US politics

US politics

Driving the news: Late Wednesday, Magistrate Judge Lindsey Vaala denied the FBI's petition for a warrant to search the smartphone owned by the suspect in the case, a 66-year-old retiree named Barbara Wien. The Justice Department plans to appeal, a source told Axios. The FBI wants to examine Wien's phone to see if she lied to investigators or was part of a group that might pose a risk to Miller and his family.

Zoom out: The economy, in a lot of ways, is just fine. Growth is robust, inflation is a fraction of what it was not that long ago, and the labor market is, for now, in a (tenuous) equilibrium. Yes, but: The vibes are awful and getting worse. The thing that doomed Democrats in 2024 hasn't gotten particularly better since. Corporate layoffs are at a 22-year high.

It's been almost 10 months since former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, her partner Andre Jones, David Duong and his son, Andy, from California Waste Solutions, were indicted in a federal bribery and corruption case. From the start, their lawyers attacked the government's key witness. Sheng Thao's attorney, Jeff Tsai said, "The case is built on allegations from an unknown co-conspirator that we believe when the evidence is revealed will show my client has committed no crimes."

If we lose the midterms, if we lose 2028, some in this room are going to prison myself included. They're not gonna stop. They are getting more and more and more radical. And we have to counter that. And what do we have to counter it with? We have to count it with more action, more intense action, more urgency. We're burning daylight.

When Americans see Donald Trump slumped in a chair in the Oval Office today, appearing to nod off during a presentation on prescription drug costs, it's fair for folks to wonder, does he appear to care much about what I have to pay at the pharmacy? Hayes said, before showing Harnik's photo of Trump. It shows the passed-out man being tended to off to the right as Trump, who is standing behind the Resolute Desk, has his back turned to the scene.

President Donald Trump rattled off some false claims to dismiss the idea that Americans are paying more at the grocery store. The president hosted several Central Asian leaders in the East Room of the White House on Thursday night, where he took questions from reporters. At one point, Fox News White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich asked the president for his reaction to a federal judge's ruling just hours earlier.

Viktor Orban will visit the White House on Friday as Hungary's far-right prime minister tries to broker another summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin that Orban's advisers claim could help end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Orban, who has proposed hosting the summit in Budapest, will also seek an exemption from US sanctions against Russian energy in what will be a major test of Trump's tougher line on the Kremlin after he accused Putin of slow-rolling negotiations to end the conflict.

All three of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices who sought reelection Tuesday will get another term, ensuring Democratic jurists keep their majority on the presidential battleground state's highest court - one at the center of pivotal fights over voting rights, redistricting and elections. The result shapes the makeup of the seven-member court through the next presidential election in 2028. The three justices had been elected as Democrats, and voters were deciding whether to extend the court's Democratic majority.