US First Lady Won’t Join President at Campaign Rally

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U.S. first lady Melania Trump will not join President Donald Trump on the campaign trail Tuesday because of a lingering cough from COVID-19, according to her chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham. Grisham said Tuesday that Mrs. Trump’s health continues to improve daily after she and the president announced in early October that they had contracted the infectious disease. The first lady has decided not to accompany Trump to a campaign rally Tuesday night in Erie, Pennsylvania, “out of an abundance of caution,” Grisham said. Melania Trump, who announced last week that she had recovered from COVID-19, made her last public appearance during themore

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US Congress, White House Negotiations on COVID Aid ‘Come a Long Way’

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Negotiations between the White House and the Democratic-majority U.S. House of Representatives on a second massive round of coronavirus aid have “come a long way,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday. In a Bloomberg News interview ahead of an afternoon phone call with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Pelosi said the two sides were resolving disagreements over language, setting out a national testing strategy for detecting the coronavirus as well as addressing the impact of the pandemic on communities of color. The two sides are still negotiating language for emergency funding for cash-strapped state and local governments. Pelosi had set Tuesday as themore

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Pandemic or Not, They Make Elections Work

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From making sure voters are eligible to cast a ballot, to tracking and reporting results, local election officers are key players in the U.S. presidential election. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports on what they’re doing to make the voting fair and safe.Camera and Produced by: Veronica Balderas Iglesias   …

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US Presidential Debate Set For Thursday With New Rules in Place

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The second and final debate before the U.S. presidential election appears set to go forward with new rules in place meant to prevent the candidates from talking over each other. President Donald Trump expressed his displeasure with the overall setup, telling reporters Monday that while he thinks “it is very unfair,” he will be a part of Thursday’s event in Nashville, Tennessee. “I will participate but it’s very unfair that they changed the topics and it’s very unfair that again we have an anchor who is totally biased,” Trump said. Kristen Welker, a respected NBC White House reporter, is moderating the debate and has chosenmore

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Senate to Work Through Weekend to Push Barrett Onto Court

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Wasting no time, the Senate is on track to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court by next Monday, charging toward a rare weekend session as Republicans push past procedural steps to install President Donald Trump’s pick before Election Day. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he will begin the process as soon as the Senate Judiciary Committee wraps up its work Thursday. With a 53-47 Republican majority, and just two GOP senators opposed, Trump’s nominee is on a glide path to confirmation that will seal a conservative hold on the court for years to come.   McConnellmore

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If Democrats Can, Should They Pack US Supreme Court?

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As Republicans rush to confirm Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump’s pick to replace the late-Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court before Election Day, some liberal Democrats are floating the idea of adding more seats to the court — beyond the current nine.  The number of justices has changed over time, from six to as many as 10, but the number has remained steady at nine since 1869. In the 1930s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to pack the court to preserve his New Deal legislation, which kept getting struck down by the high court. He failed. If Democrats capture the White House andmore

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US Presidential Debate Set For Thursday With New Rules

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The second and final debate before the U.S. presidential election appears set to go forward with new rules in place meant to prevent the candidates from talking over each other. President Donald Trump expressed his displeasure with the overall setup, telling reporters Monday that while he thinks “it is very unfair,” he will be a part of Thursday’s event in Nashville, Tennessee. “I will participate but it’s very unfair that they changed the topics and it’s very unfair that again we have an anchor who is totally biased,” Trump said. Kristen Welker, a respected NBC White House reporter, is moderating the debate and has chosenmore

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Trump Objects to ‘Mute’ Button in Next Biden Matchup, But Debate Will Go On

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Thursday’s debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger former Vice President Joe Biden will feature a mute button to allow each candidate to speak uninterrupted, organizers said Monday, in a bid to avoid the disruptions that marred the first matchup. The Presidential Commission on Debates said each candidate’s microphone would be silenced to allow the other to make two minutes of opening remarks at the beginning of each 15-minute segment of the debate. Both microphones will be turned on to allow a back-and-forth after that time. Trump’s campaign objected to the change but said the president would still take part. “President Trump is committed to debatingmore

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Trump Goes After Fauci, Tries to Buck Up His Campaign Team

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President Donald Trump heaped criticism Monday against Dr. Anthony Fauci, the press and the polls that show him trailing Democrat Joe Biden in key battleground states two weeks before Election Day. On the third day of a Western campaign swing, Trump is hoping for the type of last-minute surge that gave him a come-from-behind victory four years ago.  His aggressive travel comes as Trump plays defense in states he won four years ago, though the president insisted he was confident as he executed a packed schedule despite the pandemic. “We’re going to win,” he told campaign staff on a morning conference call from Las Vegas. He went on to acknowledge: “I wouldn’t havemore

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