Politics

Bob Graham, a consensus-building moderate Democrat who as a two-term Florida governor and a three-term U.S. senator became one of the most popular politicians in the state’s history and then one of the Senate’s most ardent opponents of the Iraq War, died April 16 at the age of 87.His daughter Gwendolyn Graham confirmed the death in a statement on social media. No further details were immediately available.Mr. Graham retired from the Senate in 2005 after nearly four decades in public office. Apart from a short-lived campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, he never failed in a run for elected office. He was also among the relatively few (five) Democrats elected governor of Florida in about as many decades, as the long-dominant state party lost its grip on what had becom...

Shomari Figures, a Democrat who worked in the Justice Department, will face Caroleene Dobson, a lawyer and Republican political newcomer, this November for the seat in Alabama’s Second Congressional District, according to The Associated Press.The two candidates won primary runoff elections on Tuesday in the district, which was redrawn after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that the state had illegally diluted the power of Black voters.Now that the district has more Black voters, who historically have largely supported Democrats, political analysts see the race for it as one of the most competitive in the South. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report ranks it as a likely Democratic seat. (The district’s current representative, Barry Moore, is expected to remain in Congress after winni...

Former President Donald Trump had a court day on Tuesday as part of the continual ridiculous lawfare against him. You can check out some of that in my colleague Susie Moore's piece on the "hush money" case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.  Now after a day dealing with that, you might think that Trump would want to go and decompress somewhere to get the ugliness out of his head. And in a way, Trump did. Because for Trump, it seems decompressing involves going out and embracing the people. Trump decided to go to Harlem to visit the bodega where Jose Alba, a worker, had been charged with murder when he defended himself from attack. The charges were dropped after the public backlash. Alba testified before the House last year about DA Alvin Bragg's performance. The owner o...

Mismanagement by local and state government has contributed to the city's spiraling crime problem.

"Fewer than 30% give the president favorable grades on all ten issues TIPP Poll tracks. After rebounding from his first term low of 33% in December, President Biden's job approval ratings improved to 36% in January. It remained at 36% in February, increased to 37% in March, and stays this month at 37%." reports the Tippinsights.com editorial board -- home to the noteworthy TIPP Poll.

Two of Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s adult children threw their support behind a former federal prosecutor running against current Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, citing his progressive policies, noting that it was the first time they had supported a candidate against a Democrat. Max and Rory Kennedy announced their support of Independent Nathan Hochman in downtown Los Angeles in front of the Hall of Justice, where they accused Gascón, who is up for re-election, of failing to support victims of crime and their families."A lot has been written about Gascón and his questionable policies, Rory Kennedy said. "My family and I have lived through them."DAUGHTER OF ARMY VETERAN KILLED IN FRONT YARD CALLS FOR JUSTICE, CHANGE TO POLICIES: ;THIS IS A...

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill.In today’s edition, senior national political reporter Sahil Kapur looks at a make-or-break week for House Speaker Mike Johnson. Plus, on day 2 of Donald Trump's hush money trial, national political correspondent Steve Kornacki breaks down how the site of the proceedings, Manhattan, has become a voter gold mine for Democrats.Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every weekday here.Mike Johnson faces his most perilous moment yet as House speakerBy Sahil KapurHouse Speaker Mike Johnson faces the biggest threat to his gavel nearly six months into the job, with the walls cl...

House Speaker Mike Johnson’s job is in serious jeopardy as two far-right members are now threatening to oust him after the embattled Republican leader proposed a complex plan intended to fund key foreign allies during wartime.Johnson (La.) introduced a four-part proposal Monday night to decouple aid for Israel, which faced a barrage of missiles and drone threats from Iran over the weekend, and help for Ukraine in its fight against Russia, along with two other measures. But his angry right flank — which has for weeks threatened to wrest Johnson’s gavel — escalated its attacks Tuesday morning, also vowing to sink a key procedural measure needed to consider his plan.During a weekly Republican meeting Tuesday morning, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) upped the ante when he stood up and called on Jo...

The threat against U.S. elections by Russia and other foreign powers is far greater today than it was in 2020, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said on Tuesday.Senator Mark Warner, the Virginia Democrat who leads the committee, said the danger had grown for multiple reasons: Adversarial countries have become more adept at spreading disinformation, Americans are more vulnerable to propaganda, communication between the government and social media companies has become more difficult and artificial intelligence is giving foreign powers new abilities.The Intelligence Committee was set to hold a hearing on election threats on Wednesday, but it was postponed on Tuesday to allow the Senate to consider of the articles of impeachment against Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland secu...

On Tuesday, as former President Donald Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan rolled into day two of jury selection, a new poll released by AP-NORC suggests that the verdict is in from the court of public opinion, revealing that a majority of Americans do not think Trump did something illegal in the case. Trump is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records related to alleged hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, and according to the poll, the public is skeptical that Trump is receiving fair treatment from District Attorney Alvin Bragg's prosecutors in the case or that the judge and jurors can remain impartial in cases involving him.Trump has made the cases brought against him a centerpiece of his 2024 presidential campaign, calling the proceedings "an assault ...