Politics

WASHINGTON — President Trump addressed the country across broadcast and cable channels on Tuesday, in a short Oval Office speech that drew extensive scrutiny of broadcast and cable networks and whether they were merely giving him free airtime to make unchallenged claims of a border security crisis. “This is a crisis of the heart and

WASHINGTON — NBC and CBS so far have said that they will air a Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s primetime address on border security on Tuesday evening, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer requested the time. Cable news networks, including CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, will also show the

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he will deliver a primetime address on “the humanitarian and national security crisis on our southern border,” as he uses the power of the presidential bully pulpit in the impasse with Democrats over the funding of a border wall. It’s unclear whether the broadcast networks will cede a primetime

WASHINGTON — This year at the Golden Globes, there was no Meryl Streep calling out Donald Trump for his attacks on journalists and mocking of the disabled. There was no Oprah Winfrey, offering up an inspirational contrast to the rhetoric coming out of the White House. In fact, there weren’t all that many references to

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and other U.S. government officials will be no-shows at CES 2019 this week as a result of agency funding lapses from the ongoing government shutdown. Pai had been scheduled for a one-on-one interview with Consumer Technology Assn. president/CEO Gary Shapiro on Tuesday, Jan. 8, from 1:30-2 p.m. PT. Pai, a Republican-appointed

Updated WASHINGTON — Just one day in her job, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) set her own Twitter record. A video of her dancing outside her new House office became her most-retweeted post — more than 90,000 retweets — in about five hours, according to Twitter. The video, made by her office, registered 6.45 million views.

WASHINGTON — Democrats’ return to a legislative majority changes the power dynamics in Washington, but within hours of the new Congress, President Donald Trump sought to do what he has done so well during his tenure: claim the media spotlight. This was Nancy Pelosi’s moment — historic in that she is the first person to

WASHINGTON — Nancy Pelosi returned to the role of House Speaker on Thursday, as Democrats took control of Congress in what is likely to be a new and powerful check on President Donald Trump. She drew 220 votes, enough to claim the speakership, and hugged fellow members in the chamber amid cheers as the tally

January 3, 2019 7:52AM PT WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission will return to five members after the Senate confirmed Geoffrey Starks to a vacant seat. But his confirmation comes just as the agency prepares to suspend operations amid the partial shutdown of the federal government. Although FCC commissioners are not being furloughed, much of

WASHINGTON — So far, the most visible signs of the ongoing government shutdown have been in images of overflowing trash cans at national parks and the closure of key D.C. locations like the National Zoo. On Thursday, the media industry will start to feel the impact as the FCC plans to suspend most operations by

WASHINGTON — Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) announced the formation of an exploratory committee to run for president in 2020, with plans to formally announce a bid for the Democratic nomination early next year. Warren made the reveal in a four-and-a-half-minute video, in which she said, “no matter what our differences, most of us want the

December 26, 2018 7:37AM PT Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday after undergoing surgery, according to a court spokesperson. “Justice Ginsburg was discharged from the hospital yesterday and is recuperating at home,” Kathleen Arberg, a public information officer for the Supreme Court, confirmed to Variety via email. Ginsburg,

December 23, 2018 10:15AM PT President Donald Trump announced Sunday in a tweet that Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan will take over as Acting Secretary of Defense after the resignation of Jim Mattis due to Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria. The tweet also revealed that Mattis, who was originally scheduled to

December 21, 2018 3:53PM PT This holiday season, several Hollywood celebrities are adding a Trump impeachment to their list and checking it twice. Bette Midler and Barbra Streisand are among the Tinseltown figures who are speaking out against President Donald Trump and his policies, from the proposed border wall between Mexico, to his alleged treason

December 21, 2018 10:12AM PT Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had surgery to remove two malignant growths in her left lung on Friday, the Supreme Court announced. Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City found “no evidence of any remaining disease” and scans showed no cancerous growths elsewhere in her body, the

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary James Mattis will depart in February, telling President Trump that he was resigning because their views were not “aligned.” Mattis reportedly opposed Trump’s plans to pull troops out of Syria. Trump said in a late Thursday afternoon tweet, “General Jim Mattis will be retiring, with distinction, at the end of February, after

The past 12 months seemed more like 48, as the year’s craziest political pop culture moments managed to top even the year before, when the surprise of Donald Trump’s presidential win was still fresh. Most of the moments center around President Trump, who once again was willing to weigh in on just about anything in

WASHINGTON — The Democratic National Committee announced a plan for 12 primary debates in the 2020 presidential cycle, with the first planned for June. The DNC also said it was possible that a debate could be held over consecutive nights to deal with a potentially large field of contenders. “My goal in this framework is

December 19, 2018 3:13PM PT WASHINGTON — A federal judge ruled in favor of BuzzFeed in a defamation lawsuit over its publication of the so-called “Steele dossier” in January, 2017, ruling that because the document was part of an official proceeding, the site was protected by fair reporting privilege. U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro wrote

WASHINGTON — Washington, D.C.’s attorney general filed suit against Facebook on Wednesday over a third party app’s sale of users’ personal data to Cambridge Analytica, which used the information to target voters during the 2016 presidential election. The lawsuit, filed in D.C. Superior Court, claims that Facebook failed to protect the privacy of its users and

The sentencing of President Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was delayed after a judge lashed out at the nature of his crimes and appeared to be ready to give him jail time. Flynn pleaded guilty last year to lying to investigators, and he also failed to disclose lobbying work for the Turkish

WASHINGTON — The Trump Foundation will dissolve amid a lawsuit brought by the New York attorney general over the nature of its spending and contributions. New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood said the foundation had signed a stipulation agreeing to disband under judicial supervision. She said she will review how remaining assets will be given

December 18, 2018 8:27AM PT WASHINGTON — A Trump administration school safety commission is urging the media to adopt “no notoriety” policies toward alleged school shooting assailants, on the premise that the attention given to perpetrators only exacerbates the trauma of the victims and can lead to copycat incidents. The recommendations are included in the

WASHINGTON — A pair of reports released by the Senate Intelligence Committee on Monday show a much more widespread Russian disinformation campaign before and after the 2016 presidential election that sought to impersonate mainstream media organizations and at the same time try to discredit them. As much of the focus has been on Facebook, Twitter

WASHINGTON — President Trump went after “Saturday Night Live” and NBC on Sunday for what he said was the “real scandal of one-sided coverage.” He even suggested that the nature of their content “should be tested in courts,” in the latest of his threats to take legal action against media outlets. “A REAL scandal is

December 15, 2018 9:10AM PT WASHINGTON — Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke will step down at the end of the year, amid a series of investigations that include conflict of interest. “Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke will be leaving the Administration at the end of the year after having served for a period

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has given the go ahead to Gray Television’s $3.6 billion merger with Raycom Media on the condition that stations be sold in nine markets. The DOJ’s Antitrust Division said it had reached a settlement in which Gray would sell stations in the markets where they would otherwise own two or

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Mick Mulvaney will serve as his acting chief of staff after the departure of John Kelly at the end of the year. Mulvaney is currently the director of the Office of Management and Budget. Trump has said he was talking to a number of candidates for the position, but

WASHINGTON — Michael Cohen claims that Donald Trump knew that hush money payments made to two women in advance of the 2016 election were wrong. Appearing on ABC’s “Good Morning America” for his first interview since being sentenced to three years in prison, Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, said that when payments were being arranged for

WASHINGTON — The Trump White House has dropped an event that used to be a prized invite for journalists and their families in D.C.: A holiday party for the media. But another tradition has been disappearing from the West Wing agenda as well: the daily press briefing. The regular televised afternoon back and forth between