Election category, Page 7
Western Pa. experts offer tips on navigating lingering election-related tensions over holidays
The events of the Nov. 5 presidential election divided states, demographics and, in many cases, families. President-elect Donald Trump’s supporters celebrated the Republican candidate’s victory, while many who championed Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris fell into despair. With Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and other holidays following so closely on the heels...
A look at how some of Trump’s picks to lead health agencies could help carry out Kennedy’s overhaul
The team that President-elect Donald Trump has selected to lead federal health agencies in his second administration includes a retired congressman, a surgeon and a former talk-show host. All could play pivotal roles in fulfilling a political agenda that could change how the government goes about safeguarding Americans’ health —...
Trump taps a Fox News personality, a surgeon and a former Congressman to lead public health agencies
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump on Friday nominated Dr. Marty Makary to lead the Food and Drug Administration, selecting a surgeon and author who gained national attention for opposing vaccine mandates and some other public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Makary, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, is the...
Trump raced to pick many Cabinet posts. He took more time to settle on a treasury secretary
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump launched a blitz of picks for his Cabinet, but he took his time before settling on billionaire investor Scott Bessent as his treasury secretary nominee. The Republican not only wanted someone who jibes with him, but an official who can execute his economic vision and...
Here are the people Trump has picked for key positions so far
President-elect Donald Trump is filling key posts in his second administration, and it’s shaping up much differently than his first. He’s prioritizing loyalists for top jobs. Trump was bruised and hampered by internal squabbles during his initial term in office. Now he appears focused on remaking the federal government in...
Trump chooses Bessent to be treasury secretary, Vought as budget chief, Chavez-DeRemer for Labor
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump announced Friday that he’ll nominate hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, an advocate for deficit reduction, to serve as his next treasury secretary. Trump also said he would nominate Russell Vought to lead the Office of Management and Budget, a position Vought held during Trump’s first...
Beyond evangelicals, Trump and his allies courted smaller faith groups, from the Amish to Chabad
A social-media tribute to Coptic Christians. A billboard in Amish country. A visit to a revered Jewish gravesite. While Donald Trump’s lock on the white evangelical vote is legendary, he and his campaign allies also wooed smaller religious groups, far from the mainstream. As it turned out, Trump won by...
Gaetz’s withdrawal highlights how incoming presidents often lose Cabinet nominees
MARTIN, Tenn. — Losing a Cabinet nominee to the confirmation process isn’t unheard of for incoming presidents — including for Donald Trump when he was elected the first time. Matt Gaetz’s decision to pull his name Thursday from consideration for attorney general — amid continued fallout over a federal sex...
Matt Gaetz says he won’t return to Congress next year after withdrawing name for attorney general
WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Matt Gaetz said Friday that he will not be returning to Congress after withdrawing his name from consideration to be attorney general under President-elect Donald Trump amid growing allegations of sexual misconduct. “I’m still going to be in the fight, but it’s going to be from...
What to know about Pam Bondi, Trump’s new pick for attorney general
NEW YORK — Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, was chosen by Donald Trump to serve as U.S. attorney general hours after his first choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew from consideration after a federal sex trafficking investigation and ethics probe made his ability to be confirmed dubious. The 59-year-old has...
Pa. halts statewide vote recount after Casey concedes Pa.’s U.S. Senate race
Pennsylvania’s automatic recount has ceased. Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt announced Friday morning that a legally mandated recount in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race has been stopped after Democratic incumbent Bob Casey conceded the race Thursday evening. “Following Sen. Casey’s concession announcement yesterday afternoon, his campaign submitted a request to...
Bob Casey concedes to Dave McCormick in Pa. Senate race
Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Bob Casey has conceded to Republican rival Dave McCormick. The three-term senator announced his concession in a statement shortly after 6 p.m. Thursday. McCormick defeated Casey by more than 16,000 votes in the tightest margin of Casey’s career and one of the most competitive Pennsylvania Senate...
