Hartford Courant Politics

The Trump administration Wednesday unveiled proposed new rules for the census that would order the national count to exclude undocumented immigrants and not ask about race, ethnicity or sexual orientation. The proposals, which would likely face fierce objections and legal challenges, aims to reshape the once-a-decade count of people living in America starting with the 2030 census, with widespread impacts on government spending and political representation. The most significant change would call

By LARRY NEUMEISTER NEW YORK (AP) — A racketeering conspiracy trial of Huawei Technologies began in New York on Wednesday with federal prosecutors accusing the Chinese tech company of a litany of crimes, including stealing technology from American companies, abusing the U.S. financial system and helping Iran snoop on its citizens. Huawei is the world’s biggest supplier of gear for wireless telecom networks, but it is banned from selling equipment to U.S. carriers over fears it poses a security r

By MAE ANDERSON NEW YORK (AP) — The trade war between the U.S. and Canada escalated again this week as the U.S. announced import bans on most alcoholic beverages from Canada, along with other products including whey, molasses and motorcycles. The U.S. had already imposed 50% tariffs on about $20 billion in Canadian products — about 5% of the $381.92 billion worth of products that the country sent to the U.S. last year. The import bans announced late Tuesday target some of those products. Exporti

By BILL BARROW and JACQUELYN MARTIN JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. (AP) — President Donald Trump had been eagerly awaiting his trip to Texas for his Republican Party’s midterm convention. But he was briefly delayed by the deployment of an inflatable emergency slide on the new Air Force One plane that was a gift from Qatar. Trump arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland aboard Marine One on Wednesday afternoon for the scheduled trip to Dallas but was kept on the helicopter for about 20 minutes as

By Nada Hassanein, Stateline.org In Minnesota, an elementary schooler has gone without surgery to treat a rare, life-threatening neck infection that isn’t responding to antibiotics. Another young child can’t use their hearing aids because the family ran out of batteries and hasn’t come to get replacements. Yet another child’s cochlear implant surgery was delayed by several months. These patients’ families, all immigrants, have been afraid of showing up to the hospital after immigration officers

By BILL BARROW and JAMIE STENGLE DALLAS (AP) — It’s not just Republicans descending on Dallas for the midterm convention — Democrats are there too as they try to convince voters that the reality of Donald Trump’s second presidency doesn’t match the spectacle of his made-for-TV event. “This bizarre Republican midterm convention here can’t paper over the fact that Republicans have done nothing to earn your vote,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a potential 2028 presidential contender,

By DAVID A. LIEB JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A battle over Missouri’s congressional districts vaulted back to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, two months before a pivotal November election that will determine control of Congress and affect the fate of President Donald Trump’s agenda. A series of conflicting court rulings has left a scar on Missouri — and left voters befuddled and unsure which U.S. House districts they will be voting in and which candidates will appear on their ballots. A fede

By Kyle Ingram, The News & Observer RALEIGH, N.C. — Election officials in Granville County received instructions from a former county Republican leader on what to say and how to vote during a contentious meeting on early voting plans this summer, according to texts obtained by The News & Observer through a public records request. Michael Magnanti, the former chair of the Granville County Republican Party, repeatedly texted the two Republican county election board members advising

By AAMER MADHANI, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that oil prices that have surged because of the Iran war likely won’t come down until after U.S. midterm elections. Oil prices on Wednesday jumped more than 3%, pushing international Brent crude past the $100 threshold for the first time since July as salvos between the U.S. and Iran escalated. “Right after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward,” Trump said. “I think it’s going to take

By LISA MASCARO, AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s one thing to issue a Declaration of Independence. It’s quite another to launch a grand experiment in representative democracy. Congress isn’t quite yet celebrating its 250th anniversary — the House and Senate as they are recognized today first convened in 1789 — but from the start it has provided an enduring, if imperfect, forum in the country’s pursuit of a more perfect union. From drafting the Bill of Rights that enshrines

By JOSH BOAK BRIDGEWATER, New Jersey (AP) — The political group associated with President Donald Trump is spending $10 million on television and digital advertisements in the Texas Senate race, according to a Saturday filing with the Federal Election Commission. This is the first significant spending in a premier general election contest by MAGA, Inc., and reflects how a once-safe Republican seat in Texas may be viable for Democrats with the candidacy of James Talarico, a 37-year-old state

The Pentagon and the National Institutes of Health have signed an agreement to collaborate on biodefense and pandemic preparedness, drawing criticism from Democrats on Capitol Hill who warned that the plan could allow the Defense Department to go around Congress and gain access to billions of dollars meant for infectious disease research. The agreement, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, is focused on chemical and biological defense research. It does not specify a dollar figure

The Citizens’ Assembly hoping to reform Connecticut’s property tax system teased big ideas and a robust political debate this fall and winter but will keep the details under wraps for a few more weeks. The four assembly members who met virtually with reporters Thursday predicted their biggest challenge rests not with Connecticut’s governor or legislators but with a public long frustrated by the property tax but unfamiliar with how thoroughly it’s entwined with nearly all aspects of their l

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge refused Friday to block the Pentagon from firing three Stars and Stripes staff members who claim they were illegally disciplined for speaking out about the military news outlet’s need to maintain its editorial independence. U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, who was nominated to the bench by Republican President Donald Trump. ruled that the journalists are unlikely to successfully prove that the Pentagon violated their First Amendmen

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI and LINDSAY WHITEHURST A federal judge on Friday extended her prohibition against the U.S. Postal Service implementing President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to limit mail voting during the midterms, putting another major obstacle in the way of the administration as the first states begin sending out mail ballots. The preliminary injunction from U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani replaces a temporary order she granted blocking the Postal Service’s plan. The T

By Stephanie Armour, KFF Health News In the thick of his competitive reelection race in Michigan, Republican Rep. Tom Barrett joined Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a sprawling 400-acre apple orchard, farm, and winery. They touted Trump administration efforts to improve the American diet, including the removal of some artificial dyes from processed foods. “We had a great discussion about healthy options for all Americans and taking back control of our healthcare,” Ba

By AAMER MADHANI WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday said the conflict in Iran is “small potatoes” as he defended Vice President JD Vance for asserting that months of on-and-off attacks in the Middle East are not a “war.” Asked during an Oval Office exchange about Vance’s comments made a day earlier, Trump noted that U.S. strikes on Iran are now “intermittent” and seemed to downplay the intensity of a war that’s cost U.S. taxpayers more than $37.5 billion and left 18 U.S. service

By JACK BROOK and KONSTANTIN TOROPIN WASHINGTON (AP) — The widow of an airman killed on a combat mission in the Middle East said it took a viral social media post to get resolution from the Pentagon on issues related to her husband’s benefits and basic pay months after his death. Maj. Alex Klinner, 33, was one of six crew members of a KC-135 refueling aircraft that crashed in western Iraq in March while supporting operations against Iran. He’s one of 18 U.S. service members killed, along with 79

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court granted an emergency appeal from Republicans in a dispute over campaign ad prices on Friday, clearing a legal roadblock to political parties getting cheaper TV ad time ahead of the midterm elections. The justices halted for now a lower-court ruling in favor of Democratic candidates who argued that cheaper broadcast ads should be limited to candidates. One justice publicly dissented from the unsigned order. It’s the latest election-r

By SHARON LURYE and ANNIE MA The Trump administration this week quietly released an update to a major survey on civil rights in schools that was scrubbed of all data related to nonbinary students or bullying based on gender identity. The numbers come from the Education Department’s Civil Rights Data Collection, a federal survey of nearly every public school in the nation. The release this week covers the 2023-2024 school year, when the survey included “nonbinary” as a gender category along