Republicans

• U.S. District Judge Denise Casper in Boston has issued a ruling that converts a preliminary injunction into a permanent ban on several of Donald Trump's election overhaul efforts. • The decision follows a lawsuit brought by Democratic state attorneys general, rejecting the Republican administration's claim that the legal challenge was premature. • This ruling effectively blocks the implementation of proposed election rule changes that the administration sought to put in place.

• President Donald Trump is increasingly clashing with Senate Republicans, escalating internal party tensions while simultaneously managing conflicts with Iran. • Trump has utilized his political influence to target senators in primary elections and impose demands that lawmakers describe as unachievable. • This friction is creating politically fraught positions for GOP members, with some warning that the infighting is actively harming the President's own legislative agenda.

Lawmakers cite rushed timeline and public input despite pressure to redraw districts after supreme court opinionGeorgia Republicans declined to redraw the state’s congressional map during a special session, citing a rushed timeline and incomplete understanding of the ramifications of a recent US supreme court decision that effectively gutted a major section of the Voting Rights Act.“We believe that it’s important to do things the Georgia way, responsibly, transparently, and with ample opportunity for public input,” said Jon Burns, the Georgia house speaker. Continue reading...

Senate Republicans say there are many unanswered questions about the deal and question inclusion of funds for Iran The US vice-president, ⁠JD Vance, has said a number of issues still need to be figured out with Iran, as many Republicans expressed scepticism of the agreement reached this week by Donald Trump, and pressed the White House to release more information about it.The memorandum of understanding (MOU) announced Sunday to end the war in Iran, set for a ceremonial signing on Friday in Geneva, is centred around reopening the strait of Hormuz and lifting the United States’ naval blockade in the region, along with financial incentives for Iran if it meets certain benchmarks. Continue reading...

Self-deprecating jokes and mental health advocacy have gone viral, and his political commentary is proving popularIt’s been quite the journey for Hunter Biden. In the space of a few weeks, the former first son has gone from a man seen as a political liability to an unlikely galvanizing force within the Democratic party, through his emergence on social media as a mental health advocate, razzer of Republicans, and working-class whisperer.In the process Biden has switched from the GOP’s bete noire to, actually, someone that a fair number of Republican voters seem to like. Continue reading...

• New national surveys indicate that majorities of both Republicans and Democrats agree on 112 key policy issues, contrasting the deep division seen in Congress. • A significant 82% of respondents support overturning the Citizens United ruling via a new Constitutional amendment to restrict corporate and PAC spending in elections. • These findings suggest a substantial gap between the ideological stances of elected officials and the actual preferences of the general American public.

US president urges congressional Republicans to use budget reconciliation procedure to enact his priorities Donald Trump has demanded that congressional Republicans get to work on a party line measure that would ensure defense spending reaches its highest level in decades and also make a likely fruitless attempt to impose a host of new restrictions on voters nationwide.In a post on Truth Social Wednesday, the president said he was “calling on Republicans in Congress to IMMEDIATELY advance and pass the forthcoming $350 Billion Reconciliation Bill”, which would also include the Save America Act, a rightwing makeover of elections that his allies in Congress have sought to pass for months, without success. Continue reading...

Bill that passed the Senate last week would fund ICE and border patrol and is expected to pass along party linesHouse Republicans on Tuesday will seek to pass a $70bn bill to fund the agencies leading Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants through the duration of his term, ending a months-long standoff with Democrats.The Secure America Act, which passed the Senate last week, allocates $38bn to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), $26bn to Customs and Border Protection and $5bn more to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Continue reading...

