Democrat

• Sebuah Super PAC yang baru dibentuk dan beraliansi dengan Republik telah mengumpulkan dana kampanye sebesar $140 juta yang bertujuan untuk mengalahkan petahana Demokrat asal Ohio yang berupaya kembali ke Senat pada 2026, menurut pengungkapan keuangan kampanye. • Anggota Demokrat tersebut, yang sebelumnya menjabat selama beberapa masa jabatan di Senat dan dipandang sebagai target utama dalam strategi GOP untuk memperluas mayoritasnya, menghadapi pemilihan primer yang ramai dan berada di bawah tekanan di beberapa lini kebijakan. • Demokrat memperingatkan bahwa pengeluaran tersebut dapat membebani kampanye yang berbasis donor kecil dan mengubah lanskap media negara bagian tersebut, sementara Republik berpendapat bahwa dana itu akan memastikan rekam jejak kandidat tersebut tetap berada di bawah pengawasan.

Rusty Hicks khawatir bahwa pendukung Demokrat dapat saling menyingkirkan dalam sistem ‘terbuka’ dan menyerahkan kemenangan kepada Republikan. Ketua partai Demokrat California mengatakan dia ingin menghapus “open primary” negara bagian yang unik tersebut, menyebutnya sebagai kegagalan yang berisiko mengadu domba banyak kandidat Demokrat hingga pada titik di mana seorang Republikan dapat terpilih sebagai gubernur di salah satu negara bagian paling biru di AS. “Sistem yang kita miliki saat ini tidak berfungsi,” kata Rusty Hicks dalam sebuah wawancara. “Ini perlu direvisi atau dicabut.” Lanjutkan membaca...

• Gubernur Maine Janet Mills mengumumkan pada hari Kamis bahwa ia akan menarik diri dari rencana pencalonan Senat, mengundurkan diri dari primari Demokrat dan secara efektif membuka jalan bagi Senator negara bagian Ben Chipman untuk memasuki kontes terbuka. • Mills menyebutkan pertimbangan keluarga dan beban dari persaingan Senat yang berprofil tinggi sebagai alasan utama, menyatakan bahwa Maine “membutuhkan kepemimpinan yang stabil” di kantor gubernur saat ia melanjutkan masa jabatan keduanya. • Pengunduran dirinya mengubah peta politik negara bagian tersebut, kemungkinan menghindarkan Demokrat dari persaingan primari internal partai yang sengit di negara bagian yang belakangan ini cenderung menjadi purple dalam pemilihan nasional.

• Lee Zeldin mengklaim di hadapan Senate bahwa rencana Trump administration akan membuat Environmental Protection Agency ‘lebih efisien’ • Senate Democrats menuduh Trump administration meninggalkan misi Environmental Protection Agency untuk melindungi kesehatan manusia dan lingkungan dalam sidang kongres hari Rabu, mengecam kepemimpinan lembaga tersebut atas proposal untuk memotong anggarannya menjadi setengah. • Kehadiran Lee Zeldin di hadapan Senate environment committee adalah yang terakhir dari tiga budget hearings administrator EPA minggu ini di mana ia berargumen untuk pengurangan tajam pendanaan bagi lembaga tersebut, yang jumlah stafnya sudah berkurang ke level terendah dalam beberapa dekade di bawah kepemimpinannya.

• Anggota DPR dari Fraksi Demokrat mempertanyakan Menteri Pertahanan Pete Hegseth dengan nada skeptis untuk pertama kalinya sejak perang Iran dimulai, mendesak penjelasan mengenai strategi dan biaya dalam dengar pendapat pada 29 April. • Salah satu anggota Demokrat menuduh Hegseth bersikap partisan, mengutip kembali pernyataan-pernyataan sebelumnya di hadapannya dalam sebuah perdebatan sengit. • Konfrontasi tersebut menyoroti perpecahan partisan terkait kerugian ekonomi akibat perang dan kebijakan luar negeri Trump di tengah merosotnya tingkat kepuasan publik.

