Author: William Harris

When House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan sat with President Donald Trump at the NCAA wrestling championship in Philadelphia earlier this month, it was only a matter of time before they discussed the party’s brewing effort to impeach federal judges seen as blocking the president’s agenda. Trump and Elon Musk have publicly pushed GOP lawmakers to impeach federal judges impeding the administration – a call that a number of far-right GOP lawmakers have seized on, introducing impeachment resolutions in the House. But House GOP leadership has signaled in recent days that they don’t have the votes to greenlight the effort and are pursuing…

Four Senate Republicans joined with Democrats on Wednesday to deliver a rare bipartisan rebuke to President Donald Trump over trade policy. The Senate adopted a resolution by a vote of 51 to 48 aimed at blocking the Trump administration’s proposed tariffs on Canadian imports. The four Republicans who voted with Democrats were: Sens. Rand Paul, who cosponsored the resolution, Susan Collins, Mitch McConnell and Lisa Murkowski. The move amounts to rare bipartisan pushback against Trump in the GOP-led Senate and comes after Trump criticized the measure and urged Republicans to vote against it. The impact of the Senate vote may…

In recent weeks, some of America’s most powerful law firms have faced a defining choice: do a deal with the White House, or prepare to fight severe restrictions President Donald Trump has placed on firms and lawyers he opposes politically. Facing potentially ruinous sanctions from Trump because of past or current work he opposes, two high-profile firms cut deals with the White House, fueling fears in some portions of the industry that Big Law would cave to Trump’s tactics, upending how large firms have done business for decades in Washington. But Friday morning, Jenner & Block, and WilmerHale, two large firms…

A wide majority of Americans –– 70% –– oppose impeaching federal judges who are slowing down President Donald Trump’s agenda as the idea continues to gain traction among Republicans in Congress, according to a poll released Thursday morning. In addition, 83% say the president must obey US Supreme Court decisions, the Marquette Law School poll found. (That view holds across party lines, including 78% of Republicans, 82% of independents and 90% of Democrats.) Trump, Republicans and allies like Elon Musk have railed against courts that sided against the administration as the White House pushes a historically aggressive agenda. At the…

In the two months since Donald Trump became president, the Taliban has ratcheted up its efforts to ingratiate itself with the Trump administration, appearing to sense an opening to re-establish official ties and a presence in the US, according to people familiar with the American conversations with the group, which is still designated as a terrorist organization by Washington. “There’s a path that’s positive and if they walk that path, we walk that path,” said an American official who described the early conversations as “exploratory” and fluid. “I wouldn’t rule out negative things too,” the official said, emphasizing that normalization of ties…

A new lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses tech billionaire Elon Musk and his super PAC of failing to pay canvassers who helped his pro-Trump political operation in 2024. During the final stretch of the 2024 campaign, Musk and his political group, America PAC, offered $100 to registered voters in battleground states who signed a petition supporting free speech and gun rights, and another $100 for every additional voter they convinced to sign the petition. The goal was to excite conservative voters and elect then-candidate Donald Trump – who narrowly won Pennsylvania in November. A man from the Philadelphia suburbs – who…

Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, denied on Tuesday that he had ever worn a Make America Great Again hat, despite comments by the president saying otherwise. “Now, let me just start out by asking about some hyperbole that may have been out there in the press. Gen. Caine, did you wear a MAGA hat in front of the president?” Sen. Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, asked Caine on Tuesday at his confirmation hearing before the committee. “No, sir,” Caine…

Homeland Security officials are discussing using FEMA funds, intended to provide housing and other aid to migrants, for immigration enforcement, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions. The so-called Shelter and Services Program was the target of Republican attacks during the 2024 presidential campaign and drew the ire of Elon Musk earlier this year, ultimately resulting in the firings of four employees. This week, FEMA notified recipients that it was terminating grants associated with the program, arguing that the payments “no longer effectuate the program goals or agency priorities,” according to a termination letter obtained by CNN. “The individuals receiving…

As Trump administration lawyers have intensified their appeals to the Supreme Court, they’re relying on recurring tropes. “Only this Court can end the interbranch power grab,” the lawyers wrote as they urged the justices to reverse a California judge’s order requiring the reinstatement of probationary federal workers. “Only this Court can right the ship – and the time to do so is now,” they said as they appealed a separate order preserving Department of Education teaching-training grants. Alito denounced the judge for operating with “unchecked power,” “blithely” disregarding administration arguments and failing to reckon with key precedent before “plowing ahead.” In the Trump administration’s appeals attempting…

Tuesday’s decisive victory for the Democratic-backed candidate in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race offered a warning for Republicans that Elon Musk’s unfavorability with voters may outweigh the millions he’s pledged to spend for Republicans in next year’s midterms. Musk, the Tesla CEO who has become the face of the Department of Government Efficiency and President Donald Trump’s efforts to slash government spending, went all-in on the Wisconsin Supreme court race, spending more than $20 million and holding a rally in the state backing the conservative candidate last weekend. But his efforts to boost conservative Brad Schimel — which, combined with liberal donors, made Tuesday’s…