Pictures of Georgia Democrat looking into middle distance proliferate – and social media skills have boosted his profile Delivering a speech in Atlanta last month, Jon Ossoff accused Donald Trump of corruption, incompetence and fecklessness, and peppered his remarks with substantive observations of dates and times and places. But the comment that ricocheted across the internet – a clip of just a few seconds – was an almost-throwaway reference about how the US president wants to “travel with Natalie” onboard Air Force One. The crowd cheered the US senator, who is running for re-election in battleground Georgia and is increasingly seen as a potential Democratic candidate for president in 2028. But his target audience that day – and this year – spanned far beyond the concert hall. Continue reading...

Announcement of visa restrictions follows Trump’s false claims of ‘white genocide’ taking place in South Africa The US has announced visa restrictions on some South Africans as Donald Trump’s administration continues to claim that South Africa’s government racially discriminates against white minority Afrikaners. The announcement did not specify individuals who were barred from the US. Trump has spent his second term falsely claiming there is a “white genocide” in South Africa and railing against its affirmative action policies. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. Sign up for US Breaking News emails Kash Patel , the FBI director, is now testifying before lawmakers on the Senate judiciary committee. A reminder that the last time he appeared before Congress was in May, when he sparred with senators on the appropriations committee and denied – under oath – allegations of excessive drinking and unexplained absences on the job, dismissing them as “baseless” during a fiery congressional hearing. Today’s hearing is also expected to be full of heated exchanges. “Mr Patel is the least qualified and most partisan FBI director in our nation’s history,” said Senator Dick Durbin, the judiciary committee’s top Democrat. “The bureau has been reshaped as a political weapon against President Trump’s political enemies and a shield to protect the president and his MAGA loyalists, not the American people.” Continue reading...

Powerful bombs prompted such concern about mass deaths in Gaza that Biden officials paused delivery two years ago The Trump administration is planning to deliver powerful 2,000lb bombs to Israel as part of an upcoming arms deal, weapons that prompted such concerns about the possibility of mass casualties in Gaza that the Biden administration paused their delivery two years ago. The $2.8bn package includes 40,000 bombs, made up of 20,000 MK-84s and 20,000 BLU-117s, according to two US officials and a person familiar with the plan who spoke on Tuesday on condition of anonymity to discuss the package, which is not yet final. Continue reading...

Election officials continue push to assure Americans mail ballots are safe after supreme court rules against president Reader Q&A: how united are the Democrats ahead of the midterms? Post your questions now After the US supreme court halted Donald Trump’s efforts to make it significantly harder to vote by mail in the midterms, US election officials are redoubling their efforts to convince Americans it is safe to cast their ballots by mail. The supreme court’s Monday ruling, which sent Trump into an angry froth on Truth Social, averted what election officials of both parties said would be an administrative disaster for this year’s elections. Trump’s order would have required states to comply with cumbersome new rules, including redesigning mail-in envelopes and uploading lists of voters to the USPS, that were not feasible to implement before ballots started going out. The effort was seen as a push by the government to change voting policy as well as one to weaken confidence in voting by mail. Continue reading...

Who are the Democrats running in the midterms, and where do they stand? Our political reporters will be hosting a series of conversations on the critical issues ahead of November. First up: the state of the Democrats, the party’s moderate and leftwing candidates and key races to watch. Drop your questions and join us live at 12pm (EDT) on 16 September Sign up or sign in to post a question We’re less than two months from the midterm elections that could have an outsized impact on the future of the United States. With the primaries wrapped, our reporting team is fanned out across the country to tell the stories behind the horse race, from Washington to the Midwest and along the West Coast. Continue reading...

Damaging budget report estimates cost will grow by $3bn per month and stockpiles of weapons could take five years to rebuild The US House of Representatives has voted for a third time to end the war in Iran, approving a war powers resolution a few hours after a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report showed the conflict had cost at least $38bn and left America’s stockpile of defensive missiles so depleted it could take five years to rebuild. The final tally of 220-204 was similar to earlier votes, with a few more Republicans joining most Democrats in calling for an end to the war. None of the resolutions have made it to the president’s desk, where Trump would almost certainly veto them. Continue reading...

Congressman says defense secretary repeatedly violated constitution through his handling of Iran war Republican congressman Thomas Massie on Tuesday proposed impeaching Pete Hegseth, saying the defense secretary had repeatedly violated the constitution through his handling of war with Iran and the deaths of civilians in conflicts worldwide. The proposal by Massie, an iconoclastic lawmaker who lost his primary earlier this year after Donald Trump and Hegseth urged voters to oppose him, may put House Republicans in a bind just weeks before the 3 November midterm elections, where they are defending their control of Congress. Continue reading...

Leftwing senator and far-right strategist rail against tech oligarchs but offer competing visions on Chinese ‘cold war’ The progressive senator Bernie Sanders and rightwing strategist Steve Bannon have called for restrictions on artificial intelligence (AI) but offered competing visions for what they termed a “cold war” with China. Speaking at the “Pro-Human Assembly” in Washington on Tuesday, the ideological adversaries were united in warning of the potential dangers of AI and demanding stringent guardrails against Silicon Valley’s “oligarchs”. Continue reading...

