Joe Biden

Pope Francis is offered up strong criticism against America's conservative bishops for their attacks against President Joe Biden, a devout Catholic, over his stance on abortion. The Roman Catholic Church opposes abortion, among many other acts, but U.S. bishops have singled out Biden's pro-choice policy and are moving to refuse him the holy sacraments, such as communion, as punishment for it.

"What must the pastor do?" Francis, The New York Times reports, said when a reporter asked him about President Biden and abortion. "Be a pastor, don't go condemning. Be a pastor, because he is a pastor also for the excommunicated."

Donald Trump is worried about a Saturday rally in support of those arrested during the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters seeking to overturn the election.

"Mr. Trump, aides said, has little interest in engaging with the protest and has no plans to be anywhere near Washington on Saturday," The New York Times reported Wednesday. "Instead, his schedule includes a golf tournament at his Bedminster, N.J., club before he heads back down to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, according to people familiar with his schedule."

The coronavirus pandemic in Utah was downplayed this week by a Republican lawmaker, who received a fact check from the state's largest-circulation newspaper.

"A Utah Republican lawmaker made an inaccurate claim that the shortage of ICU beds in Utah hospitals was not because of the COVID-19 pandemic but partly because of bad business decisions" The Salt Lake Tribune reported Wednesday. "Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield made the comment during a hearing on what lawmakers could do to thwart President Joe Biden's vaccine mandate for businesses. Ray was riffing on whether people should be required to be vaccinated."

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki defended Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley on Wednesday.

During a White House press conference, Psaki was asked if President Joe Biden would listen to Republicans who are calling for Milley to resign after he reportedly worked to prevent former President Donald Trump from starting a nuclear war with China.

The rich donors Robert and Rebekah Mercer reportedly used a front group called the Donors Trust to funnel nearly $20 million to a shadow group.

CNBC reported that a new 990 form filing revealed that the wealthy family funneled the hefty donation to their foundation that hasn't spent any money since Trump's first election.

One of the most powerful federal judges in the United States is scheduled to appear at an event with a professor who is accused of helping former President Donald Trump to incite a riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Senior Judge for the Ninth Circuit Carlos Bea, 87, is expected to accept an award at The Claremont Institute's 2021 Constitution Day Symposium. Professor John Eastman, who spoke at Trump's Jan. 6 rally, is also scheduled to attend the event.

Countless Republicans, terrified of the MAGA movement, have been afraid to criticize anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers — even though the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, has killed more than 4.6 million people worldwide. But Rep. William M. Marsh, who serves in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, is not one of them. On Tuesday, September 14, Marsh announced that he was leaving the GOP and becoming a Democrat because of the New Hampshire Republican Party's anti-vaxxer position.

In an official statement, Marsh announced, "I cannot stand idly by while extremists reject the reasonable precautions of vaccinations and masks. And so, I have reluctantly changed my party affiliation. I urge others to consider what is happening and come to their own conclusions."

This week, an anti-mask county commissioner in western Michigan suggested President Joe Biden would be committing treason if he implemented vaccine mandates, when confronted by local reporters from Fox 17 News.

Muskegon County Commissioners on Tuesday afternoon passed a resolution stating that the county will not mandate vaccines and will not ask businesses to comply with such mandates. But Fox 17 News noted that "the resolution has no legal authority and cannot work against current vaccine requirements proposed by the Biden administration."

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough said the results of California's failed recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom should be seen as good news for Democrats heading into next year's congressional midterm elections.

The county-by-county results largely mirrored Democratic wins in last year's presidential election, and the "Morning Joe" host said they should take comfort in those numbers ahead of the 2022 voting.

Arizona on Tuesday became the first US state to file suit against President Joe Biden's Covid vaccination mandate for federal employees and businesses with more than 100 employees.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, announced the filing of the suit against what he described as an "unconstitutional" move by the Democratic president.

Joint Chiefs chairman Mark Milley can expect to face hostile questioning when goes before Congress on Sept. 28 after a new book revealed his behind-the-scenes maneuvering to minimize national security risks from Donald Trump in the final days of his presidency.

Newly released excerpts from "Peril," by Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, reported that Milley called his Chinese counterpart Oct. 30 and Jan. 8 to assure him that Trump would not attack, and he pledged to give him a secret warning if the outgoing president did decide to attack, and Republicans are irate, reported Axios.

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), best known as the "insurrectionist" who raised his fist high up in the air as he helped incite the January 6 attackers and rioters in front of the Capitol building, is demanding the resignations of President joe Biden's Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense – and threatening to block confirmation of their desperately-needed national security nominees until they do.

“I will not consent to the nomination of any nominee for the Department of Defense or for the Department of State until Secretary Austin and Secretary Blinken and Jake Sullivan resign," Hawley vowed on the floor of the Senate Tuesday. Sullivan is the United States National Security Advisor to President Biden.