April 1, 2025 at 12:01 PM EDT
Moody's economist fears 'worst-case scenario' as Trump tariff threatens 'millions of jobs lost'

President Donald Trump is describing this Wednesday, April 2 as "Liberation Day," equating steep new tariffs scheduled to go into effect that day with "liberation." But April 2 is a day that countless critics of Trump's tariffs, both liberal and conservative, dread -- as they fear that new tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico and countries in the European Union (EU) will cause prices to soar and possibly lead to a recession in the United States.

April 1, 2025 at 11:42 AM EDT
Voters up for grabs: What a changing religious landscape means for US politics

After climbing for decades, the percentage of Americans with no religion has leveled off. For the past few years, the share of adults who identify as atheist, agnostic or "nothing in particular" has stood at about 29%, according to a major study the Pew Research Center released Feb. 26, 2025. But this hardly means that the "nones," or their impact on American life, are going away. In fact, their sheer size makes it likely that they will increase in political prominence.

April 1, 2025 at 6:07 AM EDT
'Really bad message': Trump says he'll stop fraudsters -- but he let them walk the last time

Five years ago, the CEO of one of the largest pain clinic companies in the Southeast was sentenced to more than three years in prison after being convicted in a $4 million illegal kickback scheme. But after just four months behind bars, John Estin Davis walked free. President Donald Trump commuted Davis' sentence in the last days of his first term. In a statement explaining the decision, the White House said that "no one suffered financially" from Davis' crime.

April 1, 2025 at 5:56 AM EDT
New Oklahoma curriculum would include the Bible, Jesus and 2020 election 'discrepancies'

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma House and Senate Democrats on Monday filed resolutions to reject a controversial proposal of new academic standards for social studies education in public schools. State Superintendent Ryan Walters' administration developed the standards, which dictate what public schools must teach in social studies classes, along with committees of Oklahoma teachers and a group of national right-wing media personalities and policy advocates. The proposed standards would require education on the Bible, Jesus and alleged "discrepancies" in the 2020 presidential election.

April 1, 2025 at 5:42 AM EDT
Stadium heist: Inside the plan to give a $500 million handout to a billionaire

The Arizona State Legislature is considering a bill that would further subsidize the 27-year-old Chase Field, which taxpayers provided more than $250 million to help build in 1998, in order to support the Arizona Diamondbacks. But why should taxpayers be asked to foot the bill once again for a venue that is public in name only? Forbes estimates the Diamondbacks to be worth $1.6 billion -- after being purchased for only $238 million in 2004 -- and co-owner Ken Kendrick supposedly has a net worth of more than $1 billion. Now, the team wants $500 million from taxpayers to renovate the aging stadium.

April 1, 2025 at 5:34 AM EDT
'Surefire way to promote lawless behavior': Trump admin accused of siding with 'bottom-feeders'

"Regulatory relief for small loan providers" was how the Trump administration described its decision not to prioritize enforcing a rule meant to protect people who are financially struggling from predatory payday lenders""but one consumer protection advocate said Monday that the announcement signals a policy that that is certain to "promote lawless behavior" by corporations. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), whose actions aimed at protecting working families and consumers from big banks and other corporations have been attacked for years by Republicans, announced last Friday that under the Trump administration, it will not enforce a rule meant to safeguard people from fees they accrue when payday lenders repeatedly attempt to debit their accounts.

April 1, 2025 at 5:25 AM EDT
'Repeatedly debunked conspiracy theories': Trump sued over 'unlawful' executive order

A pro-voter coalition on Monday sued to block U.S. President Donald Trump's recent executive order that critics warn would make it harder for tens of millions of eligible citizens to cast their ballots in state and federal elections. The Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and State Democracy Defenders Fund (SDDF) sued the executive office of the president and members of Trump's administration in a Washington, D.C. federal court on behalf of three advocacy groups: the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Secure Families Initiative (SFI), and Arizona Students' Association (ASA).

March 31, 2025 at 10:03 PM EDT
'Farmers in the crosshairs': Ex-USDA chief warns Trump tariffs could be 'really hurtful'

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump's newest tariffs are slated to go into effect on various imported goods from multiple countries. But the big question that has yet to be answered is how other countries will respond -- and how that response could impact Americans. During a Monday night interview with CNN host Kaitlan Collins, Tom Vilsack, who was the secretary of agriculture under former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, elaborated on how American farmers could be put in a particularly stressful position depending on how the United States' tariffs are received around the world. Vilsack theorized that if countries that purchase American agricultural products want to apply pressure to the Trump administration to reconsider its tariffs, they may consider importing food from elsewhere. And he cautioned that if they did so, it could cause permanent harm to the farming economy.

March 31, 2025 at 9:05 PM EDT
Senate GOP's newest strategy now puts them in 'immediate conflict with the House': report

There could soon be a battle brewing between House and Senate Republicans as the two chambers propose their own competing bills aimed at codifying major parts of President Donald Trump's legislative agenda. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the Republican majority in the U.S. Senate is deciding to punt the more contentious parts of a budget-related bill down the road to instead focus its efforts solely on extending Trump's tax cuts for another 10-year stretch. This means that elements of the House Republican bill, like cutting Medicaid by roughly $880 billion and slashing federal spending by approximately $1.5 trillion, will be excluded from the Senate's framework.

March 31, 2025 at 7:59 PM EDT
'They could pull this stunt': George Conway says Trump's 'insane' 3rd term talk is serious

Less than three months into his second term in the White House, President Donald Trump has begun floating the idea of running for the presidency a third time. Conservative attorney George Conway said that while the concept may seem outlandish, there's a sect of the legal world that believes he may be able to do so. During a Monday interview with MSNBC host Michael Steele, Conway -- the former spouse of ex-Trump senior advisor Kellyanne Conway - cautioned that Trump's suggestion that he may seek yet another four-year term despite the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution's explicit term limits for presidents should be taken seriously. That amendment, which was ratified after former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt served four consecutive terms, prohibits anyone from being elected president who has already been elected to the office twice. But Conway alluded to one loophole in the amendment's language that Trump could exploit.

March 31, 2025 at 6:37 PM EDT
'I've become the target': GOP lawmaker tears into MAGA opponent who sent ICE to her farm

One Republican state representative in Idaho was recently caught off-guard when a far-right political activist had Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents sent to her potato farm. According to Newsweek, Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen -- who is serving her second term in Idaho house district 32A -- is now publicly railing against Ada County, Idaho Republican Party vice chairman Ryan Spoon in an op-ed. Mickelsen recalled in a recent essay for the Idaho Statesman that Spoon had ICE agents deployed to her farm, which resulted in them arresting one farm worker roughly a week after Spoon tweeted at President Donald Trump's border czar, Tom Homan. She didn't mention Spoon by name but referred to him as "someone working remotely for an insurance company who thinks he knows Idaho values and the [agriculture] business better than you do."

March 31, 2025 at 4:56 PM EDT
'Echoes of Trump's first term' as national security advisor loses support in White House

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz is on increasingly thin ice in President Donald Trump's administration, according to new reports. In a recent article by journalists Josh Dawsey, Meridith McGraw and Alexander Ward, the Wall Street Journal delved into how Waltz -- who was recently embarrassed after accidentally inviting Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal group text thread in which highly sensitive attack plans in Yemen were discussed - had a frank conversation with Trump in the Oval Office about his continued role in the White House. Trump was reportedly angry with Waltz for being the central figure in "the administration's first big national-security crisis" and apparently mulled firing him in conversations with other top administration officials.