Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, on Friday raised concerns about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s agenda for the Department of Health and Human Services. “I think if RFK follows through on his intentions, and I believe he will, and I believe he can, it will cost lives in this country,” Gottlieb told CNBC, referring to Kennedy, whom President-elect Donald Trump has said he will nominate for health secretary. “You’re going to see measles, mumps and rubella vaccination rates go down,” Gottlieb, who led the FDA under Trump’s first administration, ad ..read more

Reyna Montoya was 10 when she and her family fled violence in Tijuana and illegally immigrated to the U.S. Growing up in Arizona, she worried even a minor traffic violation could lead to her deportation. She didn’t feel relief until 11 years later in 2012, when she received a letter confirming she had been accepted to a new program for immigrants who came to the country illegally as children. “All of the sudden, all these possibilities opened up,” Montoya said, fighting back tears. The Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program granted her and hundreds of thousands of others two ..read more

President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday named Massad Boulos, a Lebanese American businessman who is the father-in-law of Trump’s daughter Tiffany, as a senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs. Boulos arranged Trump campaign efforts to engage the Arab American community in Michigan, organizing dozens of meetings in areas with large Arab American populations angered by Democratic President Joe Biden’s backing of Israel’s offensives in Gaza and Lebanon. Trump won the majority Arab American city of Dearborn Heights on his way to sweeping Michigan and other swing states. “He has been a lon ..read more

President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that he wants real estate developer Charles Kushner, father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, to serve as ambassador to France. Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post, calling Charles Kushner “a tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker.” Kushner is the founder of Kushner Companies, a real estate firm. Jared Kushner is a former White House senior adviser to Trump who is married to Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka. The elder Kushner was pardoned by Trump in December 2020 after pleading guilty years earlier to tax evasion ..read more

President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday threatened 100% tariffs against a bloc of nine nations if they act to undermine the U.S. dollar. His threat was directed at countries in the so-called BRIC alliance, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have applied to become members and several other countries have expressed interest in joining. While the U.S. dollar is by far the most-used currency in global business and has survived past challenges to its preeminence, members of the alliance a ..read more

What to Know The drubbing Democrats took in Pennsylvania has prompted vows to rebound. But there are also lingering doubts about whether it might be leaving the ranks of swing states for a right-leaning existence more like Ohio’s. Democrats in Pennsylvania lost its 19 presidential electoral votes, a U.S. Senate seat, three other statewide races, and two congressional seats. A decisive advantage in voter registration was significantly diminished. Former Gov. Ed Rendell says Pennsylvania remains very much a swing state. In 2022, he points out, Democrats swept the statewide races. The drubbing ..read more

The homes of multiple Democratic members of Congress were targeted by bomb threats on Thanksgiving. Rep. Joe Courtney, Rep. Jahana Hayes, Rep. Jim Himes and Rep. John Larson all said their homes were targeted on Thursday. A spokesperson for Rep. Courtney said the home was targeted with a bomb threat while Rep. Courtney and his family were home for the holiday. “Joe and Audrey extend their utmost gratitude to the law enforcement officers, whose response should signal to perpetrators that these types of threats will not be tolerated,” Rep. Courtney’s spokesperson said in a statement. Rep. Hayes ..read more

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will meet with Republican congressional leaders on Capitol Hill Dec. 5 to discuss their plan to slash government. The meeting is the latest indication that Republicans in Congress are taking Musk and Ramaswamy seriously. Earlier this month President-elect Donald Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy would lead a new outside advisory board dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will visit Capitol Hill to discuss government reform with Republican congressional leaders Dec. 5, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced Wednesday. Jo ..read more

President Joe Biden has signed off on a Northeast Philadelphia post office being renamed in memory of a fallen officer. The outgoing Democratic president signed a law this week renaming the post office at 9925 Bustleton Avenue as the “Sergeant Christopher David Fitzgerald Post Office Building,” U.S. congressman Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., said. Temple Police Sgt. Christopher Fitzgerald was killed in the line of duty in 2023. “Naming this post office in Sergeant Fitzgerald’s honor will ensure that his legacy of service and sacrifice endures for generations to come, and serves as a lasting tribute to ..read more

Donald Trump has attacked many American cities. But as president, he’ll have direct authority over only one — his once-and-future home of Washington, D.C., where city leaders are bracing for his wrath and hoping for the best. Trump’s first term was treated like an unwelcome nuisance in the capital, where more than 9 out of 10 voters rejected Trump at the polls every time he ran for office and protested him and his officials almost constantly. But ahead of Trump’s return to the White House, District of Columbia officials fear losing their tenuous grip on the limited self-governance they have pa ..read more