Karl Rove, a respected GOP consultant, further said he would vote for ‘bigot’ Bo French’s Democratic opponent after post A senior Republican has called a party colleague running for office in Texas “a bigot” over a racist social media post attacking college football fans – and said he is so outraged by the comments that he will vote for the candidate’s Democratic rival. Karl Rove, who was former president George W Bush’s longtime political adviser and is a respected Republican consultant in Texas, told a private event in Austin on Sunday that he could not support Bo French’s candidacy for a seat on the state’s railroad commission, the Texas Tribune reported . Continue reading...

Jayden Williams of Stockbridge alleged to have made inappropriate texts to teen and using city funds improperly US politics live – latest updates City leaders in a suburb outside Atlanta have voted to remove the youngest mayor in their community’s history amid allegations of questionable spending of municipal funds and inappropriate communications with an 18-year-old high school student. Over the weekend, the Stockbridge, Georgia , city council voted to remove Jayden Williams, 23, from office after an hours-long hearing into allegations that included inappropriate exchanges with an 18-year-old in high school, improper purchases on a municipal government-issued credit card and mistreatment of employees. Continue reading...

Senators question FBI chief on move to cut restrictions on agent applicants who have engaged in bestiality US politics live – latest updates FBI director Kash Patel defended his agency’s decision to roll back restrictions on agent applicants who have previously engaged in bestiality, arguing the FBI “did not want to punish victims of bestiality” by automatically disqualifying them. The unusual topic of bestiality emerged during a Senate judiciary committee oversight hearing on Tuesday after Democrat Dick Durbin and Republican John Kennedy questioned Patel’s decision to remove barriers that previously prevented applicants who engaged in prostitution and bestiality from being qualified for a job at the FBI. Continue reading...

Robert Garcia expresses concern over ‘any possible foreign entanglement’ between White House and Umar Kremlev Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, is investigating potential ties between the White House and a Russian oligarch who paid for a portion of Donald Trump Jr’s wedding. In a letter sent to Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, on Monday, Garcia expressed concern about “any possible foreign entanglement” between the president’s son and the oligarch, Umar Kremlev . Garcia asked Wiles to provide documents, records and communications between the White House and Trump Jr about Kremlev, among other requests. Continue reading...

Proponents say sanctions would help Ukraine, but some Democrats say Trump shouldn’t have more tariff authority US politics live – latest updates A bill co-authored by Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina senator who died earlier this year, that would give Donald Trump broad authority to tariff Russia and its trading partners will be put forward for a vote this week in a high-stakes legislative battle that could provide new sanctioning authority to the US president at a crucial moment in Russia’s war against Ukraine . The bill is facing considerable pushback not only from Ukraine-sceptic Republicans , however, but also from prominent Democrats who say that the bill will give undue tariff power to the US president that could then be abused and turned against US allies. Continue reading...

Ruling comes a day before homeland security department’s substantial restrictions were set to take effect A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from implementing a new rule that would ⁠limit how long foreign students and ⁠journalists can remain ​in the US without applying for extensions. F Dennis Saylor, the US district judge in Boston, ruled in favor of a coalition of unions and higher education advocacy groups a day before ⁠the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s rule was set to take effect. Continue reading...

Tobacco investments raise new concerns about Dr Nicole Saphier ahead of confirmation hearing Donald Trump’s nominee for US surgeon general reported more than $200,000 in business income from a company she owns that sells dietary supplements, a loosely regulated industry that health and consumer advocates say raises concerns about her record and which some critics allege are akin to “ snake oil ”. Dr Nicole Saphier, who specializes in breast cancer as a radiologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New Jersey and was formerly a Fox News contributor, is facing a Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday. She filed a financial disclosure and ethics agreement last week. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. Supreme court rejects Trump’s mail ballot restrictions for midterm elections Sign up for the Breaking News US email Donald Trump has claimed there is a “SICK conspiracy” against artificial intelligence and data centers in response to the growing calls for greater checks on AI development. “The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, insisting that the administration has stopped leaders of AI companies from “doing bad, or potentially bad” things. However, he didn’t point to any concrete examples for how he has curbed possible abuse or malfeasance in the industry. There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China … We are leading China, and all others, and will continue to do so. Conspiracy Theorists, Treasonists, Traitors, and Leakers, BEWARE! Continue reading...

Decision allows states to send ballots under process followed for years even as president tried to limit system The supreme court on Monday rejected Donald Trump’s mail ballot restrictions for now, capping a flurry of last-minute legal action with voting in the midterm elections already underway. The decision allows states to continue sending out mail ballots under the same processes they have used for years. Continue reading...

The 84-year-old said he was prepared to cast his first vote after rampant speculation about his health Mitch McConnell, the former Republican Senate majority leader, returned to the Capitol on Monday and cast his first vote after a months‑long absence that fueled rampant speculation about his health. One of the highest-profile figures in Congress , the 84-year-old senator has been away from the Senate since mid-June, following what his office said was a fall that left him hospitalized. After weeks of silence, that spurred demands for greater transparency and stoked online conspiracies, McConnell disclosed that he had been “briefly unconscious” and “also had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia”. He was discharged from a rehabilitation center last month. Continue reading...