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LA politicians want to mandate prosperity. The $30 minimum wage proves they can’t

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 05:00:51 -0400

If you want to understand why businesses are leaving California, investors are looking elsewhere and common-sense economics seems to have disappeared from public policy, look no further than Los Angeles.

In a move that should surprise absolutely no one familiar with California politics, Los Angeles leaders approved a plan to push hotel and airport worker wages to $30 per hour. Supporters call it the "Olympic Wage," arguing that workers should benefit from the economic activity generated by the 2028 Summer Olympics. While that may sound compassionate, it reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of how businesses operate and how capitalism works in America.

The problem isn't that politicians want workers to earn more money. Everyone wants workers to earn more money. People need a decent living wage.

The problem is that Los Angeles continues to believe it can create wealth by passing laws instead of creating conditions that allow businesses to thrive.

LA HOTELS HIT BY LARGEST JOB LOSSES IN A DECADE AS 'OLYMPIC WAGE' MANDATES BITE, DATA SHOWS

That's not economics. That's fantasy land. As an owner of six small businesses, I’m the last person who wants government to dictate the margins in my business.

Here's the reality politicians refuse to acknowledge right now. Wages are not created by city councils. They are created by owners who become successful in free market society and pay those employees who help them get there along the way. Businesses pay people more when they generate more value, earn more profit and compete for talent. That's how free markets work. Higher wages are typically the result of successful businesses, not government mandates.

When government mandates that labor costs rise dramatically, business owners don't simply absorb the expense and carry on as usual. They are forced to make difficult decisions. Some raise prices on consumers. Others reduce staffing levels, cut employee hours, delay expansion plans or accelerate investments in automation. And in a state like California, some simply decide their next investment, expansion or hiring decision will happen somewhere else, like Nevada, Florida or Texas.

NEW STUDY REVEALS BLUE STATE'S FAST-FOOD MINIMUM WAGE HIKE JEOPARDIZED THOUSANDS OF JOBS

There is no magical scenario where labor costs rise by double digits, prices stay the same, profits remain untouched, businesses hire more workers and everyone somehow comes out ahead. That's not economics for Los Angeles, it's wishful thinking.

Every business operates with finite resources. When politicians increase one expense, something else must give. The question isn't whether employers will respond to a $30 minimum wage. The question is how they will respond and history suggests the answer is never in the way politicians promise.

What's particularly frustrating is that Los Angeles keeps making the same mistake over and over again. The city struggles with affordability, homelessness, public safety concerns, budget pressures and a business climate that many employers already view as hostile. Yet the response from elected officials is almost always the same playbook of more mandates, more regulations, and higher costs for the private sector.

'UTTERLY UNAFFORDABLE': STUDY REVEALS HOW DEEP BLUE CITY'S MINIMUM WAGE LAW IS RAVAGING KEY INDUSTRY

It's as if city leaders believe businesses have an unlimited ability to absorb new expenses without consequences.

They don't.

The local hotel industry has already warned that higher labor costs could reduce hiring, delay renovations, limit future investment and, ultimately, make Los Angeles less competitive as a tourism destination. It’s happening already despite the Olympics. Airlines, hotel operators and business groups have repeatedly sounded the alarm that policymakers are ignoring basic economic realities in favor of political talking points.

LA HOTELS HIT BY LARGEST JOB LOSSES IN A DECADE AS 'OLYMPIC WAGE' MANDATES BITE, DATA SHOWS

The irony is that Los Angeles is preparing for one of the greatest economic opportunities in its history. The 2028 Olympics should be a chance to attract investment, create jobs, expand tourism and showcase the city to the world. Instead, city leaders seem determined to use the event as an excuse to impose policies that could discourage the very businesses responsible for creating those opportunities in the first place.

What many politicians fail to understand is that capital is mobile. Entrepreneurs are mobile. Businesses are mobile. Investors can choose where they deploy their resources and, increasingly, they are choosing places with lower taxes, less regulation and leaders who understand that businesses are partners in economic growth and not enemies to be managed.

The pattern is becoming painfully familiar. The same politicians who create the problems act surprised when companies choose to expand somewhere else. The result is a weaker business environment, fewer opportunities for workers and, ultimately, a smaller tax base to fund the very programs those politicians claim to support.

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The best way to create higher wages has never changed. Encourage entrepreneurship. Reduce unnecessary regulation. Reward investment. Help businesses grow. When companies succeed, workers benefit. When businesses compete for talent, wages naturally rise.

That's how America became the most prosperous economy in the world.

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Los Angeles appears committed to testing a different theory in a bizarro world that politicians can simply vote prosperity into existence.

Unfortunately for taxpayers, workers and business owners, reality always gets the final vote.

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Los Angeles doesn't have a wage problem.

It has a leadership problem.

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Bruce Pearl explains why he refuses to stay silent on Israel and antisemitism

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 07:00:13 -0400

Bruce Pearl has never been one to stay silent, whether on or off the court. The legendary former Auburn University men's basketball coach has used his platform for more than sports, becoming one of the most outspoken voices against antisemitism and in support of Israel.

"Well, some people think it's political, but it's really not. It's really survival. The Jewish people are kind of running out of places where we're welcome to live," Pearl, who now serves as the Chair of the U.S. Israel Education Association, told ӣ��Ƶ Digital.

For Pearl, who is Jewish, the issue is personal. He said that his concerns were rooted in lessons passed down through his family about what America represented for Jews fleeing persecution.

"This is the greatest country in the world. And I'm an incredible patriot," he said. "My grandfather made sure that I understood at a very young age that this country saved our family's life from the pogroms and the Holocaust, and I am grateful."

Pearl acknowledged that antisemitism and racism remain challenges in American society, but said they should be viewed as obstacles rather than insurmountable barriers.

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"I recognize that antisemitism, racism — being a basketball coach and 90% of my kids are African American — are obstacles, but not roadblocks," he said. "We've been able to navigate."

Following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel, Pearl emerged as one of the most prominent pro-Israel voices in the sports world. While some athletes and coaches have faced criticism for weighing in on political and cultural issues, Pearl told ӣ��Ƶ Digital that he rejects the notion that public figures should avoid talking about politics.

"We live in an amazing country, and we do have freedom of speech and freedom of thought," he said. "Unlike some people, I want to have a conversation about religion and politics. I want to be able to respect where we feel differently about different things and have those discussions."

The former college basketball coach said he also views speaking out as part of his responsibility as an educator and mentor.

AUBURN'S BRUCE PEARL NAMED CHAIRMAN OF US ISRAEL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

"I'm a coach, and coaches are teachers," he said.

Pearl's comments came ahead of Manhattan Jewish Experience's annual dinner, where he received the organization's Champion of Israel Award in recognition of his advocacy.

MJE seeks to engage young Jewish professionals through educational programming and events centered on identity, culture and faith.

"I don't think we can really expect Jewish people to be able to stand up for themselves if they don't know what they're standing up for. So an educated Jew is a proud Jew, and that's really what MJE is about," Rabbi Mark Wildes, the founder of MJE, told ӣ��Ƶ Digital.

Wildes argued that many anti-Israel demonstrations in New York City are intended to intimidate Jewish communities.

"What it really is, is an attempt to intimidate Jews from being more Jewish, from coming into synagogues. That's why they're getting so close to our houses of worship," he said.

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Despite the growing divisions in society, Pearl still believes in the power of sports to bring people together. He told ӣ��Ƶ Digital that he experienced this in his own life, saying that sports allowed him to fit in and feel a sense of belonging.

"I 100% believe that sports can be a unifier because, see, when our kids go on the playground, and we pick up teams, shirts and skins, we don't care what color you are. We don't care what temple or church you went to. We care whether or not the four of us, plus me, can stay on the court and win this game so we can play, who's got next?," Pearl said.

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He later added that, "sports was a safe haven for a young Jewish boy that just wanted to fit in with his friends."

The values Pearl learned as a child, both at home and on the court, remain central to the message he shares today. Now, he's focused on making sure future generations can experience the same sense of belonging and possibility that shaped his own life.

"I just want to make sure that my grandchildren have the same opportunity in this country that I've had," Pearl said.

Generational divide overshadows policy push in NYC Mayor Mamdani’s inaugural Twitch stream

Thu, 21 May 2026 20:51:14 -0400

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s attempt to connect with Gen Z voters during his first-ever Twitch stream Thursday exposed a generational divide, as the progressive leader admitted he’d never played Minecraft, struggled with internet slang and appeared unfamiliar with modern rap culture.

During the broadcast, which was also available on other social media platforms, ӣ��Ƶ Digital observed numerous Twitch viewers questioning why there were no moderators in the chatroom, as spam and explicit messages filled the message board.

