Author: chicagoinquirer

by Meg Kinnard Former President Barack Obama says that the United States is at “an inflection point” following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and that President Donald Trump has further divided the country rather than work to bring people together. “There are no ifs, ands or buts about it: The central premise of our democratic system is that we have to be able to disagree and have sometimes really contentious debates without resorting to violence,” Obama said Tuesday night during an event in Erie, Pennsylvania, hosted by the Jefferson Education Society, according to a transcript obtained by The…

by Cora Lewis NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate Wednesday for the first time in nine months. Since the last cut, progress on inflation has slowed while the labor market has cooled. That means Americans are dealing with both high prices and a challenging job market. The federal funds rate, set by the Federal Reserve, is the rate at which banks borrow and lend to one another. While the rates that consumers pay to borrow money aren’t directly linked to this rate, shifts in Fed policy affect what people pay for credit cards, auto…

by Christopher Rugaber WASHINGTON  — The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate by a quarter-point Wednesday and projected it would do so twice more this year as concern grows at the central bank about the health of the nation’s labor market. The move is the Fed’s first cut since December and lowered its short-term rate to about 4.1%, down from 4.3%. Fed officials, led by Chair Jerome Powell, had kept their rate unchanged this year as they evaluated the impact of tariffs, tighter immigration enforcement, and other Trump administration policies on inflation and the economy. Yet the central bank’s…

by Lisa Mascado The House declined late Wednesday to punish one of its own over commentary in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, but the effort showed the reach of President Donald Trump’s push for political retribution and set the stage for more to come. The 214-213 roll call shelved a resolution from GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolinato censure Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and have her removed from two House committees: Education and the Workforce, and Budget. The two have feuded viciously on social media. Mace has said Omar, an immigrant who criticized Kirk’s views of…

by Christopher Rugaber WASHINGTON  — After a late-night vote and last-minute ruling, the Federal Reserve began a key meeting on interest rate policy Tuesday with both a new Trump administration appointee and an official the White House has targeted for removal. Stephen Miran, a top White House economist who was confirmed by the Senate with unusual speed late Monday, was sworn in Tuesday as a member of the Fed’s board of governors. He will vote on the Fed’s interest rate decision on Wednesday, when the central bank is expected to reduce its key rate by a quarter-point. Miran may dissent…

by Joseph Omoremi CHICAGO, IL – A contempt of court charges have been filed against the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) over their refusals to provide on a timely basis details records in their archives of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria. The two US agencies (FBI and DEA) “could no longer stonewall plaintiff with Glomar responses to his Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) requests focused generally on Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the sitting President of Nigeria,” before Judge Judge Beryl A. Howell of the the U.S District of Columbia in Washington…

by Kate Brumback and Jeff Amy ATLANTA  — Georgia’s highest court has declined to consider Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ appeal of her removal from the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump and others. Citing an “appearance of impropriety” created by a romantic relationship Willis had with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she had hired to lead the case, the Georgia Court of Appeals in December ruled that Willis and her office could not continue to prosecute the case. “Willis’ misconduct during the investigation and prosecution of President Trump was egregious and she deserved nothing less than disqualification,”…

by Mary Clare Jalonick WASHINGTON  — Democrats are planning to force two Senate votes on President Donald Trump’s tariffs in the coming weeks, keeping pressure on Senate Republicans as many of them have voiced frustration with the policies. Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine says he will introduce two separate bipartisan resolutions this week that would terminate the national emergencies that Trump declared to justify the tariffs he has imposed on Canada and Brazil. In April, four Republicans voted with Democrats to block Trump’s tariffs on Canada, but the House never took it up. Kaine said it’s common for Republican senators to…

by Christopher Rugaber WASHINGTON  — An appeals court ruled Monday that Lisa Cook can remain a Federal Reserve governor, rebuffing President Donald Trump’s efforts to remove her just ahead of a key vote on interest rates. The Trump administration is expected to quickly turn to the Supreme Court in a last-ditch bid to unseat Cook before the Fed meets. And Cook’s lawsuit seeking to permanently block her firing must still make its way through the courts. The White House campaign to unseat Cook marks an unprecedented bid to reshape the Fed’s seven-member governing board, which was designed to be largely…

by Larry Lage DETROIT — The Chicago Bears hired Ben Johnson away from Detroit, hoping he could help Caleb Williams become a consistent quarterback and turn around a franchise that hasn’t had a winning record in several years. So far, not so good. The Detroit Lions routed Chicago 52-21 on Sunday, showing their former offensive coordinator that they’re just fine on offense without him. “We have a lot of prideful guys,” Johnson said. “We’re two games into the season. We’re committed to getting this thing right. I have a lot of belief in them.” A week after losing an 11-point…