Page 2 - Trump Govt

Court blocks Trump admin bid to limit SNAP food aid payments temporarily

A panel of the US 1st Circuit Court of Appeals late Sunday denied the administration's request to continue making only partial payments during the government shutdown

Mamdani announces veteran transition team for ambitious NYC agenda

Fresh off his historic victory in New York City's mayoral election, Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday announced a slate of seasoned officials to help lead his transition to City Hall, offering an early glimpse at how he intends to turn his ambitious campaign promises into reality. In the coming months, I and my team will build a City Hall capable of delivering on the promises of this campaign, Mamdani, a democratic socialist, said at his first news conference as mayor-elect. We will form an administration that is equal parts capable and compassionate, driven by integrity and willing to work just as hard as the millions of New Yorkers who call this city home. That transition team will include two former deputy mayors, Maria Torres-Springer and Melanie Hartzog; former Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan; and Grace Bonilla, the head of United Way of New York City, a nonprofit focused on low-income residents. Political strategist Elana Leopold will serve as executive director of the ...

Trump pressures GOP senators to end govt shutdown, now the longest ever

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday lashed out at Senate Republicans to end the government shutdown, now the longest ever, blaming the record-breaking impasse for the party's defeat in closely-watched elections while Democrats emboldened by their off-year victories dug in for a fight. Trump, whose first term at the White House set the previous government shutdown record, said this one was a big factor, negative in Tuesday's races. He repeated his demands for Republicans to end the Senate filibuster as a way to reopen government -- something senators have refused to do. Buoyed by their electoral wins, the Democrats also hardened their resolve. The Democratic leaders said it's time for Trump to get serious about negotiating an end to the stalemate. They demanded he get off the sidelines and meet with the congressional leaders to resolve the problem of expiring healthcare subsidies that are central to the debate. The election results ought to send a much needed bolt of lightning to

Trump admin faces deadline to decide on use of contingency funds for SNAP

President Donald Trump's administration faces deadlines on Monday to tell two federal judges whether it will comply with court orders that it continue to fund SNAP, the nation's biggest food aid programme, using contingency funds during the government shutdown. The US Department of Agriculture planned to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme (SNAP) starting November 1 because it said it could no longer keep funding it due to the shutdown. The programme serves about 1 in 8 Americans and is a major piece of the nation's social safety net and it costs about USD 8 billion per month nationally. The situation leaves millions with uncertainty about how they will feed themselves. Benefits will be delayed in November regardless of the outcome of the court cases because many beneficiaries have their cards recharged early in the month and the process of loading cards can take a week or more in many states. Democratic state attorneys general or governors from 25 .

Trump's pick for federal watchdog withdraws after offensive texts revealed

President Donald Trump's pick to lead a federal watchdog agency withdrew from consideration on Tuesday evening, after his offensive text messages were made public and GOP senators revolted. Paul Ingrassia, who was nominated to lead the Office of Special Counsel, had been scheduled to have his confirmation hearing this week. On Monday, however, Politico reported on a text chat that showed him saying the Martin Luther King Jr holiday should be tossed into the seventh circle of hell. Ingrassia also described himself in the chat as having a Nazi streak at times. After the texts came to light, several Republican senators said they would not support his nomination. They included some of the most conservative and stalwart Trump allies in the Senate. I will be withdrawing myself from Thursday's HSGAC hearing to lead the Office of Special Counsel because unfortunately I do not have enough Republican votes at this time, Ingrassia posted in an online message. I appreciate the overwhelming ...

Trump names Dan Scavino to lead White House presidential personnel office

US President Donald Trump has appointed Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino to head the White House Presidential Personnel Office, the president announced on Sunday. Scavino replaces Sergio Gor, who was confirmed by the Senate as the next US Ambassador to India. Gor is currently on a six-day India visit. Trump announced Scavino's appointment in a post on Truth Social. "I am pleased to announce that the great Dan Scavino, in addition to remaining Deputy Chief of Staff of the Trump Administration, will head the White House Presidential Personnel Office, replacing Sergio Gor, who did a wonderful job in that position, and will now become the Ambassador to India." Scavino will be responsible for the selection and appointment of almost all positions in government, "a very big and important position", Trump said. "Congratulations Dan, you will do a fantastic job!!!" he added. The Presidential Personnel Office oversees the selection process for presidential appointments and works to recrui