When a commenter asked if the mayor plays the popular video game Minecraft, Mamdani admitted he had never played it and confessed, "I sound so old because, to me, Minecraft is a movie that I knew was based on a video game."

GEN Z LOVES BOTH TRUMP AND MAMDANI FOR THE SAME REASON

The disconnect continued when he was asked to name his favorite "underground" rapper.

The mayor admitted he felt a "little bit washed" and cited early-2000s Canadian artists like k-os and K'naan, leaving his younger co-host, popular pro-Palestinian TikTok creator "Moose," unfamiliar with the references.

Twitch has more than 240 million monthly active users, with 72% under the age of 34, according to a report from data solution company Demand Sage.

SEN SLOTKIN SAYS DEM SOCIALIST NYC CANDIDATE MAMDANI REPRESENTS 'NEW GENERATION' OF LEADERS YOUNG VOTERS WANT

Throughout the stream, Mamdani was heavily coached on internet culture, with Moose teaching him to address the audience as "chat" instead of "ladies and gentlemen," explaining the slang term "bussin" [good or impressive], and prompting him to ask viewers for "W's in the chat."

Despite the cultural disconnect, Mamdani leaned into his core democratic socialist political agenda, touting his administration's success in closing the $12 billion budget deficit by raising revenue through his controversial "pied-à-terre" tax on non-residents who own secondary homes worth more than $5 million.

He proposed further taxing the "hyper-wealthy" through a 2% income tax hike on New Yorkers making more than $1 million a year to help fund a $1.2 billion universal childcare initiative.

NEW YORK CITY IS ABOUT TO TEST MAMDANI’S PROGRESSIVE ECONOMIC VISION

The mayor also pushed several city initiatives, announcing a lottery that will allow New York City residents to purchase 1,000 World Cup tickets for just $50 each. He noted the discounted tickets come with free bus transit directly to the stadium, which he tied to his long-term goal of eventually making all public buses in New York City free and faster.

Mamdani went on to address recent severe flooding in the city, pointing to the "climate crisis" and highlighting a near-$300 million investment in "Cloudburst technology" to help the city's infrastructure absorb sudden, heavy rainfall.

The livestream was marketed as a "shameless homage" to former New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, who spoke to New Yorkers on a radio show called "Talk to the People."

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The Mayor's Office later shared the recorded stream on X, with his office writing, "Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani becomes the first elected official to launch a regularly occurring, multi-platform interactive streaming series."

Mamdani's press office did not immediately respond to ӣ��Ƶ Digital's request for comment on the success of the livestream or future moderating details.

Mamdani wants New Yorkers to hate success. That should scare every last one of us

Tue, 19 May 2026 09:45:54 -0400

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani launched a very public war on billionaire Ken Griffin, and it has nothing to do with justice or lawbreaking. Mamdani did not accuse Griffin of dodging taxes or violating any statute. His sole aim was to turn the successful businessman into a symbol of everything "wrong" with the system, and to teach Americans to hate success so much that surrendering their own agency to a nanny-state government starts to feel like virtue.

As I continue my Walk Across America, I have watched this story with anger, but not surprise. We have seen this kind of politics before. A politician finds a wealthy man, turns him into a villain, and uses him as a prop to stir up resentment. Mamdani did exactly that when he stood outside Griffin’s $238 million penthouse on Tax Day and called for a new tax on luxury second homes owned by nonresidents.

Griffin was not singled out because he broke any law. He was singled out because he succeeded too visibly. Mamdani, the overprivileged child of millionaires with very little real achievement of his own, looked at a man who climbed to the top of American capitalism and decided the best way to build his own brand was to point at him and say, "There is your enemy." That may play well as socialist theater, but it is poisonous leadership.

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I do not know Ken Griffin personally, but I know enough about his life to know he is not the cartoon villain Mamdani wants New Yorkers to see. Griffin was born into a middle-class family, started trading while he was still in college, and built a firm from scratch into one of the most successful in the world. His businesses employ thousands of people and generate enormous tax revenue. He has given large sums to universities, museums, medical research, civic institutions, and even nonprofits in the very cities where he does business. That matters because it shows a man using his success to build and to give, not simply to hoard and to hide.

I am not speaking about this as a distant observer. I am literally walking across America right now to raise $25 million for a Leadership and Economic Opportunity Center on the South Side of Chicago. I am doing that because I want the young people in my neighborhood to move from a life of government dependency to a life where they can use the tools of capitalism to climb as high as their God-given talents will take them. I want them to have their shot at the American Dream.

What Mamdani is doing spits on that hope. When you teach a generation that wealth is always theft and success is always suspect, you are not just attacking billionaires. You are telling a boy on the South Side, already trapped by socialist policies of government dependency, that capitalism itself is a corrupt and evil system. That is how you hurt the future. That is not justice. That is evil.

Men like Ken Griffin, for all their flaws, at least prove that it is still possible to build, to hire, to give, and to create opportunity. That story inspires. Mamdani’s story does the opposite. It does not lift people up. It teaches them to resent, to wait, and to depend. One points toward an open door. The other tears down success and nails it shut in a coffin.

CHICAGO KNOWS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN KEN GRIFFIN TURNS ON A CITY, NOW MAMDANI MAY FIND OUT

And there is a cost when leaders choose resentment over responsibility. Citadel had been planning a major redevelopment project in New York tied to thousands of jobs, and after Mamdani’s attack, Griffin signaled he was ready to keep that investment in Miami instead.

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Wealth can move. Jobs can move. Capital can move. The people left behind are the workers who never get hired and the neighborhoods that never get rebuilt. I watched him leave Chicago for similar reasons: a city that punished success and tolerated crime until he finally took his business and his billions elsewhere.

That is why this fight between Mamdani and Griffin matters beyond one tax and one tower. It reveals a worldview where the private sector is always suspect, the rich are always guilty, and government is always the redeemer. If our youth can be indoctrinated to resent those who create wealth, it becomes easier for the Mamdanis of the world to persuade them to hand their future over to the state. That is not empowerment. That is dependency dressed up as compassion.

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As a pastor, I do not believe wealth is evil. I believe the love of money is evil. Mamdani loves money for his government, and his ambition here is to move money out of Griffin’s pocket and into the hands of the state. If this is not state-sanctioned robbery of a private citizen, I do not know what is. All I know is that ordinary people do not benefit from it. The only winner is an overgrown government bureaucracy that needs more and more of our tax dollars to sustain far too many of its failures.

Zohran Mamdani has chosen the path of anti-American resentment. He thinks he is standing up for the little guy. In reality, he is fighting for a world where the little guy never grows up, never builds, never owns, never gives, because he has been trained to believe that success is a sin and the state is his savior. From where I stand in a hurting neighborhood, I know which path I am walking toward — and it is not his.

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Starmer on the brink: UK PM fights for survival as party takes beating in local elections

Mon, 11 May 2026 15:59:56 -0400

U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was battling to save his position Monday, refusing to step aside despite mounting pressure from within his own party and a wave of resignations among close aides.

Resignation calls intensified after more than 70 Labor MPs publicly urged the Labor leader to quit, while several parliamentary aides stepped down in protest, according to reports.

The growing rebellion comes at a critical moment for Starmer, whose authority has been shaken by political and economic setbacks.

As previously reported by ӣ��Ƶ Digital, the immediate trigger was the crushing defeats in local election results on May 8, which saw Labor lose hundreds of council seats across England, surrender long-held ground in Wales and fall behind rivals in Scotland.

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A recent YouGov poll also found that around half of Britons believe Starmer should step down.

At the same time, rising U.K. borrowing costs have added to concerns about the government’s economic and public service policies and not easing living costs.

Starmer was also hurt by his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain’s ambassador to Washington, the Associated Press reported.

In Scotland, Labor's difficulties were laid bare as John Swinney secured a decisive victory, dealing a further blow to Starmer’s authority.

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The result drew attention from President Donald Trump, who publicly congratulated Swinney and appeared to take a swipe at Starmer.

Trump and Starmer’s relationship had become strained, with the president saying, "This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with," blasting the U.K. leader’s reluctance to let U.S. warplanes use its bases after the start of the war against Iran.

Meanwhile, Starmer struck a defiant tone in what has been termed a "reset" speech on Monday, insisting he would not resign.

"I take responsibility for not walking away, not plunging our country into chaos, as the Tories did," he said.

Sam Carlin, one of the MPs calling for change, said Starmer was "not the right person" to revive the struggling party.

"As a result, I join Labor colleagues from across the United Kingdom in urging the prime minister to step down for the sake of our movement and the people we serve," he said.

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"We have made so much progress, but if we remain on our current course, it will not last."

