US News

A New York Times opinion writer warned Thursday that President Donald Trump's new $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization fund" has created an unprecedented mechanism for federal money to flow to paramilitary groups loyal to the president.

Noah Shachtman, a Times contributing opinion writer who covers government corruption, argued in a guest essay that the fund could "institutionalize" cronyism as an official function of the federal government — and worse, finance the violent supporters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6.

CNN's Sara Sidner couldn't hide her surprise at President Donald Trump's instant impact on the Texas Senate runoff.

The 79-year-old president shook up the Republican race by endorsing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in next week's runoff election, and CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten examined polling data and the prediction market showing the effect that move had on the campaign.

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin unloaded a pointed critique of President Donald Trump on Thursday, arguing the president has failed to build public support for his legislative agenda and is alienating the very Republican senators he needs to end the filibuster.

Speaking on Real America's Voice, Johnson was asked about Trump pressuring Senate Majority Leader John Thune to fire Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth McDonough after she ruled the GOP could not include funding for the president's ballroom in a budget reconciliation bill. He didn't defend the move.

A former assistant to convicted felon Jeffrey Epstein will tell House members today that she was unable to avoid his sexual abuse even when he was incarcerated.

On “Morning Joe,” legal analyst Lisa Rubin revealed that she had obtained Sarah Kellen’s opening statement to be delivered to lawmakers in a hearing on Thursday.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed documents granting President Donald Trump and his family extraordinary immunity from IRS scrutiny — but insists he didn't write them.

Blanche has tried to navigate a narrow path between his role leading the Justice Department and the job that led him there as the president's criminal defense lawyer, but New York Times correspondent Glenn Thrush said his handling of an IRS lawsuit settlement that establishes a $1.8 billion compensation fund for Trump allies has blurred those two irreconcilable roles.

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance are pushing for an update to the highway bill to include new railroad laws that would benefit union workers — but it's fracturing the House Republican caucus, Punchbowl News reported on Thursday.

"The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will mark up the five-year reauthorization of major highway, transit and infrastructure programs today. The panel is likely to adopt an amendment to add the Rail Safety Act to the package. The measure, a priority for President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, is opposed by conservatives and the railroad industry," said the report.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) made it clear Thursday that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche can forget about getting the job permanently — at least with his vote.

In an interview with Spectrum News' Reuben Jones, the North Carolina Republican was asked whether he'd block Blanche's nomination to lead the Department of Justice after Blanche refused this week to rule out compensating Jan. 6 rioters who assaulted police officers from a new $1.8 billion fund.

Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner is warning Donald Trump's inner circle to study the fate of Richard Nixon's lieutenants — and to remember that proximity to power was no shield from prison.

Kirschner, a 30-year prosecutor turned legal analyst, told viewers Wednesday that the loyalists embedded across Trump's second-term government should look closely at the Watergate ledger.

A just-released Fox News poll on Donald Trump’s performance as president caused MS NOW’s Mika Brzezinski to blurt out “Look at these numbers" to her co-hosts on Thursday morning.

At the start of “Morning Joe,“ Brzezinski prompted her panel with, “We want to show you some new polling from Fox News showing President Trump's approval rating near a record low. We keep reporting on these lows at this point,” before expressing astonishment at how low his approval numbers have plummeted.

President Donald Trump may have energized a massive voter bloc that could sink the Republican Party's chances of holding onto their congressional majorities, according to a new analysis.

CNN's Harry Enten zoomed in on polling that measured the opinions of registered voters who stayed home in 2024, and he found their view on the 79-year-old president has soured tremendously in the first year and a half of his second term.

Donald Trump's latest surgeon general nominee is facing fresh scrutiny over her use of a controversial New Jersey tax loophole that allows wealthy property owners to dramatically reduce their tax bills by designating mansions as farmland — despite openly admitting she is not actually a farmer.

According to Politico, Nicole Saphier, a Fox News frequent guest and radiologist, owns a 16,000-square-foot palatial estate in Far Hills, New Jersey, purchased for $5.8 million in 2023. She has designated 10.35 acres of the property as farmland, allowing her to pay as little as $40 annually in property taxes on that land.