Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islander adults have become more disillusioned with President Donald Trump and Republicans as the Nov. 3 midterm elections approach, according to a new AP-NORC/AAPI Data poll, giving Democrats a substantial edge on major issues like the economy and health care.
Meanwhile, Trump on Sunday endorsed embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late in his reelection campaign, a coveted boost because of Trump’s popularity, but one that the American had withheld for months as the vote neared and the leaders’ strategies in the Middle East diverged.
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Justice Department charges 28 alleged noncitizens in California with ‘various voting and registration crimes’
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said at a news conference Monday that the charges included unlawfully voting as a noncitizen, falsely claiming U.S. citizenship when registering to vote and “knowingly depriving the residents of California of a fair and impartial election process.”
The charges come after the Justice Department sued the state last week, alleging there are likely noncitizens who were mailed ballots to participate in the November election. California Secretary of State Shirley Weber said the federal government has failed to prove there are noncitizens on the state’s voter rolls.
At least eight of the 28 people charged allegedly voted illegally more than once, McCotter said.
“This Department of Justice will not look the other way while noncitizens vote in federal elections,” he said.
DOJ explains how it came up with 20K ‘likely noncitizens’ in California
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter on Monday walked reporters through how the Trump administration culled a list of 20,000 California voters it believes to be noncitizens.
The administration is currently suing state election officials to prevent them from counting mail ballots from the alleged noncitizens until their immigration status can be confirmed.
McCotter said at a news conference that the government started with California’s publicly available voter file, which includes basic but not detailed voter information. Then, it “enriched and cross-referenced” that information with other federal and public data.
Finally, McCotter said, the administration removed from the list anyone for whom citizenship evidence existed in federal databases, and the Department of Homeland Security “manually verified” the rest.
McCotter didn’t explain what he meant by “manually verified,” but acknowledged the Trump administration hadn’t yet proven that the voters were noncitizens.
Since states run elections, federal databases are often an incomplete and outdated source of information about voter eligibility.
Jeffries likes Democrats’ chances in race for the House
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said Sunday the election climate is holding firm for Democrats as he campaigned for Rep. Marcy Kaptur in a heavily contested Ohio congressional district that’s crucial for majority control of the House.
Jeffries also slapped back at President Trump’s abrupt decision to waive sanctions on Russia and said there will be a bipartisan effort in the House to pursue a new sanctions package the president wouldn’t have the ability to waive.
“It’s shocking, but not surprising, that an American president would do so much to undermine the cause of democracy, freedom and dignity for the Ukrainian people,” Jeffries told The Associated Press after visiting church services in Toledo.
Jeffries, who’s in line to become House speaker if Democrats win back the majority, has traveled to some 50 cities campaigning for Democratic candidates.
Trump will sign an order aimed at boosting women’s health research, a plan backed by the first lady
The order, first reported by USA Today, will create a new women’s health division at the National Institutes of Health and a task force at the White House focused on the issue.
Melania Trump is expected to speak about prioritizing research and easing taboos around discussions of women’s health issues during a signing ceremony Monday, the White House said.
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who recently completed treatment for breast cancer, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will lead the White House task force. The order doesn’t include specific funding goals.
The initiative comes after a series of meetings the first lady had with federal health officials. “It was abundantly clear that women’s healthcare needs to be modernized, the research gap closed, and further, the need to accelerate the discovery of treatments and cures was glaring,” Melania Trump said in a statement.
Trump’s new pitch for Republican candidates — they’re really good looking
President Trump has a new pitch for Republican candidates: they’re easy on the eyes.
“Look at this beautiful guy,” Trump said at a Saturday rally in Kentucky, referring to U.S. House candidate Ed Gallrein, a former U.S. Navy SEAL with an angular face who stood nearby the stage. “Central casting.”
That’s a common refrain from Trump, who owned the Miss Universe beauty pageant and grew his clout on the reality television show “The Apprentice” before entering politics. Aesthetics have long been part of the president’s measuring stick, either as a source of praise or target for ridicule.
Now, Trump is deploying his handsomeness appraisals as he boosts Republican candidates in a midterm election which already includes debates over which candidates are more masculine. The outcome will determine whether Republicans keep control of Congress or Trump faces emboldened Democratic opposition in Washington.
Supreme Court agrees to review a Reconstruction-era ban on distilling spirits in private homes
The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to consider whether Congress had the constitutional authority to impose a ban on distilling spirits in private homes more than 150 years ago.
Plaintiffs challenging the prohibition on home distilling claim the 1868 law is an antiquated relic of Reconstruction-era politics. They argue that Congress overstepped its taxation powers when it enacted the home distilling ban as part of a tax reform measure designed to curb fraud by commercial distillers.
Government attorneys counter that Congress properly restricted where spirits can be distilled to prevent producers from evading federal excise taxes. They warn that lifting the ban would violate Supreme Court precedent and erode congressional powers.
Federal law makes home distilling a crime punishable by a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
US and Russian officials comment on report about possible Trump-Putin-Xi meeting
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov were both asked about a Wall Street Journal report that Russian President Vladimir Putin could try to use a possible meeting with Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to try to negotiate a deal on Ukraine behind Kyiv’s back.
Rubio told reporters in Uzbekistan that “I think there’s been talks of a meeting. I don’t know anything’s been finalized. But the president has been clear he’d like the war in Ukraine and Russia to end.”
Peskov, meanwhile, said separately that while the possibility of such a meeting has been mentioned, “no substantive proposals or agreements neither regarding the meeting itself nor its potential agenda and content have been discussed or put forward by anyone.”
He added that Russia appreciates Washington’s ongoing mediation efforts, but “a final settlement is certainly impossible without the participation of someone from Kyiv who is prepared to take on responsibility.”
A bitter fight over a House seat in New York hits the dance floor
Republican Rep. Mike Lawler and Democratic challenger Cait Conley put aside their political rancor this weekend — at least for one song — during a street fair that had the two candidates dancing near one another.
Lawler hit a little air g