Former minister Catherine West led efforts to formalize the challenge, calling for a timetable to elect a new leader as early as September.

Three figures are seen as frontrunners to succeed Starmer.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham would need to return to Parliament to mount a bid, while Angela Rayner continues to contend with the fallout from past tax issues.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting is viewed as a more immediate contender.

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Under Labor rules, a leadership contest can be triggered if sufficient backing coalesces behind a challenger, typically through nominations from MPs and affiliated groups.

If Starmer were to resign, the party would move into a formal contest period, culminating in a vote among members.

Labour MP puts Cabinet 'on notice,' threatens to trigger leadership challenge against Starmer by Monday

Sat, 09 May 2026 22:02:37 -0400

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer could face a leadership challenge as soon as next week after his Labour Party suffered major losses in Thursday’s local elections.

Labour MP Catherine West told the BBC that if a Cabinet minister does not challenge Starmer by Monday, she will trigger a leadership contest herself.

West said she was putting the Cabinet "on notice."

"I’m putting people on notice — if I don’t hear by Monday morning of some leadership hopefuls, I will be asking everybody in the Parliamentary Labour Party to put a name against my name, because we need to get this ball rolling," she told the outlet.

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"But my preferred option is for the Cabinet to do a reshuffle within itself, where there’s plenty of talent and for Keir to be given a different role, which he might enjoy, perhaps an international role, and then for others to come to the fore, who can communicate the message, who are very able, so we can have minimum fuss," she continued.

West, a former junior Foreign Office minister, would need support from 20% of Labour MPs — or 81 members — to trigger a contest.

She said about 10 MPs are backing her effort and expressed confidence more would join, according to the report.

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Labour suffered roughly 1,400 losses across the U.K. in this week’s elections, with Reform UK making significant gains, according to GB News.

Starmer accepted responsibility for the losses but resisted calls to resign, saying he was "not going to walk away and plunge the country into chaos."

Still, he has not explicitly ruled out a managed exit and is expected to address the situation on Monday.

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As of late Friday, 22 Labour MPs had publicly called for the prime minister to step down or set a timeline for his exit, the BBC reported.

West did not name a preferred replacement.

"I don't have a candidate," she said. "That's part of the problem."

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"But I think there are several people who would like to do it, who have been planning for months, but I'm very surprised that none of them has popped up today to say 'I will do it'," she added.

ӣ��Ƶ Digital’s Robert Schmad contributed to this report.

'Came out of nowhere': Cornell student says president's confrontation is unlike anything seen on campus

Wed, 06 May 2026 18:00:17 -0400

A confrontation between Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff and anti-Israel student protesters has sparked a firestorm as the Ivy League university faces questions about conduct and free speech.

Ezra Galperin, Cornell class of 2027, told ӣ��Ƶ Digital the situation "was definitely an escalation" compared to previous anti-Israel activity on campus.

"I don't think there's a university president in the country right now who isn't facing some sort of scrutiny, but certainly, at Cornell, something like this was unprecedented," who Galperin, who noted he is part of Cornellians for Israel leadership but was not speaking on behalf of the group.

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The confrontation occurred April 30 after Kotlikoff introduced an Israel-Palestine debate hosted by the Cornell Political Union and co-sponsored by Cornellians for Israel, Cornell Progressives and Students for Justice in Palestine, according to a statement he released. He described the event as "vigorous and civil" and "an example of the kind of open discourse that we prize in our academic community."

As he left, Kotlikoff said, he was "accosted by a group of several individuals," including students and non-students, some of whom were known to Cornell for past conduct involving "ongoing verbal and online abuse" of administrators and staff. He said the group included two individuals previously banned from campus after a "disruptive protest."

Footage that later went viral shows individuals questioning Kotlikoff while filming him as he walked to his car. After answering several questions, he said he told them he would not engage further and asked them to stop recording, but they refused and continued following him.

"I waited until I saw space behind the car and then, using my car’s rear pedestrian alert and automatic braking system, was able to slowly maneuver my car from the parking space and exit the parking lot," Kotlikoff wrote.

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In the footage, one person can be heard yelling, "He just ran over my f------ foot!" It is unclear whether the person's foot was actually harmed. A separate video also posted by Students for a Democratic Cornell (SDC) appears to show an individual being struck by the vehicle while standing behind it.

"The behavior I experienced last night is not protest. It is harassment and intimidation, with the direct motive of silencing speech," Kotlikoff added. "It has no place in an academic community, no place in a democracy and can have no place at Cornell."

Galperin underscored the surprising nature of the clash, saying, "It just kind of came out of nowhere."

He said that he recognized some of the students in the video and claimed that he had served in the Cornell Student Assembly with one of the students in the video. Galperin said the student had served as the Student Assembly's ethics director.

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"I'm surprised and disappointed at the whole situation. Cornell has generally remained a good place to be over the last few years, and I hope that this incident doesn't change that," he said.

SDC released a statement on its Instagram account after the incident in which the group called on Kotlikoff to "restore our independent judicial system," "end the suspensions of nonviolent student protestors," "commission an independent investigation of the incident" and hold a meeting to address the demands.

"Kotlikoff’s violent response to student inquiry is just another example of his administration’s repressive crackdown on student speech," SDC said. "Responsibility does not fall solely on Kotlikoff. Any attempts by the University to make him a scapegoat for an incident they are complicit in is yet another tactic to silence student dissent."

In response to ӣ��Ƶ Digital's request for comment, a university spokesperson said, "The university is investigating the events that took place on April 30, 2026, involving a group of individuals and President Kotlikoff. The university will take action, as appropriate, based on the results of the investigation and in line with its policies, which are designed to uphold a safe environment for the Cornell community."

Cornell Law School Professor William Jacobson told ӣ��Ƶ Digital he believed the incident looked "like a setup" by the anti-Israel agitators.

"What's clear to me is that this was a deliberate provocation," Jacobson said. He said the tactic is meant to create a "decision dilemma" for Kotlikoff, in which any response, or lack of one, would make him "look bad."

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Jacobson said standing behind the car could arguably be seen as a violation of New York law, which prohibits intentionally and unlawfully restricting someone’s movement without their consent in a way that substantially interferes with their liberty.

"These student groups think they are immune to the rules that apply to everybody else. This president said, 'No, you're not immune to rules that applied to everybody else,' and that's what created this whole controversy," Jacobson added.

As the university continues to investigate the incident, students and observers are left wondering what this confrontation means for the future of campus discourse and whether similar clashes could become more commonplace.

Powell will remain at the Fed for now, setting up potential clash with Trump

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:09:34 -0400

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday he will remain on the board that guides the nation’s monetary policy after stepping down as chairman next month.

Powell, who has held one of the most influential positions in global finance for the last eight years, will continue serving as a Federal Reserve governor after May 15, when he relinquishes the head position.

The decision is likely to irk President Donald Trump and spark backlash.

TRUMP VS THE FEDERAL RESERVE: HOW THE CLASH REACHED UNCHARTED TERRITORY

If Powell stepped aside entirely, it would have opened a seat for Trump to fill, giving him another opportunity to shape the Fed’s leadership. By staying on, Powell retains influence over U.S. monetary policy, potentially intensifying tensions with the president.

"I plan to keep a low profile as a governor. There is only ever one chair of the Federal Reserve Board. When Kevin Warsh is confirmed and sworn in, he will be that chair," Powell told reporters at a news conference at the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.

He added that his decision to remain at the Fed hinges on the outcome of a Department of Justice investigation.

"I will not leave the board until this investigation is fully resolved with transparency and finality," Powell said. "I’m encouraged by recent developments, and I am watching the remaining steps in this process carefully. My decisions on these matters will continue to be guided entirely by what I believe is in the best interest of the institution and the people we serve."

"There are widespread concerns that these things will continue to happen," Powell added, referring to pressure from the Trump administration to assert its influence over the central bank.

POWELL REVEALS WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO STEP DOWN FROM THE FED AS PRESSURE MOUNTS

What began as a disagreement over interest rates has escalated into a broader confrontation between Powell and Trump, marking one of the most fraught periods of his eight years as Fed chair.

Trump has intensified his pressure campaign in recent months, publicly criticizing the Fed’s benchmark interest rate decisions and, at times, resorting to personal attacks.

Powell’s tenure at the central bank dates back to 2017, when he was selected by Trump to succeed Janet Yellen. He was reappointed to a second four-year term by President Joe Biden in 2022, which expires on May 15. However, his underlying term as a Fed governor runs longer, allowing him to remain at the central bank until 2028.

In March, Powell told reporters he had not decided on his next steps and declined to say whether he would remain on the Fed’s board after his term as chair ends.

