Judge blocks 2 provisions in North Carolina's new abortion law

RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal judge on Saturday blocked two portions of North Carolina's new abortion law from taking effect while a lawsuit continues. But nearly all of the restrictions approved by the legislature this year, including a near-ban after 12 weeks of pregnancy, aren't being specifically challenged and remain intact. U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles issued an...

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Federal court temporarily blocks race-based grant program

A federal appeals court on Saturday temporarily blocked a grant program for Black women-owned businesses. American Alliance for Equal Rights, a nonprofit backed by conservative legal activist Edward Blum, sued the Atlanta-based Fearless Fund in August, alleging that the venture capital fund’s grant program violated the 1866 Civil Rights Act’s “guarantee of race neutrality”...

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History Offers Democrats a Way Out of the Menendez Problem

Senator Robert Menendez had a bad week. A New Jersey Democrat currently serving his third full term in the Senate, Menendez was indicted last Thursday by federal prosecutors who laid out an elaborate and damning case involving secret payments funneled through an American-based businessman, all tracing back to favors the senator allegedly performed on behalf of the Egyptian...

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Second GOP debate ratings: Viewership drops by more than 25 percent

Ratings for the second Republican presidential debate Wednesday are in — and the 26 percent decline is not a good sign for candidates not named Donald Trump. Around 9.5 million people tuned into the debate, which was broadcast on Fox Business Network and simultaneously played on Fox News, where most people tuned in, and Univision, the network said Thursday. In comparison,...

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The case for panicking over Biden’s reelection campaign

Should Democrats be wetting the bed over President Joe Biden's chances of winning reelection? Depends on who you ask. Some in the party are truly panicked. Others are begging their compatriots to take a deep breath. To find out who has the more compelling case, West Wing Playbook asked one person on each side of the debate to make it. Today we present to you the side of panic...

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What does Matt Gaetz really want?

What is Matt Gaetz's endgame: spending cuts, a political boost, or revenge? It’s the question reverberating on Capitol Hill after the simmering feud between the Florida conservative and Speaker Kevin McCarthy flared up again Thursday morning in a closed-door meeting, with one lawmaker telling Gaetz to “fuck off” for leveling unproven accusations against the speaker. Gaetz...

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Adams: NYC policy to shelter the homeless shouldn't cover migrant influx

NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams suggested Thursday he wants to exempt the influx of migrants from the city's decades-old right-to-shelter mandate as his administration tightens the length on shelter stays and explicitly discourages new arrivals. “I don't believe the right to shelter applies to a migrant crisis,” Adams said during an appearance on WABC’s "Sid & Friends in...

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