All posts tagged: Washington D.C.

Trump name still must come down from Kennedy Center, judge says

Trump name still must come down from Kennedy Center, judge says

Published by Sam Flores

Workers erect scaffolding at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 12, 2026. Andrew Leyden | Bloomberg | Getty Images President Donald Trump’s name still must come off the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., a federal judge ruled Friday in rejecting a last-minute bid to block an earlier order to remove the name. The ruling is a loss for the Trump administration, which had asked that Judge Christopher Cooper suspend his May 29 ruling in U.S. District Court in D.C. that Trump’s name come off as an appeals court considers the case. Cooper’s rejection came on the day of the deadline of his order that Trump’s name be removed from the facade of the Kennedy Center, the performing arts landmark named after the late President John Kennedy. Workers set up scaffolding next to the facade on Friday. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals could block Cooper’s order, and allow Trump’s name to remain on the facade as the case plays out. But the appeals court has yet to rule on any such …

Democrats aren’t focused on Trump impeachment ‘at this moment’

Democrats aren’t focused on Trump impeachment ‘at this moment’

Published by Sam Flores

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks during the CNBC CEO Council Summit in Washington on June 2, 2026. CNBC House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Tuesday that Democrats are not focused on impeaching President Donald Trump if they regain a majority next Congress, at least “at this moment.” Jeffries, at the CNBC CEO Council Summit in Washington, told CNBC’s Emily Wilkins that Democrats will continue to hammer home affordability as they hope to flip the House in November’s midterm elections. Jeffries said the Trump administration has been “completely and totally out of control,” but was noncommittal when asked about the prospect of starting impeachment proceedings next year. “We haven’t ruled anything in; we haven’t ruled anything out,” the New York Democrat said. Read more CNBC politics coverage Trump, who was impeached twice in his first term, has repeatedly warned that Democrats would impeach him if they retake the House. But for Democrats, impeachment could be an exercise in futility if they don’t also win a healthy majority in the Senate, where Republicans are expected to …

Congress, retailers want to rebuild national parks. Road tolls might pay

Congress, retailers want to rebuild national parks. Road tolls might pay

Published by Sam Flores

American Bison graze at the Grand Teton National Park. Danny Lehman | The Image Bank | Getty Images Congress is trying to come up with more money to give the aging national parks a facelift in honor of the country’s 250th birthday this year. President Donald Trump talks about the importance of federal facilities looking good, while his budget proposal slashed funding for the National Park Service. Republican lawmakers are searching for revenue sources including establishing tolls on federally operated roads in the Washington area used daily by tens of thousands of commuters and by hiking fees to visit national parks for visitors from outside the U.S. Democrats say putting tolls on roads that intersect with the Capital Beltway is an untenable solution and that finding new money to fund park overhauls is not necessary since it’s already the government’s responsibility to maintain the parks. Lawmakers are racing to pass the successor to the Great American Outdoors Act, or GAOA, a law Trump signed during his first term to clear the National Park Service‘s backlog …

UK royals head to the U.S. amid Iran war, shooting and rocky relations

UK royals head to the U.S. amid Iran war, shooting and rocky relations

Published by Sam Flores

King Charles delivers, U.S. President Donald Trump and Catherine, Princess of Wales attend the state banquet for the US President and First Lady Melania Trump at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, on day one of their second state visit to the UK, Wednesday Sept. 17, 2025. Aaron Chown | Via Reuters The U.K.’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s state visit to the U.S., set to begin on Monday, comes at a time of heightened domestic and geopolitical tension for Washington and London. The visit is taking place just two days after the shocking shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday in which U.S. President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania and top U.S. officials were bundled out of harm’s way by security agents as a suspected shooter tried to gain access to the hall, in the Washington Hilton hotel, where the officials and journalists were gathered. The suspected gunman, identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, was apprehended by security personnel and is due to be formally charged in court in Washington on Monday. It …

DOJ won’t drop Fed probe, will appeal Powell subpoena block: Pirro

DOJ won’t drop Fed probe, will appeal Powell subpoena block: Pirro

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro on Wednesday doubled down on her investigation of the Federal Reserve, even as the controversial probe endangers the confirmation of Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s pick to replace central bank Chairman Jerome Powell. The criminal investigation centers on alleged cost overruns associated with the ongoing renovations of two historic Fed buildings in Washington. Powell has accused the Department of Justice of targeting him for refusing to obey Trump’s demand that the Fed sharply lower interest rates. The probe has raised concerns about the Fed’s independence from executive-branch interference — so much so that Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has vowed to block Warsh’s nomination until the DOJ drops it. At a press conference on Wednesday morning, Pirro said she would not back off. “The cost overruns on that building are well over a billion dollars. This investigation continues,” Pirro said. “I am in the legal lane. There are others who were in the political lane. I don’t intersect those two lanes,” she said. PIrro’s efforts hit a major snag last month when …