Powell’s decision could now carry major implications for markets and policy — and further inflame those tensions.

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Attention is now turning to who will lead the Fed next. And at the same time, the Supreme Court is expected to weigh in on a case involving Fed Governor Lisa Cook, which could test the limits of presidential power over the central bank.

Trump has selected millionaire Kevin Warsh as Powell’s potential successor.

The contentious confirmation process had been delayed by a Justice Department investigation into Powell’s congressional testimony related to renovations of the Fed's headquarters in Washington, D.C., which some lawmakers said needed to be resolved before moving forward.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., called the DOJ investigation "bogus" and vowed to block Warsh’s nomination until it was dropped — even if he didn't object to the quality of Trump's pick.

THE ONE LINE IN WARSH’S TESTIMONY SIGNALING A BREAK FROM THE FED’S STATUS QUO

With the investigation now closed, a Senate panel is expected to take up Warsh’s nomination, putting the former Morgan Stanley banker on track for a full Senate vote.

Like Powell, Warsh is not an economist by training, instead bringing a background in law and finance. He previously served on the Fed’s Board of Governors, becoming the youngest member in its history at age 35.

His potential return comes at a critical moment for the central bank.

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The question of leadership at the Fed comes as policymakers weigh persistent inflation, the economic impact of the war in Iran and a fragile global outlook ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.

Why we started expecting leaders to manage our feelings

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 10:36:55 -0400

A patient recently described his boss as "emotionally unsafe." What he meant, after a few minutes of unpacking it, was something much simpler: his boss had given him blunt feedback, set a clear deadline, and didn’t spend much time softening the message.

That exchange has become remarkably common and captures a much larger cultural shift. Americans now expect authority figures to do more than lead. We expect them to absorb anxiety, validate emotions, and reduce discomfort before they ever make a demand. In other words, we now want leaders to behave like therapists. That may feel good in the moment, but it’s often terrible for performance.

The job of a leader — whether a mayor, CEO, coach, or school administrator — is not to make people feel emotionally settled before every difficult decision. It’s to confront reality, establish standards, and move people toward outcomes they may not initially like. But our culture now distrusts that kind of leadership. Directness is often confused with insensitivity. Standards get recast as pressure. Accountability sounds harsh. Even ordinary hierarchy can begin to feel psychologically threatening in a culture that treats discomfort itself as a problem.

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As a psychotherapist, I see the confusion clearly. It’s part of the broader pattern I explore in my forthcoming book, Therapy Nation, where I examine how therapeutic expectations have moved far beyond the consulting room and into leadership, schools, workplaces, and public life. Good therapy absolutely makes room for validation, but it does not stop there. The point is growth, responsibility, and behavioral change. Therapy that merely helps people feel better without helping them function better is bad therapy, and leadership works the same way. A good coach doesn’t spend the season helping players feel endlessly understood. He helps them perform. A strong boss doesn’t remove every ounce of workplace stress. He clarifies expectations and holds people to them. A parent cannot raise resilient children by cushioning every disappointment before it lands.

NIKE'S NEW SLOGAN IS THE PERFECT MOTTO FOR AN ANXIOUS AMERICA

Our institutions now reward leaders who excel at emotional caretaking over those who can actually produce order. You see it everywhere: executives who speak in the language of reassurance while results slide, public officials who perform empathy while disorder worsens, school leaders who prioritize emotional climate over standards, and managers who fear honest feedback because someone might experience it as harm.

I often hear younger patients describe competent leadership in almost entirely emotional terms. A boss is "good" because he is affirming. A professor is respected because she is emotionally attuned. A manager is trusted because he creates a sense of psychological safety. Those qualities can matter, of course, but when they become the primary standard, institutions begin to drift away from performance and toward mood management.

People become less practiced at receiving correction without personalizing it, less able to separate discomfort from harm, and less willing to endure the friction that growth requires. Over time, the culture itself starts selecting leaders who are best at reducing anxiety rather than producing excellence. That rarely makes institutions stronger.

HOW AMERICA CAN LEAD ITSELF OUT OF ITS MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS

When leaders become too preoccupied with managing feelings, people get less practice handling frustration, taking correction, and functioning under pressure—the very experiences that build resilience. Standards soften, performance slips, and over time the institution itself loses its edge. That matters because life rarely organizes itself around emotional comfort. Markets don’t. Competition doesn’t. Parenting doesn’t. Relationships don’t. Sports certainly don’t.

One of the most important psychological muscles adults need is the ability to tolerate difficult truths without requiring them to be endlessly softened, and strong leadership helps build that muscle. The problem with a culture that expects leaders to function like therapists is that it starts to pathologize the very experiences that make people stronger: pressure, hierarchy, correction, disappointment, and delayed gratification.

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Feeling understood is comforting, but leadership asks something different from us. The more we ask authority figures to settle our emotions before they challenge us, the more we risk turning leadership into reassurance. That may lower anxiety in the short term, but over time it leaves people, and the institutions they depend on, weaker.

I've seen the bodies on my block — and I know what really stops the killing

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 10:00:38 -0400

I have seen what violence does to a community.

For over 20 years, I have pastored on the South Side of Chicago at my New Beginnings Church. I remember the first time I saw a dead body in the street, a pair of Air Jordans sticking out from beneath a white sheet. I have officiated at funerals for young men and women who should have had decades ahead of them. I have watched mothers bury their children and then walk back to the same block where the murder happened because they had nowhere else to go. I know what violence costs, not as a statistic or a public policy debate, but as a wound that never fully heals.

Even the name of my block is a homage to violence, notoriously named O Block after a gunned-down gangster.

AMONG RICHMOND’S GHOSTS, I DISCOVERED GRACE — AND A DEEPER FAITH IN FREEDOM

So when people ask me what the solution to violence is, I know they want a quick solution, an easy fix of sorts. They want politicians’ lies that something will be done, a momentary salve that numbs the pain of knowing that nothing will truly be done. The honest answer is never simple.

The solution is opportunity.

That is it. When there is opportunity, violence goes down. When there is opportunity, people are busy bettering themselves. When there is opportunity, people are aiming for the future instead of living in the past—a graveyard of grievances. When there is opportunity, people pick up the computer instead of the gun. When there is opportunity, people deposit hard-earned cash instead of withdrawing government dependency funds. Most of all, when there is opportunity, people walk with purpose, a smile on their face instead of hanging out on the corner or on porches.

All the pity we have received since the 1960s is killing us and continues to do so. All those press conferences held by mayors and police chiefs have done nothing, absolutely nothing. All the government interference in our lives has left us deadened and divorced from the American pipeline of opportunity.

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That is why the only solution is opportunity.

And it is why I seek to rename O Block as Opportunity Block. There is nothing more self-defeating than romancing violence. It’s a weak man’s game. Anyone can worship the devil, but to truly follow God? Like the pursuit of faith, the pursuit of opportunity is one of the hardest things one can do and yet the most rewarding.

As Shelby Steele says, "Opportunity follows struggle. It follows effort. It follows hard work. It doesn't come before." Opportunity is the embrace of freedom. Opportunity is the belief in oneself. Opportunity is the belief in America and her principles. Most of all, opportunity is the belief that hard work has its rewards.

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My words here are not just talk. I have been walking across America to raise $25 million to finish our Leadership and Economic Opportunity Center. When complete, it will do nothing but provide opportunity pipelines through teaching trades, math and reading, financial literacy, and the Bible. We seek to make our youth whole — many of them come from broken homes and violence, but we will not allow them to use these tragedies as excuses.

The path of opportunity is often merciless. It requires sacrifice. It requires leaps of faith into the unknown. It requires the strength to look past doubters and keep pressing forward. And most of all, the pursuit of opportunity requires the wholesale embrace of American values and principles, and it is this embrace that separates them from the world of violence and government dependency.

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If they succeed down this path of opportunity, they will likely achieve a standard of living that their family has never known. They will likely marry and stay married. They will have faith in God, for they know where they escaped from. And they will have children who will carry on the pursuit of opportunity. It will become tradition.

When opportunity enters a neighborhood, violence leaves. When opportunity enters a neighborhood, the strong rise over the weak. When opportunity enters a neighborhood, the boards come off the windows of shuttered businesses. When opportunity enters a neighborhood, the language changes from bad faith to future plans. I’m betting my whole life on this. I know it is the truth, and you do too.

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War Department pushes back on 'false' narrative of internal strategy split

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 21:48:18 -0400

Rejecting reports of a split with the brass, the Department of War says the National Defense Strategy was "seamlessly coordinated" with senior civilian and uniform leaders — and that "any narrative to the contrary is false."