Open to health care deal but government must reopen first, says Trump

President Donald Trump cracked the door slightly to negotiations with Democrats on the health care subsidies they've made central to the shutdown fight, then abruptly closed it Monday, leaving the two sides once again at a seemingly intractable impasse. Democrats are conditioning their support for a short-term funding patch on extending the health subsidies that lessen the cost of plans offered under the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare. We have a negotiation going on right now with the Democrats that could lead to very good things, Trump told reporters. And I'm talking about good things with regard to health care. The comments were one of the few hopeful signs Monday as the government shutdown hit its sixth day. Negotiations between the two parties have been virtually nonexistent since the start of the shutdown despite the impact on federal services. But Trump later followed up those comments on his social media site to reinforce what GOP leaders in Congress

Trump touts role in ending India-Pak clash, other wars; seeks Nobel Prize

US President Donald Trump repeated the claim that he solved the India-Pakistan conflict earlier this year with trade and asserted that he should get the Nobel Peace Prize for "ending seven wars". "On the world stage, we are once again doing things that we are just respected at a level that we have never been respected before. "We are forging peace agreements, and we are stopping wars. So we stopped wars between India and Pakistan, Thailand and Cambodia," Trump said on Saturday at the American Cornerstone Institute Founder's Dinner. He went on to say, "Think of India and Pakistan. Think of that. And you know how I stopped that -- with trade. They want to trade. And I have great respect for both leaders. But when you take a look at all of these wars that we've stopped." "Just look at that. India, Pakistan, Thailand, Cambodia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kosovo and Serbia, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, Rwanda and the Congo. We stopped all of them. And 60 per cent of them were stopped

Democratic leaders demand meeting with Trump as govt shutdown looms

As a possible federal shutdown looms, the Democratic leaders of Congress are demanding a meeting with President Donald Trump to negotiate an end to what they call your decision to shutter government offices if no action is taken by the end-of-the month deadline. Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries said Saturday that Republicans, at Trump's insistence, have refused to enter talks. Democrats are pushing to preserve healthcare programmes as part of any deal to keep government running past the Sept. 30 funding deadline. "We write to demand a meeting in connection with your decision to shut down the federal government because of the Republican desire to continue to gut the healthcare of the American people," the two New York Democrats wrote. Democrats have been clear and consistent in our position, they said. We are ready to work toward a bipartisan spending agreement that improves the lives of American families and addresses the Republican healthcare crisis. Trump, in an exchan

Prosecutors dropped dozen cases from Trump's DC crime surge, says judge

More than 50 people have faced federal charges in Washington, DC, since President Donald Trump's emergency law-and-order surge began last month. Already, prosecutors have dropped at least 11 of those cases, an unusually high collapse rate that judges say is wasting court resources. The dismissals highlight the risks of Trump's emergency surge strategy: an unprecedented flood of arrests that has produced headline-grabbing numbers but faltered under judicial scrutiny, with some of the most serious cases from assaults on federal agents to gun charges unravelling before they ever reach trial. On Tuesday, US Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh dismissed two felony assault cases at the request of US Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office. He delivered a blunt warning from the bench as he questioned whether prosecutors are making charging decisions before cases are properly investigated and vetted. That's not the way it's supposed to work, and it has real-world consequences, Sharbaugh said. This

Suspect in Kirk killing charged with murder after DNA found on gun trigger

Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old Utah man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk, was charged on Tuesday with aggravated murder, a prosecutor announced, saying Robinson left behind his DNA on the trigger of the rifle that fired the fatal shot. The charge means Robinson could face the death penalty if convicted of killing Kirk last week at Utah Valley University in Orem, about 64 km south of Salt Lake City. The murder of Charlie Kirk is an American tragedy, Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray said in announcing the charges. Kirk was gunned down on Sept 10 as he spoke with students and died soon after. Prosecutors allege Robinson shot Kirk in the neck with a bolt-action rifle from the roof of a nearby campus building. A Utah Valley University police officer was watching the university campus crowd from an elevated position and identified the roof of the Losee Centre as a potential position for a shooter, Gray said. The officer found evidence on the roof immediately, he

Trump vows justice for Charlie Kirk, calls shooter 'total animal'

When asked about a possible motive for the attack, Trump said he had 'an indication' but declined to share details

Charlie Kirk energised conservative youth, paving way for Trump's rise

Kirk was shot dead in Utah, shocking the political world and beyond. He was one of the country's most prominent conservative figures and had flourished using a brash approach to politics

Some National Guard to stay in DC till Nov as Trump's order set to expire

Some National Guard troops from outside the District of Columbia will remain in the nation's capital at least through the end of November at the request of the Trump administration. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement that he had approved a request from the Secretary of the Army for 150 military police to carry out patrols in Washington through November 30. It comes as Trump's emergency order over the nation's capital, which federalised its police force and launched a surge of law enforcement into the city, is set to expire overnight Wednesday after Congress failed to extend it.