Allegheny Co. judge hears arguments on contested ballots in Senate race
The final vote count in Allegheny County for the general election is nearly finished, but there are a handful of ballots to adjudicate. Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge John T. McVay heard arguments in court Thursday from local Republicans and Democrats on how to address about 1,200 provisional ballots that...
Ohio Democrat Marcy Kaptur extends tenure as longest-serving woman in U.S. House with election win
COLUMBUS — Democratic U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur won another term Wednesday in the U.S. House, after defeating a Republican state lawmaker endorsed by President-elect Donald Trump. Her victory in northwest Ohio over fourth-term state Rep. Derek Merrin allows Kaptur to continue her streak as the longest-serving woman in House history....
Recount begins in McCormick-Casey Senate race
Election workers in Allegheny County on Wednesday joined their counterparts across the state as they launched a legally mandated recount in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race. About 100 workers began processing hundreds of thousands of ballots on scanning machines at a warehouse on Pittsburgh’s North Side. Abigail Gardner, spokeswoman for Allegheny...
Battle over mail ballots in Pennsylvania is latest example of messy disputes over election rules
HARRISBURG — The recount underway in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race marks the end of a chaotic post-election period that has become the latest example of how disputed election rules can expose weak points in a core function of American democracy. The ballot-counting process in the race between incumbent Democratic Sen....
Trump has called for dismantling the Education Department. Here’s what that would mean
WASHINGTON — Throughout his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump heaped scorn on the federal Department of Education, describing it as being infiltrated by ”radicals, zealots and Marxists.” He has picked Linda McMahon, a former wrestling executive, to lead the department. But like many conservative politicians before him, Trump has called for...
Trump’s casting call as he builds out his administration: TV experience preferred
WASHINGTON — There’s a common trait that President-elect Donald Trump is clearly prizing as he selects those to serve in his new administration: experience on television. Trump loves that “central casting” look, as he likes to call it. Some, like his choices for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and transportation secretary,...
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro defends Sen. Bob Casey’s recount choice and points to Dave McCormick’s own failed recount
PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Tuesday defended U.S. Sen. Bob Casey’s decision to move forward with a recount, pointing to Republican Dave McCormick ‘s own unsuccessful recount in 2022 in a much closer election. Shapiro has been under pressure from state and national Republicans to intervene in the...
Elon Musk, senior Trump adviser have ‘massive blowup’ over Cabinet picks
Elon Musk had a ” massive blowup ” with a top aide for President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago because the pair reportedly disagreed on Cabinet appointments. Musk, believed to have spent around $120 million to get Trump elected, engaged the incoming president’s longtime adviser Boris Epshteyn in a “huge explosion”...
Pa. Supreme Court forbids counties from counting mail-in ballots with date errors
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Monday that mail-in ballots in the Nov. 5 election that lacked handwritten dates or were improperly dated on their outer envelopes as required under state law cannot be counted. The ruling comes as several counties have been tallying those votes. In a four-page order, the...
Allegheny County elections board finalizes provisional ballots
Allegheny County will finish this week counting its ballots from the Nov. 5 election, completing a weekslong process that has taken place amid legal challenges and on the heels of an automatic recount in Pennsylvania’s race for a U.S. Senate seat. About 725,000 total ballots were cast in Allegheny County....
Trump’s Pentagon pick paid woman after sex assault allegation but denies wrongdoing, his lawyer says
WASHINGTON — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault to head off the threat of a baseless lawsuit, according to Hegseth’s lawyer. Hegseth was accused of sexual assault in 2017 after a speaking appearance at a Republican women’s event...
4 formerly undecided Pennsylvanians explain how they voted
HARRISBURG — The 2024 presidential election is over. And after months at the center of the political universe, Pennsylvania voters have shown the nation how they feel politically: Most picked Donald Trump. Trump beat Kamala Harris in the commonwealth by a little less than 2 percentage points. It was a...
As he fills his new administration, Trump values loyalty above all else
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump spent much of his first term feeling stung and betrayed by those he’d placed in power. This time, he’s not taking chances. As he works to fill his administration a second time, Trump has turned to a head-spinning mix of candidates. Many of those he’s chosen...
