Politics

“I’m still holding out hope that my fellow Republicans want to throw their support behind someone who has personal integrity, respects the rule of law, aims to unite rather than divide people and actually knows how to do the job well. Donald J. Trump’s signature professional achievement is as a reality television star and he’s lacking in every personal quality …

NBC News reports: Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie said Sunday that he has “no interest” in running for the recently indicted Sen. Bob Menendez’s seat if his presidential run is unsuccessful. “No, I have no interest in being in the United States Senate,” Christie, who’s running for the 2024 GOP nomination, told NBC News’ Kristen Welker on “Meet the …

“The American people don’t want a shutdown. From what I can tell, the Senate is ready to go. The administration is ready to go. House Republicans need to come to their senses and keep the government running. Look, Speaker McCarthy and the President made a deal. They made a deal earlier this summer. And by the way, it wasn’t an …

Axios reports: House Republicans are gearing up for one last attempt to pass a spate of party-line government spending bills before government funding runs out on Sept. 30. Top GOP lawmakers hope that passing the bills will put them in a stronger negotiating position with the Senate as they try to avert a government shutdown without touching off a right-wing …

ABC News reports: Congressman Andy Kim announced on Saturday he plans to challenge recently indicted Senator Bob Menendez to represent New Jersey in the U.S. Senate. “After calls to resign, Senator Menendez said ‘I am not going anywhere.’ As a result, I feel compelled to run against him,” Kim said. “This is not something I expected to do, but I …

The Associated Press reports: The White House on Friday directed federal agencies to get ready for a shutdown after House Republicans left town for the weekend with no viable plan to keep the government funded and avert politically and economically costly disruption of federal services. A federal shutdown after Sept. 30 seems all but certain unless Speaker Kevin McCarthy can …

USA Today reports: Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan says she hopes colleagues will adopt an ethics “code of conduct,” while a new report details a relationship between Justice Clarence Thomas and conservative political activists. New ethics rules would “go far in persuading other people that we were adhering to the highest standards of conduct,” Kagan said during a Friday speech …

The Texas Tribune reports: Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, a longtime Democrat, is now a Republican — turning Dallas into the largest city in the country with a GOP mayor. “Today I am changing my party affiliation,” Johnson wrote in an op-ed published Friday in The Wall Street Journal. “Next spring, I will be voting in the Republican primary. When my …

Reuters reports: Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan complained on Thursday that he was uncomfortable with the use of what he described as “LGBT colors” at the United Nations, which is decorated this week with bright colors promoting the Sustainable Development Goals. “One of the issues that bothers me the most … is that when entering the United Nations General Assembly, you …

Semafor reports: India said it would stop issuing new visas for Canadians, in the latest escalation of the diplomatic feud that began after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Narendra Modi’s government of being involved in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia. Indian journalist Rahul Kanwal described the move as a “diplomatic ballistic missile,” saying …

CNN reports: New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez was charged with corruption-related offenses for the second time in 10 years, prosecutors will announce Friday morning. Menendez and his wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, were indicted on bribery offenses “in connection with their corrupt relationship with three New Jersey businessmen,” the US attorney in New York tweeted. Prosecutors with the US attorney’s …

The Hill reports: Presidential candidate Nikki Haley criticized Trump’s foreign policy during a campaign stop in Portsmouth, N.H., on Thursday, saying he is “weak in the knees” on Ukraine policy. When asked how Trump will be remembered, she gave the former president several compliments, tip-toeing around being too overtly negative about the GOP primary’s frontrunner. But she also had her …

NBC News reports: Businessman Dave McCormick launched his Senate campaign in Pittsburgh on Thursday, most likely setting up a pivotal battle with Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., that could determine partisan control of the chamber. McCormick, who lost his previous Senate bid to Republican Mehmet Oz by less than 1,000 votes last year, enters the contest with broad support across the …

ProPublica reports: On Jan. 25, 2018, dozens of private jets descended on Palm Springs International Airport. Some of the richest people in the country were arriving for the annual winter donor summit of the Koch network, the political organization founded by libertarian billionaires Charles and David Koch. A long weekend of strategizing, relaxation in the California sun and high-dollar fundraising …

The Washington Examiner reports: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) circulated a proposal to reverse Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) relaxation of the Senate dress code. . Critics of the relaxation claim Schumer’s decision was to appease Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who is known for wearing hoodies and basketball shorts while on Capitol Hill. “The senator in question from Pennsylvania is …

Bloomberg News reports: Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds is signaling she is likely to endorse Ron DeSantis for president, a move that would give him the support of a popular conservative leader as he looks to close the gap against frontrunner Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the matter. Reynolds has so far remained neutral in the GOP primary but …

NBC News reports: The Senate on Wednesday voted to make Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. the nation’s top military officer, marking the first Pentagon confirmation since Sen. Tommy Tuberville put a hold on nominees to protest a Defense Department abortion policy. Brown was confirmed as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in an 83-11 vote. He will …

NBC News reports: Florida’s top law enforcement officials were repeatedly warned by their own staff that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ claim that the state’s crime rate is at a 50-year low — a message he often uses as part of his presidential campaign — was based on incomplete data that makes the accuracy of the claim impossible to verify. Despite those …

The Independent reports: Taylor Swift managed to drive record-breaking numbers to voter registration website Vote.org after urging her 232 million followers on Instagram to take action. On Tuesday (19 September), hours after the pop star, 32, called on her US fanbase to register to vote in honour of National Voter Registration Day, Vote.org’s communication director, Nick Morrow, announced that “our …

Philadelphia’s ABC affiliate reports: Pennsylvania U.S. Senator John Fetterman says if the United States House of Representatives can reach a deal to avoid a government shutdown, he’ll ditch his signature hoodie and shorts for a suit. Fetterman’s statement comes after the Senate adjusted its formal dress code, drawing ire from many Republicans, and as lawmakers debate how to avoid a …