Republican senator Lindsey Graham said he was ‘very proud of my Republican colleagues for… making sure that Border Patrol and ICE are fully funded’Senate Republicans early Friday passed a bill that would provide the Department of Homeland Security with nearly $70 billion in new funds for immigration enforcement.The vote came after a more than 18-hour “vote-a-rama”, a process by which senators offer amendments to bills passed using the reconciliation procedure. The Senate’s Democratic minority leader, Chuck Schumer, had said earlier this week that he would use vote-a-rama to force Republicans into publicly defending the policies of Donald Trump, a move that ultimately forced Senate Republicans to drop their attempt to spend $1bn on security improvements for Trump’s White House ballroom.New abuse allegations have emerged against Greg Platner, a Democratic candidate for the Senate. Platner, a progressive running for election in Maine, has rejected the new report published on Thursday in the New York Times that included an interview with a Republican operative who accused him of womanizing, physical misconduct and making troubling comments about rape.Trump has suggested that his controversial ally Bill Pulte will investigate “rigged elections” while serving as the country’s top intelligence official. Pulte, whom Trump appointed as acting director of national intelligence earlier this week, is a “very smart guy,” Trump claimed on Thursday, “and you may find out some things about the rigged elections, etc, etc”.Pam Bondi on Thursday told lawmakers before the House oversight and reform committee that Todd Blanche, the man Trump has lined up to replace her, was “in charge” of the the US Department of Justice’s controversial handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Continue reading...

Three GOP senators joined Democrats as dispute over proposed payouts exposed party divisionsUS politics live – latest updatesSenate Republicans on Thursday narrowly scuttled an attempt by Democrats to stop Donald Trump from creating a $1.8bn fund to pay his allies, even as signs emerged that dissent over the proposal was spreading inside the US president’s own party.Democratic Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, had proposed inserting language barring the payouts into Republican-backed legislation to fund Trump’s mass deportation campaign through the duration of his term. Continue reading...

Hair stylist Frédéric Fekkai and ex-Miami Beach mayor Philip Levine accused in new testimony, lawmakers revealRepublican lawmakers have asked the Department of Justice to investigate sexual assault allegations involving two men made by Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime assistant.In a transcribed closed-door interview in late May, as part of a congressional investigation into Epstein, Sarah Kellen, one of the late sex offender’s former aides, told the House oversight and reform committee she was “sexually and psychologically abused” by him during her employment – but also alleged she was sexually assaulted by the French celebrity hairstylist Frédéric Fekkai, and by Philip Levine, the former mayor of Miami Beach, in separate incidents in the early 2000s. Continue reading...

Fears that push for ballroom spending could jeopardize $70bn funding for immigration enforcementSenate Republicans on Wednesday formally dropped their attempt to spend $1bn on security improvements for Donald Trump’s White House ballroom, as it became clear the president’s demand for the money could jeopardize long-term funding for immigration enforcement.The Senate judiciary committee had last month included the spending on security for the new ballroom in a broader measure that would authorize $70bn in spending for agencies involved in Trump’s mass deportation campaign through the duration of his term. On Wednesday the committee released a revised text that no longer mentioned the money. Continue reading...

Attorney general Keith Ellison says gesture at convention was an ‘act of profound cruelty’ to George Floyd’s familyThe Minnesota Republican party’s decision to hold a moment of silence for Derek Chauvin, the former police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, has angered the state’s attorney general – who was the lead prosecutor in the case.Keith Ellison, a Democrat, said Saturday’s gesture at the state Republicans’ annual convention in Duluth was “an act of profound cruelty” to Floyd’s family and “disrespectful” to Minnesota’s law enforcement personnel. Continue reading...

The GOP-friendly map approved by state lawmakers now goes to Republican governor who is expected to sign itSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailLouisiana Republicans approved a new congressional map on Friday which would eliminate a majority-Black congressional district that was at the center of a landmark supreme court ruling gutting section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.The new map reconfigures the state’s sixth congressional district, now represented by Cleo Fields, a Black Democrat. Lawmakers drew the district in 2024 after a court found the map lawmakers enacted after the 2020 census diluted the influence of Black voters and violated section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The new map will probably give Republicans control of five of Louisiana’s six congressional seats (the previous map had a 4-2 Republican-Democrat split). The bill now goes to Louisiana’s Republican governor, Jeff Landry, who is expected to sign it. Continue reading...

