The former public health official has slight lead over congresswoman Haley Stevens, but vote count could continue well into the dayEl-Sayed holds narrow lead in Michigan Senate primary but race too close to callUS representative Haley Stevens, who is currently trailing in the Democratic primary for Senate in Michigan, has cast herself throughout her campaign as a pragmatic problem-solver and workhorse.Stevens, who has represented Michigan’s 11th House district since 2019, after flipping the seat, has a long list of high profile endorsements from within the Democratic party that include the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, the Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer, and Gary Peters, the retiring senator who holds the seat she is now running for. Her campaign had also been boosted by tens of millions of dollars in outside spending, including from groups affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), the pro-Israel lobbying organization. Continue reading...
Jake Richard acknowledges ‘unimaginable pain’ of Harper’s family but says government faces an ‘unenviable position’Good morning and welcome to the UK politics blog.Ministers continue to defend the release of PC Andrew Harper’s killers as part of the government’s early prisoner release scheme, despite a potential legal challenge from the Police Federation.Well, look, we understand that people are angry. The Harper family are, of course, angry. The police are angry too.We’re angry that we’re in this situation where we face the unenviable position of having to make sure that we have a sustainable prison system, which is so vital to a functioning law and order system in our country, but also that we do right by victims as far as possible.Because without a functioning prison system, it means it’s difficult for police to make arrests, it’s difficult for our courts to try cases, and it could mean to the collapse of law and order in this country.We cannot be in that situation, so that is the challenge that we face as government ministers and the prime minister faces ultimately.I feel sick to my stomach, if I’m really honest with you. I’ve had a gut wrenching feeling in my stomach the past couple of weeks with this, and it doesn’t go away.And arguably, I would say that many of my members across Thames Valley also have this gut wrenching feeling, even at the prospect of these two killers being released in the space of weeks, potentially.Ministers will scrap the requirement for companies to prove their green and progressive values before they are awarded government contracts, and instead ask firms to prove they will help young people back into work.Women should not feel pressurised into experiencing an “ideal birth”, the new health secretary, Yvette Cooper, has said, promising a root-and-branch reform of standards after several damning maternity scandals.An official investigation has been launched into charities in England and Wales donating funds to illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine.Andy Burnham has inherited a Labour membership that is sceptical about increased welfare spending, supportive of higher defence spending, and ranks the climate crisis as one of the country’s biggest challenges, according to new polling.BP’s chief executive has urged Andy Burnham to make use of the UK’s oil and gas resources even as the oil company prepares to sell its North Sea business after 60 years in the ageing basin.The Conservative party leader, Kemi Badenoch, has defended the selection of a former neo-Nazi activist as a candidate for a local election in Somerset despite him being jailed in 2016 after he was convicted of racially aggravated harassment of the former Labour MP Luciana Berger.Pupils in Scotland’s schools received their exam results this morning, with exam pass rates at all levels having risen this year, including a record number of National 5 passes. Continue reading...
• The US Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to advance Todd Blanche’s nomination for Attorney General.
• Ranking member Senator Dick Durbin expressed skepticism over Blanche's assurances that the Trump administration would not reinstate a $1.8bn "anti-weaponization" fund.
• This nomination is critical as it determines the leadership of the Department of Justice and the handling of controversial federal funds.
Trump’s former personal lawyer appears on track to become attorney general despite reservations over deal withdrawing ‘anti-weaponization fund’Critics denounce Blanche deal to halt Trump slush fundSign up for US Breaking News emailHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Todd Blanche appears on track to become the next US attorney general after two Republican senators drop their opposition to his nomination.Trump declined to call for Rep Max Miller’s resignation following allegations of domestic abuse from his ex-wife, Emily Moreno. Trump said he has always known Miller as “a good person” and called the situation “a very sad thing.”In an 89-4 vote, the Senate voted to take up a measure that would temporarily keep the government funded and help avoid a shutdown in the fall. The measure, known as a continuing resolution, would maintain government funding at current levels through 11 December, with some adjustments for specific programs. The Senate is slated to debate the funding bill and move it closer to a final vote.A coalition of 25 US states sued the Trump administration over new tariffs pegged at 10% to 12.5% on goods from 60 trading partners, calling them a pretext for replacing import taxes struck down by the supreme court in February. The states are asking the US Court of International Trade to halt the tariffs, declare them unlawful and order refunds of duties that have already been paid. More here.Trump accused US attorney Jeanine Pirro of having “folded like an umbrella” amid reports that he was considering removing her from her post. Trump criticized Pirro on Monday after she dropped vandalism charges against a former Olympian accused of damaging the recently renovated Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool. More here. Continue reading...
