Judge fines Donald Trump $5,000 after post maligning court staffer is found on campaign website
Donald Trump has been fined $5,000 after his disparaging social media post about a key court staffer in his New York civil fraud trial lingered on his campaign website for weeks after the judge ordered it deleted.
Biden administration settles lawsuit over Trump-era migrant family separation policy
If the settlement is approved, the federal government would be prohibited from adopting a similar policy for the next eight years. Affected immigrants would be allowed to be in the country legally and receive work permits and other benefits.
White House: Improved surveillance caught Chinese balloon
U.S. officials say efforts ordered by President Joe Biden to strengthen defenses against Chinese espionage helped identify last weekโs spy balloon โ and determine that similar flights were conducted at multiple points during the Trump administration.
EPA finalizes water rule that repeals Trump-era changes
President Joe Bidenโs administration has finalized regulations that protect hundreds of thousands of small streams, wetlands and other waterways, repealing a Trump-era rule that federal courts had thrown out and that environmentalists said left waterways vulnerable to pollution.
FBI search at Trump Mar-a-Lago estate one of several probes
The FBI search of Donald Trumpโs Mar-a-Lago estate marked a dramatic and unprecedented escalation of the law enforcement scrutiny of the former president, but the Florida operation was just one part of one investigation related to Trump and his time in office.
Immigration judge union seeks recognition as top judge quits
The National Association of Immigration Judges has asked the federal government to restore its union recognition after the Trump administration stripped its official status and the systemโs chief judge resigned after two years on the job.
U.S. Supreme Court ruling limits EPAโs authority in regulating greenhouse gases
The high court said a cap on power plantsโ carbon dioxide emissions that forces a transition to other fuels may be a โsensibleโ solution to the climate crisis, but that Congress did not give the Environmental Protection Agency the broad authority to make such requirements. Texas was one of 17 states that joined in the suit.
Jan. 6 panel's 1,000 witnesses: From Trump aides to rioters
The House Jan. 6 panel has interviewed more than 1,000 people who were directly or indirectly involved in the U.S. Capitol insurrection as it's probed the violent attack and former President Donald Trumpโs unprecedented efforts to overturn his election defeat.
Accounting firm: Trump financial statements aren't reliable
The accounting firm that prepared former President Donald Trumpโs annual financial statements says the documents, used to secure lucrative loans and burnish Trumpโs image as a wealthy businessman, โshould no longer be relied uponโ after investigators said they found evidence he and his company regularly misstated the value of assets.
Kellyanne Conway memoir 'Here's the Deal' coming out May 24
Former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway has a memoir out May 24: โHereโs the Dealโ is billed by her publisher as a look beyond the headlines of the Trump administration and her family life, including her husband and prominent Trump detractor, George Conway.
2 Iranians charged with threatening US voters in 2020
Two suspected Iranian computer hackers have been charged in a broad campaign of election interference aimed at intimidating American voters during last yearโs presidential race and undermining confidence that the results of the contest could be trusted.
South Texas was already a political battleground. New maps could alter game plans.
With proposed maps out, U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, says he might switch to a neighboring district where U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, is retiring. The initial maps are also sure to impact decisions in regional legislative races.
US House votes to ease entry process for Afghan interpreters
The U.S. House of Representatives has easily passed legislation that would make it easier for Afghans who worked for the American military or NATO to relocate to the U.S. The bill, which drew bipartisan support, eliminates a requirement that special visa applicants get a medical exam before they leave Afghanistan.
U.S. Supreme Court rejects Texas-led lawsuit seeking to protect a Trump immigration policy
The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it wonโt hear a case filed by Texas and 13 other states that seeks to revive a Trump-era โpublic chargeโ immigration rule, stating they need an opinion from a lower court first.
President Biden unveils $2 trillon plan to reengineer US infrastructure
WASHINGTON โ President Joe Biden outlined a huge $2.3 trillion plan Wednesday to reengineer the nationโs infrastructure in what he billed as โa once-in-a-generation investment in Americaโ that would undo his predecessorโs signature legislative achievement โ giant tax cuts for corporations โ in the process. Biden hopes to pass an infrastructure plan by summer, which could mean relying solely on the slim Democratic majorities in the House and the Senate. โNinety-one Fortune 500 Companies, including Amazon, pay not a single solitary penny in income tax,โ Biden said. โWall Street didnโt build this country," Biden said. But we have to get it done.โAdDemocratic leaders embraced Bidenโs plan Wednesday.
As migrant apprehensions soar, Texas politicians jockey for air time to criticize โ or defend โ President Joe Biden
A group of asylum-seeking migrants' walked towards the border wall after crossing the Rio Grande into the United States from Mexico, in Penitas, Texas, on Friday. Credit: REUTERS/Go NakamuraSign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. Texasโ Republican and Democratic elected officials on Friday battled for camera time on the stateโs southern border as the Biden administration continues to come under fire as an ever-increasing number of undocumented immigrants are being apprehended. AdU.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who was among the Democrats in Carrizo Springs, said she was a child refugee who fled danger in Somalia to come to the United States. She said the migrant children in the Carrizo Springs facility told the members of Congress that they want to be treated with dignity and that they don't know who the current U.S. president is.
Pentagon looks to root out extremists targeting US troops
FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2021, file photo a violent mob of Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier at the Capitol in Washington. A top official compared the recruitment effort to that undertaken by international terrorist groups trying to lure the support of servicemembers. Military leaders are intent on developing training for troops that makes clear they should not get involved with such groups. Speaking to a small number of reporters at the Pentagon, Colรณn-Lรณpez said he is not aware of any specific coordination that has started between the Defense Department and law enforcement. And, as time goes on, he said that with more education, service members will identify and report extremist activities and comments more frequently.
