Politics

Washington — Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida declined to criticize former President Donald Trump's recent comments attacking Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, arguing the former president was talking about the harmful effects of inflation on low-income families when he claimed McConnell has a "death wish" after supporting a short-term government funding bill.In an interview with "Face the Nation," Scott was asked if he would rebuke the recent remarks from Trump and Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia targeting McConnell and Democrats given the level of divisiveness in the country and threats against elected officials. Scott, who is the chair of the Senate Republican's campaign arm, said political leaders should focus on how to "bring everybody together.""W...

Truss accepts presentation of mini-budget was flawed, saying government should have 'laid the ground better'Liz Truss says interest rates are going up around the world.She understands people’s worries about that. And she says she would have prepared people for what would be in the mini-budget more effectively.I do accept we should have laid the ground better. I have learnt from that. I will make sure in future we do a better job of laying the ground.Updated at 04.00 EDTKey eventsFilters BETAKey events (22)Liz Truss (20)Laura Kuenssberg (7)Michael Gove (6)Kwasi Kwarteng (5)Sophy Ridge (3)Rees-Mogg's former business partner given peerage and made international trade ministerAnd, talking of Jacob Rees-Mogg, Steven Swinford from the Times has spotted this; according to an update on the governm...

Former professional wrestler Antonio Inoki shouts at a press conference in Tokyo on August 21, 2014. Yoshikazu Tsuno /AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Yoshikazu Tsuno /AFP via Getty Images Former professional wrestler Antonio Inoki shouts at a press conference in Tokyo on August 21, 2014. Yoshikazu Tsuno /AFP via Getty Images ...

The Biden administration has changed its guidance to eliminate some student loans from eligibility for forgiveness, a major reversal as the Department of Education makes final preparations to launch debt relief applications. As of Thursday, borrowers with student loans through the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program and Perkins Loans who have not already consolidated their debt into direct loans will now no longer be able to do so and are no longer eligible for federal debt relief, the Education Department now says. Those programs, though federally guaranteed, are held by private institutions. Borrowers with FFEL and Perkins Loans who applied to consolidate in the direct loan program before Thursday are still eligible for debt relief. At this point, the Education Departmen...

The past few years have been an age of abundance for the news columnist. For pretty much everyone else, they have been an age of gathering chaos and rising disbelief. The news gods are so deeply committed to providing their own metaphors that our septic isle is now literally lapped at by tides of sewage. I don’t know if future historians will officially slap the permacrisis label on us, but as someone whose job it is to write about the news, I need hardly point out there hasn’t exactly been a shortage of material. Even I am on the point of launching a “Stop the news” campaign, and will inform you of how to join the push for total stasis as soon as I get membership badges sorted.This has been a period when it often seemed like the UK (and beyond) had tumbled down a rabbit hole. Or gone thro...

Washington – Black women are often considered a critical voting bloc, but a new initiative aims to dramatically expand the number of African American male voters ahead of the next presidential election. Black Men Vote announced a new national campaign Friday to register 1 million Black male voters by November 2024. The organization says the "Strength in Numbers" initiative will be its "most ambitious effort" and will partner with Rock the Vote, Microsoft and the National Basketball Association Social Justice Coalition. The group unveiled the initiative at a summit featuring Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson and former Maryland Lt. Gov. and Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele during the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference."Registering one million...

Ken Griffin may be gone but not his influence on Illinois politics: Today's Juice, by Greg Hinz Photo: Bloomberg  In a little bit of a mystery, the only incumbent Republican seeking re-election to the Cook County Board has received a $200,000 donation from an unknown and unregistered political campaign committee. GOP insiders – and a few Democrats, too – are buzzing about the donation to the personal campaign fund of Sean Morrison from a group identified as the Coalition to Cut Taxes. What’s known for sure is that the coalition is registered at 440 S. LaSalle, according to Morrison's disclosure. That’s the same building in which mega-GOP fund-raiser Ron Gidwitz’s business has an office. It should also be noted that Morrison serves as the chair of the Cook County Republican Party. RELATED:...