Kristi Noem purse thief Mario Leiva gets prison sentence

Kristi Noem purse thief Mario Leiva gets prison sentence

Published by Sam Flores

Kristi Noem, secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), during a news conference at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) headquarters in Washington, DC, US, on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. Valerie Plesch | Bloomberg | Getty Images A Chilean man who admitted stealing then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s Gucci handbag as part of a string of purse thefts in Washington, D.C., last year was sentenced on Wednesday to three years in prison, the Department of Justice said. The crook, Mario Bustamante Leiva, 50, is residing in the U.S. illegally and will be subject to deportation at the end of his sentence, the DOJ said. Bustamante Leiva was arrested in late April 2025, less than a week after he entered the D.C. restaurant Capital Burger and snatched the purse that — unbeknownst to him — belonged to Noem, who at the time was one of President Donald Trump’s most prominent Cabinet officials. Noem was at the restaurant dining with her family for Easter. At the time of the theft, she was under Secret Service …

Judge blocks Trump’s White House ballroom above-ground construction

Judge blocks Trump’s White House ballroom above-ground construction

Published by Sam Flores

The demolition of the East Wing of the White House during construction of U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed ballroom is seen from the reopened Washington Monument, following the longest shutdown of the government in Washington, D.C., U.S., Nov. 15, 2025. Jessica Koscielniak | Reuters A federal judge in a revised order on Thursday blocked the Trump administration from above-ground construction work on the controversial proposed White House ballroom. But Judge Richard Leon’s order allows the administration to continue below-ground construction, including work related to national security facilities. Leon’s order is also allowing above-ground construction “that is strictly necessary to cover, secure, and protect such national security facilities,” as long as that construction does not “lock in the above-ground size and scale of the ballroom,” according to his injunction in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. The Trump administration quickly appealed the order to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Leon had paused his order from taking effect for seven days. President Donald Trump raged about Leon’s order in a …

Kalshi, Polymarket lobby as insider trading, betting eyed by Congress

Kalshi, Polymarket lobby as insider trading, betting eyed by Congress

Published by Sam Flores

With proposals to rein in prediction markets proliferating through the halls of Congress in recent weeks and months, Kalshi — one of the biggest players in the booming industry — went on defense. The New York-based platform launched an ad campaign throughout Washington, rolling out mint-green spreads on billboards, bus shelters and inserts in The Washington Post. The ads seek to deflect the spate of criticism being hurled Kalshi’s way and to position it as different from Polymarket, the other global industry giant. “We ban insider trading,” “We don’t do death markets,” “We aren’t the house,” “We operate under U.S. law,” the ads read. The companies are looking to get ahead of lawmaker concerns about insider trading and bets placed on things like war-related deaths. Building corporate influence in the capital city is a well-used playbook. Prediction markets are a new player, and Kalshi and Polymarket are working to create goodwill with Congress and regulators, who are raising concerns about insider trading and unseemly bets on the platforms. “There’s been a lot of conflation between …

Pirro’s Jerome Powell Fed investigation is hitting roadblocks

Pirro’s Jerome Powell Fed investigation is hitting roadblocks

Published by Sam Flores

Jeanine Pirro is sworn in as the new interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia during a ceremony hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 28, 2025. Leah Millis | Reuters Federal prosecutors are still pressuring the Federal Reserve over the Trump administration’s allegations that there was some malfeasance involved in ongoing building renovations and Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony to Congress about them. But legal experts say U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro’s investigation appears to be in trouble, and she faces a ticking clock to appeal a judge’s rulings against her.  Investigators from Pirro’s office visited a Fed construction site Tuesday, according to a note sent by the Fed’s legal team to the prosecutors and seen by CNBC. The investigators appeared “without prior notice” and asked for a tour, Robert Hur, an attorney for the Fed, wrote in the note. “Any construction project that has cost overruns of almost 80% over the original construction budget deserves some serious review,” Pirro said in …

Renderings of 250-foot structure released

Renderings of 250-foot structure released

Published by Sam Flores

A rendering of plans for a 250-foot triumphal arch in Washington, D.C. Courtesy: Harrison Design | U.S. Commission of Fine Arts New architectural drawings of President Donald Trump’s controversial proposed “triumphal arch” released on Friday show a 250-foot structure standing across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The drawings, submitted by Harrison Design to the Commission of Fine Arts ahead of that independent agency’s April 16 meeting on the proposal, show a large white structure, topped with a gilded Lady Liberty statue and the words “One Nation Under God.” Four golden lions surround the arch at its base. The arch, according to its renderings, would be more than double the height of the Lincoln Memorial. Trump told reporters earlier this year that the arch would be “the most beautiful in the world.” The monument, which Trump has teased since last year, is slated to be built in Memorial Circle, a roundabout near Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, which leads into downtown D.C. “I am pleased to announce that TODAY my Administration …