On Monday, The Washington Post reported that multiple senior officers had raised concerns about the forthcoming strategy, pointing to a divide between political leadership.

Deputy Secretary of War Steve Feinberg pushed back on Wednesday, in an on-the-record statement to ӣ��Ƶ Digital.

"The Department’s National Defense Strategy has been seamlessly coordinated with all senior civilian and military leadership with total collaboration — any narrative to the contrary is false," Feinberg said.

RENAMED DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE COMING ‘SOON,' TRUMP SAYS

A senior War Department official said the strategy was the product of "extensive and intensive" collaboration across the department.

The drafting team included a policy lead, a Joint Staff deputy and representatives from the military services who consulted widely with civilian and uniformed offices.

Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby and the acting deputy under-secretary for policy, Austin Dahmer, met with leaders from every group. The official called that level of policy-shop engagement "unprecedented."

SUPPORTERS HAIL TRUMP’S PENTAGON REBRAND AS ‘HONEST,’ CRITICS CALL IT RECKLESS

Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, who chairs the Joint Chiefs of Staff, provided feedback directly to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Colby, the official said, and both assured him his input would be reflected in the final draft.

The Post report said political appointees in the Pentagon policy office led the drafting and described unusually sharp pushback from some commanders over priorities and tone.

The War Department disputes that characterization and says the document was coordinated at the principal level and aligned closely with the National Security Strategy.

The pushback comes a day after Hegseth addressed hundreds of commanders at Marine Corps Base Quantico.

TOP US MILITARY BRASS TO HOLD SECRETIVE MEETING WITH HEGSETH AS TRUMP RAMPS UP RUSSIA CRITICISM

In a 45-minute speech, he argued the force needs tougher standards and a tighter focus on warfighting. He has recalled one-star and above officers from around the world to brief in person and has removed several senior general officers as part of a broader overhaul.

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Hegseth says new directives will restore rigorous physical, grooming and leadership standards and require combat roles to meet one set of physical benchmarks.

The Washington Post did not immediately respond to ӣ��Ƶ Digital’s request for comment.

ӣ��Ƶ Digital’s Jasmine Baehr and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.

What America desperately needs is inspirational leaders – here’s how to be one

Sun, 07 Sep 2025 10:00:26 -0400

Abraham Lincoln was thrust into a defining moment in American history. His inspirational leadership preserved a nation. Without his leadership, secession in 1860 could have easily led to the portioning of America into any number of separate entities, some retaining slavery, some not.

The United States of America would no longer be a union. And without the USA, the 20th century would have been radically different. Our world would look nothing like it does today.

Lincoln did it by rejecting the use of naked power. Instead, he motivated and inspired his followers to take ownership of their roles in the great American experiment of democracy and freedom. He mobilized his followers to fight for a common mission – the elevation of human equality and dignity.

He did this by powerful communication, including his two Inaugural speeches and the Gettysburg Address. He was incredibly resilient in the face of setbacks and defeats. He inspired everyday people to a higher level of performance and achievement by instilling purpose in their lives.

LIBERTY AND UNITY: WHAT AMERICA’S 250TH ANNIVERSARY ASKS OF US TODAY

Lincoln saved the most significant nation on earth. He was arguably the greatest president in American history. Lincoln was positively the essence of inspirational leadership.

And inspirational leadership is desperately needed today. In government, businesses, nonprofits and teams, inspirational leaders are the key to organizational success.

I’ve always subscribed to the general definition of leadership as influence. But for inspirational leadership, the definition is more specific – it is the transfer of belief.

Inspirational leaders create a positive culture of belief. They inspire those they lead to believe. This belief leads to amazing accomplishments. They inspire their followers to do what many believe can’t be done.

Inspirational leaders are optimists, visionaries, dreamers. They invest their time and energy in creating a positive culture. That culture then excites, encourages and energizes people. And the whole organization gets better.

IF AMERICA DOESN’T SHAPE THE WORLD, OUR RIVALS WILL

We see this time and time again in the sports world. The coaches that create a positive culture lead their teams to success. Winning is the result of inspirational leaders creating the right culture.

The leader must believe. He must be optimistic and spread positivity. Disney CEO Bob Iger has said, "The most important characteristic of a leader is optimism." What the leader believes is possible greatly influences what is accomplished.

Inspirational leaders communicate faith in a world of pessimism, negativity and fear. They choose faith over fear. They know over-believers can become over-achievers. The leader’s belief inspires followers to believe.

The reality is it’s hard to grow, it’s hard to make progress, it’s hard to reach success if you’re around people who are negative. Optimists simply fare better than pessimists. People who see the positive and have a positive outlook are happier and more successful than negative people.

Inspirational leaders change the thinking in their organization. They replace the negative with the positive, pessimism with optimism, doubt with faith.

AUTHENTIC PRESIDENTIAL LEADERSHIP: AMERICANS KNOW IT WHEN THEY SEE IT

Inspirational leaders use communication to give their followers the precious gift of hope. And they need regular doses of it. They need to believe that there is greater ahead of them. John W. Gardner once said, "The function of a leader is to keep hope alive." And the best way to do it is through motivational communication.

Inspirational leaders know there will be setbacks. They use these challenges as catalysts for growth, leading their organizations to bounce back stronger and wiser. They understand failure is part of the success journey. And their followers can use the tough, difficult, challenging experiences of life for the good if they can embrace it.

Leaders who face adversity head on realize there is an opportunity to learn from it. When you learn and make the necessary changes, you turn your setback into a comeback.

Inspirational leaders appreciate their followers and find various ways to express it. They know well how meaningful it is when the leader acknowledges hard work, sacrifice and effort. A leader who shows he cares inspires people to wholeheartedly commit to the vision. Followers simply work harder when they feel appreciated.

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Gratitude is a habit we develop. It’s not just a spontaneous emotion. Leaders emphasize gratitude for people more than just actions. They make sure their followers know they appreciate them.

Pessimists don't change the world. Throughout history, it's the inspirational leaders, the optimists, the believers who make the greatest impact.

Inspirational leaders believe in people and believe the best is yet to come. Because they believe in a better and brighter future, they inspire people to create it. They are positively contagious, sharing encouragement, optimism and joy. They have a clear vision and create a positive culture.

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Inspirational leaders succeed. They measure meaning as well as metrics. When purpose truly connects, the results are unmistakable. Stories replace complaints, culture changes naturally and the vision becomes a reality.

We need inspirational leaders – you can be one.

This is an excerpt from the book "Maverick Leadership" (coming out Oct. 15). For more information go to www.maverickleadershipbook.com.

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If America doesn’t shape the world, our rivals will

Wed, 16 Jul 2025 05:00:56 -0400

From President Ronald Reagan’s Cold War diplomacy to President Donald Trump targeting Iran’s illicit nuclear program, one truth has never changed: when the United States shows up, the world is safer, and America is stronger.

I’ve seen this time and time again, whether working on counterterrorism policy in the House of Representatives or helping steer national intelligence strategy in the Senate. We don’t project strength by retreating from the world. We do it by assuming leadership, building partnerships and investing in the world to protect our own national interests.

That’s why the rescission proposal being considered by Congress should concern every American who values national security, global stability and the economic well-being of communities right here at home. This is a threat we cannot ignore.

RUBIO OFFICIALLY KILLS USAID, REVEALS FUTURE HOME FOR FOREIGN ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

The proposal would cancel billions in newly approved funds for national security, global health, economic development and humanitarian programs. These resources are designed to help the United States compete with our rivals, counter authoritarian regimes, prevent regional collapse and support front-line partners.

It is time for a clear conversation about accountability in international assistance. The Trump administration has rightly terminated programs that do not serve our national interests. Some have claimed the rescission targets unused or expired funds. That is incorrect. The bulk of the cuts would affect resources just passed by Congress in March that are designated for urgent national security needs, not programs that have already been terminated. Simply put, we cannot terminate the same programs twice.

Effective international assistance is a strategic investment that advances long-term U.S. interests. When we partner with emerging economies, help stabilize volatile regions and provide tools to fight poverty, disease and hunger, we are not just doing good. We are being smart.

AMERICA NEEDS TO 'REFORM, NOT RETREAT' IN GLOBAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS, SAYS FOREIGN POLICY ORG

This approach helps prevent crises that might otherwise require U.S. military involvement. We are blunting the spread of extremism before it metastasizes. It also counters the influence campaigns of adversaries like China, Iran and Russia, who will step in if we step back.

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While China is steadily increasing its diplomatic influence, the U.S. is considering sharp drawdowns that will weaken our influence in key regions. The rescission proposal is one of several that, together, would reduce our national security footprint around the world by as much as 85% and undermine American influence at a critical time.

