Author: potus

Lawmakers vote to send articles of impeachment against Duterte to the Senate for trial.Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte has been impeached by the lower house of Congress after lawmakers, many of whom are allies of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, signed a petition to remove her from office. While specifics have not been divulged, the impeachment vote on Wednesday follows a string of complaints accusing Duterte of crimes ranging from the misuse of public funds to plotting Marcos’s assassination. Duterte has consistently denied wrongdoing and has described moves against her as a political vendetta. “Having been filed by more than one-third of…

Tech giant says in updated ethics policy that it will use AI in line with ‘international law and human rights’.Google has dropped a pledge not to use artificial intelligence for weapons or surveillance in its updated ethics policy on the powerful technology. In its previous version of “AI Principles”, the California-based internet giant included a commitment not to pursue AI technologies that “cause or are likely to cause overall harm”, including weapons and surveillance that violates “internationally accepted norms”. Google’s revised policy announced on Tuesday states that the company pursues AI “responsibly” and in line with “widely accepted principles of…

Announcement comes as US President Donald Trump confirms he is considering eliminating the aid agency.The administration of United States President Donald Trump has ordered nearly all directly-hired staff of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to be placed on leave as part of the Republican’s drive to radically shrink the government. USAID said on Tuesday that all direct hire personnel would be put on leave from Friday, apart from “designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs”. USAID personnel posted overseas will be recalled from their postings within 30 days, the agency said in a…

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded to criticism Tuesday after he announced that Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele had offered to accept deportees from the U.S. of any nationality, as well as violent U.S. citizens currently serving time in American prisons.”That’s an offer President Bukele made. Obviously, we’ll have to study it on our end,” Rubio said Tuesday afternoon while speaking to reporters in Costa Rica, the third stop of his first foreign trip as secretary of state. “There are obviously legalities involved. We have a Constitution, we have all sorts of things, but it’s a very generous offer.”The administration…

(The Center Square) — Tuesday was crossover in Virginia’s legislature, the last day the chambers can consider their own legislation.From Wednesday on, the House of Delegates can only consider Senate bills and vice versa.Democratic MajorityThe session has progressed much like last session. Democrats have used their majorities in both the House and Senate to push through partisan legislation. But Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has shown that he isn’t afraid to use his veto pen.The Washington Post reported in 2017 that former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe had “vetoed more bills than any governor in Virginia history.” But in 2024, the first General…

The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee is asking the Trump administration to do some explaining about U.S. citizens who were caught up in recent immigration enforcement actions.Following up on a report by NBC News, Rep. Jamie Raskin, House Judiciary Committee ranking member, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a subcommittee ranking member, asked for an accounting of immigration enforcement actions since Jan. 20 involving U.S. citizens.The request was made in a letter signed by Raskin, D-Md., and Jayapal, D-Wash., whose subcommittee oversees immigration. It was sent Tuesday to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Caleb Vitello, Immigration and Customs Enforcement…

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee raised concerns Tuesday that law enforcement agents from agencies like the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are being diverted from their regular duties to help President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.“This all-consuming focus on rounding up immigrants is not an efficient use of the Department’s resources,” Reps. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Lucy McBath, D-Ga., said in a letter to the Justice Department on Tuesday. “We hired and trained these law enforcement officials to handle extremely important and sensitive tasks essential to the safety and security of our nation,” said the letter to…

Throughout the 2024 U.S. presidential election campaign, observers spent much time puzzling over why voters seemed to be so unhappy with the economy, even when macroeconomic data—and most economists—suggested that the economy was historically strong. The United States was growing at nearly 3 percent (faster than it had for decades); unemployment (at under 4 percent) was at historic lows; the stock market was at a record high after the best two consecutive years this century; manufacturing jobs were coming back, and inflation—which had surged during the COVID-19 pandemic—was back down to near target levels. The U.S. economy was in many…

The Trump administration is careening down a path of attempting to merge the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) with the State Department, two entities that have operated as connected, but separated, agencies for decades. With the knives out on global aid worldwide, a merger is looking more and more likely. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed on a trip to El Salvador that he is now USAID’s acting administrator, and Elon Musk announced early on Monday morning that President Donald Trump has “agreed” that USAID should be shut down in the wake of a massive and unprecedented aid freeze…

(The Center Square) – On Wednesday, a joint House and Senate Appropriations Committee will hear Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s fiscal year 2025-2026 budget recommendations.Over the past week, the Democratic governor has laid out her funding priorities. These will include job creation, addressing price gouging and funding programs like free school lunches and universal Pre-K.The fiscal year 2024-2025 budget was passed last July and totaled $82.5 billion, including a general fund total of $15 billion. The budget has been steadily increasing every year over the past few decades, with the largest growth happening since the COVID-19 pandemic.In Michigan, the governor has the…