Former CIA operative Valerie Plame has lost her race in the Democratic primary for an open seat representing New Mexico in Congress.
Attorney Teresa Leger Fernandez overcame six competitors to win her party’s nomination to succeed U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján as he runs for the U.S. Senate. Sen. Tom Udall is retiring.
In her first run for public office, Plame harnessed her fame as a former U.S. intelligence operative whose secret identity was exposed shorty after her diplomat husband disputed U.S. intelligence used to justify the 2003 Iraq invasion.
Leger Fernandez was making her first bid for public office as a professional advocate for Native American communities and voting rights issues.
She could become the first woman to represent the state’s 3rd Congressional District, a Democrat-heavy district.
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Controversial Iowa Republican congressman Steve King has lost his bid to be nominated for a 10th term.
The 71-year-old Iowa native faced four challengers in Tuesday’s Iowa primary. Topping the field is a well-funded state senator, Randy Feenstra, who offered support for President Donald Trump, hardline immigration policies and other conservative views without King’s baggage.
Provocative statements piling up over the years have been a drag on King’s latest campaign. He has compared immigrants crossing the border illegally to cattle, made light of rape and incest in defending his anti-abortion views, and wondered aloud when the term “white supremacist” became offensive.
Last year House Republicans stripped King of his committee assignments after his remarks seeming to defend white nationalism appeared in The New York Times. King said they were taken out of context.
Critics in both parties have charged that King is no longer an effective representative for Iowa’s 4th Congressional District on agriculture and other local issues. Worse for King, even his supporters worried that he could lose the seat to a Democratic challenger if he were nominated again.
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Joe Biden has scored a clean sweep of the seven states conducting Democratic presidential primaries on Tuesday, not at all a surprise given that the presumptive Democratic nominee has no active opposition.
Yet the delegate haul is important to Biden’s goal of gaining enough delegates to claim the Democratic nomination before the party’s summer convention. Tuesday’s results may leave Biden just short of the 1,991 delegates he needs, but primaries next week in Georgia and West Virginia could put him over the top.
Of Tuesday’s elections, Pennsylvania’s primary could add the most delegates to Biden’s count. He also won contests in Maryland, Indiana, Rhode Island, New Mexico, Montana, and South Dakota.
Also choosing a nominee Tuesday are voters in the District of Columbia. Those results are pending.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday signaled a cautious approach to future interest rate cuts, in sharp contrast with other Fed officials who have called for a more urgent approach. In remarks in Providence, Rhode Island, Powell noted that there are risks to both of the Fed’s goals of seeking maximum employment and stable prices. His approach is in sharp contrast to some members of the Fed’s rate-setting committee who are pushing for faster cuts.
President Donald Trump’s efforts to reshape the American media landscape have led to the suspension of late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel.
Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield is leaving the ice cream brand after 47 years. He says the freedom the company used to have to speak up on social issues has been stifled
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate by a quarter-point Wednesday and projected it would do so twice more this year as concern grows at the central bank about the health of the nation’s labor market. The move is the Fed’s first cut since December and lowered its short-term rate to about 4.1%, down from 4.3%. Fed officials, led by Chair Jerome Powell, had kept their rate unchanged this year as they evaluated the impact of tariffs, tighter immigration enforcement, and other Trump administration policies on inflation and the economy. The only dissenter was Stephen Miran, the recent Trump-appointee.
After a late-night vote and last-minute ruling, the Federal Reserve began a key meeting on interest rate policy Tuesday with both a new Trump administration appointee and an official the White House has targeted for removal.
The Trump administration has issued its first warnings to online services that offer unofficial versions of popular drugs like the blockbuster obesity treatment Wegovy.
Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama says his new Cabinet will include an artificial intelligence “minister” in charge of fighting corruption. The AI, named Diella, will oversee public funding projects and combat corruption in public tenders. Diella was launched earlier this year as a virtual assistant on the government's public service platform. Corruption has been a persistent issue in Albania since 1990. Rama's Socialist Party won a fourth consecutive term in May. It aims to deliver EU membership for Albania in five years, but the opposition Democratic Party remains skeptical.
The Trump administration has asked an appeals court to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s board of governors by Monday, before the central bank’s next vote on interest rates. Trump sought to fire Cook Aug. 25, but a federal judge ruled late Tuesday that the removal was illegal and reinstated her to the Fed’s board.
President Donald Trump's administration is appealing a ruling blocking him from immediately firing Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook as he seeks more control over the traditionally independent board. The notice of appeal was filed Wednesday, hours after U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb handed down the ruling. The White House insists the Republican president had the right to fire Cook over mortgage fraud allegations involving properties in Michigan and Georgia from before she joined the Fed. Cook's lawsuit denies the allegations and says the firing was unlawful. The case could soon reach the Supreme Court, which has allowed Trump to fire members of other independent agencies but suggested that power has limitations at the Fed.
Chief Justice John Roberts has let President Donald Trump remove a member of the Federal Trade Commission, the latest in a string of high-profile firings allowed for now by the Supreme Court.
