Author: potus

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is eying a committee vote next week to kickstart a massive multi-trillion-dollar package to advance President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda. But first, Johnson needs to unify his small and fractious Republican majority before the House can even begin working on the bill.Johnson is eager to project imminent success as he faces pressure to get his ducks in a row from the GOP-controlled Senate, where the chamber’s budget committee plans to move forward next week with a dueling resolution that takes a different approach.But House Republicans are divided on the parameters of a party-line…

Montreal, Canada – Donald Trump has been in the White House for less than three weeks, but the United States president has already launched what many say is a concerted attack on the rights of migrants and refugees. The Republican leader has sent migrants to the notorious detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; pushed for more deportations; effectively banned asylum; and suspended the refugee resettlement programme. Trump has also used the threat of tariffs to pressure his country’s neighbours — Canada and Mexico — to enact harsher measures at their respective borders to stem irregular migration into the US. For Canadian…

President Donald Trump on Friday said he intended to fire some of the FBI personnel who worked on Capitol riot cases, asserting without providing evidence that some of them were “corrupt.””I will fire some of them,” Trump said, in answer to a reporter’s question at a news conference in Washington with the Japanese prime minister. He added: “We had some corrupt agents, and those people are gone or they will be gone, and it will be done quickly and very surgically.”No evidence has surfaced publicly of any misconduct by FBI personnel who investigated Jan. 6 cases, and the vast majority…

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, said negotiating with the United States was “unwise, unintelligent, and not honorable,” just days after President Trump said he was willing to revive negotiations with Tehran.But Mr. Khamenei stopped short of ordering Iran’s government, which for months has sent signals that it is interested in negotiations, not to engage with Washington. And though Mr. Khamenei made an unusual gesture last year of openness to talks, he has generally taken a publicly hostile posture toward Washington even while quietly allowing Iranian officials to negotiate.In comments on Friday, Mr. Khamenei argued that Iran’s previous experiences negotiating…

(The Center Square) – Colorado is slowly phasing out the last of its coal-fueled electrical power plants, even though they still generated a third of the state’s total in-state energy generation in 2023.The Colorado Department of Labor and Energy reports that 10 coal-fired units remain operational throughout the state. One of those 10 is scheduled to close by the end of this year, with the remaining nine units all set to close by the end of 2031.The department reports that the plants are closing for a “variety of reasons.”“The era of coal in Colorado appears to be ending, and that poses…

Vice President JD Vance’s White House portfolio is coming into sharper focus.President Donald Trump has tapped Vance, along with National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, to oversee a deal to sell and save TikTok, the Chinese social media company facing a ban in the U.S., two people familiar with the arrangement told NBC News.The assignment, first reported by Punchbowl News, tops a longer list of tasks Vance is tackling.His week began in his native Ohio, where, on the second anniversary of the toxic East Palestine train derailment, he committed the administration to completing cleanup efforts and defended Trump’s call for tariffs on…

(The Center Square) – Conflict over budget priorities is already growing in Michigan, just two days after the State Budget Office presented Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s executive budget to a joint House and Senate Appropriations Committee.While Democrats are applauding the fiscal year 2025-2026 budget recommendations, Republicans want more money for roads and infrastructure.“While I share Gov. Whitmer’s priorities: making the cost of living more affordable, our schools better, and our communities safer, I am not convinced that her plan will bring us closer to any of these goals,” explained state Rep. Ron Robinson, R-Utica. “We do not need more bureaucrats, we…

Employees package and sort express parcels at an e-commerce company on Nov. 1, 2024, around the Double 11 Shopping Festival in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province of China.Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday that puts a pause on his closing of the de minimis trade exemption, a provision commonly used by Chinese e-commerce companies Temu and Shein.The order states that de minimis will be restored for small packages shipped from China, “but shall cease to be available for such articles upon notification by the Secretary of Commerce to the President that adequate…

Members of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency team have obtained “administrator” email accounts at the Department of Education, just as President Donald Trump announced that the billionaire will soon be examining the agency closely.The rapid deployment of Musk’s aides across multiple agencies has raised concern from federal officials, lawmakers and watchdog groups that his team has gained access to sensitive information and is leading a purge of government workers.When NBC News asked Trump at a White House press conference Friday about allegations that Musk and DOGE’s widespread staff cuts might be unlawful, Trump defended the approach, noting that the…

(The Center Square) – Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, said on social media that President Donald Trump’s administration cutting off funding to the Solar for All program would lock Illinois out of more than $100 million for solar energy projects.State Rep. Chris Miller, R-Oakland, said his “fingers are crossed” that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s pause will halt Illinois solar projects.”The first thing that we need to clarify is there is no climate crisis, period. CEJA [Climate and Equitable Jobs Act] and all the related legislation to the green bad deal is a complete scam and a complete hoax. Ultimately,…