US politics

Subterms

    More stories

    • 200 Shares34 Views

      in US Politics

      The secretive, destructive work of an ICE attorney: ‘My job is to do what I’m told’

      by

      ICE lawyers in New York City earn more than $100,000 a year, enjoy generous benefits and post about rich social lives. Their work is vital to Trump’s deportation agendaOne morning last June in an immigration courtroom in New York City, a lawyer named Estefani Rodriguez looked as if she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She was a prosecuting attorney for the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). Her job was to present immigration judges with motions to kick non-citizens out of the United States – to switch on the deportation machine.Rodriguez is in her late 30s, with long hair and full cheeks. According to the website of the Dominican Bar Association, her parents are immigrants from the Dominican Republic. In online photos, she sports a wide smile. But on this day, as she covered one of some 60 immigration courtrooms housed in labyrinthine federal buildings in lower Manhattan, she seemed to churn with angst. Repeatedly she touched her hands to her mouth, then under her glasses, then back to her mouth, and then she rubbed and rubbed her eyes. Continue reading… More

    • 100 Shares18 Views

      in US Politics

      The rise of vice-signalling: how hatred poisoned politics

      by

      Over the last 10 years, the terms of political debate have changed completely – and week by week they seem to get worseThe notion of virtue-signalling – the act of performing progressive stances that don’t cost you anything in order to burnish your own moral credentials – has been around since at least the 00s. In a political sense, it meant always being the one who reminded others to say “chairperson” not “chairman”; always manning the barricades for signs of bigotry, always being on the right demo. If its values were sound – all we’re talking about, really, is trying to systematise courtesy to others – it was often easy to lampoon, because it felt performative and had a hair-trigger.But what has risen in its wake – vice-signalling – cannot be seen as its mirror or answer, any more than dehumanisation could be seen as the equal and opposite of decency. They’re not in the same rhetorical category. The term doesn’t bring itself to life; for that you need the US president. Cast your mind back to 2015; although Donald Trump had said he might run for election to the highest office in every cycle this century, his speech in Trump Tower was his first campaign launch, and it was where he announced that he would build a wall between the US and Mexico. In seemingly unplanned remarks – the grammar was off, the structure meandered, the vocabulary was vague and repetitive – he said “[Mexico] are sending people that have lots of problems, and they are bringing those problems to us. They are bringing drugs, and bringing crime, and they’re rapists.” Continue reading… More

    • 113 Shares28 Views

      in US Politics

      Why Jeff Bezos gutted the Washington Post – podcast

      by

      Hundreds of jobs have gone at the newspaper that broke the Watergate scandal. Was profit or politics behind the decision? Jeremy Barr reportsReporting on a corrupt president made the Washington Post a global sensation with Watergate – and the masthead became a byword for fearless reporting. But last week the news organisation axed about 400 jobs, with some reporters discovering they were being laid off while still in war zones.Media organisations face tough times with falls in advertising revenues and search traffic, and making cuts is not necessarily surprising. But with Jeff Bezos having bought the company, buying the rights to The Apprentice and making a lavishly produced documentary with Melania Trump, critics are asking whether politics, not profits, are really behind the move. Continue reading… More

    • 238 Shares26 Views

      in US Politics

      Federal prosecutors reportedly failed to secure indictments against six Democratic lawmakers over US military video – as it happened

      by

      This live blog is now closed.Trump news at a glance: Why did FBI raid Georgia election office? Trump-loyal election deniers told them toJamie Raskin, a top House Democrat, accused the justice department of making “puzzling, inexplicable redactions” to documents related to Jeffrey Epstein that obscured the names of abusers, while allowing the identities of the disgraced financier’s victims to become public.Raskin told reporters that he wanted to view the complete files to better understand how the justice department handled the redaction process. Continue reading… More

    • 150 Shares38 Views

      in US Politics

      Grand jury declines to indict Democrats asking troops to refuse illegal orders

      by

      Trump, outraged by clip of six lawmakers, called them ‘traitors’ and said behavior was ‘punishable by death’A Washington DC grand jury declined to indict six Democratic lawmakers who were denounced by Donald Trump after they made a video urging troops to refuse illegal orders.Federal prosecutors had sought an indictment against the Democrats who participated in the video, including Elissa Slotkin, Mark Kelly, Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander and Chrissy Houlahan, who all have military and intelligence backgrounds. Continue reading… More

    • 225 Shares20 Views

      in US Politics

      Trump news at a glance: Why did FBI raid Georgia election office? Trump-loyal election deniers told them to

      by

      Unprecedented raid elevates concern that the president will seek to interfere in this year’s midterm elections – key US politics stories from 10 February 2026 at a glanceWhen the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the Fulton county election office in Georgia last month, the decision was based on debunked claims from election deniers and came after a referral from a White House lawyer who tried to overturn the 2020 election, a search warrant affidavit unsealed on Tuesday reveals.The FBI’s investigation “originated” from a referral sent by Kurt Olsen, an attorney who sought to overturn the 2020 election and contacted justice department officials to urge them to file a motion at the US supreme court to nullify the election. Olsen began working at the White House last year to investigate supposed election fraud. Continue reading… More

    • 125 Shares36 Views

      in US Politics

      FDA declines to review Moderna application for new flu vaccine

      by

      Moderna requests meeting to discuss refusal as decision could have implications for all new and updated vaccinesUS regulators will not review Moderna’s request to license a new, potentially more effective flu shot – even though the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) previously gave the green light to the project – in a decision that could have implications for all new and updated vaccines in the US.It’s the latest move by the Trump administration against vaccines. Officials in January decided to stop fully recommending one-third of routine childhood vaccines, including flu vaccines. Continue reading… More

    • 150 Shares38 Views

      in Elections

      Debunked claims from election deniers influenced FBI raid in Georgia, affidavit reveals

      by

      The 28 January raid of the Fulton county election office also came after a referral from a White House lawyerThe FBI’s rationale behind raiding the Fulton county election office in Georgia last month was based on debunked claims from election deniers and came after a referral from a White House lawyer who tried to overturn the 2020 election, a search warrant affidavit unsealed on Tuesday reveals.The warrant offers the first insight for the basis for the FBI’s 28 January raid on the Fulton county election office. FBI officials seized nearly 700 boxes of election materials in the raid. Continue reading… More