Politics

CNN reports: The Trump-Vance transition team said Wednesday that several of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks and administration appointees “were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them” Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. “These attacks ranged from bomb threats to ‘swatting.’ In response, law enforcement and other authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety …

Courthouse News reports: Lancaster County District Court Judge Susan I. Strong said in an opinion Tuesday that medical marijuana opponents lacked evidence that the number of problematic petition signatures would have affected the outcome of the successful petition drive. Nebraska voters approved medical marijuana on Nov. 5. One of the initiatives, Initiative Measure 437, was approved by 71% of voters. …

Politico Playbook reports: Newly counted ballots last night put Democrat Adam Gray 182 votes ahead of GOP Rep. John Duarte in California’s 13th Congressional District, Gray’s first lead. It’s now the closest of three uncalled House races, with Democrat Derek Tran leading by 613 votes in California’s 45th and GOP Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks up by 800 in Iowa’s 1st. The …

The Raleigh News & Observer reports: North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Tuesday vetoed a Hurricane Helene relief bill that also included sweeping changes to the power and authority structures for several state leaders and agencies. Among several other changes, the Republican-drafted bill would strip the state’s next governor, Democrat Josh Stein, of the power to appoint members of the …

The Des Moines Register reports: U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley predicted that President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China will be used as a “negotiating tool” to put pressure on the three largest U.S. trade partners. Grassley has previously warned Trump that his tariffs could be damaging. He several times has cited the Hawley Tariff Act signed by …

The Associated Press reports: President Claudia Sheinbaum suggested Tuesday that Mexico could retaliate with tariffs of its own, after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened to impose 25% import duties on Mexican goods if the country doesn’t stop the flow of drugs and migrants across the border. Sheinbaum said she was willing to engage in talks on the issues, but said …

CBS News reports: Israel and the Iran-backed group Hezbollah appear set to halt the war that has killed almost 3,800 people in Lebanon over the last year and left about 16,000 others wounded. President Biden is expected to announce Tuesday that the U.S. helped secure a ceasefire in Lebanon, ending the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Under the deal, a …

NOTUS reports: When then-Congressman Mike Pence first argued in 2007 that Planned Parenthood should be stripped of all federal funding, it was seen as a niche position held by only the most strident anti-abortion lawmakers. But heading into 2025 — almost two decades later — Republicans say defunding the organization is one of their earliest priorities of the 119th Congress. …

The Times Of Israel reports: As Israel gears up to sign a US-brokered ceasefire with the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon, these are the key points of the deal that have been revealed so far, according to officials who have briefed the media. The deal that would end the fighting on the northern front calls for an initial two-month ceasefire …

Posted today to Trump’s Truth Social account: Jimmy Patronis, Chief Financial Officer for the Great State of Florida, has done a tremendous job as CFO, where he also serves as the State’s Fire Marshall, and as an important member of the Florida Cabinet. I hear that Jimmy is now considering launching a Campaign for Congress in Florida’s 1st Congressional District! …

“Our job is to look at the FBI background check and is to ask some questions to make sure they’re fulfilling the mission of the department. I am concerned with all these nominees, we do not have an agreement for FBI background checks. “As far as I know the transition committee has not made that agreement yet. This has been …

The Associated Press reports: Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte said Saturday she has contracted an assassin to kill the president, his wife and the House of Representatives speaker if she herself is killed, in a brazen public threat that she warned was not a joke. Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin referred the “active threat” against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to an …

Axios reports: White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan met earlier this week with Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), who President-elect Trump has appointed as his national security adviser, two sources with knowledge of the meeting said. The first meeting between Sullivan and his successor, who will inherit a set of spiraling crises around the world, took place even though the …

Politico reports: Trump has picked Brooke Rollins as his Agriculture secretary, after weeks of intense internal fighting over the role. Rollins served as director of the Office of American Innovation and acting director of the Domestic Policy Council during the first Trump administration. Since her time in the White House, Rollins has co-founded and helmed the America First Policy Institute …

Reuters reports: Trump has named Scott Bessent, a longtime hedge fund investor who taught at Yale University for several years, to be his treasury secretary, media reported on Friday. Wall Street has been closely watching who Trump will pick, especially given his plans to remake global trade through tariffs. Bessent has advocated for tax reform and deregulation, particularly to spur …

New York City’s ABC affiliate reports: The MTA, state and local transportation officials and the Federal Highway Administration have just signed the final document needed to legally begin congestion pricing on Jan. 5. The document, called the Value Pricing Pilot Program, was the final hurdle before implementation of congestion pricing could begin. However, there are still nine pending lawsuits against …

Politico reports: Florida will conduct a special election on April 1, 2025, to fill the House seat vacated by Matt Gaetz, kicking off a sprint among Florida Republicans to represent the deep-red district. On Friday morning, Gaetz said he did not plan to return to Congress but hasn’t announced what he’ll do next. It takes several months to fill the …

The Bergen Record reports: Jonathan Gomez-Noriega, a former aide to Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop [photo], is suing the gubernatorial hopeful for wrongful termination, retaliation and discrimination, after he said he was fired in August for supporting his sister, a Republican candidate. Gomez-Noriega was fired in August when news broke that he had donated $1,250 to his sister, Valentina Gomez, …

The Daily Beast reports: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), a MAGA darling and three letter initialism-haver, is poised to lead a new House Oversight Committee Subcommittee that will work with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s ‘DOGE’ commission to “eliminate government waste.” Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), a progressive darling and fellow three letter initialism-haver, is fine with that. “This is good, …

The New York Times reports: Senator Bob Casey, a three-term Democrat from Pennsylvania long seen as an institution in state politics, was defeated on Thursday by his Republican challenger, the former hedge-fund executive David McCormick, in a stunning upset in one of the nation’s top Senate races. Mr. Casey conceded on Thursday shortly before The New York Times called the …