Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Kentucky moves quickly to toughen voter ID requirements

Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams

Secretary of State Michael Adams and fellow Republicans in the Legislature have a deal on legislation.

Office of the Secretary of State

Kentucky's new Republican secretary of state and leaders of the GOP state Senate majority have reached agreement on a bill requiring voters to show an official photo identification at the polls.

The deal puts the Legislature, which convened this week, on course to be the first in the country to clear legislation this year that would make it tougher to vote in November. Just seven states now have photo ID laws as strict as the one being proposed, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The new Democratic governor, Andy Beshear, signaled skepticism about the measure Wednesday, saying, "I just want to make sure that there aren't unnecessary roadblocks toward voting." But since the GOP has supermajorities in both chambers in Frankfort, any potential veto would face an override.


Secretary of State Michael Adams, who also took office this week, said the bill was written with the aim of strengthening election security and enhancing public confidence in the voting process. He lamented that 22 people went to prison for election fraud in Kentucky between 2006 and 2014, although he conceded none were convicted of voter impersonation.

Opponents of the bill said it would make voting more difficult for the disabled, the elderly, the poor and members of minority groups. Proponents said the ID requirements for casting a ballot should be as stringent as for opening a bank account or picking up tickets at a will-call window.

The bill would create a no-fee personal photo identification card that Kentuckians without driver's licenses could sign up to receive. It would also allow college and military IDs at the polls, and it would allow people to vote without an ID if they sign an affidavit claiming a "reasonable impediment" to getting one.

If enacted the requirements would not cover the May primaries but would begin in November, when President Trump is highly likely to claim the state's eight electoral votes while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell faces a long-shot challenger in his bid for a seventh term.

Read More

Xavier Becerra Steps Back Into California Politics

Xavier Becerra

Xavier Becerra Steps Back Into California Politics

Xavier Becerra is once again stepping onto familiar ground. After serving in Congress, leading California’s Department of Justice, and joining President Joe Biden’s Cabinet as Secretary of Health and Human Services, he is now seeking the governorship of his home state. His campaign marks both a return to local politics and a renewed confrontation with Donald Trump, now back in the White House.

Becerra’s message combines pragmatism and resistance. “We’ll continue to be a leader, a fighter, and a vision of what can be in the United States,” he said in his recent interview with Latino News Network. He recalled his years as California’s attorney general, when he “had to take him on” to defend the state’s laws and families. Between 2017 and 2021, Becerra filed or joined more than 120 lawsuits against the Trump administration, covering immigration, environmental protection, civil rights, and healthcare. “We were able to defend California, its values and its people,” he said.

Keep ReadingShow less
​Voting booths in a high school.

During a recent visit to Indianapolis, VP JD Vance pressed Indiana Republicans to consider mid-decade redistricting ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Getty Images, mphillips007

JD Vance Presses Indiana GOP To Redraw Congressional Map

On October 10, Vice President JD Vance visited Indianapolis to meet with Republican lawmakers, urging them to consider redrawing Indiana’s congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The visit marked Vance’s third trip to the state in recent months, underscoring the Trump administration’s aggressive push to expand Republican control in Congress.

Vance’s meetings are part of a broader national strategy led by President Donald Trump to encourage GOP-led states to revise district boundaries mid-decade. States like Missouri and Texas have already passed new maps, while Indiana remains hesitant. Governor Mike Braun has met with Vance and other Republican leaders. Still, he has yet to commit to calling a special legislative session. Braun emphasized that any decision must ensure “fair representation for every Hoosier."

Keep ReadingShow less
A child looks into an empty fridge-freezer in a domestic kitchen.

The Trump administration’s suspension of the USDA’s Household Food Security Report halts decades of hunger data tracking.

Getty Images, Catherine Falls Commercial

Trump Gives Up the Fight Against Hunger

A Vanishing Measure of Hunger

Consider a hunger policy director at a state Department of Social Services studying food insecurity data across the state. For years, she has relied on the USDA’s annual Household Food Security Report to identify where hunger is rising, how many families are skipping meals, and how many children go to bed hungry. Those numbers help her target resources and advocate for stronger programs.

Now there is no new data. The survey has been “suspended for review,” officially to allow for a “methodological reassessment” and cost analysis. Critics say the timing and language suggest political motives. It is one of many federal data programs quietly dropped under a Trump executive order on so-called “nonessential statistics,” a phrase that almost parodies itself. Labeling hunger data “nonessential” is like turning off a fire alarm because it makes too much noise; it implies that acknowledging food insecurity is optional and reveals more about the administration’s priorities than reality.

Keep ReadingShow less
Standing Up for Democracy Requires Giving the Other Side Credit When It Is Deserved

U.S. President Donald Trump poses with the signed agreement at a world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war on October 13, 2025 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

(Photo by Suzanne Plunkett - Pool / Getty Images)

Standing Up for Democracy Requires Giving the Other Side Credit When It Is Deserved

American political leaders have forgotten how to be gracious to their opponents when people on the other side do something for which they deserve credit. Our antagonisms have become so deep and bitter that we are reluctant to give an inch to our political adversaries.

This is not good for democracy.

Keep ReadingShow less