Justices call off arguments over Medicaid work requirements
WASHINGTON โ The Supreme Court said Thursday it has called off upcoming arguments over a Trump administration plan to remake Medicaid by requiring recipients to work, agreeing to a request from the Biden administration. But the Biden administration already has decided preliminarily that work requirements do not fit with Medicaid's goal of providing health care to lower-income people. AdOther cases involved Trump administration immigration policies and a fight over unreleased portions of grand jury documents from special counsel Robert Muellerโs investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 elections. The high court had in December agreed to review lower-court decisions involving Arkansas and New Hampshire that found that the Trump administrationโs support for work requirements went beyond whatโs allowed by law. Arkansas had opposed the Biden administrationโs request that the cases be dropped.
GOP struggles to define Biden, turns to culture wars instead
President Joe Biden speaks with Mary Anna Ackley, Owner of Little Wild Things Farm, left, and Michael Siegel, Co-owner of W.S. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)WASHINGTON โ President Joe Biden and the Democrats were on the brink of pushing through sprawling legislation with an eyepopping, $1.9 trillion price tag. Other GOP efforts to define Biden as a radical or to attack his mental acuity also didn't resonate. Some Republicans argue it will simply take time for the GOP to organize against Biden, given the honeymoon period most new presidents enjoy. All the while, the Biden White House is underscoring its attempts at bipartisanship, putting the Republicans on the defensive for not signing onto the broadly popular COVID relief bill.
GOP struggles to define Biden, turns to culture wars instead
President Joe Biden speaks with Mary Anna Ackley, Owner of Little Wild Things Farm, left, and Michael Siegel, Co-owner of W.S. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)WASHINGTON โ President Joe Biden and the Democrats were on the brink of pushing through sprawling legislation with an eyepopping, $1.9 trillion price tag. Other GOP efforts to define Biden as a radical or to attack his mental acuity also didn't resonate. Some Republicans argue it will simply take time for the GOP to organize against Biden, given the honeymoon period most new presidents enjoy. All the while, the Biden White House is underscoring its attempts at bipartisanship, putting the Republicans on the defensive for not signing onto the broadly popular COVID relief bill.
Biden visits businesses to highlight changes to loan program
WASHINGTON โ President Joe Biden visited a hardware store in the nationโs capital Tuesday to highlight changes he made to the Paycheck Protection Program to benefit small businesses he says were overlooked by the Trump administration earlier in the coronavirus pandemic. Biden administration officials announced last month that for two weeks starting on Feb. 24, the Small Business Administration would only accept applications for the forgivable loan program from firms with fewer than 20 employees. The exclusivity period for small businesses ends Tuesday, with White House officials reporting that the effort led to a 20% increase in minority businesses and a 14% increase in women businesses receiving loans. The Biden administration also changed eligibility rules for the program. AdTrump administration officials argued the program primarily benefitted smaller businesses because a vast majority of the loans in the first months of the program were for less than $150,000.
Court raises bar for some immigrants to avoid deportation
FILE - In this Nov. 5, 2020 file photo, the Supreme Court is seen in Washington. The Supreme Court will take up challenges to controversial Trump administration policies affecting family-planning clinics and immigrants, even though the Biden administration has announced it is reviewing them. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON โ The Supreme Court on Thursday made it harder for longtime immigrants who have been convicted of a crime to avoid deportation. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the opinion for a 5-3 conservative majority that ruled against a Mexican citizen who entered the U.S. illegally and has lived in the country for 25 years. Not all criminal convictions inevitably lead to deportation, but Gorsuch wrote for the court that Pereida failed to prove he was not convicted of a serious crime.
Asylum seekers navigate new future in the U.S. after months in Mexico
MCALLEN, Texas โ Some asylum seekers have spent more than a year and a half living in tent cities in Matamoros, Mexico, during the Trump administration. The Trump administrationโs Remain in Mexico Policy forced asylum seekers to wait in distressed conditions for months at a time. The Biden administration has ended the policy, allowing thousands of asylum seekers to enter the country and move forward. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials report an increase in illegal border crossingsKSATโs Jonathan Cotto is in Mcallen, Texas talking to activist groups about the situation as it unfolds. Read also:Biden lifts Trump-era ban blocking legal immigration to USChild migrant facility reopened by Biden administration in South Texas draws criticism from immigration advocatesAdDemocrats consider piecemeal approach to immigration reform
Dozens of asylum seekers from tent camp in Matamoros, Mexico enter the US
SAN ANTONIO โ Asylum seekers who have been stuck in Mexico for moths during the Trump administration are slowly being allowed in the United States. Thousands of migrants were forced to wait in Mexico under the program known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) that was initiated in 2019. A spokesperson for the city of Brownsville said from Wednesday to Sunday, more than 270 asylum seekers were allowed into the city. But once the MPP was put in place, then those individuals were asked to remain in Mexico,โ Mendez said. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said there are approximately 25,000 people in the MPP program with active cases.
High court to weigh Puerto Rico access to US aid
WASHINGTON โ The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether it is unconstitutional to exclude people living in Puerto Rico from Supplemental Social Security Income. The administration argues that a pair of 40-year-old Supreme Court decisions already upheld the federal law that created SSI and excluded Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories from it. In recent months, a federal judge ruled that Puerto Rico residents should have access to other federal welfare benefits from which they have been excluded as well. A federal judge in Guam said residents of that Pacific island also should be able to collect SSI. AdA separate program, Aid to the Aged, Blind and Disabled, covers residents of the territories, but it has more stringent eligibility requirements and pays less generous benefits than SSI.