Jonathan Jackson of Illinois calls Cuba ‘most sanctioned part of Earth’ amid US oil blockade causing vast disruptionsSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxTwo Democratic US lawmakers on Monday called for a permanent solution to crises confronting Cuba after they visited the island to witness the effects of an American energy blockade. US House members Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Jonathan Jackson of Illinois met with Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel and foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez as well as members of Cuba’s parliament during a five-day trip ending on Sunday.“I denounced the criminal damage caused by the blockade, particularly the consequences of the energy siege decreed by the current US government and its threats of even more aggressive actions,” Díaz-Canel wrote on X. Continue reading...
No injuries reported and no suspect found after a search of park and surrounding area, agency saysThe US Secret Service said on Sunday it was investigating reports of overnight gunfire near Lafayette Park, which is across the street from the White House.No injuries were reported and no suspect was found after a search of the park and the surrounding area after midnight, the agency said in an online post. Continue reading...
• Federal judges blocked Trump administration actions that canceled asylum appointments for hundreds of thousands of migrants and terminated temporary legal status for up to 900,000 immigrants, ruling the administration acted unlawfully.
• A federal judge threw out a Justice Department lawsuit against Denver and Colorado sanctuary laws, determining the federal government cannot override state and local decisions on resource allocation.
• Judge Leon ruled Trump cannot restructure the White House ballroom without Congressional authorization, stating the president is a "steward" of the building, not its "owner"—a decision Trump disputed on Truth Social.
US National Park Service lawyers cite materials that will be installed to make ‘heavily fortified’ facilityDonald Trump’s administration is arguing that a judge’s order to halt construction of a $400m White House ballroom creates a security risk for the US president as his team asks a federal appeals court to pause the ruling.In a motion filed on Friday, US National Park Service (NPS) lawyers say that the federal judge’s order to suspend construction of the new facility is “threatening grave national-security harms to the White House, the president and his family, and the president’s staff”. Continue reading...
Trump ordered data collection after raising concern about race being used as factor in college admissionsA federal judge on Friday halted efforts by the Trump administration to collect data that proves higher education institutions aren’t considering race in admissions.The ruling from the US district court judge F Dennis Saylor IV in Boston granting the preliminary injunction follows a lawsuit filed earlier this month by a coalition of 17 Democratic state attorneys general. It will only apply to public universities in plaintiffs’ states. Continue reading...
• The White House touted a robust March 2026 jobs report on April 3, signaling accelerating economic momentum under President Trump.
• Specific figures highlight gains in employment and wage growth amid policy implementations.
• The data bolsters Trump's economic narrative ahead of midterm elections.
• Arm debuted its first in-house AI chip, the AGI CPU, optimized for large-scale data center workloads.
• Early adopters Meta and OpenAI plan to deploy the chip for advanced AI training and inference.
• The launch advances Arm's push into AI hardware amid US-China chip tensions.
Senate-passed funding plan for DHS languishes despite agreement between Republican congressional leadersSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxThe US House of Representatives on Thursday took no action on a compromise measure that would end the partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), raising questions about how much longer the record-long funding lapse will persist.The department has been without funding since mid-February, after Democrats refused to vote for its appropriations unless Republicans agreed to new guardrails on federal agents involved in immigration enforcement operations. Continue reading...
Ballroom is likely to get blessing from the National Capital Planning Commission, which is chaired by ex-Trump lawyerSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxDonald Trump’s White House ballroom project is likely to get a blessing from Washington planning authorities on Thursday, two days after a judge ruled work cannot proceed without Congress’s approval.The National Capital Planning Commission, which is chaired by one of Trump’s former lawyers, will deliberate and then vote on the “East Wing Modernization Project” on Thursday, according to a meeting agenda. Continue reading...
The National Capital Planning Commission had previously delayed the vote after thousands of negative public commentsHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.The National Capital Planning Commission will meet this afternoon to decide on Donald Trump’s White House $400m ballroom project, after a federal judge halted construction earlier this week.House Republicans announced that they will pass a bill, advanced by the Senate last week, to end the record-breaking partial Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown after previously rejecting the measure.Democrats quickly celebrated the win with Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer saying “House Republicans caved” after previously “[derailing] a bipartisan agreement, making American families pay the price for their dysfunction”.Nasa’s lunar rocket successfully launched and the astronauts on the first crewed lunar rocket in more than 50 years received praise from across the US.Attorney general Pam Bondi’s job with the Trump administration is reportedly at risk. The president is said to be unhappy with Bondi’s performance as the head of the justice department and the controversy surrounding the Epstein files, according to a New York Times report.Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida signed legislation on Wednesday to require documented proof of citizenship to register to vote and to begin a process that will eventually unenroll voters who have not provided citizenship documentation.Supreme court justices appeared skeptical of the Trump administration’s argument to restrict birthright citizenship for hundreds of thousands of children born to undocumented immigrants of temporary foreign nationals. Trump himself attended the hearing, widely considered to be the first time a sitting president has attended arguments at the supreme court. Continue reading...
