US Politics

New mayor, 34, was sworn in by state attorney general Letitia James in old beaux arts city hall subway stationZohran Mamdani was sworn in as mayor of New York City soon after midnight in a private ceremony in an abandoned beaux arts subway station – a prelude to daylong celebrations set to include a second, public swearing-in and a block party outside city hall.Mamdani, 34, was sworn into office by the New York attorney general, Letitia James, surrounded by wife, Rama Duwaji, members of his immediate family, including Mira Nair, his mother and a film-maker, and his father, Mahmood Mamdani, a professor of African studies at Columbia University. Continue reading… More

US military announces two separate strikes on boats it claims were transporting drugs in the PacificThe US Coast Guard was searching for survivors of a US military strike against a convoy of suspected drug vessels in the Pacific Ocean, officials said on Wednesday.In a statement, the US military’s Southern Command said the military had carried out a strike against three vessels. Continue reading… More

Trump abruptly announced attempts to impose troops in some cities, while reportedly freezing childcare payments to all states – key US politics stories from 31 December at a glanceThe Trump administration has pushed through a flurry of actions on the final day of 2025, including drastic reversals on two high key issues.Donald Trump has abruptly retreated from efforts to deploy federal troops in Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland. The move marks a significant U-turn after months of tension between the federal government and local authorities. Continue reading… More

Colorado lawmaker, who pushed for Epstein files release, points to bill’s unanimous passage through US House and SenateRepublican representative Lauren Boebert has fired back at Donald Trump for vetoing a bill that would have funded a drinking water project in her Colorado district, implying the president was playing at political retaliation.The bill was aimed at funding a decades-long project to bring safe drinking water to 39 communities in Colorado’s eastern plains, where the groundwater is high in salt and wells sometimes unleash radioactivity into the water supply. Continue reading… More

Trump official says funds will be released ‘only when states prove they are being spent legitimately’The Department of Health and Human Services is freezing all childcare payments to all states, an official for Donald Trump’s administration told ABC News in a report published Wednesday. States’ funds will be released “only when states prove they are being spent legitimately”.The report came a day after Jim O’Neill, the HHS deputy secretary, and Alex Adams, an HHS assistant secretary who oversees the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), appeared in a Tuesday evening video message. O’Neill declared that the department had “activated our defend-the-spend system for all ACF childcare payments across America” and would now require “justification, receipt or photo evidence before we make a payment”. Continue reading… More

Democrat Muhammad Akbar Ali joins the Georgia state house as a legislator representing an Atlanta suburbMuhammad Akbar Ali, a 21-year-old recent college graduate, won a runoff election for a state house seat in Atlanta’s suburbs earlier this month, becoming the youngest Georgia state legislator serving today – perhaps the youngest ever.The key to the young Democrat’s victory and his strategy moving forward? Experience. Continue reading… More

The Danish American who doubted Covid shots is meant to lead drug regulation – but has focused on vaccinesAs the US continues making unprecedented changes to its vaccination recommendations, one figure appears unexpectedly: Tracy Beth Høeg, a Danish American sports physician and epidemiologist who first made her name casting doubt on Covid vaccines in the pandemic and has focused upon possible deaths after Covid vaccination in her short tenure at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).Health officials planned to announce radical changes to the childhood vaccine schedule earlier this month, aligning the US with Denmark’s immunization schedule, sources say – a major change that would put the US out of step with much of the world with no evidence for benefit. The announcement has been postponed until the new year. Continue reading… More

How the tech CEO and ‘Dogefather’ made a mess of the year – from an apparent Nazi salute during his White House tenure to Tesla sales slumps and Starship explosionsThe year of 2025 was dizzying for Elon Musk. The tech titan began the year holding court with Donald Trump in Washington DC. As the months ticked by, one public appearance after another baffled the US and the world. Musk appeared to give a Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration, staunchly championed a 19-year-old staffer nicknamed “Big Balls,” denied reports of being a drug addict while advising the president, and showed up at a White House press conference with a black eye – all in the first half of the year alone.“Elon’s attitude is you have to get it done fast. If you’re an incrementalist, you just won’t get your rocket to the moon,” Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff, told Vanity Fair in an expansive interview earlier this month. “And so with that attitude, you’re going to break some china.” Continue reading… More