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New England politics news

Week after alleged rape at Rockland emergency shelter, Mass. senators vote for safety checks

The amendment, which passed 39-0 Thursday, was adopted onto a more sweeping spending bill that aims to limit shelter stays for migrant and homeless families while funding the strained shelter system through the end of the fiscal year and into 2025.

Healey administration reaches new agreement with federal officials on Cape Cod bridge project
The memorandum of understanding announced Thursday between the Healey administration and Army Corps of Engineers effectively replaces one the state signed in 2020 when it embarked on replacing the 89-year-old Bourne and Sagamore bridges.

Mariano says House will consider real estate transfer fee to spur more housing development
The $4 billion housing bond bill includes a controversial proposal to allow cities and towns to impose a new transfer fee of up to 2 percent on real estate sales above $1 million.

Latest from our D.C. bureau

Warren slams abortion pill access case as ‘partisan politics’ ahead of Supreme Court arguments

An inflation uptick could delay Fed rate cuts, a problem for the economy and Biden’s reelection

Jim Jordan launches investigation into Haitian migrant charged with raping teenager at Rockland hotel

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Haitian migrants: ‘Their next stop very well may be Martha’s Vineyard’

National politics news

Congress rushes to approve final package of spending bills before shutdown deadline

With spending set to expire for several key federal agencies at midnight Friday, the House and Senate are expected to take up to spare a $1.2 trillion measure that combines six annual spending bills into one package.

Biden suggests a bigger federal role to reduce housing costs

The policy proposals in a White House report released Thursday include what could be an aggressive federal intervention in local politics.

Student loans for 78,000 public service workers forgiven

The Education Department is canceling the borrowers’ loans because they reached 10 years of payments while working in public service, making them eligible for relief under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

Warren slams abortion pill access case as ‘partisan politics’ ahead of Supreme Court arguments

“They discovered that their extremist agenda is wildly unpopular,” Senator Elizabeth Warren said of ongoing Republican efforts to raise questions about mifepristone's safety approval by the FDA, despite medication abortion being determined safe.

Donald Trump’s lawyers keep fighting $454 million fraud appeal bond requirement

The financial requirement is “patently unjust, unreasonable and unconstitutional," one of Donald Trump's lawyers wrote in a letter to a New York appeals court.

Prosecutors say Donald Trump’s hush money trial should start April 15 without further delay

New York prosecutors said the defense’s calls for further delays or dismissal of the case because of a last-minute evidence dump were a “red herring.”

Congress unveils $1.2 trillion plan to avert federal shutdown and bring budget fight to a close

The package includes about $886 billion for the Defense Department and also funds the departments of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, Labor, and others.

Trump’s latest 2024 campaign fundraising report shows him lagging behind Biden in cash

Former president Donald Trump’s fundraising picked up last month, but his political operation is still struggling to catch up to President Biden and the Democratic Party in money coming in.

78,000 more public workers are getting student loans canceled through Biden administration changes

The Education Department is canceling $5.8 billion loans for borrowers who reached 10 years of payments while working in public service.

Nearly 8 in 10 AAPI adults in US think abortion should be legal, new poll shows

A new poll shows that Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders in the United States are highly supportive of legal abortion, even in situations where the pregnant person wants an abortion for any reason.

Biden administration announces rule aimed at expanding electric vehicles

The rule, one of the most significant climate regulations in the nation’s history, is designed to ensure that the majority of new passenger cars and light trucks sold in the US are all-electric or hybrids by 2032.

Biden is using the ‘are you better off today’ question to contrast himself with Trump

President Biden opened a new line of attack against former President Donald Trump on Wednesday, asking and answering the classic “are you better off today than you were four years ago” question to remind voters of what it was like when Trump was in office.

Congressional leaders sell $1.2 trillion spending package to members before shutdown deadline

Congressional leaders are working to put a positive light on a $1.2 trillion spending package that lawmakers look to approve before funding expires at midnight Friday for several key government agencies.

Republicans make last-ditch request for Biden to testify as impeachment inquiry winds down

The House impeachment inquiry into President Biden is all but winding down, lacking the political appetite from within the Republican ranks to go forward with an actual impeachment, but facing political pressure to deliver after months of work.

An inflation uptick could delay Fed rate cuts, a problem for the economy and Biden’s reelection

Fed officials on Wednesday kept interest rates steady and continued to forecast three cuts this year. But the timing of those cuts remains uncertain.

NY state asks court not to let Trump forgo $454 million bond during fraud case appeal

New York state lawyers are urging an appeals court not to buy former president Trump’s claims that it’s impossible to post a bond fully covering a $454 million civil fraud judgment while he appeals.

Primaries start setting up House and Senate races

With the general-election matchup between President Biden and former president Donald Trump solidified as of last week, Tuesday began the process of filling out the ballot in some key House and Senate races.

Jim Jordan launches investigation into Haitian migrant charged with raping teenager at Rockland hotel

The Ohio Republican requested information on the immigration history and screening process of Cory B. Alvarez, who pleaded not guilty to a charge of child rape last week.

As Texas border arrests law teeters in court, other GOP states also push tougher immigration policy

In New Hampshire, lawmakers are nearing passage of legislation to let police bring trespassing charges against people suspected of illegally entering the US from Canada.

Judge clears way for Trump to appeal ruling keeping Fani Willis on Georgia 2020 election case

Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee on Wednesday granted a request by defense attorneys to ask the Georgia Court of Appeals to review the judge’s decision. It’s now up to the appeals court to decide whether the court will hear it.