Politics
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Trump tariff 'blank check' must be curbed, appeals court told
A group of small businesses that won an order finding President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs illegal urged a federal appeals court to uphold that decision and block the trade levies.
The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled on May 28 that Trump exceeded his authority by imposing broad tariffs, a power granted to Congress in the ...Read more

Supreme Court OKs Trump's mass layoffs of federal employees across more than a dozen agencies
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court cleared the way Tuesday for the Trump administration to lay off tens of thousands of federal employees and downsize their agencies without seeking the approval of Congress.
In an 8-1 vote, the justices lifted an order from a federal judge in San Francisco who blocked mass layoffs at more than 20 departments and...Read more

Supreme Court OKs Trump's mass layoffs of federal employees across more than a dozen agencies
The Supreme Court cleared the way Tuesday for the Trump administration to lay off tens of thousands of federal employees and downsize their agencies without seeking the approval of Congress.
In an 8-1 vote, the justices lifted an order from a federal judge in San Francisco who blocked mass layoffs at more than 20 departments and agencies.
The ...Read more

Trump says he's weighing a federal takeover of Washington, DC
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said his administration is weighing whether to take control of the city of Washington, D.C., to help combat crime, in a move that would represent a dramatic upheaval to the capital’s half-century of home rule.
“We could run D.C. I mean, we’re looking at D.C.,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting ...Read more

Trump says Powell should 'resign immediately' if he misled Congress
President Donald Trump said Jerome Powell should “resign immediately” if allegations from an administration official that the Federal Reserve chair misled lawmakers prove true, while deepening his personal attacks against the head of the central bank over interest rate policy.
Trump, speaking in a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, called Powell “...Read more

Trump lashes out at reporter for asking about Epstein 'client list'
President Donald Trump angrily tried to shut down a reporter who inquired about disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in 2019.
The president’s reaction on Tuesday did little to quell the curiosity of critics who continue to ...Read more

Analysis: Trump slams Putin, touts self-made tariff deals and muses on gold leaf
WASHINGTON — The White House has been in spike-the-football mode since President Donald Trump signed his sweeping tax and domestic policy agenda into law. But the jubilation was interrupted Tuesday as the president and his Cabinet members faced questions on the administration’s trade policy and response to deadly Texas floods.
The ...Read more

Supreme Court lets Trump proceed with broad workforce cuts
The U.S. Supreme Court let President Donald Trump move ahead with plans to dramatically reduce the size of the federal government, lifting a court order that had blocked 19 federal departments and agencies from slashing their workforces.
Granting a Trump request over one dissent, the justices on Tuesday cleared the administration to implement ...Read more

Trump vows no tariff extension, hardens threats on copper, drugs
President Donald Trump vowed to push forward with his aggressive tariff regime in the coming days, stressing he would not offer additional extensions on country-specific levies set to now hit in early August while indicating he could announce substantial new rates on imports of copper and pharmaceuticals.
The posturing on social media and at a...Read more

State fines, reprimands Illinois abortion doctor accused of leaving half a fetus inside Indiana patient
CHICAGO — A Champaign abortion provider accused in a lawsuit of perforating a patient’s uterus and leaving half a fetus inside her body has been reprimanded and fined in connection with that case by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, according to records obtained by the Tribune.
Dr. Keith Reisinger-Kindle of ...Read more

Trump vows to 'straighten out' NYC if Mamdani wins mayoral race
President Trump Tuesday vowed to “straighten out” New York City if Zohran Mamdani wins the race for mayor.
Deriding Mamdani as a “communist,” Trump said he would take unspecified steps to intervene in the city’s affairs if the Democrat ousts incumbent Eric Adams in the general election.
“Maybe we’re going to have to straighten it...Read more

Trump says he won't punt on tariffs again, may set EU rate soon
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he would not offer any extensions for the implementation of increased tariffs on many goods imported into the U.S., pledging that new rates would hit at the beginning of August.
“TARIFFS WILL START BEING PAID ON AUGUST 1, 2025. There has been no change to this date, and there will be no change,” ...Read more

Jon Stewart doesn't mince words about Paramount's $16 million Trump settlement
NEW YORK — Jon Stewart took aim at his network's parent firm Paramount Global for paying $16 million to settle President Donald Trump's lawsuit against CBS News, calling the move a payoff for approval of a pending merger.
On the Monday edition of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," Stewart and guest and former "60 Minutes" correspondent Steve ...Read more

Latest tariff pause shows limits of Trump's frenzied dealmaking
On “Liberation Day” on April 2, Donald Trump gushed about how trade was finally going to tilt in America’s favor after decades of its workers and companies being “plundered.” For the president, unfettered tariffs would soon make the U.S. “an entirely different country.”
Spelling out his policy of so-called reciprocity with ...Read more

Rubio imposter used AI, Signal to contact foreign officials
WASHINGTON — Someone pretending to be Secretary of State Marco Rubio used AI-generated voice technology and a fake Signal account to contact foreign officials and at least one member of Congress, the latest case of impostors mimicking senior U.S. officials.
A State Department cable dated July 3 said an unknown person left voice and text ...Read more
Competition for 9th Congressional District heats up as 2 Illinois state legislators join large Democratic field
CHICAGO — The race to replace longtime U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky is getting more crowded.
State Sen. Mike Simmons will launch his campaign Tuesday, he told the Tribune, joining recently announced state Rep. Hoan Huynh — who also planned a campaign kickoff event Tuesday evening — and some 10 other Democratic candidates vying for the seat. ...Read more

FAA administrator nomination headlines a respite week for senators
WASHINGTON — Senators will have the Capitol to themselves when they return Tuesday for an abbreviated work period, with the House taking the week off after narrowly pushing through Republicans’ sweeping domestic policy package.
The confirmation of the next head of the Federal Aviation Administration will headline the Senate floor agenda ...Read more

Latest tariff pause shows limits of Trump's frenzied dealmaking
On “Liberation Day” on April 2, Donald Trump gushed about how trade was finally going to tilt in America’s favor after decades of its workers and companies being “plundered.” For the president, unfettered tariffs would soon make the U.S. “an entirely different country.”
Spelling out his policy of so-called reciprocity with ...Read more

Reconciliation law offers radiation compensation to more people
WASHINGTON — The reconciliation law signed by President Donald Trump last week will provide greater compensation to more victims of radiation exposure from America’s nuclear weapons programs through 2028, putting an end to a yearslong lobbying effort.
The language in the fiscal 2025 law spearheaded by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., would expand ...Read more

A university president stands up for higher education as it's under assault
The Trump administration’s attack on higher education is both wide-ranging and carefully targeted at certain institutions. It has included, figuratively speaking, cluster bombs and surgical strikes.
The ordinary human impulse when under assault is to flee or to hide. The more noble response, however, is to stand up and confront one’s ...Read more