Republicans are digging in on their push for a partisan voting requirements bill as they aim to combat Democratic demands to reform immigration enforcement.
But they face a minefield of internal division over how to get the legislation through both chambers of Congress.
The House is scheduled to vote next week on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act — or the SAVE America Act — which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and presentation of ID to cast a ballot. |
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There are some limits, even for President Trump — or so it seemed on Friday.
The latest furor began late Thursday night with a social media post from the president. The post amplified a flagrant and undeniably racist clip of former President Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama.
The firestorm that followed was intense and broad, drawing scorching condemnations from Democrats and liberals and unusually stark criticism from some Republicans. |
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President Trump on Friday said he "of course" condemns a since-deleted racist video posted on his social media account depicting former President Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes, but declined to apologize for the post.
Trump told reporters on Air Force One while heading to Palm Beach, Fla., that he "just looked at the first part, it was about voter fraud, some place, Georgia, there was a lot of voter fraud, 2020 voter fraud, and I didn't see the whole thing." He said that "somebody didn't" see the whole video and posted it.
When asked if he condemned the racist portion of the video, he said, "Of course, I do."
But when pressed about whether he should apologize, the president said "no," adding that he "didn't make a mistake" having the video posted, again saying he saw the beginning of it "and it was fine." |
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A notable number of Republican lawmakers broke sharply with the White House on Friday after President Trump posted — and later deleted — a video on social media that included a clip of former President Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama depicted as apes.
Republicans have generally been careful about voicing criticisms of Trump, and Friday's episode began with a more typical partisan line, with Democrats quick to condemn the video as racist. But then Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) — a close Trump ally and the only Black Republican in the Senate — soon joined them, paving the way for others in his party to publicly disavow the post. |
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From an app on his phone, the Speaker of Ukraine's Parliament can monitor the plunging temperatures in his Kyiv apartment — the direct result of Russia's attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
While lobbying for more support for Ukraine in Washington, D.C., Ruslan Stefanchuk shows The Hill that it's only slightly above freezing in his kitchen and bathroom. More than 1 million Ukrainians are in the same situation, enduring a record cold winter without heat, water and electricity as swarms of Russian missile and drone attacks pound away at Ukraine's energy and power plants.
"This looks particularly cynical when Russia is using the winter weather, sometimes during such strikes the temperature falls below the record lows of the recent decades — that's negative 7 degrees Fahrenheit," Stefanchuk told an audience at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington on Friday. |
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The Department of Justice (DOJ) said it will begin allowing lawmakers to review the unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files starting Monday in the wake of criticism that the administration has improperly shielded the identities of various people.
"I am writing to confirm that the department is making unredacted versions of the more than 3 million pages of publicly released documents available for review by both houses of Congress starting Monday," Assistant Attorney General Patrick Davis wrote in a letter to all 535 members that was obtained by The Hill. Lawmakers will be able to review the files in a reading room at the Department of Justice. While they are not permitted to bring electronic devices, they may take notes. |
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Former President Clinton on Friday called for a public hearing after he and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said they will testify as part of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
His call for a public hearing comes a day after Hillary Clinton did the same. She is scheduled to testify on Feb. 26, followed by the former president the next day. Both have called on Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) to also have their depositions recorded on video. "I will not sit idly as they use me as a prop in a closed-door kangaroo court by a Republican Party running scared," Bill Clinton wrote on the social platform X. "If they want answers, let's stop the games & do this the right way: in a public hearing, where the American people can see for themselves what this is really about." |
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President Trump has struck a new deal increasing beef imports from Argentina despite facing push back from Republicans and allies in the agricultural sector.
Argentina's foreign ministry said in a statement the agreement was signed Thursday and grants "an unprecedented expansion of preferential access for Argentine beef to its market by 100,000 tons." The country's foreign ministry added that the agreement will ensure an additional 80,000 tons of beef from Argentina can enter U.S. markets by 2026 in addition to the 20,000 tons already allowed. This will amount to an increase of $800 million in Argentine beef exports to the U.S. |
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Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) announced Friday he will retire at the end of his term, becoming the 30th House Republican to not seek reelection in an indication of what will be a difficult midterm year for the GOP.
"Serving the people of Nevada has been the honor of my lifetime. Nobody is prouder of our Nevada Congressional District than me. Thank you for the honor. Every achievement worth doing began with listening to Nevadans and fighting for our values," Amodei said in a statement. "I came to Congress to solve problems and to make sure our State and Nation have strong voice in the federal policy and oversight processes. I look forward to finishing my term. After 15 years of service, I believe it is the right time for Nevada and myself to pass the torch," Amodei said. |
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OPINION | Tom Barrack has had one of the most thankless jobs in the second Trump administration — working to resolve a fragile post-conflict stabilization process in Syria in light of deep congressional skepticism about the Syrian Transitional Government headed by President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Because of al-Sharaa's past as a jihadi militant and notwithstanding his warm reception by President Trump, fears that the reintegration of the Syrian state under his leadership might go badly produce visceral reactions for many in Washington. Such concerns have led to increasingly pointed criticism of Trump's Syria envoy, Barrack, out of fear for the safety of Kurds and other minorities. They have also led to moves in Congress to reimpose sanctions on Damascus. |
OPINION | Less than a year out from the 2026 midterm elections, people are feeling the effects of Republican control in Washington and what it means for their everyday lives — and it's not good.
Things are too expensive. The middle class is being left behind. Costs on everything from utilities to groceries are too high, and people are being forced to make tough decisions. After gutting Medicaid and slashing food benefits, Republicans in Washington have let health care premiums skyrocket for nearly 1 million North Carolinians. |
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Hours after an immigration agent fatally shot Renee Good inside her S.U.V. on a Minneapolis street last month, a senior federal prosecutor in Minnesota sought a warrant to search the vehicle for evidence in what he expected would be a standard civil rights investigation into the agent's use of force.
The prosecutor, Joseph H. Thompson, wrote in an email to colleagues that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, a state agency that specializes in investigating police shootings, would team up with the F.B.I. to determine whether the shooting had been justified and lawful or had violated Ms. Good's civil rights. |
BY DAVID LUHNOW, KIM MACKRAEL AND BERTRAND BENOIT |
In a world increasingly shaped by two unpredictable great powers—the U.S. and China—the world's middle powers are boosting cooperation in areas from trade to security in a bid to ensure they don't become roadkill in the new world order.
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney has emerged as one of the biggest proponents of cooperation among a range of countries including Canada, most of Europe, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, Brazil, Turkey and others. |
BY ALI SWENSON AND JEFF AMY |
President Trump 's second term has presented an array of opportunities for political opponents, from immigration crackdowns and lingering inflation to attacks on independent institutions and friction with overseas allies.
But many Democrats are staying focused on health care, an issue that was once a political liability but has become foundational for the party in recent elections. They insist their strategy will help the party regain control of Congress in midterm elections, and fare better than chasing headlines about the latest outrages out of the White House. |
Electricians are getting harder to find, and some construction projects are on hold. Smartphones are expected to get pricier for potentially years to come. And promising innovations are being starved of investment funding.
Those are just some of the domino effects from the technology industry's insatiable spending on artificial intelligence, which is diverting resources and attention from other sectors of the economy. |
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