Politics – Page 12 – viralpique.com

Airports face delays as shutdown deepens air traffic control staffing woes

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Amna Nawaz: Thousands of flights have been delayed across the country this week, as the government shutdown enters its eighth day. In fact, more than 2,500 flights were delayed just today.In an interview with FOX News, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said controllers calling out sick were a significant reason for the huge spike in delays. Sean Duffy, U.S. Transportation Secretary: Historically, there's about 5 percent of delays that is attributed to staffing issues in our towers. In the last couple of days, it's been 53 percent. And so my message to the air traffic controllers who work for DOT is…

Rubio passes Trump urgent note on Middle East peace deal during antifa roundtable

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump was holding a roundtable event with conservative influencers about antifa Wednesday when Secretary of State Marco Rubio, standing in the back corner of the White House’s Blue Room, caught his eye. He had news for Trump, he said, but it would have to wait until after the media left. Then Rubio passed the president a note. WATCH: Trump hosts roundtable on antifa after EO designating it a ‘domestic terrorist organization’ News photographers covering the event zoomed in on the handwriting on White House stationery that read, “You need to approve a Truth Social post soon so…

Comey pleads not guilty in case his lawyers say is politically motivated

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Former FBI Director James Comey was arraigned on Wednesday after federal prosecutors charged him with lying to Congress five years ago. The charges were brought against Comey by U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Lindsay Halligan. Halligan’s predecessor was ousted for refusing to charge Comey. Amna Nawaz discussed more with NPR's Carrie Johnson. Amna Nawaz: Former FBI Director James Comey has pled not guilty after federal prosecutors charged him with lying to Congress five years ago. The charges were brought against Comey by President Trump's handpicked U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan, his former…

‘Tennessee Three’ Democrat announces bid for Congress against longtime Memphis representative

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — One of three Tennessee lawmakers who drew national attention in 2023 when Republicans in the Tennessee Legislature moved to expel them following a gun control protest is running for Congress, he announced Wednesday. Democratic state Rep. Justin Pearson went to a Memphis park near the neighborhood where he grew up to announce that he will challenge longtime Democratic congressman Steve Cohen to represent the majority-Black city in 2026. The winner likely would have a clear path to represent the state’s 9th Congressional District, the state’s only jurisdiction that leans Democratic under congressional lines drawn by Republicans. Pearson is…

National Guard troops are now outside Chicago and could be in Memphis soon

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ELWOOD, Ill. (AP) — National Guard troops are positioned outside Chicago and could also be in Memphis by Friday, as President Donald Trump’s administration pushes ahead with an aggressive policy toward big-city crime — whether local leaders support it or not. Troops’ presence at an Illinois Army Reserve center came despite a lawsuit and vigorous opposition from Democratic elected leaders. Their exact mission was not clear, but the Trump administration launched an aggressive immigration enforcement operation in the nation’s third-largest city last month and protestors have frequently rallied at an immigration building in nearby Broadview. READ MORE: Trump calls for…

WATCH: ‘Do your damn job,’ federal worker union leaders tell Congress mired in shutdown

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Top union leaders representing federal employees, along with allied labor groups, on Wednesday pressured both parties to reach a solution to end the shutdown. Watch the news conference in the video player above. “No American should ever have to choose between serving their country and feeding their family,” said Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees. WATCH LIVE: Senate meets as lawmakers remain in shutdown deadlock Union leaders criticized both parties in Congress but also targeted Trump, accusing him of using federal workers as “political pawns” after warnings Tuesday that back pay is not guaranteed. “He intends…

WATCH: Federal workers ‘should’ get back pay after shutdown, Johnson affirms

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House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that furloughed federal workers “should be” paid back once the U.S. government reopens. Watch the clip in the video player above. “It has always been the case, that is tradition and I think it is statutory law, that federal employees be paid. And that’s my position. I think they should be,” Johnson told PBS News Hour’s Lisa Desjardins in a news conference. “They should not be subjected to harm and financial dire straits because Chuck Schumer wants to play political games.” WATCH: ‘Do your damn job,’ federal worker union leaders tell Congress mired in…

Who is the judge overseeing the Trump administration’s case against James Comey?

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ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Michael Nachmanoff has built a quiet reputation in the federal courthouse in northern Virginia — a onetime public defender turned judge known for methodical preparation and a cool temperament. On Wednesday, he finds himself at the center of a political storm: presiding over the Justice Department’s prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey. READ MORE: Comey pleads not guilty to Trump Justice Department case accusing him of lying to Congress Nominated to the bench by President Joe Biden, a Democrat, in 2021, Nachmanoff was randomly assigned to the case after a Virginia grand jury indicted Comey…

WATCH LIVE: Department of Justice officials hold news briefing on arrest made in Palisades fire disaster

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities have made an arrest in connection with the deadly January wildfire that destroyed the Los Angeles neighborhood of Pacific Palisades. A briefing on the arrest is scheduled to begin at noon. Watch in the player above. That’s according to a law enforcement official not authorized to publicly discuss the case. Federal officials and Los Angeles police said earlier Wednesday that they are about to announce a “significant development” related to the criminal investigation into the fire. The blaze, which erupted on Jan. 7, killed 12 people and destroyed more than 6,000 homes and buildings in…

Trump threatens no back pay for furloughed federal workers after shutdown ends

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As the government shutdown hits the one-week mark with no end in sight, President Trump issued a new threat, saying that furloughed federal workers may not be reimbursed with back pay once the government reopens. It reverses what's been a long-standing policy and possibly goes against a 2019 law that ensures back pay for federal workers. White House correspondent Liz Landers reports. Geoff Bennett: As the government shutdown hits the one-week mark with no end in sight, President Trump today issued a new threat, saying that furloughed federal workers may not be reimbursed with back pay once the government reopens.Donald…