This is where principle meets practicality. As a nation, we have always believed in helping those in need, not only because it’s right, but also because it builds a more stable, prosperous and secure world. That’s a win-win for America.

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Trump has emphasized that American power should reflect American priorities. That’s why we now have an opportunity to refocus, not gut, U.S. international assistance as a powerful tool to ensure it serves our people, our economy and our security.

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This is a time to strengthen how we use U.S. international assistance, making sure it delivers results for the American people and supports the future we aim to shape. Because when we lead with strength, we prevent threats from reaching our shores and shape a safer, more secure future.

If America withdraws, others will move forward with different values and goals. Our leadership remains essential.

Saxby Chambliss is an attorney. A Republican, he represented Georgia in both the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives.

America has the power to lead the AI revolution – and the leadership to make it happen

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 02:00:53 -0400

America has triumphed in each industrial revolution – whether steel, energy or manufacturing – and has the power to lead the AI revolution, too. This week in Pittsburgh, President Donald Trump is bringing together leaders to address a defining challenge of our time: how to fuel the AI revolution with American energy.

Progress on this front will be consequential for our economy, our national security, and America’s global leadership.

President Trump’s announced $500 billion private sector AI investment is a critical enabler for our country. But artificial intelligence won’t power itself. It needs vast amounts of electricity, delivered affordably and reliably.

And as demand for AI computing surges, the real question isn’t just about who writes the best code – it’s also about who can build out data center infrastructure behind it. The U.S. has the unique capability to do that – including the energy dominance to fuel it – and we now have the political will to lead.

SILICON, STEEL AND MEGAWATTS: CAN AMERICA CREATE THE INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDED TO WIN THE AI RACE?

U.S. policy has often prioritized climate idealism over energy pragmatism. Wind, solar and battery technologies will play a key role in our energy future, but they are not available at the scale or reliability needed to fuel expected AI data center demand. And these combined sources are more expensive than U.S. natural gas.

Without a balanced and clear-eyed approach, we risk pushing AI innovation – and the economic and national security advantages that come with it – overseas.

Other countries are already trying to lure investment away from the United States by subsidizing AI computing power. In China, dozens of data centers are being built – 39 approved in the last quarter of 2024 alone. In Malaysia, authorities are fast-tracking electricity infrastructure for data centers, cutting lead times to just 12 months, compared to five years in the U.S. Some American companies are already helping to finance data center growth in the Middle East.

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The path to powering America’s AI dominance is rooted in abundant American natural gas. The United States is already by far the world leader, accounting for a quarter of global natural gas production. And we are also one of the lowest-cost producers.

Equally important is to ensure AI power demand doesn’t drive up electricity costs for consumers. We can develop natural gas-based power generation independent of the current electric grid and co-locate it with data centers across the country. Providing this dedicated electricity prevents a competition for grid-connected power, which would drive up costs and burden our already strained electricity grid.

New solutions like this require creative partnerships and continued innovation – which is why Chevron is working with Engine No. 1 and GE Vernova to establish facilities designed to provide reliable, affordable, long-term power-generating solutions to underpin American AI leadership.

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President Donald Trump, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, and Sen. David McCormick, R-Pa., recognize the opportunity for the United States to achieve AI dominance. By leveraging abundant American natural gas as a foundation to meet surging AI power demand, we can strengthen our national security, grow our economy and protect our technology leadership.

We have the power to lead the race to develop and deploy AI. It’s time to use it.

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House Dem Leader Hakeem Jeffries says he plans to attend Trump's speech: 'dignified Democratic presence'

Tue, 04 Mar 2025 06:09:38 -0500

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has noted that he plans to attend President Donald Trump's Tuesday night address before a joint session of Congress.

"Given my responsibilities in the House, I plan to attend the speech, along with other members of the Democratic leadership, to make clear to the nation that there is a strong opposition party ready, willing and able to serve as a check and balance on the excesses of the administration," Jeffries said in a message to colleagues.

Trump's speech will come less than two months into his second presidential term.

SEVERAL DEMOCRATS TO BOYCOTT TRUMP'S ‘PEP RALLY’ SPEECH TO CONGRESS

"The decision to attend the Joint Session is a personal one and we understand that members will come to different conclusions," Jeffries noted.

"However, it is important to have a strong, determined and dignified Democratic presence in the chamber. The House as an institution belongs to the American people, and as their representatives we will not be run off the block or bullied," he continued.

Some Democratic lawmakers have announced that they will skip the event.

TRUMP TO DELIVER FIRST ADDRESS OF HIS SECOND TERM TO JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS

"The State of the Union is that the President is spitting in the face of the law," Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., asserted in a Monday post on X. "He is letting an unelected billionaire fire cancer researchers and wreck federal agencies like the Social Security Administration at will. I won't be attending tomorrow's Joint Address."

Then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi famously ripped up pages of Trump's speech in 2020 after the president delivered his State of the Union address.

THEME OF TRUMP'S ADDRESS TO CONGRESS REVEALED

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"Our focus remains on driving down the high cost of living for everyday Americans and pushing back against the far-right extremism that Republicans have unleashed on the country," Jeffries said. "Thank you all for your continued leadership on behalf of the people and in defense of the American way of life."

Mitch McConnell announces his new posts for the 119th Congress

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 07:27:12 -0500

Outgoing Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced that he will chair the Senate Rules Committee as well as the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense during the 119th Congress.

"America's national security interests face the gravest array of threats since the Second World War. At this critical moment, a new Senate Republican majority has a responsibility to secure the future of U.S. leadership and primacy," McConnell said in a statement.

"I intend to play an active role in this urgent mission as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, and I look forward to working closely with incoming Chair Susan Collins to accomplish our shared goal," he noted.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is currently the vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the ranking member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.

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"The Senate Rules Committee will also have important work to accomplish in the 119th Congress, and I look forward to leading it as Chairman," McConnell said in the statement.

"Defending the Senate as an institution and protecting the right to political speech in our elections remain among my longest-standing priorities. Ranking Member Deb Fischer has done an outstanding job advancing these causes, and I know she will remain a key partner in the committee’s ongoing work," he noted.

McConnell, 82, has served in the U.S. Senate since 1985, which means he will soon reach his 40-year-anniversary in the chamber. His current term ends in early 2027.

MITCH MCCONNELL STEPPING DOWN AS REPUBLICAN LEADER

While he has helmed the Senate GOP since 2007, McConnell announced earlier this year that his current term as Senate Republican leader would be his last in the position.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. has been tapped to succeed McConnell in the role next year.

Republicans won the Senate majority during the 2024 elections — Thune will be Senate majority leader.

THUNE SAYS TRUMP'S BORDER PLAN IS 1ST UP IN RIGOROUS PRIORITY LIST FOR NEW CONGRESS: ‘REAL WORK BEGINS’

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"John Thune’s election is a clear endorsement of a consummate leader. The confidence our colleagues have placed in John’s legislative experience and political skill is well deserved," McConnell said in a statement.

"The American people elected Republicans to restore stability and order after four years of Washington Democrats' failure. John Thune will take the reins with a tremendous opportunity to lead this transformation, and Senate Republicans stand behind him, ready to get to work," he added.

Trump says Thune 'will do an outstanding job' as Senate majority leader

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 06:40:23 -0500

President-elect Donald Trump congratulated Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., after the lawmaker won election to serve as the next Senate Republican leader.

Republicans won the majority in the House and Senate during the 2024 elections.

"Congratulations to Senator John Thune, the Newly Elected Senate Majority Leader. He moves quickly, and will do an outstanding job," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

RICK SCOTT KNOCKED OUT OF SENATE LEADER RACE ON FIRST BALLOT AS THUNE AND CORNYN ADVANCE

GOP Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and John Cornyn of Texas had also been vying for the role.

"While it isn’t the result we hoped for, I will do everything possible to make sure John Thune is successful in accomplishing President Trump's agenda," Scott said in a statement.

"We are united and prepared to enact President Trump’s agenda on day one, and I look forward to working alongside my colleagues to take advantage of the opportunities we will have next year to confirm nominees, address our national debt, extend the Trump tax cuts, and reverse the Biden-Harris administration’s disastrous border policies," Cornyn said in a statement.

MITCH MCCONNELL SINGS TRUMP CAMPAIGN PRAISES: ‘SHARPER OPERATION THIS TIME’

Thune will succeed current Senate Republican Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., next year. McConnell, who has long occupied the post, did not seek another term in the role.

Trump noted that he looks forward to working with Thune and the other senators selected for various Senate Republican leadership roles.

"I look forward to working with him, and Senators John Barrasso (Senate Majority Whip), Tom Cotton (Senate Republican Conference Chairman), Shelley Moore Capito (Senate Republican Policy Committee Chairman), James Lankford (Republican Conference Vice Chairman), and Tim Scott (National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman) to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" he said in the post.

