Politics

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A partisan skirmish in the U.S. Senate cut short a Republican effort to speed $250 billion in new assistance to small businesses on Friday, forcing Republicans and Democrats to negotiate over how best to help independent firms reeling from the coronavirus outbreak. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) walks to the

(Reuters) – For weeks, President Donald Trump has dominated television coverage with daily White House briefings on the coronavirus pandemic, declaring himself a “wartime president” and touting his administration’s response. FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the daily coronavirus task force briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 7, 2020. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Efforts to push a further $250 billion of coronavirus aid for small businesses through the U.S. Congress were stalling on Wednesday as top Democrats said they would back the measure only if it was coupled with a similar amount for hospitals and local governments. FILE PHOTO: U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

(Reuters) – Earl Kerr, a 57-year-old electrical contractor in Jacksonville, Florida, says he fears for his 80-year-old mother, who entered an assisted living facility just before the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States. And he says he worries that the tanking economy will sink his small business. FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump has removed the inspector general tasked with overseeing the government’s coronavirus response, including $2.3 trillion in economic relief, the spokeswoman for the inspector general’s office said on Tuesday. FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to addresses the daily coronavirus task force briefing at the White House in Washington,

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In a White House communications shakeup, press secretary Stephanie Grisham announced plans to leave on Tuesday and administration officials said she was expected to be replaced by a spokeswoman for President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, Kayleigh McEnany. The shuffle, in which Grisham will become first lady Melania Trump’s chief of staff, is

(Reuters) – The Wisconsin Supreme Court put the state’s presidential primary back on track, ruling on Monday that Democratic Governor Tony Evers cannot postpone in-person voting to June despite the coronavirus crisis. Evers had moved to postpone the primary election from Tuesday until June 9, citing health risks from the coronavirus pandemic, but Republicans quickly

FILE PHOTO: A sign directs voters towards a polling place near the state capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. November 6, 2018. REUTERS/Nick Oxford (Reuters) – Nine Wisconsin mayors, including those representing the state’s five largest cities, on Sunday urged the state’s top public health official to postpone Tuesday’s primary election due to the coronavirus pandemic.

FILE PHOTO: Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson arrives to testify at a House Intelligence Committee closed-door hearing on a whistleblower complaint about President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., October 4, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Michael Atkinson, the outgoing top watchdog of the U.S. Intelligence Community, on

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Saturday defended his decision to fire the top watchdog of the U.S. Intelligence Community, saying Michael Atkinson did “a terrible job” in handling the whistleblower complaint that triggered an impeachment probe of Trump last year. “He took a fake report, and he brought it to Congress,” Trump said

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) – Wisconsin is set to hold in-person voting next week after the state’s legislature on Saturday declined to take up an effort delaying the presidential primary due to the coronavirus pandemic. FILE PHOTO: A sign directs voters towards a polling place near the state capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. November 6, 2018. REUTERS/Nick

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top U.S. federal watchdog vowed on Saturday to continue to conduct “aggressive” independent oversight of government agencies, after President Donald Trump fired the inspector general of the U.S. intelligence community late Friday night. FILE PHOTO: Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson arrives to testify at a House Intelligence Committee closed-door hearing

FILE PHOTO: Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson arrives to testify at a House Intelligence Committee closed-door hearing on a whistleblower complaint about President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., October 4, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump notified Congress on Friday that he is firing

(Reuters) – Democratic Governor Tony Evers asked Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled legislature on Friday to cancel in-person voting in next week’s presidential primary, making it an all-mail election and extending the time to return ballots until late May. FILE PHOTO: Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tony Evers speaks to supporters at a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. November

FILE PHOTO: Democratic U.S. presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks about responses to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic at an event in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., March 12, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Barria (Reuters) – Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden said on Thursday that the Trump administration showed “poor judgment” in relieving the commander of an

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday she will form a bipartisan select committee on the coronavirus crisis to oversee the spending of $2.3 trillion that Congress has approved to respond to the pandemic. FILE PHOTO: U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) makes a statement about coronavirus disease (COVID-19)