Ohio Senate race puts Trump’s endorsement power under the microscope

Ariana Baio reports:

Just one day after ordering the law, known as SB4, to remain paused, the court issued a 6-3 decision rejecting the Biden administration’s emergency request.

The law will now be permitted to go into effect while litigation at lower courts is pending. While it is allowed for now, it could be blocked at a later date.

Read more…

Joe Sommerlad explains:

The state of play does not apply to those whose jobs are considered essential for public safety, such as law enforcement officers, soldiers, air traffic controllers, medical personnel, power grid technicians or those responsible for administering social security, Medicare and Medicaid payments.

Congressional leaders passed their first tranche of departmental spending bills in early March, funding about 30 per cent of the US government.

They now find themselves working against a sharp deadline to send through a second, larger package of bills to keep the government open until the 2024 fiscal year ends on 30 September, just weeks before the presidential election.

As it stands, federal funding is set to expire in the early hours of Saturday 23 March for the departments of Homeland Security (DHS), State, Defence, Labour and Health and Human Services.

However, it now appears that the House of Representatives has reached a tentative deal to bankroll the DHS, an agreement that would enable it to pass a sticking point and allow negotiators to process the remaining five funding bills just in time to avert another partial government shutdown.

Here’s a look at some of the key questions surrounding government shutdowns, a recurrent threat looming over Congress whenever the parties of the left and right cannot find common ground on how to bankroll the great offices of state.

Robert F Kennedy Jr has insisted that “many” of his family members back his independent presidential campaign after several members of the family seemingly snubbed him with a visit to the White House in which they heaped praise on President Joe Biden. Hmmm.

Martha McHardy has more.

The father of Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student who was murdered earlier this year, has called out lawmakers for making his daughter’s death “political”.

Jason Riley spoke out for the first time about his daughter’s death to NBC News on Monday morning.

His daughter was killed while jogging on the University of Georgia campus on 22 February.

Police have since arrested 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra, who migrated from Venezuela to the US in 2022 and is not an American citizen.

Now, Riley is criticising lawmakers for using his daughter’s death as a political talking point.

Katie Hawkinson has more.