US Senate Advances Protection for Same-Sex, Interracial Marriages at Federal Level  

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U.S. senators took a key step toward protecting same-sex and interracial marriages Wednesday as they advanced the Respect for Marriage Act, 62-37, to a final vote. Twelve Republicans voted to advance the legislation, which will head to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law after final passage in the U.S. House. The legislation would repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that defines marriage as between a man and a woman under federal law. It would also require states to recognize same-sex and interracial marriages performed in other states, although it would not prevent states from passing lawsmore

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McConnell Reelected Senate GOP Leader; Scott’s Bid Rejected

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Senator Mitch McConnell was reelected as Republican leader Wednesday, quashing a challenge from Senator Rick Scott of Florida, the Senate GOP campaign chief criticized over his party’s midterm election failures.  Retreating to the Capitol’s Old Senate Chamber for the private vote, Republicans had faced public infighting following a disappointing performance in last week’s elections that kept Senate control with Democrats.  McConnell, of Kentucky, easily swatted back the challenge from Scott in the first-ever attempt to oust him after many years as GOP leader. The vote was 37-10, senators said, with one other senator voting present. Senators first rejected an attemptmore

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Trump May Face Challenges in Organizing Republican Support

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In the days leading up to former President Donald Trump’s announcement Tuesday evening that he would seek the Republican Party’s nomination again in 2024, influential voices in conservative political circles expressed their opposition to the idea of handing the party’s reins back to him. With Trump leading the party after his election in 2016, Republicans lost control of the House of Representatives in 2018. Then in 2020, despite his false claims to the contrary, Trump lost the presidential election to Joe Biden and watched as his party also lost control of the Senate. Last week in elections they were expectedmore

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Elections Put New Voting Laws to the Test

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America has one Senate contest from the 2022 midterm elections that remains undecided, requiring a runoff election December 6 in the southern U.S. state of Georgia where turnout was heavy last week despite new balloting restrictions that some observers had feared would depress turnout of poorer and minority voters. “It was just a very successful election day,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told a press conference the day after the November 8 midterm contests in his state. Raffensperger, a Republican, said the state’s new voting laws did not impact turnout and that major snags on election day were avoidedmore

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Trump Announces 2024 Presidential Run

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Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced his decision to run for president in 2024, in the wake of midterm elections that did not award his Republican party as well as expected. But Trump, as the aging leader of the party, is no longer the disruptor that he was in 2016 — this time around, he’s trading on his legacy and says he has big plans for a second Trump administration. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Washington. …

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Trump Announces 2024 Election Run

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Former President Trump on Tuesday evening formally declared he is seeking the Republican Party nomination for the 2024 election. Speaking for an hour to an invited crowd in a ballroom at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Trump criticized the administration of his successor, Joe Biden, telling supporters it has destroyed the U.S. economy and turned America’s cities into crime-filled “cesspools of blood.” “In order to make America great and glorious again,” Trump said, “I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States.” Unlike his last unsuccessful run in 2020 as the incumbent, Trump — who was impeachedmore

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