• Pemilih Virginia sedikit menyetujui rencana redistrikasi kongres yang didukung Demokrat yang membahayakan beberapa petahana Republikan. • Langkah ini menggambar ulang batas wilayah untuk menguntungkan Demokrat di distrik-distrik kunci, menggeser keseimbangan untuk pemilihan tengah tahun 2026. • Pertempuran redistrikasi pesisir ini menyoroti ketegangan nasional terkait peta yang adil dan keuntungan partisan.

• Gubernur Florida Ron DeSantis mengungkap peta distrik kongres baru yang dapat menghilangkan kursi tambahan Demokrat di DPR. • Proposal redistrikasi ini menargetkan area dengan petahana dari Partai Demokrat, yang memperparah persaingan menjelang pemilihan tengah periode (midterms) 2026. • Partai Republik menganggap hal ini sebagai kunci untuk mempertahankan mayoritas di DPR, sementara Partai Demokrat memperingatkan adanya taktik penekanan pemilih.

• Seorang Demokrat Connecticut yang ambisus secara politik meninggalkan negosiasi bipartisan mengenai pendanaan pemerintah di tengah tekanan partai agar dilibatkan. • Aksi walkout ini meningkatkan ketegangan terkait prioritas anggaran federal dan pemotongan pengeluaran. • Hal ini dapat menunda rancangan undang-undang pendanaan yang krusial bagi tenggat waktu fiskal mendatang.

TPOR poll of 1,018 likely voters puts Talarico ahead of John Cornyn by three percentage points and Ken Paxton by fiveUS politics live – latest updatesDemocrats’ hopes of winning control of the US Senate in November’s midterm elections have been boosted by a poll showing James Talarico, the party’s candidate in Texas, leading in a head-to-head matchup against two potential Republican opponents.The Texas public opinion research (TPOR) survey has Talarico, a Democratic state legislator, ahead of the GOP incumbent senator, John Cornyn, and his internal party challenger, Ken Paxton, in one-on-one contests. Continue reading...

The case is part of a national redistricting fight with high stakes for the November midterm electionsSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxVirginia supreme court justices on Monday questioned whether the state’s Democratic-led legislature complied with constitutional requirements when it sent a congressional redistricting plan to voters, in a case that carries high stakes for the balance of power in the US House.The new districts, which could net Democrats four additional seats, won narrow voter approval last week. But a Republican legal challenge contends the general assembly violated procedural rules by placing the constitutional amendment before voters to authorize the mid-decade redistricting. If the court agrees that lawmakers broke the rules, it could invalidate the amendment and render last week’s statewide vote meaningless. Continue reading...

• Support for Israel has dramatically shrunk among Democrats in Congress, marking a political shift. • Last week saw a seismic change with key figures like Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez highlighting the reversal. • This internal party divide impacts U.S. foreign policy and bipartisan legislation on Middle East aid.

Janet Mills says moratorium would’ve been ‘appropriate’ if it didn’t interfere with ongoing datacenter project in MaineThe Democratic governor of Maine on Friday vetoed a bill that would have made it the first US state to impose a moratorium on large new datacenters, even as local opposition to the electricity-hungry facilities grows.The decision reflects the difficult trade-off facing political leaders, who must weigh the impact of datacenters on the environment and household energy bills against the millions of dollars in investment and tax revenue they can bring. Continue reading...

Kim Leadbeater tells of plan to table identical bill that peers would be unable to stopMPs and peers who led the assisted dying bill have promised to bring it back to parliament after it ran out of time in the House of Lords.Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP who tabled the private member’s bill, said the plan would be to table an identical bill in the next parliamentary session, which would prevent peers blocking it again, as the Lords cannot stop the same bill twice. Continue reading...

Recriminations continue over failure to bring in new laws allowing assisted dying for terminally ill people in England and WalesAmid the failure of an attempt to bring in new laws allowing assisted dying for terminally ill people with less than six months to live, campaigners on both sides of the debate vented their anger and frustration with the opposing side.Its supporters, including terminally ill people, blamed the failure of the terminally ill adults (end of life) bill, which passed in the House of Commons, on sabotage by a handful of unelected peers. Continue reading...

