Live: U.S. Politics
Live U.S. political coverage.
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Exclusive - Trump to focus counter-extremism programme solely on Islam
Reuters UKThe Trump administration wants to revamp and rename a U.S. government programme designed to counter all violent ideologies so that it focuses solely on Islamist extremism, five people briefed on the matter told Reuters. -
'Dumb deal' drags Australia-US ties to new low after tense Trump call
U.S. President Donald Trump labelled a refugee swap deal with Australia "dumb" on Thursday after a Washington Post report of an acrimonious telephone call with Australia's prime minister threatened a rare rift in ties between the two staunch allies. -
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will review a "dumb deal" to take hundreds of Australian asylum seekers after the Washington Post reported he had angrily berated Australia's prime minister and abruptly ended a tense telephone call. Read more here
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U.S. judge orders Trump administration to allow entry to immigrant visa holders
A federal judge in Los Angeles has ruled President Donald Trump's administration must allow immigrants with initial clearance for legal residency to enter the United States from seven Muslim-majority nations, despite an executive order ban. -
U.S hedge fund manager Anthony Scaramucci, who left Wall Street to join the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, will now not get a senior role at the White House, the New York Times reports. Read more here
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Here's Reuters legal columnist Alison Frankel, discussing what the Democrats should do about Gorsuch:
Will the newly energized liberal base think Democrats are weak if they don’t filibuster Gorsuch’s nomination? Will Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican, follow Trump’s instructions and blow up the filibuster rule if he can’t persuade enough Democrats to bring Gorsuch’s nomination to a vote?
If McConnell uses the so-called “nuclear option,” will Democrats come to regret blocking a vote on Gorsuch? And, finally, what signals will the process send to Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is reportedly thinking about retirement?
I don’t pretend to know the smartest political route for any Senate Democrat. For most of them, it probably makes sense to vote against Gorsuch – even to filibuster his nomination.
All I’m suggesting is that they remember the ultimate stakes aren’t just political.
Read the full column 'On the case' from Reuters Commentary. -
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President Trump's national security adviser, Michael Flynn, said the United States was officially putting Iran on notice on Wednesday over its "destabilizing activity" after it test-fired a ballistic missile over the weekend:
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U.S. Senate panel suspends rules, backs Price, Mnuchin for Cabinet
ReutersRepublicans on the Senate Finance Committee suspended committee rules and confirmed U.S. Representative Tom Price to head the Department of Health and Human Services and banker Steven Mnuchin to be Treasury secretary Wednesday on a straight party line vote, sending the nominations to the Senate floor. -
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he would urge Senate Republicans to invoke a rule change to force a simple majority vote on his Supreme Court nominee if Democrats block his choice.
Trump, at a meeting with interest groups who will support his choice of Judge Neil Gorsuch for the high court, was asked whether he would urge Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to use the so-called "nuclear option" to change the rules to make it easier to confirm him.
Trump said if congressional gridlock threatens Gorsuch's nomination he would say, "If you can, Mitch, go nuclear...I would say, it's up to Mitch, but I would say, go for it." -
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Democratic senators boycotted a committee vote on President Trump's pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, who has expressed doubts about the science of climate change.
The boycott could delay the transition to a new administrator for the agency. Senator Ben Cardin, a Democrat, said he could not support Pruitt, a Republican and the attorney general of Oklahoma, for a public health position because he "denies the sum of empirical science and the urgency to act on climate change."
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner)
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Attitudes on immigration ban
ReutersPresident Trump's immigration ban has caused a division among Americans, with slightly more approving than disapproving. -
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It was President Donald Trump's most important appointment so far, and one that could have the most far-reaching consequences. He picked Neil Gorsuch, a reliable and well-respected conservative, to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court left by Antonin Scalia when he died nearly a year ago.If confirmed, he will tilt the current 4-4 balance on the bench to 5-4 in favor of conservatives. Among the most important cases he's likely to face include transgender rights; First Amendment and religious freedoms; and most likely a number of abortion and immigration cases that will churn their way through the system. At age 49, he will be the youngest justice appointed to the bench since George H.W. Bush named Clarence Thomas.
Quote of the day:
"It is the role of judges to apply, not alter, the work of the people's representatives. A judge who likes every outcome he reaches is very likely a bad judge, stretching for results he prefers rather than those the law demands." – Judge Neil Gorsuch
Can Senate Democrats stop him from being confirmed? They can try to filibuster. But Republicans, who control the Senate, could change the rules to remove that strategy. In legislative parlance, it's called the "nuclear option." Democrats used it in 2013 when Republicans were holding up Obama's non-Supreme Court appointments.Gorsuch's confirmation will be particularly tense, since President Obama nominated a replacement for Scalia, Merrick Garland. But Senate Republicans refused to take up confirmation hearings until after the election, which of course, Trump won.We have more Supreme Court nomination coverage for you:By Derek Caney -
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Trump Supreme Court nominee Gorsuch seen in the mold of Scalia
Federal appeals court judge Neil Gorsuch, the U.S. Supreme Court pick of President Donald Trump, is a conservative intellectual known for backing religious rights and seen as very much in the mold of Antonin Scalia, the justice he was chosen to replace. -
Republican Senator Orrin Hatch reconvened the Senate Finance Committee to consider President Trump's nominations of Representative Tom Price as Health and Human Services secretary and Steven Mnuchin as Treasury secretary.
Senate Democrats on Tuesday postponed votes on several of Trump's Cabinet nominees, citing their responsibility to do a "thorough vetting," while Republicans accused them of unreasonable delays in considering the picks.
(Reporting by Susan Cornwell)
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Putin says Russia will follow up fast after Ukraine call with Biden
MOSCOW Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia would send ideas to Washington within a week to follow up his talks with U.S. President Joe Biden on the Ukraine crisis.