RFK Jr's family say he's 'threat' to US health, calls for his resignation

Members of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s family are calling for him to step down as health secretary following a contentious congressional hearing this past week, during which the Trump Cabinet official faced bipartisan questioning about his tumultuous leadership of federal health agencies. Kennedy's sister, Kerry Kennedy, and his nephew, Joseph P. Kennedy III, issued scathing statements Friday, calling for him to resign as head of the Health and Human Services Department. The calls from the prominent Democratic family came a day after Kennedy had to defend his recent efforts to pull back COVID-19 vaccine recommendations and fire high-level officials at the Centers for Disease Control at a three-hour Senate hearing. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a threat to the health and wellbeing of every American, Joseph P. Kennedy III said in a post on X. The former congressman added: None of us will be spared the pain he is inflicting. His aunt echoed those claims, saying medical decisions belong in the .

Appeals court stops order to wind down operations at 'Alligator Alcatraz'

A federal appeals court panel on Thursday put on hold a lower court judge's order to wind down operations of the immigration detention centre in the Florida Everglades dubbed Alligator Alcatraz". The three-judge panel in Atlanta decided by a 2-1 vote to stay the federal judge's order pending the outcome of an appeal, saying it was in the public interest. US District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami issued a preliminary injunction last month ordering operations at the facility to be wound down by the end of October, with detainees transferred to other facilities and equipment and fencing removed. Republican Governor Ron DeSantis' administration in late June raced to build the facility on an isolated airstrip surrounded by wetlands to aid President Donald Trump's efforts to deport people in the US illegally. The governor said the location in the rugged and remote Everglades was meant as a deterrent against escape, much like the island prison in California that Republicans named it ..

Trump govt asks SC to quickly take up tariffs case after appeals court loss

The Trump administration took the fight over tariffs to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, asking the justices to rule quickly that the president has the power to impose sweeping trade penalties under federal law. The government called on the court to reverse an appeals court ruling that most of President Donald Trump's tariffs were illegal under an emergency powers law. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit left the tariffs in place for now, but the administration nevertheless called on the high court to intervene quickly in a petition filed late Wednesday and provided to The Associated Press.

US strike on vessel in Caribbean killed 11, targeted Venezuela gang: Trump

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the US has carried out a strike in the southern Caribbean against a drug-carrying vessel that departed from Venezuela and was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang. The president said 11 were killed in the operation. The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States, Trump said in a social media posting. No US Forces were harmed in this strike. Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier on X that the vessel was being operated by a designated narco-terrorist organization. He described the operation as a lethal strike. Rubio addressed the strike on Tuesday shortly before he was scheduled to depart for Mexico and Ecuador for talks on drug cartels, security, tariffs and more. The US recently announced plans to boost its maritime force in the waters

Trump addresses health rumours after days of absence from public events

Sometimes it feels like barely an hour can go by without hearing from President Donald Trump. So when he didn't appear for one day, then two, then three, speculation started to swirl online about his health. Not even a few glimpses of the president visiting his golf course over the weekend were enough to stanch the social media rumor mill fueled by political opponents. Trump was asked directly about it Tuesday at his first public event in a week. How did you find out over the weekend that you were dead?" asked Fox News' Peter Doocy. "Did you see that? No, the 79-year-old Trump responded flatly. The senators and administration officials gathered around him for the Space Command headquarters announcement shifted their weight and smiled. The president said he wasn't aware that people were wondering if he had died, but he had heard there were concerns about his health. I knew they were saying, like: Is he OK? How is he feeling? What's wrong?' Trump said, calling the speculation fake n

Trump dispels health rumours, plays golf in Virginia amid speculation

The US President was seen at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, following several days without any public appearances on his official schedule