Donald Trump moves quickly to unite Republicans behind the Texas attorney general as Democrats eye rare openingUS politics live – latest updatesSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailRepublican leaders rushed to throw their weight behind Ken Paxton following his big primary victory in Texas over the four-term US senator, John Cornyn, amid anxiety within the party over his prospects in November’s general election.Hours after the race was called, Donald Trump – who backed Paxton, despite intense concern among establishment Republicans – took to Truth Social to attack his Democratic rival in the midterm elections. Continue reading...

Bid to remake maps before midterms and reduce Democratic voters in Jim Clyburn’s district fails in state senateRepublican lawmakers in South Carolina have defied Donald Trump and rejected a breakneck bid to redraw the state’s congressional districts ahead of November’s US midterm elections.In a 26-18 vote, state senators rejected mid-decade redistricting in a special session of the legislature, ending hope in Washington to split up congressman Jim Clyburn’s district and add to the list of gerrymandered gains for Republicans. Continue reading...

Cancellation, which avoids embarrassment for Trump, is latest signal of diminishing congressional support for warHouse Republicans canceled a scheduled vote Thursday on a war powers resolution aimed at ending the US war with Iran, a measure that likely would have advanced had the vote been held.The cancellation, which avoided political embarrassment for Donald Trump, is the latest signal that congressional support for the US president’s war is diminishing. Continue reading...

Top Republicans fear diverting taxpayer dollars toward the White House ballroom will alienate voters before midtermsSenate Republican leaders are expected to ditch a $1bn proposal for security measures tied to Donald Trump’s White House ballroom following a backlash from members of their own party.Under pressure from Trump, top Republican lawmakers tried to latch the proposal on to a roughly $70bn bill to restore funding to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the border patrol. Continue reading...

Republican senators have queried the timing and lack of detail in secret service bid to add money to the Department for Homeland security billHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.Senate Republicans could strip Donald Trump’s lavish White House ballroom complex from the Department of Homeland Security funding bill after members queried the timing and lack of detail in the $1bn Secret Service request.The US issued a federal criminal indictment against Raúl Castro, Cuba’s former president, potentially paving the way for a US military raid to capture him.Two police officers attacked by rioters at the US Capitol during the January 6 riot sued Donald Trump over plans to create a $1.776bn “anti-weaponization” fund.Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican congressman from a Philadelphia-area district carried by Kamala Harris in 2024, pledged on Wednesday to “try to kill” the $1.776bn slush fund created by Donald Trump’s Department of Justice this week, which could be used to compensate rioters who tried to keep Trump in office after he lost the 2020 election.Republican senator Bill Cassidy denounced two of Trump’s passion projects: $1bn in taxpayer funding for the White House ballroom the president can’t stop talking about, and the $1.776bn slush fund he plans to use to reward supporters who stormed the Capitol to try to keep him in office despite losing the 2020 election.A former federal prosecutor in Florida pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges that she illegally emailed herself a copy of the unreleased special counsel report on Trump’s mishandling of classified documents. Continue reading...

GOP to target seat held by Jim Clyburn, the only Democrat among the state’s seven representatives in the HouseSign up for the Breaking News US emailHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.An effort to reshape South Carolina’s congressional districts will get its first full airing Monday in the state House.I live in three districts. I’ll decide which one to run in.A US Senate official on Saturday removed security funding that could be used for Donald Trump’s planned $400m White House ballroom from a massive spending package, Democratic lawmakers said, imperilling Republican efforts to devote taxpayer money to the contentious project.The Republican senator Bill Cassidy lost his primary on Saturday, as voters in Louisiana opted instead to advance two challengers to a runoff election after an extraordinary intervention by Trump to oust the incumbent.With two days to go before the next big test of Trump’s iron grip over his party, the president went head-to-head on Sunday with his nemesis, Thomas Massie the Kentucky congressman who is in a fight for his political life in Tuesday’s Republican primary.Workers renovating one of Washington DC’s most historically symbolic sites in a project ordered by Trump may be risking their safety as they race to finish on time for the US’s 250th anniversary celebrations, a union monitoring the site has warned.The FBI director, Kash Patel, is facing new scrutiny following reports that he participated in a snorkelling excursion around the USS Arizona during a trip to Hawaii last summer. Continue reading...

