Political developments with market and economic implications.
Coverage of political events, elections, legislation, and regulatory changes that influence markets and economic policy. Focuses on political risk, fiscal decisions, and policy uncertainty relevant to investors.
909 total articles
As the Texas Senate contest tightens, Republican operatives and allies are focusing on cultural issues - particularly gender identity - to shift attention from economic and foreign policy vulnerabilities. Democratic state representative James Talarico has been targeted with misleading personal attacks even as polls show a narrow race with potential…
Iowa State Representative Josh Turek captured the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, earning a path to the November general election where he will oppose Republican Representative Ashley Hinson for the open seat vacated by retiring Senator Joni Ernst. Early returns showed Turek leading decisively in the primary, while analysts co…
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 2 cleared the way for Alabama to deploy a congressional map backed by Republican legislators that would eliminate one of two districts where Black voters form a majority or near-majority. The decision, issued over the dissent of the court's three liberal justices, stayed a federal three-judge panel's order that had bl…
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer publicly endorsed Graham Platner on June 2, saying Platner will face incumbent Republican Susan Collins in November and asserting the campaign will help Democrats reclaim the Senate. The endorsement comes as Platner, a former Marine and oyster farmer, contends with recent controversies that include sexually ex…
Two sources said the Justice Department’s pact shielding President Donald Trump and his family from future tax audits remains intact even as his $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund has been placed on hold. White House officials made calls to lawmakers to assert there would be no payouts after a Republican backlash, but lawmakers are pressing for a…
President Donald Trump named Bill Pulte, who currently serves as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and chair of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as acting director of national intelligence. The 38-year-old will retain his housing finance roles while overseeing the intelligence community. Pulte has no prior national security experience. The …
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin will testify before a Senate committee after raising the possibility of cutting international travel and cargo processing at Newark Liberty International Airport unless local authorities secured the perimeter around Delaney Hall Detention Facility. The confrontation follows protests over detainee co…
A federal judge in Boston will hear arguments from Democratic-led states and voting rights organizations seeking to block President Donald Trump's executive order that directs federal action to tighten rules around mail-in voting. The order, signed March 31, instructs federal agencies and the U.S. Postal Service to take steps including compiling st…
California holds a primary election that will select two finalists for governor and Los Angeles mayor and provide the initial test of a new congressional map that advocates say could shift up to five seats. The crowded gubernatorial field is being winnowed under the state’s top-two primary system, while closely watched local and congressional conte…
The U.S. Supreme Court is positioned to issue rulings by late June in two high-profile election cases that could materially affect the November midterms. One involves a Mississippi law allowing late-arriving, postmarked mail ballots to be counted; the other challenges limits on coordinated spending between party organizations and candidates. Those …
Senate Republicans are divided over President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, which emerged from a Justice Department settlement and is intended to compensate alleged victims of political 'weaponization.' Nearly half of the 53-member Republican Senate majority pushed back at a closed-door briefing by Acting Attorney …
The White House issued a memo on May 29 stating that U.S. President Donald Trump is in excellent health after a medical examination this week at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The memo highlighted strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological and overall physical function. Trump, who noted "everything checked out perfectly," visited Walter…
Louisiana Republicans approved a congressional redistricting plan that dismantles a Democratic-held, majority-Black seat, a move party leaders say is partisan rather than racial. The map passed the state House and was approved 28-10 by the state Senate along party lines, and is expected to be signed by Governor Jeff Landry. The vote follows a U.S. …
Pam Bondi, the former U.S. Attorney General, testified Friday in a closed session before a Republican-controlled House committee about the Justice Department’s handling and partial release of documents from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. Committee leaders pressed for answers on why some materials remain unavailable to Congress and the public, w…
Republican-controlled legislatures in several Southern states have enacted new congressional maps or attempted to do so, part of a nationwide battle over redistricting that began last summer. Two key court decisions - one from the U.S. Supreme Court narrowing protections for majority-Black districts and a Virginia Supreme Court ruling striking down…
A U.S. federal judge issued a temporary injunction preventing the Trump administration from creating or operating an approximately $1.8 billion fund intended to compensate alleged victims of government weaponization. The so-called Anti-Weaponization Fund was announced by the Justice Department as part of a settlement in President Donald Trump’s law…
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will deliver remarks arguing that recent administration policies aim to correct long-standing policy errors that weakened American industrial capacity and left critical supply chains overly reliant on geopolitical competitors, particularly China. Speaking at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Bessent descr…
Huntington Beach, known for its conservative city council and decision to ban the Pride flag from municipal property, is poised to be shifted into a newly drawn congressional district that pairs it with Long Beach. The redistricting positions Robert Garcia, a two-term, openly gay Democratic congressman and Trump critic, as the heavy favorite to rep…
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed lawsuits against Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon and Washington after state officials refused requests to supply confidential license plates to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for undercover arrest operations tied to the Trump administration's immigration enforcement. The suits follow warnings from th…
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed lawsuits against Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon and Washington after those states declined to provide confidential vehicle registrations and license plates to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The DOJ says the states are improperly discriminating against federal law enforcement by barring ICE access to…
Recent state-level data through April indicate a notable increase in people losing or leaving Affordable Care Act plans because they did not pay premiums. The trend is concentrated in some states, with Kentucky and Idaho seeing particularly large rises in disenrollments. Analysts link the decline in overall enrollment to the end of pandemic-era sub…
A federal judge on Thursday declined to enjoin President Donald Trump's executive order that imposes stricter procedures for mail-in voting, leaving intact instructions for federal agencies to compile state 'citizenship lists' and for the U.S. Postal Service to limit ballot delivery to approved mail-in lists. Democrats contended the order could dis…
Ken Paxton’s decisive win over Senator John Cornyn in the Texas Republican runoff gives President Trump a prominent victory but creates several strategic and financial challenges for the GOP. Paxton’s limited cash reserves, the shift of the Texas race to a more competitive rating, potential defections from departing Republican leaders and the low-t…
Alabama officials filed an emergency request with the U.S. Supreme Court on May 27 seeking permission to use a Republican-drawn congressional map that would eliminate one of the two districts where Black voters form a majority or near-majority. The petition follows a federal three-judge panel's decision to block the map as intentionally discriminat…
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, defeating four-term incumbent John Cornyn in a runoff. Paxton’s victory, aided by former President Donald Trump’s endorsement, hands Republicans a controversial nominee and creates a competitive general election matchup with Democratic state Representative James Talari…
