Supreme Court delivers major blow to government unions
The Supreme Court delivered a major blow to public-sector unions Wednesday, ruling that they cannot force government workers to join or financially support them.
Washington
Op-Ed: 6 rulings that could be overturned by a post-Kennedy Supreme Court
Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement this afternoon. For decades, Kennedy was the swing justice on an otherwise ideologically balanced Supreme Court. Although he never served as chief justice, his vote was decisive in a great number of major cases.
Senate Democrats want to fight Trump’s Supreme Court pick — if they can stick together
Senate Democratic leaders pulled a page from the GOP playbook Thursday, quickly proclaiming they’d oppose all of President Trump’s nominees to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy until after the midterms.
Republicans see ticket to midterm election success in Kennedy’s retirement
Republicans searching for that elusive issue to erase the Democrats’ critical edge in voter enthusiasm heading into the midterm elections believe they’ve found their golden ticket in the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.
House slams door on GOP immigration bill; Trump’s support not enough to pass bill
The Republican compromise immigration bill suffered a crushing defeat in the House on Wednesday in a vote that stood as a rebuke to President Trump and a signal that Republicans remain irrevocably deadlocked on the issue.
Retirement ends Anthony Kennedy’s tenure as nation’s decider-in-chief
Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the 81-year-old jurist, who announced his retirement Wednesday, has been the decider in chief on most of the major controversial cases to reach the Supreme Court ever since 2006, which was when the court’s balance shifted to him after Sandra Day O’Connor’s retirement.
Trump-Putin summit set for July
Washington and Moscow agreed Wednesday to a summit next month between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, a powwow that is guaranteed to provoke criticism from Mr. Trump’s critics at home and in foreign capitals.
Trump readies full-court press on border wall funding
President Trump will launch a full-court press for tougher immigration laws and generous wall funding this summer as Capitol Hill braces for a budget battle in September, sources with knowledge of his plans told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday, as the president teased the strategy in a meeting with congressional appropriators.
US, Canada reach deal on disputed $244M water project
Canada will have a say in the operation of a major Missouri River water project in the northern U.S. under a deal negotiated by officials in the two countries to end a 16-year-legal battle.
Trump’s Iran strategy targets oil, presses allies to end oil imports by Nov. 4
Following through on President Trump’s promise to squeeze Iran as he took the U.S. out of the 2015 nuclear deal, the Trump administration on Tuesday announced details on new sanctions that will pressure countries from Europe to Asia to slash imports of Iranian oil to zero by Nov. 4, giving allies no wiggle room to deal with Tehran.
Christian Florist Wins at Supreme Court in Gay Wedding Case
The U.S. Supreme Court Monday handed a major religious liberty win to a Washington state Christian florist, vacating a lower court ruling that had required her to design an arrangement for a gay marriage ceremony.
Bye bye, boarding pass: US airport launches first-ever security checkpoints that scan your face
No wallet. No boarding pass. No phone. No problem. Americans are just a few years away from being able to show up at the airport with nothing but a suitcase in hand.
U.S. Plans Curbs on Chinese Investment, Citing Security Risk
The Treasury Department is planning to heighten scrutiny of Chinese investments in sensitive U.S. industries under an emergency law, putting Washington’s trade war with Beijing on a potentially irreversible course.
An unlikely group could get Oklahoma to greenlight medical marijuana: Evangelical Christians
Danny Daniels, an evangelical Christian in the rural Oklahoma town of Lindsay, is reliably conservative on just about every political issue.
Russian jets strike rebel-held town in south Syria, Breaking Ceasefire Deal
Russian jets struck an opposition held town in southwest Syria on Sunday, opposition sources said, in the first air cover provided by Moscow to an expanding Syrian army offensive to recapture the strategic area bordering Jordan and the Israeli Golan Heights.
House Budget Committee passes 2019 budget resolution
House Republicans powered a 2019 budget through committee Thursday, laying out the trillions of dollars of spending cuts that they say will be needed to get the government’s finances under control.
New jobless claims fall to 218,000 as overall number getting benefits declines
New claims for unemployment insurance fell 3,000 to 218,000 in the second full week of June, the Department of Labor reported Thursday.
House Republicans cancel immigration votes in embarrassing setback
Staring at a certain defeat, House Republicans canceled votes on their immigration compromise Thursday — an embarrassing setback for leaders who thought they had finally been able to wrangle some unanimity on an issue that has bedeviled them for years.
EU ready to open talks with U.S. to fix trade row
The European Union is ready to engage with the United States to solve a trade row triggered by Washington’s decision to impose metal impose tariffs, E.U. Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said on Thursday.
Three of the five FBI employees dinged for anti-Trump bias in IG report ended up on Mueller probe
Three of the five FBI employees dinged for anti-Trump bias in the inspector general’s report ended up on the special counsel’s investigation into Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, raising still more questions about the team Robert Mueller assembled.