Politics

The Texas Tribune reports: The Texas House on Tuesday gave initial approval to a bill that would restrict protesting on college campuses. Republicans who support Senate Bill 2972 say it will prevent disruption and unsafe behavior seen during the pro-Palestinian demonstrations last year. Critics say the measure contradicts previous conservative efforts to protect free speech rights on Texas campuses and …

The Hill reports: The Trump administration is suing North Carolina and its State Board of Elections for failing to maintain an accurate voter roll. The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday announced the lawsuit, which accuses the state of not doing enough to prevent voter fraud after using a state voter registration form that did not require individuals to provide …

Austin’s NBC affiliate reports: A bill that would ban all products containing THC is headed to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk after the Senate late Sunday approved the House version of the bill advanced by the lower chamber last week. If the measure avoids Abbott’s veto pen, Texas’ $8 billion hemp industry and its estimated 50,000 jobs would be dissolved in …

Florida Politics reports: Denmark’s U.S. Embassy just hired Mercury Public Affairs to lobby on the nation’s behalf in Washington. White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles recently worked at the high-stakes public affairs group, serving as Co-Chair of the firm’s Florida and Washington offices. Wiles also ran President Donald Trump’s successful 2024 presidential campaign, and previously headed U.S. Sen. Rick …

New York City’s ABC affiliate reports: Charlie Rangel, a former congressman from Harlem who was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the lone surviving member of the “Gang of Four,” has died. He was 94. Rangel was elected to the House of Representatives in 1971 after defeating Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. He served in Congress for …

Politico reports: The executive director of the U.N. World Food Programme is urging that more aid be allowed into Gaza as Israel continues its renewed offensive on the territory. “Right now, we have 500,000 people inside of Gaza that are extremely food insecure, and could be on the verge of famine if we don’t help bring them back from that,” …

NBC News reports: As the Senate prepares to consider the sprawling domestic package that House Republicans passed last week, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said he thinks there are “enough” Republicans to “stop the process” in order to prioritize stronger reductions in spending and the national deficit. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the bill would add $2.3 trillion …

The Times reports: JD Vance takes pride in declaring himself to be a “Scots-Irish hillbilly at heart” but a trawl of genealogy records has found no evidence linking the US vice-president to Ireland. In an attempt to link Vance to Ulster, a DUP minister commissioned researchers to dig into the ancestral past of the controversial Republican Party politician. A glossy …

The Huffington Post reports: Senate Republicans aren’t on board with the tax and spending cuts their House counterparts passed Thursday. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said his conference would seek changes to the tax side of the bill and the Medicaid side as well. “We want to do things that are meaningful in terms of reforming programs, strengthening programs, …

Axios reports: The Democratic National Committee will vote in June on whether to hold a redo of the election of David Hogg and Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta as vice chairs, per a Thursday evening DNC meeting. Kalyn Free, a losing candidate in February’s vice chair race, says the two were elected under a flawed tabulation process, but Hogg alleges …

USA Today reports: First lady Melania Trump is getting a little help with the release of the audiobook version of her memoir: artificial intelligence. “I am honored to bring you Melania – The AI Audiobook – narrated entirely using artificial intelligence in my own voice,” Trump wrote in a post on X, along with a futuristic video. “Let the future …

Reuters reports: A monument to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin erected in Moscow’s metro is stirring debate, with some Russians welcoming it as a historical tribute, but others saying it’s a mistake to commemorate someone who presided over so much suffering. The life-size wall sculpture in Moscow’s Taganskaya metro station depicts Stalin standing on Moscow’s Red Square surrounded by a crowd …

The Daily Beast reports: Disney and ABC News have asked the hosts of The View to tone down their political rhetoric, multiple sources told the Daily Beast. Since President Donald Trump’s election in 2024, the panel of co-hosts on The View—Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sara Haines, Ana Navarro, Sunny Hostin, and Alyssa Farah Griffin—have consistently criticized Trump administration officials and …

The Associated Press reports: Two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington were shot and killed Wednesday evening while leaving an event at a Jewish museum, and the suspect yelled, “Free, free Palestine” after he was arrested, police said. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar identified the victims as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim. Lischinsky was a research assistant, and …

Variety reports: Bruce Springsteen, who has been fiercely criticizing the Trump Administration on a nightly basis on his European tour with the E Street Band, will release an EP from the opening night of the tour titled “Land of Hope and Dreams.” Recorded in Manchester, England on May 14, the EP features four songs and two of his introductions to …

CBS News reports: Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia died Wednesday, his family announced. He was 75 years old. Connolly’s death comes weeks after he announced that he would not seek reelection in 2026 and would be stepping back from his post as the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee because his cancer had returned. “It is with immense …

The Hill reports: The Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would eliminate federal taxes on tips, advancing with the help of Democrats a top campaign promise of President Trump. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) brought the bill to the floor with the expectation that it would be blocked, but Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) declined to. It passed via unanimous consent. …

NBC News reports: The Senate advanced a major cryptocurrency regulation bill Monday on a bipartisan vote two weeks after every Senate Democrat united to block it. The procedural vote on the GENIUS Act — which would establish the first regulatory framework for issuers of stablecoins, digital tokens pegged to fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar — was 66-32. Sixteen Democrats …

“States like New York and New Jersey and Connecticut and Illinois and California, are donor states, we regularly send billions of dollars more to the federal government than we get back in return. We are donor states! So we’re not going to be lectured by people who are actually in what has sometimes been referred to as taker states, who …

NBC News reports: Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor who more recently served in top posts at the Democratic National Committee and in former President Joe Biden’s White House and 2024 campaign, is running for governor of Georgia. She announced her campaign Tuesday morning, releasing a video on social media that recounts her upbringing and tight-knit family and criticizes …