SENATE LEADER CONTENDER JOHN THUNE RESPONDS TO NEW TRUMP LITMUS TEST AHEAD OF ELECTION

Thune indicated during remarks on Wednesday that Republican senators will work with House colleagues to implement Trump's agenda.

Authentic presidential leadership: Americans know it when they see it

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 10:00:25 -0400

The American people crave authenticity, and they see right through phonies

Boston mayor posts photo of controversial 'electeds of color' party despite criticism

Sat, 16 Dec 2023 10:13:59 -0500

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has proudly posted a photo of all the attendees of her "electeds of color" holiday party despite the gathering coming in for heavy criticism for excluding white lawmakers.

Wu, 38, who is the city's first Asian-American mayor, posted a photo to Instagram of 17 people smiling and sitting around a dinner table at the exclusive bash which took place Wednesday.

"Last night was my turn to host the annual holiday dinner for Boston’s elected officials of color – a special moment to appreciate that our affinity group now includes leadership across city, state, county, and federal offices," Wu wrote in the caption alongside the photo.

BOSTON MAYOR ACCIDENTALLY INVITES EVERYONE TO HOLIDAY PARTY FOR NON-WHITE ELECTED OFFICIALS

Earlier this week, a member of Wu’s staff mistakenly sent the entire city council an invitation to the party at the city-owned Parkman House near the Massachusetts Statehouse.

Having realized the error, the aide sent out a second email about 15 minutes later apologizing for the initial email. The 13-member city council is made up of six minorities and seven White members. It is understood that the White members were not invited.

While the mayor and her aide apologized for the accidental invite, they did not apologize for planning a party that excluded White city leaders.

BOSTON MAYOR TAKES HEAT FOR 'ELECTEDS OF COLOR' HOLIDAY PARTY: 'GEORGE WALLACE WOULD APPROVE'

Critics have panned the party as being segregationist and anti-White, with ӣ��Ƶ’ Greg Gutfeld accusing Wu of having a history of "blatant racism."

The exclusionary invite was criticized Wednesday by one White member of the city council as "unfortunate and divisive," according to the Boston Herald.

However, Black City Councilor Brian Worrell held a different opinion and defended the invitation, suggesting the holiday party was merely a way to represent "all kinds of special groups" in the Boston government.

On Friday, Wu championed the dinner party as a celebration of diversity, writing that the number of minority lawmakers has grown since she was first elected to the city council in 2014.

"Not too long ago in Boston, we didn’t need such a big table to fit electeds of color," Wu wrote in her Instagram post.

"But over my time as a City Councilor and now Mayor, following so many leaders who have paved the way, I’ve proudly watched this group grow and create space for mentorship and fellowship among many who are breaking down barriers while holding the weight of being the first or only."

"And at the holidays, we take the time to celebrate and enjoy each other’s company!"

Ricardo Patrón, Wu’s press secretary, said no city funds were used to pay for the party.

The photo sparked a mixed reaction online, although one poster claimed Wu was pulling down unfavorable comments.

"You can delete my comment over and over commies, I will continue to celebrate your segregation efforts!" wrote one poster.

"You're an absolute disgrace to the city of Boston!!! Shame on you," wrote another.

Wu did have supporters in the comments section.

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"Great to see such diversity! Every American should see themselves represented in their elected officials!" wrote one of them.

"To everyone saying this is segregation, literally every space of prominence and power has been only White people for centuries," wrote another advocate of Wu’s actions.

"We are allowed to gather and find solidarity with other POC (people of color) [in] most every other space we are in we are a minority. It is okay for us to TAKE UP SPACE."

ӣ��Ƶ’ Kristine Parks and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, ruler of oil-rich Kuwait, dead at 86

Sat, 16 Dec 2023 07:43:00 -0500

The ruling emir of the oil-rich nation Kuwait, Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, has died at the age of 86, just over three years after assuming power, Kuwaiti state TV announced.

His cause of death has not been revealed although the ruling emir was hospitalized last month "due to an emergency health problem" but was later reported to be in stable condition.

The small Mideast nation, which is the holder of the world's seventh-largest oil reserve, borders Iraq to the north and Saudi Arabia to the south, has seen internal power struggles behind palace doors.

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Kuwait state television broke into programming with Quranic verses just before a somber official made the announcement.

"With great sadness and sorrow, we — the Kuwaiti people, the Arab and Islamic nations, and the friendly peoples of the world — mourn the late His Highness the emir, Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, who passed away to his Lord today," said Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah Al Sabah, the minister of his emiri court, who read the brief statement.

State-run news previously reported that he had traveled to the United States for unspecified medical checks in March 2021.

Sheikh Nawaf was named crown prince in 2006 and became emir in September 2020 following the death of his brother, Sheikh Sabah, who had ruled for more than a decade and shaped the state's foreign policy for over 50 years.

Sheikh Nawaf was the nation’s defense minister when Iraq invaded and occupied Kuwait in 1990, sparking the beginning of the first Gulf War. Kuwait has been a strong U.S. ally since then.

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Since he took over in 2020, Sheikh Nawaf has maintained a foreign policy that balanced ties with those neighbors, whilst domestically, eight governments were formed under his rule.

Sheikh Nawaf’s term was focused on domestic issues as the nation struggled through political disputes — including the overhaul of Kuwait’s welfare system — which prevented the sheikhdom from taking on debt. That policy left it with little in its coffers to pay bloated public sector salaries, despite generating immense wealth from its oil reserves.

In 2021, Sheikh Nawaf issued a long-awaited amnesty decree, pardoning and reducing the sentences of nearly three dozen Kuwaiti dissidents in a move aimed at defusing a major government standoff. He issued another just before his illness, aiming to resolve that political impasse that also saw Kuwait hold three separate parliamentary elections under his rule.

Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah, 83, who has been Kuwait's de facto ruler since 2021, when the frail emir handed over most of his duties, is the designated successor. He is Sheikh Nawaf’s half-brother.

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Kuwait has a population of around 4.5 million people, of which 1.45 million are Kuwaiti citizens. The remaining 3 million are foreign nationals from more than 100 countries.

Meanwhile, Egypt has declared three days of mourning over the passing of Sheikh Nawaf, according to Sky News Arabia.

South Sudan's president meets with Sudan's top military official in Juba

Mon, 04 Sep 2023 13:19:39 -0400

Sudan’s top military general held talks in Juba Monday with South Sudan's president on his second trip abroad since the war in his country started earlier this year.

Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, chairman of the ruling Sovereign Council, arrived in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, Monday morning and was received by President Salva Kiir. Both leaders inspected an honor guard and then headed for talks that focused on regional efforts to find a settlement to the conflict in Sudan, according to the Sovereign Council.

In April, simmering tensions between the military, led by Burhan, and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open fighting in the capital and elsewhere.

The fighting has reduced Sudan's capital, Khartoum, to an urban battlefield, with neither side managing to gain control of the city. The military headquarters, where Burhan has purportedly been stationed since the conflict began, has been one of the epicenters of the conflict.

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In the western Darfur region — the scene of a genocidal campaign in the early 2000s — the conflict has morphed into ethnic violence, with the RSF and allied Arab militias attacking ethnic African groups, according to rights groups and the United Nations.

Meanwhile, in his trip to Juba, Burhan was accompanied by acting Foreign Minister Ali al-Sadiq and Gen. Ahmed Ibrahim Mufadel, head of the General Intelligence Authority, and other military officers, according to the Sovereign Council.

South Sudan’s Minister of Cabinet Affairs Martin Elia Lomuro said that the South Sudanese president has a solution "to resolve the conflict" in Sudan, according to a statement by the South Sudanese presidency.

"It is known that President Kiir is the only person who has intimacy and knowledge about Sudan and can find a solution to the Sudanese crisis," Lomuro said.

Al-Sadiq, the Sudanese acting foreign minister, meanwhile, was quoted as saying that South Sudan is the best candidate to meditate the ongoing conflict "because we have been one country for so long and we know each other, we know the problems and we know our needs."

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 after a long conflict.

Early in the ongoing war in Sudan, South Sudan’s Kiir attempted to mediate between the warring generals, as part of an initiative by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, an eight-member regional bloc that includes Sudan.

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The Sudanese leader met with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt last week in the Egyptian coastal city of el-Alamein. It was his first trip abroad since the war.

The conflict is estimated to have killed at least 4,000 people, according to the U.N. human rights office, though activists and doctors on the ground say the toll is likely far higher.