Republicans deploy measure known as budget reconciliation to push through plan without backing from Democrats during lengthy late-night voteHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.The Senate voted to adopt a $70bn budget plan to fund ICE and Border Patrol as part of a new effort to reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).We have a multistep process ahead of us, but at the end Republicans will have helped ensure that America’s borders are secure and prevented Democrats from defunding these important agencies.Instead of pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into ICE and Border Patrol, Republicans should be working with Democrats to lower out-of-pocket costs.The Pentagon announced, without explanation, that “Secretary of the Navy John C Phelan is departing the administration, effective immediately”. The head of the US navy, which is now enforcing a wartime blockade of Iranian ports, was replaced by a former Maga political candidate, Hung Cao, now acting secretary of the navy.The surprise announcement brought renewed attention to Cao’s 2023 comments that that “witchcraft” had “taken over” Monterey, California.Virginia’s attorney general, Jay Jones, promised to appeal an injunction issued by a circuit court judge that temporarily blocks the state from certifying the results of the Tuesday’s redistricting referendum.As jet fuel prices spike amid the ongoing energy crisis sparked by Donald Trump’s war on Iran, two Republican senators, Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton, denounced a proposed US government bailout of budget carrier Spirit Airlines.Representative David Scott, a Democrat from Georgia, has died at the age of 80. He is the fifth member of Congress to die in office within the last year. Continue reading...

Report from Elizabeth Warren calls Trump administration cuts to Social Security Administration ‘catastrophic’Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxCuts to the Social Security Administration have caused “customer service chaos” for millions of older Americans and those with disabilities who rely on the agency’s services, according to a new report from a group of Democratic senators.An investigation found that phone wait times were more than 10 times higher than what the agency claimed on its website, if the calls were even answered at all. Continue reading...

• House Republicans openly questioned President Donald Trump's mid-decade redistricting strategy on Wednesday, following a Democratic victory in Virginia on Tuesday that threatens the GOP's slim House majority. • The Virginia vote paves the way for as many as four Republican seats to be lost, intensifying GOP concerns about the redistricting war Trump sparked. • Republican lawmakers are now expressing misgivings about the strategy, signaling potential fractures within the party over Trump's aggressive electoral positioning ahead of the November midterms.

Democrats within reach of House majority after voters rebel against Republican gerrymanderingSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxMonths into his second term, Donald Trump wagered that he could beat the historic trend of the party in power losing seats in midterm elections if Republican-led states redrew congressional maps to sweep Democrats out of office.The gamble is looking to be a bust, or at best a draw, for the president, after Democrats fought back with their own redistricting efforts, the latest of which came to fruition in Virginia on Tuesday, when voters approved a plan that could remove all but one of the five Republicans in its current House of Representatives delegation. Continue reading...

Amid growing congressional scrutiny of his conduct, Patel has claimed he has ‘never been intoxicated on the job’US politics live – latest updatesHouse judiciary Democrats have launched a formal inquiry into FBI director, Kash Patel’s alleged drinking habits, demanding he complete a standardized alcohol abuse assessment and submit the results to Congress.In a letter sent on Tuesday, led by Jamie Raskin, a Maryland representative, Democrats on the committee called on Patel to take the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (Audit) – a 10-question World Health Organization screening tool used to identify harmful patterns of drinking – along with a sworn statement attesting to his answers. Lawmakers also requested all security clearance questionnaires Patel has completed since taking the role. Continue reading...

• A $140 million super PAC war chest is poised to challenge Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown's 2026 Senate return. • Funded by Republican donors, the group aims to exploit Brown's vulnerabilities in a key battleground. • This escalation underscores high stakes for Senate control amid Trump's midterm focus.

