NewzPresident Donald Trump has pledged to send every American adult $5,000 if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections. The dubious promise would likely cost more than $1 trillion and require congressional approval, and would further exacerbate the country’s nearly $1.8 trillion annual budget deficit and concerns about inflation.Trump also said Wednesday that oil prices that have surged because of the Iran war likely won’t come down until after U.S. The comments were a striking acknowledgment from Trump about the conflict as his Republican administration faces mounting pressure to address high gas prices as the war in Iran grinds on with no conclusion in sight.Here's the latest:Federal judge allows contempt hearing in Missouri redistricting disputeA federal judge has allowed Missouri’s top court to proceed with a contempt hearing Thursday for Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins in a tense and twisting legal battle over whether new congressional districts supported by President Trump can be used in the November election.Missouri’s top court previously ordered Hoskins not to use a Trump-backed map in the general election.
District Judge Stephen Clark on Tuesday barred Hoskins from using anything other than the new map Trump supports.The state Supreme Court then ordered Hoskins to appear for a contempt hearing Thursday for not following its orders.State attorneys representing Hoskins had asked Clark to halt the contempt hearing. But Clark declined to do so.▶ Read moreGOP donor doesn’t like Trump’s proposed $5,000 checksJoe Londsdale, a prominent Republican donor and activist, is among the Trump allies panning the president’s latest promise to send money directly to Americans.“I am hugely in favor of winning the midterms, and love much about this (administration),” he wrote on X, “but am strongly against bread and circus bribes.”Democrats say Trump’s ‘bizarre’ convention is a distraction from his faltering presidencyIt’s not just Republicans descending on Dallas for the midterm convention — Democrats are there too as they try to convince voters that the reality of Donald Trump’s second presidency doesn’t match the spectacle of his made-for-TV event.“This bizarre Republican midterm convention here can’t paper over the fact that Republicans have done nothing to earn your vote,” Illinois Gov. (AP) — A federal judge has allowed Missouri’s top court to proceed with a contempt hearing Thursday for Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins in a tense and twisting legal battle over whether new congressional districts supported by President Donald Trump can be used in the November election.Missouri’s battle over its congressional districts has spanned more than a year and spawned confusion over which districts will be in place for voters.Missouri’s top court previously ordered Hoskins not to use a Trump-backed map in the general election and instead use districts passed after the last census.
But Clark declined to do so.The contempt hearing for Hoskins is scheduled to occur as the U.S. Supreme Court is simultaneously considering a request from redistricting opponents to halt Clark's order favoring the Trump-backed congressional map.Missouri was the second Republican-led state, after Texas, to enact new districts after Trump urged Republicans last year to redraw House districts to their advantage ahead of the midterm elections.The revised Missouri districts target a Kansas City-based seat held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver by shedding parts into neighboring districts and stretching the remainder into rural Republican areas.
The goal is to help Republicans win seven of the state’s eight House seats in the midterm elections — a gain of one seat.Redistricting opponents collected hundreds of thousands of petition signatures seeking to force a statewide vote on the new districts. They submitted the signatures in December. But Hoskins waited until August — on the same day as Missouri’s primary — to reject the petition.
Hoskins asserted that a referendum petition could not be used for congressional redistricting.The delay allowed Missouri to use the new districts in its August primary. Republican state officials have argued it would violate voters' federal rights to switch districts before the general election.But the Missouri Supreme Court l…
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