A state court on Wednesday ordered the University of California to release the $1.2-billion UCLA settlement proposal from the Department of Justice, handing a victory to faculty members who are pushing UC for more transparency in its negotiations with the Trump administration.

The one-sentence decision signed by 1st Appellate District acting ...Read more

The pantheon of problematic presidential pardons has always cut across partisan lines.

Former President Joe Biden’s pre-emptive pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, was among the most brazen examples ever of a president putting family loyalty above presidential duty. Barack Obama’s commutation of the prison sentence of Army private and document...Read more

American universities are at a crossroads.

Their business model, which is overwhelmingly dependent on the twin pillars of federal grants and taxpayer-backed student loans, is failing in the face of declining public trust, financial malfeasance, a looming demographic cliff, and their publicly acknowledged discrimination, contrary to civil rights...Read more

WASHINGTON — Next month’s special election in a heavily Democratic House district in Houston includes more than a dozen candidates vying to succeed the late Rep. Sylvester Turner.

Yet the crowded field of contenders shares a common opponent: voter confusion.

Responding to pressure from President Donald Trump to bolster the GOP’s chances ...Read more

Among the many dangerous actions President Donald Trump has taken, his push to force some of the country’s best universities into signing a sweeping federal “compact” ranks just behind his pardons for the January 6 insurrectionists.

The 10-part compact is a bizarre mix of bombast, authoritarianism, and a few unremarkable ideas buried like...Read more

Consider a hunger policy director at a state Department of Social Services studying food insecurity data across the state. For years, she has relied on the USDA’s annual Household Food Security Report to identify where hunger is rising, how many families are skipping meals, and how many children go to bed hungry. Those numbers help her target ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is turning to an unconventional approach to lowering drug prices in the United States: striking deals directly with big pharma companies in an attempt to bring U.S. prices in line with what other countries pay.

Trump and the nation’s health care officials have touted these “most-favored nation” ...Read more

Democratic mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani and his chief rival, Andrew Cuomo, tore into each other Wednesday on the debate stage over their respective careers in state government, with both men accusing one another of being ineffective in wielding power in Albany to address New York City’s affordability crisis.

Affordability has been a ...Read more

NORFOLK, Va. — The audience, such that it was, chattered excitedly ahead of Tuesday night’s debate. It sounded almost human.

“Good evening, and thanks for joining us on this unique occasion for an exchange of ideas between the two candidates running to be the next lieutenant governor of Virginia,” intoned a disembodied voice. Viewers at...Read more

President Donald Trump attacked U.S. cattle ranchers over their criticism of his plan to slash record beef prices by importing significantly more tariff-free meat from Argentina, deepening a quarrel with a group of reliable supporters and raising concerns among ranch-state Republican lawmakers.

Trump on Wednesday said that cattlemen should be ...Read more

Early voter turnout exceeds expectations in California’s Nov. 4 special election over redrawing the state’s congressional districts, a Democratic-led effort to counter Republican attempts to keep Congress under GOP control.

“We’re seeing some pretty extraordinary numbers of early votes that have already been cast, people sending back in...Read more

WASHINGTON — The University of Virginia became the latest college to strike a deal with the Trump administration, settling civil rights investigations that threatened the school’s federal funding and cost its former president his job.

As part of the accord, the university agreed to provide the government with data on its admissions and ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Three of the country's most powerful judges met in Pasadena on Wednesday for a rare conclave that could rewrite the legal framework for President Trump's expansive deployment of troops to cities across the United States.

The move to flood Los Angeles with thousands of federalized soldiers over the objection of state and local ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Rep. Mike Haridopolos has been averaging 15,000 steps a day during the shutdown, and his years of being a history teacher have come in handy.

With staff-led tours of the Capitol on pause until the government reopens, the Florida Republican has led more than 20 tours of his own this month.

“As a former history teacher, I love ...Read more

Scotland’s finance secretary is asking the United Kingdom for a $35 million reimbursement following visits from President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

Secretary Shona Robison said in a letter that Scotland incurred “substantial operational and financial burdens” that impacted public services as a result of those visits. That ...Read more

President Donald Trump this week appeared to double down on sending the National Guard to San Francisco. But could that mean troop deployments to other parts of the Bay Area?

Officials across the region, including in San Jose, Oakland, Concord and Berkeley, said they’ve received no indication of the military’s imminent arrival in their ...Read more

After years of speculation, California state Sen. Scott Wiener announced Wednesday that he was running to replace Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who has yet to say whether she will run again in 2026 for the congressional district representing San Francisco.

For years, Wiener had deflected rumors about his aspirations for higher office, saying he...Read more

As President Donald Trump prepares to send National Guard troops — from either Oregon, California or possibly Texas — into Portland, Oregon, entrepreneur Sarah Shaoul watches with deep concern.

A three-decade resident of the Portland area, Shaoul leads a coalition of roughly 100 local small businesses, including many dependent on foot ...Read more

On Friday, the United States destroyed what the Defense Department alleged was a boat affiliated with the National Liberation Army, a Colombian rebel group, using the Southern Caribbean to smuggle drugs into the country. The latest operation, which reportedly killed three people, is the seventh since the aerial campaign began in September. It ...Read more

The most powerful Republican in North Carolina, Senate leader Phil Berger, cut off Senate Democrats’ debate Monday night during a controversial map vote, in a rare move the minority party leader likened to that of “a dictator.”

It’s an allowable procedural move that’s been used in the House to end debate and get right to a vote, but ...Read more