Trump announces slew of hardline executive actions on day one and attacks Biden over pre-emptive pardons – live

Trump airs familiar grievances in first speech of second term; Biden pardons members of his family before leaving office

  • Trump expected to sign barrage of executive orders
  • Trump sworn in as 47th president
  • Factchecking Trump’s inaugural address

My colleague Joseph Gedeon in Washington DC also had this look at what Trump might have planned for day one:

In the grand theatre of American politics, presidential inaugurations typically follow ...

Deportations, tariffs, pardons: what Trump has planned for day one

The incoming president is ready to sign a slew of executive orders on day one of his second term. Here’s what’s planned

In the grand theatre of American politics, presidential inaugurations typically follow a familiar script: the oath, the speech, a few carefully chosen executive orders to satisfy campaign promises. Franklin D Roosevelt used his first day to tackle the banking crisis. Barack Obama moved to close Guantánamo Bay (though it remains open). Donald Trump’s first term began...

How America can make health insurance great again 

You may be thinking, “When was health insurance in America ever great?” Point taken, but at least there was a time when health insurance was more affordable and individuals were better able to buy what they wanted, not what the government demanded. And the good news is Republicans can take steps toward getting us moving in that direction again. 

For 30 years Democrats have tried to make health insurance “affordable” — or even “free” if Sen. Bernie Sanders (I...

Democrats aren’t the only ones who need a soul-searching

For better or worse, post-election analysis is now the country’s favorite sport. Wherever two or three Americans are gathered, there are at least a dozen reasons given for why Donald Trump won and Democrats got shellacked.

Among many, the most common is that Democrats need a good soul-searching over how they lost touch with the working class. I agree. Although the real questions is: How did Democrats do so much for working-class Americans — Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid,...

Mike Johnson promises ‘massive’ healthcare changes if Trump wins

House speaker’s comments could help Kamala Harris who outpolls Trump on healthcare in battleground states

Vice-President Kamala Harris may have received another last-minute helping hand from Republicans after the House speaker, Mike Johnson, said there would be “massive” healthcare changes if Donald Trump wins next Tuesday, including abolishing Obamacare.

“Healthcare reform’s going to be a big part of the agenda,” Johnson, speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania on Monday, told the crowd. “When I say we’re going to have a very aggressive first 100 days agenda, we got a lot of things still on the table.”

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The Electoral College endangers the republic, but don’t blame the Framers

Our presidential elections suffer from a crisis of confidence. 

Scores of anxious Americans await Nov. 5 with grave fears about integrity and fairness. Democrats decry the possibility of a candidate winning without a popular vote majority, and more than half of Republicans believe the 2020 election was stolen. 

Many factors have brought us to this moment, but the strange mechanism known as the Electoral College ranks high among them.

Twice in the last ...

Bridging America’s divide: Understanding moral misconceptions

This op-ed is part of The Hill’s “How to Fix America” series exploring solutions to some of America’s most pressing problems.

We often hear that Democrats and Republicans are worlds apart. But what if that perception is the real issue? Even the most thoughtful among us can fall into the habit of assuming the ideals of the other side. Research reveals that this subtle, yet pervasive, belief — not policy differences — is what truly deepens America’s divide.

P...

Tim Walz pick excites hopes of taking US healthcare beyond Obamacare era

Advocates are enthused by Harris’s running mate, who as Minnesota governor called healthcare a ‘basic human right’

When Kamala Harris picked the Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, as veep for the Democratic presidential ticket, advocates for healthcare reform felt a jolt of electricity.

Here, they saw a man who proclaimed healthcare a “basic human right”, reformed medical debt collections, and who laid the groundwork for expanded government insurance and denied corporate health insu...

‘Say it to my face’ says Kamala Harris as she again challenges Donald Trump to debate – as it happened

This blog is closed. You can find our latest US elections coverage here.

Kamala Harris’s campaign has announced a $50m advertising blitz ahead of the Democratic national convention next month with a television ad that portrays the presumptive Democratic nominee as “fearless”.

The 60-second ad will be the first in a series of paid media efforts ahead of the convention, which begins 19 August in Chicago.

We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity not just to get by, but to get ahead. Where every senior can retire with dignity. But Donald Trump wants to take our country backward. To give tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations and end the Affordable Care Act. But we are not going back.

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‘Donald Trump is a symptom, not the cause’: Tim Kaine’s journey to healing

Hillary Clinton’s running mate experienced defeat by Trump. His new book documents his attempt to understand America

Jack Kemp. Joe Lieberman. John Edwards. Sarah Palin. Paul Ryan. All ran for vice-president of the United States and fell short. All had to confront the question: what next? The same fate befell Tim Kaine, whose turn as running mate to Hillary Clinton in 2016 ended in a catastrophic defeat by Donald Trump and Mike Pence. The US has not recovered, as polarisation, rancou...