Mississippi politicians are threatening to redraw the district of Bennie Thompson, the state’s lone Democrat in CongressThe supreme court decision that effectively gutted the Voting Rights Act (VRA) “was red meat to the Republican legislators of the south” the US House representative Bennie Thompson said.Conservative lawmakers in Mississippi, where Thompson is both the state’s lone Black and only Democratic congressional representative, have used the opportunity to explicitly target him, threatening to redraw the second congressional district, that he represents. Continue reading...

As Missouri asks voters whether to eliminate tax, experts say claims it will grow businesses and create jobs aren’t trueHannah Rejali, 34, lived through the failed so-called “Kansas Experiment” in the 2010s, when the Republican governor cut the state’s income tax to try to give a “shot of adrenaline” to its economy but instead left the state with a $900m budget shortfall.That meant, for example, that in 2015, at least eight school districts ended their academic year early. Continue reading...

• The Senate voted 49-50 on Wednesday to block continued U.S. military action in Iran, falling short even as three Republicans joined Democrats in support. • Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul and Susan Collins backed the resolution, while Democratic Sen. John Fetterman again opposed his party’s effort. • The vote underscored widening GOP unease as the war becomes more unpopular and gas prices rise, adding pressure on Trump’s handling of the conflict.

Resolution failed in a 49-50 vote, with Lisa Murkowski and fellow GOP members Rand Paul and Susan Collins voting in favorThe Senate on Wednesday rejected the seventh attempt by Democrats to force an end to American involvement in the war on Iran, even as the ranks of Republicans opposed to Donald Trump’s strategy grew.The war powers resolution proposed by Jeff Merkley, a Democratic senator of Oregon, failed in a 49-50 vote. All Democrats with the exception of John Fetterman of Pennsylvania supported its advancement. Continue reading...

• House Republicans are pressing forward with modifications to a Senate-passed housing package on May 12, even after President Trump urged passage of the original version without changes. • The effort coincides with administration pushes for $1 billion in security funding within a larger party-line spending package focused on immigration enforcement, potentially supporting Trump's ballroom project. • Secret Service Director Sean Curran met with Senate Republicans on Tuesday to secure backing, amid Trump's June 1 deadline for lawmakers to clear the legislation.

Republican leader acknowledges ‘likely consequences’ for resisting US president’s demands to redraw mapSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailSouth Carolina state senators on Tuesday defied pressure from Donald Trump to approve plans to redraw the state’s congressional map after the US supreme court effectively gutted the Voting Rights Act.As Republicans scramble to redraw key districts after the US supreme court rendered ineffective a major section of the civil rights law that prevented racial discrimination, Shane Massey, the Republican majority leader in South Carolina’s senate, argued in an extraordinary address that doing so would be against the interest of his state. Continue reading...

• Good government group Common Cause has moderated its aggressive redistricting advocacy after previously drawing controversy by equating California Governor Gavin Newsom with Texas Republicans on the issue. • The organization faced backlash for its comparison, which critics said was factually misleading and damaged its credibility as a nonpartisan reform advocate. • Common Cause's shift reflects growing debate within the progressive community about whether national redistricting standards should apply uniformly or account for state-specific contexts.

Chuck Schumer accuses GOP of ‘asking working families to pay the price while Trump pockets the perks’ in letterUS politics live – latest updatesChuck Schumer, the US Senate’s top Democrat, has vowed to oppose a Republican plan to spend $1bn on security improvements for the ballroom Donald Trump is seeking to build on the White House’s former East Wing.The money is set to be included in a measure Republicans plan to pass that would allocate about $70bn to the federal agencies leading Trump’s mass deportation campaign, with the intention of keeping them operational through the remainder of the president’s term. Continue reading...