She mentioned Representatives Jared Golden of Maine and Mary Peltola of Alaska, and Senators Jon Tester of Montana and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, as examples of elected officials with an unusually broad appeal because they understand the priorities of their districts or states. In her case, those priorities center on relieving economic despair and providing […]
Read More
In his State of the Union speech this month, President Biden pledged to block any reductions in scheduled Social Security and Medicare benefits. He also promised that any tax increases would be limited to families that earn more than $400,000 — roughly the top-earning 2 percent of American families. Together, these promises are almost certainly […]
Read More
As we approach the first anniversary of Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, two ominous trends are emerging at once. First, Russia is doubling down. It’s pouring fresh troops into Ukraine and launching new offensive operations. Second, poll after poll after poll demonstrate that American support for Ukraine is slipping away. While Americans have […]
Read More
There is no end of commentary gently — and not so gently — urging President Biden to act his age and step aside. And all else being equal, I share that sentiment. I don’t think we want a president ending his second term closer to 90 than he is to 80. But all else is […]
Read More
The most striking thing about the Republican response to President Biden’s State of the Union last week, delivered this year by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, was that it wasn’t actually pitched to the American public at large. Of course, most people do not watch this particular ritual. But it does mark one of […]
Read More
Politically, the most crucial moment in President Biden’s State of the Union address was his declaration that “some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset every five years.” Why did he say that? Maybe because Senator Rick Scott, when he was the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, released a fiscal plan last […]
Read More
Gail: Which part do you think an average American voter would have hated? An assault weapons ban? Abortion rights? A tax on the superrich? Bret: Well, abortion rights is a winning issue for Democrats, thanks to the terrible Dobbs decision. On the other hand, the billionaires’ tax is probably unconstitutional and also ineffective, since ultrawealthy […]
Read More
WASHINGTON — Everyone is frantically hunting for clues about whether Joe Biden will run again. His State of the Union speech was dissected for intimations. When he kept using the phrase “finish the job,” was that a hint? Where is Daniel Craig’s “Knives Out” detective when we need him? Asked about his decision in a […]
Read More
While China is upgrading its factories and work force to the jobs of the future, it doesn’t make sense for the United States to shelter relatively low-tech industries. After the Trump administration put tariffs on apparel and footwear, imports of those products from China fell sharply, according to a study by importers released last month. […]
Read More
BEIJING — Since the spy balloon saga started, China has tried to play down the incident and prevent it from further inflaming relations with the United States. But as American alarm and accusations have mounted, that strategy is increasingly coming under strain — forcing China into an awkward, at times self-contradictory position. Beijing has continued […]
Read More
Political speeches, very much including State of the Union addresses, rarely make much difference. They can, however, be useful guides to the political landscape. President Biden was evidently feeling feisty on Tuesday. In particular, he kept baiting Republicans with the suggestion that a number of them are threatening Medicare and Social Security — which they […]
Read More
Since the midterms, Mr. Biden has largely delegated the issue to Ms. Harris, who has hosted dozens of events with state leaders to discuss abortion access. Last month, on what would have been the 50th anniversary of Roe, she warned that “no one is immune” from efforts to curb access to reproductive health care. In […]
Read More
Since he defeated former President Donald J. Trump in 2020, Mr. Biden has had difficulty conjuring a useful political villain, in part because Democrats controlled the White House and both houses of Congress. For much of his first year, Mr. Biden seemed to be fighting more with his own party — specifically, Senators Kyrsten Sinema […]
Read More
Such a scene would not have flown in the British Parliament, where rowdy debate is a tradition and members often jeer loudly but are barred from using expletives or hurling accusations of misconduct, including lying. How Times reporters cover politics. We rely on our journalists to be independent observers. So while Times staff members may vote, […]
Read More
There were dead men at the State of the Union. No, I’m not talking about George Santos, who I don’t think is long for the House of Representatives because his multitude of lies threatens to end him. I’m not talking about Kevin McCarthy, who slipped a noose around his own neck in his craven quest […]
Read More