• California Democrats are urging swift action to fill the U.S. House seat vacated by former Rep. Eric Swalwell following his resignation. • Party leaders emphasize the need for a special election to maintain Democratic representation in the competitive district. • The vacancy heightens midterm stakes, with Republicans eyeing gains in the state amid shifting voter dynamics.

Florida US representative indicted in November for allegedly misusing more than $5m of federal disaster fundsDemocratic US representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick said she is resigning effective immediately, after a House committee found she violated ethics rules. The panel was set to issue its recommended punishment for the Florida representative on Tuesday.Cherfilus-McCormick was indicted by a federal grand jury in November for allegedly funneling more than $5m worth of federal disaster funds from her company into her 2021 congressional campaign. Continue reading...

Climate leaders say Democrats need to extol clean energy as a way to cut costs for Americans as war roils oil marketsDemocrats should get louder in championing clean energy’s affordability and resilience from global shocks, according to some of the party’s leading voices on the climate.As the Iran war roils economies by raising the cost of oil and gas, countries are aiming to accelerate their shift to cleaner energy. But in the US, Donald Trump has sought to kill off any alternative to fossil fuels while opposing Democrats have been reluctant to tie the conflict to any action on the climate crisis. Continue reading...

• The African Union convened emergency sessions Friday in Addis Ababa to address military coup concerns in three Sahel nations and coordinate response to deteriorating security conditions affecting 180 million people across West Africa. • Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have experienced military takeovers since 2020, with suspended AU memberships and international sanctions creating governance vacuums exploited by extremist groups and destabilizing the entire region. • The AU proposed conditional reinstatement frameworks for suspended nations contingent on democratic transition timelines, though France and Western partners expressed skepticism about implementation feasibility given entrenched military leadership.

Victory means Democrats hold on to the 11th district seat in the House, where Republicans hold a thin majorityDemocrat Analilia Mejia won a New Jersey special election for the US House on Thursday, defeating Republican Joe Hathaway on a message of standing up to Donald Trump.Mejia, a former head of the Working Families Alliance who had support from the senator Bernie Sanders, will fill the seat previously held by the Democratic governor Mikie Sherrill and serve until January. Continue reading...

Democratic lawmakers urged Republican leaders to postpone the confirmation hearing of Kevin WarshSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxDemocrats have moved to stall Donald Trump’s effort to exert greater control over the US Federal Reserve, condemning the president’s “absurd” bid to install a new leader of the central bank while it is targeted with criminal investigations.Democratic lawmakers on the Senate banking committee urged its Republican leadership on Thursday to postpone the planned confirmation hearing for Kevin Warsh, the financial executive and former Fed governor Trump has nominated to replace Jerome Powell as Fed chair. Continue reading...

Accusations refer to attack on Iran without congressional authorization and strikes on alleged drug smuggling boatsHouse Democrats filed six articles of impeachment against Pete Hegseth on Wednesday, accusing the defense security of “high crimes and misdemeanors”, in reference to the attack on Iran without congressional authorization and deadly strikes on suspected drug smuggling boats, among other official acts.The move comes as the Trump administration faces mounting scrutiny over recent foreign action, particularly the war with Iran. Continue reading...

• A defiant House incumbent facing low polling numbers and a fragmented base has announced he will not yield to pressure to step aside for another centrist candidate, Zohran Mamdani, in an upcoming primary. • The incumbent's decision to remain in the race despite weak polling reflects confidence in his political base despite internal party divisions. • The contested primary underscores Democratic Party tensions between progressive and centrist factions as ambitious candidates position themselves for the upcoming midterm cycle.

Measure by Jamie Raskin follows statements by Trump about annihilating Iran and post depicting himself as JesusSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxHouse Democrats on Tuesday proposed creating a commission that would work with JD Vance to remove Donald Trump from office under the 25th amendment, should they determine he is no longer fit to serve.The measure, introduced by Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House judiciary committee, follows a series of statements from Trump, including his recent warning that Iran’s “whole civilization will die” if it did not capitulate to his demands, and a social media post that depicted him as Jesus Christ. Continue reading...