• Reform UK leader Nigel Farage claimed he was "open to conversation" regarding a potential electoral deal, sparking speculation about a political pact.
• Rupert Lowe, a prominent figure within the party, has publicly accused Farage of "outright lying," stating that no such talks have actually taken place.
• This internal contradiction threatens to undermine the party's stability and could scupper potential alliances before formal negotiations even begin.
Todd Blanche issues formal order to withdraw ‘anti-weaponization fund’ after weeks of negotiations with Republican senators who were blocking his nominationBlanche formally rescinds Trump’s $1.8bn ‘anti-weaponization fund’Sign up for the US Breaking News emailHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.Acting US attorney general Todd Blanche issued a formal order late on Sunday terminating Donald Trump’s $1.8bn “anti-weaponization fund” to compensate his political allies. Continue reading...
Labour say plan is a ‘desperate attempt to distract from sleaze’ while a retired commander says it ‘lacks substance’The leader of Restore Britain, Rupert Lowe, told the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, that if he was “prepared to work together around serious policies, serious reform and serious government, then so are we”.In a video posted on X on Sunday, Lowe said:I truly believe there could be sufficient common ground for our two movements to cooperate collectively, destroy the looming leftwing alliance that will finish off what hope remains for this country.In my view, failing to even try because of our own personal difficulties is simply not an option. Now is the time to put our differences aside and cooperate for the good of the country that we all love.Mass deportation of illegal migrants “including women and children”.Tougher rules on legal migration, a ban on halal and kosher slaughter, the burqa, cousin marriage and sharia courts.A referendum on the death penalty.Welfare cuts to fund “self-sufficiency”.The exclusion of former Tory ministers from any future cabinet. Continue reading...
President grapples with finding a resolution to Middle East conflict that has pushed up gasoline prices ahead of vital midterm electionsSign up for the US Breaking News emailHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.President Donald Trump will convene a cabinet meeting later today at his Camp David retreat as he grapples with how to resolve his war against Iran.President Donald Trump has said he may pull Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney-general until senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis leave office. The Republicans have demanded written assurances about the settlement of the president’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. Cornyn recently lost the GOP primary in Texas and Tillis is not seeking reelection.The US Senate narrowly rejected a largely symbolic effort to check Donald Trump’s war in Iran, as a war powers resolution directing the president to end hostilities failed in a 49-50 vote.The House Democratic Women’s Caucus called on Thursday for an ethics committee investigation of Republican congressman Max Miller, a former Trump aide who has been accused of domestic abuse by his ex-wife and former girlfriend.New polling commissioned by Fox News shows Texas Democrat James Talarico narrowly ahead of the state’s Trump-backed Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, in their contest for a seat in the US Senate. Continue reading...
Lawmakers scrap planned committee vote and seek further assurances that president’s ‘anti-weaponization fund’ is deadSign up for the US Breaking News emailHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.Todd Blanche’s nomination to become attorney-general stalled last night as lawmakers scrapped a planned committee vote.Barack Obama, the former president who installed basketball hoop on the White House tennis court, endorsed the US Senate campaign of Iowa Democrat Josh Turek, a state lawmaker who played wheelchair basketball in four Paralympic Games, winning two gold medals, in a new ad filmed as the two shot hoops.The US Senate unanimously passed a resolution declaring its opposition to any presidential pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime Jeffrey Epstein associate who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex-trafficking crimes.Marjorie Taylor Greene, the former Maga congresswoman, announced on Wednesday that she was married on Tuesday in Las Vegas to another recent exile from Trump’s good graces, Brian Glenn, the self-described “Maga mouthpiece” who quit his job as White House correspondent for the far-right network Real America’s Voice after his fiancee was cast out by the president for supporting the release of the Epstein files and criticizing his bombing of Iran in 2025.Lawyers for former FBI director James Comey have alleged that US Secret Service agents illegally surveilled him, Trump requested regular updates into the investigation, and law enforcement turned to ChatGPT and a known mafia killer as they scrambled to find justification for criminally charging Comey for posting a picture of seashells that spelled out “8647”. Continue reading...
Veteran medical adviser likely to face questions over disputed ‘lab leak’ theory in investigation seen by scientists as ‘vilification and harassment’ of 85-year-oldSign up for US Breaking News emailHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.Senators are expected to question Anthony Fauci, the former veteran director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Niaid), about whether the Covid-19 virus began as a “lab leak” in a high-profile hearing later today. Continue reading...