President Biden delivered a feisty State of the Union address on Tuesday punctuated by several ad-libbed exchanges with Republican hecklers, an unusual dose of improv for an annual broadcast that usually runs strictly to script. According to Nielsen, though, fewer Americans than last year tuned in to see it. About 27.3 million people watched Mr. […]
Read More
WASHINGTON — Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, was not expecting to see Representative George Santos, the embattled first-term Republican from New York, perched near the aisle of the House chamber at the State of the Union on Tuesday night, close enough to reach out for a presidential handshake. To Mr. Romney, it was shameless. […]
Read More
Just a few days ago, the United States was in a national tizzy about a balloon. Never mind that China poses a more significant security risk through TikTok, potentially spying on us while floating inside our phones, and that the United States probably will garner more intelligence from the balloon than it did on us. […]
Read More
President Biden used his State of the Union speech to portray the U.S. as a country in recovery, and he is right that there has been a lot of good news lately. Price increases have slowed. Covid deaths are down about 80 percent compared with a year ago. Ukraine is holding off Russia’s invasion. Congress […]
Read More
He did not back off from those priorities, some of which he managed to achieve, at least in part, over the past two years, and he renewed his call for others. But on Tuesday night, his focus was on less ambitious proposals aimed at stepping up efforts to cure cancer, improve mental health care, fight […]
Read More
WASHINGTON — President Biden was about midway through a speech of about 7,218-words on Tuesday when a Republican lawmaker tried to shut him down with a single one: “Liar!” It was Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, whom the president had baited by accusing Republicans of wanting to threaten entitlement programs like Social Security. Later […]
Read More
In 2016 Donald Trump ran for president against his fellow Republicans and then against Hillary Clinton by promising economic nationalism: a break with the bipartisan enthusiasm for globalization, an end to outsourcing, a manufacturing revival, new infrastructure spending, frank competition with China instead of friendly integration. Seven years later, President Biden just gave a State […]
Read More
WASHINGTON — When President Biden delivered his State of the Union address a year ago, war had broken out in Europe just days before and it appeared inevitable that Vladimir V. Putin would quickly take control of Ukraine. China, the Pentagon kept repeating, was America’s “pacing” challenge, a long-term technological and financial competitor, but not […]
Read More
She understands her currency in a party that would like to be able to claim more diversity than it has and to seem a bit more modern than it does. “I happen to be the youngest governor currently serving anywhere in the country,” she said during those inauguration remarks, just happening to mention that. She […]
Read More
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, one of the relatively few high-profile Trump administration officials who bolstered their careers through the experience, will step into the national spotlight again on Tuesday night when she delivers the Republican response to President Biden’s State of the Union address. Ms. Sanders was still editing her address on Tuesday […]
Read More
Most Americans disapprove of the job President Biden is doing, with his approval rating hovering around 42 percent for months after recovering from a dip into the mid-30s over the summer. The first years of a president’s term generally represent the high-water mark for their ratings. Overall, Mr. Biden had among the lowest average second-year approval ratings of […]
Read More
She understands her currency in a party that would like to be able to claim more diversity than it has and to seem a bit more modern than it does. “I happen to be the youngest governor currently serving anywhere in the country,” she said during those inauguration remarks, just happening to mention that. She […]
Read More
President Biden has been conspicuously quiet on the topic of the Supreme Court. Even as there’s an active debate about what to do about a court that has too often exceeded the bounds of its authority, he has avoided regular criticism of it. His restraint in discussing the court is true in general, and it’s […]
Read More
As presidents have done for four decades, Mr. Biden has invited carefully chosen guests to join the first lady, Jill Biden, in the House gallery to make political points. Among them will be Oksana Markarova, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States; Bono, the singer who has championed AIDS treatment; and Paul Pelosi, the husband […]
Read More
It’s been widely reported that Biden plans to use the State of the Union to set up his case for re-election. There’s a rift in the Democratic Party about whether this is wise for an 80-year-old to do. Democratic officials are largely on board, at least publicly, but the majority of Democratic voters are not. […]
Read More
“I learned so much from having to deal with stuttering,” Mr. Biden said in a 2016 speech at an American Institute for Stuttering gala. “It gave me insight into other people’s pain.” When Mr. Biden met a young boy named Brayden Harrington in a rope line on the 2020 campaign trail, Mr. Biden was told […]
Read More