More than 4.8 million people have been displaced, according to the U.N. migration agency. Those include over 3.8 million who fled to safer areas inside Sudan and more than 1 million others who crossed into neighboring countries.

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On Monday, the United Nations and 64 other humanitarian agencies appealed for $1 billion to help over 1.8 million people expected to flee the war to five neighboring countries by the end of 2023. Those neighboring countries include Egypt, Chad, Central African Republic, Ethiopia and South Sudan.

The UNHCR said the funds are a two-fold increase of what was initially estimated in May, as displacement and needs continue to soar.

"The crisis has triggered an urgent demand for humanitarian assistance," said Mamadou Dian Balde, a regional director at the UNHCR. "It is deeply distressing to receive reports of children dying from diseases that are entirely preventable, should partners have had sufficient resources."

New head of Austrian opposition party takes helm after spreadsheet fiasco

Tue, 06 Jun 2023 13:58:25 -0400

The new head of Austria’s Social Democrats vowed to move the party past "one of its bitterest moments" Tuesday after a bizarre mix-up that initially saw his rival declared the winner in a leadership contest.

The center-left opposition party, the second-biggest in Austria's parliament, announced on Monday that Andreas Babler — the mayor of the town of Traiskirchen, who was viewed as an outsider — had in fact won the leadership. At a party convention Saturday, Hans Peter Doskozil, a provincial governor and former defense minister, had been declared the winner.

The party said the two candidates' votes had been counted correctly but switched when the results were entered in an Excel spreadsheet. Before accepting the leadership, Babler called for a recount with a notary present, which took place Tuesday — confirming that he took 317 votes to Doskozil's 280.

The head of the Social Democrats' electoral commission, Michaela Grubesa, resigned Tuesday. Her successor, Klaudia Frieben, said as she confirmed the outcome that fraudulent intentions were ruled out in the original result.

"You can all imagine that what happened yesterday surprised me just as much as it did all of you," Babler, a 50-year-old left-winger, told reporters in Vienna. "The mistake that happened here shamed the Social Democrats, and I would like to apologize again today."

SPREADSHEET ERROR CHANGES OUTCOME OF AUSTRIAN OPPOSITION PARTY'S LEADERSHIP ELECTION

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"I ran as leader to restore our party's unity, pride and dignity, and recent days have shown how bitterly necessary that is," he said. A national election is expected next year.

The leadership debacle followed months of tensions. The previous leader, Pamela Rendi-Wagner, was assailed for a perceived lack of vision and for an inability to capitalize more on public dissatisfaction with the government, a coalition of conservatives and environmentalist Greens.

Rendi-Wagner bowed out after finishing third in an initial ballot of party members, in which Doskozil — long her main rival — narrowly finished first.

"We have to be honest and say that the Social Democrats are pretty much on the floor now," Babler said. "This party is experiencing one of its bitterest moments of recent decades," he added, saying he wouldn't be surprised if its poll ratings worsen further "after this theater."

"But we will write the future of the Social Democrats ourselves," he said.

The far-right opposition Freedom Party, which has benefited from voters’ frustration with rising inflation, has led recent Austrian polls.

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen hints that he intends to step down when new government is installed

Tue, 14 Mar 2023 13:13:46 -0400

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen hinted strongly Tuesday that he intends to step down as the country’s long-serving leader when a new government is installed after July’s general election.

The 70-year-old Hun Sen has led Cambodia with an iron fist for 38 years, and during the last election in 2018 had vowed to stay in office for two more terms, until 2028. Since then, however, he has spoken often of having his eldest son, Hun Manet, succeed him and appointed him to several high profile and important positions.

He explicitly declared his support in December 2021 to have Hun Manet, Cambodia’s West Point-trained army commander, take over his job but only through elections.

Hun Manet, 45, holds several other key security posts, and in 2018 already had been elevated from the ruling Cambodian People’s Party’s 865-member Central Committee to its 37-member Standing Committee, the country’s key decision-making body, making him a de facto member of his father’s political inner circle.

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Hun Sen had been a middle-ranking commander in the radical communist Khmer Rouge in the 1970s before defecting to Vietnam. When Vietnam ousted the Khmer Rouge from power in 1979, he quickly became a senior member of the new Cambodian government installed by Hanoi.

A wily and sometimes ruthless politician, Hun Sen has maintained power as an autocrat in a nominally democratic framework. His Cambodian People’s party, with a stranglehold on power, is certain to top the next polls. It won all the National Assembly seats in the 2018 election, after the court ordered that the only credible opposition grouping, the Cambodia National Rescue Party, be dissolved for allegedly plotting the illegal overthrow of the government. The courts are widely seen as being political tools of the ruling party.

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Speaking Tuesday to villagers at a hydropower project in the western province of Pursat, Hun Sen said the time had come for a new generation to take over.

He told them a fortune teller had predicted that he will die at the age of 93, but no one should keep working until the day they die, he said in remarks aired on his social media and television stations.

Hun Sen called himself the world's longest serving prime minister, and said that if the time he served as foreign minister and deputy prime minister is included, his career as a national leader spans 44 years, "too long already."

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"Now we have found the young generation that will come to replace us. We should better hand over to them and just stay behind them," he said.

Even when he steps down, Hun Sen vowed he will stand behind the new prime minister. He said the new Cabinet will be strong with veteran retired politicians like himself standing by its side.

Hun Sen said the new post-election government would likely be formed in September.

Nepal's newly elected president takes oath in Kathmandu

Mon, 13 Mar 2023 11:57:35 -0400

Nepal’s newly elected president — the third since the Himalayan nation abolished its centuries-old monarchy in 2008 and became a republic — took the oath of office Monday in Kathmandu.

Ram Chandra Poudel was elected Thursday by members of the Federal Parliament and provincial assemblies. Top officials, diplomats and Parliament members lined up to congratulate the new president at the ceremony where the military band played national songs and gave him a salute.

Outgoing President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, having completed the maximum two terms in office, passed the position on immediately after the swearing-in ceremony.

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The president is largely a figurehead with little political power. But the election triggered a feud among partners in the governing alliance headed by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who took office in December after a hung parliament left a fragile coalition government.

Dahal backed Poudel, who is also now the supreme commander of the Nepalese army, angering his main coalition partner, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), which backed Subash Chandra Nembang, its own candidate.

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The party has since pulled out of the coalition, threatening Dahal’s control.

Dahal has since lost the support of three key political parties that were part of his initial coalition government, and must seek a vote of confidence in parliament later in March to continue in power.

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There was no clear explanation of why Dahal decided to back the opposition candidate and endanger his alliance, but struggles for power among the main political parties are common. The country has had eight different governments in the past 10 years.

House speaker drama: Democrat reads 'The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F**k' book on floor

Sat, 07 Jan 2023 14:07:36 -0500

While the House Republican conference was in turmoil Friday as GOP lawmakers struggled to cobble together enough votes to elect a speaker, California Congresswoman Katie Porter sat quietly on the other side of the aisle reading a book.

Poerter, dressed to match the books cover, was reading, "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k," making a not-so-subtle statement that captured how many Democrats were feeling after watching Republicans try and fail to elect a House speaker again and again over four days.

The New York Times best-selling self-help book by Mark Manson argues that people need to stop thinking positively and learn to cope with bad situations in order to be happy, albeit in much more profane terms.

Republicans were in a bad situation until an agreement was reached between McCarthy and the 20 GOP dissidents who demanded several concessions before lending him their support. The beleaguered California Republican was finally elected House speaker on the 15th ballot since Tuesday, winning over most of the holdouts while six anti-McCarthy Republicans voted "present" to let him win.

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The price he paid is an agreement that will dramatically reshape the way the House of Representatives is run.

McCarthy agreed to allow a single lawmaker to make a motion to elect a new speaker, returning to the way the House ran for decades before that practice was eliminated under former Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He agreed to votes on term limits and the adoption of a budget resolution that balances the budget in 10 years, and a cap on fiscal year 2024 spending at FY 2022 levels.

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McCarthy agreed to reject any negotiations on spending with the Senate until the Senate passes its own spending bills. He agreed not to increase the debt limit without spending cuts or other fiscal reforms, to set up a committee to examine the weaponization of government against U.S. citizens, and to ensure no bills are brought up on the floor until at least 72 hours passed.

And he agreed to give three members of the House Freedom Caucus three seats on the House Rules Committee, which sets the terms of debate for all legislation headed to the House floor.

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"The 15th time's the charm, apparently. Americans deserve more than House Republicans' inability to govern—and better than their proposed rule changes," Porter tweeted after McCarthy won the election. "Their agreement to weaken watchdogs, empower extremists, and tip the scales toward special interests betrays the American people."

ӣ��Ƶ' Peter Kasperowicz contributed to this report.

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