proceed.

I'm a wartime speaker in a real sense, Johnson told Varney. It's not the most enjoyable job in the world, but I do love what we're doing. I love the team I work with. We have a unified Republican Party. If we didn't, Stuart, we would not have delivered on all the things we have this year. There's much more ahead of us, and this team is excited about it.

President Donald Trump has promised not only that America will be 'great again' but also that it will be ' healthy again,' ' wealthy again,' ' beautiful again,' and-crucially-' affordable again.' Now, as the country faces persistent inflation, a housing crisis, and rising prices on consumer goods, he claims that affordability is nothing more than a 'con job,' an opportunistic buzzword leveraged by a rival party. 'The word affordability is a Democrat scam,' he said during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

I couldn't decide where to start today, but since we've been reading about Pete Hegseth ordering U.S. military personnel to make sure every person aboard those boats in the Caribbean are killed, let's start with him. No, we're not discussing the war crimes and murders taking place in the islands. We're talking about "Scouting America," née Boy Scouts of America, who have reimagined themselves as an organization that not only welcomes gay men and boys, but also opens its arms to girls and transgender kids.

One way or another, U.S. debt will stop expanding unsustainably, but the most likely outcome is also among the most painful, according to Jeffrey Frankel, a Harvard professor and former member of President Bill Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers. Publicly held debt is already at 99% of GDP and is on track to hit 107% by 2029, breaking the record set after the end of World War II. Debt service alone is more than $11 billion a week, or 15% of federal spending in the current fiscal year.

On Friday, a federal judge ordered Google to limit all default search and AI app contracts to one year, a setback for the long-term deals that have helped cement the company's dominance on billions of devices. The ruling, detailed in a December 2025 judgment, requires Alphabet's Google to renegotiate every default-placement agreement annually, including lucrative deals with Apple's iPhone and manufacturers like Samsung.