policy

St. Louis’ top prosecutor has charged Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the couple who pointed guns at protesters marching by their mansion last month, with felony unlawful use of a weapon. The McCloskeys, who are both personal injury attorneys in their 60s, also face a misdemeanor charge of fourth-degree assault, the Associated Press reported. Circuit Attorney …

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has filed a lawsuit against Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and the Atlanta City Council challenging the city’s decision to mandate masks and revert to phase one reopening guidelines. The lawsuit calls the city’s new mask requirements “void and unenforceable” and asks a judge to block Bottoms from issuing any orders …

Joe Biden press secretary T.J. Ducklo accused President Trump on Thursday of backing white supremacist causes, in an interview on the Fox News Rundown podcast. “If you look at the Trump campaign and what they’re doing, you know they’re only speaking to their base,” Ducklo said on the podcast. “They are alienating voters with divisive rhetoric, …

In a Thursday speech, Attorney General William Barr cautioned American companies that do business in China against violating the Foreign Agent Registration Act, which requires Americans lobbying on behalf of foreign governments to identify themselves. Barr criticized the relationship between American corporations and the Chinese Communist Party in remarks delivered at the Gerald R. Ford …

Georgia governor Brian Kemp issued an executive order Wednesday overruling mask mandates put in place by local governments in the state to mitigate the spread of coronavirus, calling such rules “unenforceable.” Kemp’s order, which extended the state’s COVID-19 restrictions through July 31, prohibits local municipalities from enforcing mandatory mask orders that are more restrictive than …

Alabama governor Kay Ivey, a Republican, issued a statewide order for residents to wear face masks in public spaces. The order, which will take effect on Thursday, follows a surge in coronavirus cases in the state, with a concomitant rise in hospitalizations in several areas including Montgomery, Madison, Jefferson, and Mobile counties. Residents will be …

In an op-ed published Wednesday, top White House trade adviser Peter Navarro accused Dr. Anthony Fauci of being “wrong” in virtually all the determinations he made while coordinating the administration’s coronavirus response. “Dr. Anthony Fauci has a good bedside manner with the public, but he has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him …

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden expressed on Monday a willingness to eliminate the Senate’s practice of imposing a 60-vote threshold for most legislation, contingent upon Republicans’ behavior. “I think it’s gonna depend on how obstreperous they become,” he said of Senate Republicans in a wide-ranging Zoom interview with reporters, the Washington Post reported. “I …

The government’s extensive coronavirus spending pushed the U.S. budget deficit to a record high $3 trillion for the 12 months ending with June, the Treasury Department announced Monday. Federal spending topped $1.1 trillion in June, more than twice the government’s average monthly spending, pushing the monthly deficit to a record high of $864 billion. During June …

Nevada governor Steve Sisolak on Thursday began to reverse the state’s reopening amid a surge in coronavirus cases, ordering bars in the Las Vegas and Reno areas to close again to prevent spreading the infection. Bars that do not serve food in counties that are experiencing a spike in coronavirus cases, including Washoe and Clark counties, …