A Pittsburgh constituent has filed a formal ethics complaint against Rep. Summer Lee's office, alleging her director of operations used a popular Instagram account and House resources to campaign for progressive candidates and amplify a post calling for federal agents to carry out extrajudicial killings. Jeremy Kazzaz, a Pittsburgh resident and Lee constituent, filed the […] The post Rep. Summer Lee faces ethics complaint over staffer's use of Instagram account to promote progressive candidates appeared first on American Almanac .
A Pittsburgh constituent has filed a formal ethics complaint against Rep. Summer Lee's office, alleging her director of operations used a popular Instagram account and House resources to campaign for progressive candidates and amplify a post calling for federal agents to carry out extrajudicial killings. Jeremy Kazzaz, a Pittsburgh resident and Lee constituent, filed the complaint with the House Ethics Committee on July 22, 2026, targeting both Lee, a Pennsylvania Democrat aligned with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's progressive faction, and her staffer Philip Bennett. Bennett serves as Lee's director of operations and controls the "Dear White Staffers" Instagram account, which has close to half a million followers. The account began as…Open
Every senator went on record Wednesday opposing clemency for Jeffrey Epstein's convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, a rare bipartisan rebuke tied directly to the confirmation fight over Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. Sen. Jacky Rosen, a Nevada Democrat, introduced the non-binding resolution on the Senate floor and asked for unanimous consent. No senator objected. The measure […] The post Senate votes unanimously to oppose any pardon for convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell appeared first on American Almanac .
Every senator went on record Wednesday opposing clemency for Jeffrey Epstein's convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, a rare bipartisan rebuke tied directly to the confirmation fight over Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. Sen. Jacky Rosen, a Nevada Democrat, introduced the non-binding resolution on the Senate floor and asked for unanimous consent. No senator objected. The measure calls on the president not to grant "a pardon, commutation, or any other form of executive clemency" to the 64-year-old Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence after a jury convicted her in late 2021 on sex trafficking conspiracy and trafficking of a minor. The vote carried no legal force, but its timing was deliberate. Rosen linked it…Open
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer publicly urged Sen. John Fetterman to remain a Democrat, calling him "a very good member of Congress", even as Fetterman's approval among his own party's voters has collapsed to 19 percent. Schumer told reporters Wednesday that Democrats want Fetterman in the fold, downplaying months of open speculation that the Pennsylvania […] The post Schumer pleads with Fetterman to stay in the Democratic Party as defection talk grows appeared first on American Almanac .
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer publicly urged Sen. John Fetterman to remain a Democrat, calling him "a very good member of Congress", even as Fetterman's approval among his own party's voters has collapsed to 19 percent. Schumer told reporters Wednesday that Democrats want Fetterman in the fold, downplaying months of open speculation that the Pennsylvania senator could bolt the party he has increasingly clashed with on Israel, immigration, and the leftward drift of its activist base. The New York Post reported that Schumer described Democrats as "a big-tent party" capable of absorbing disagreement, a generous characterization, given how aggressively the party's progressive wing has tried to marginalize Fetterman over the past year.…Open
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed an attorney who built her career defending convicted killers of police officers to an influential judicial advisory panel, while blocking a former appellate judge whose representation of Ghislaine Maxwell was deemed disqualifying, a double standard critics call indefensible. Soffiyah Elijah, founder of the Alliance of Families for Justice, […] The post Mamdani names lawyer for convicted cop-killers to judicial panel — after rejecting Jewish judge over Maxwell case appeared first on American Almanac .
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed an attorney who built her career defending convicted killers of police officers to an influential judicial advisory panel, while blocking a former appellate judge whose representation of Ghislaine Maxwell was deemed disqualifying, a double standard critics call indefensible. Soffiyah Elijah, founder of the Alliance of Families for Justice, now holds one of 18 seats on a panel that will recommend candidates for New York City's criminal courts. Her client list reads like a roll call of the deadliest attacks on American law enforcement in the 1970s and 1980s: Sundiata Acoli, a Black Liberation Army member convicted of murdering New Jersey state trooper Werner Foerster in 1973; Marilyn Buck, a…Open
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake in southern Japan has killed at least 34 people and left thousands without power or water, with rescue crews racing a brutal heat wave to reach survivors still trapped in rubble. The quake struck Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu late Tuesday afternoon, ripping through a crowded shopping mall, toppling […] The post Japan earthquake death toll reaches 34 as rescue hopes fade in Kumamoto appeared first on American Almanac .
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake in southern Japan has killed at least 34 people and left thousands without power or water, with rescue crews racing a brutal heat wave to reach survivors still trapped in rubble. The quake struck Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu late Tuesday afternoon, ripping through a crowded shopping mall, toppling a factory chimney, and flattening homes across several towns. By Thursday, the death toll had nearly doubled from the previous day's count, and officials acknowledged they still did not know how many people remained missing. Kumamoto's prefectural government reported 86 people injured, five of them seriously, while more than 9,000 residents sheltered in roughly 400 emergency sites across the region.…Open
Two Republican senators are holding up acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's confirmation over the Justice Department's refusal to formally kill a $1.8 billion settlement fund, and one of them says he won't vote yes until he sees it on paper. The Senate Judiciary Committee pulled a scheduled Thursday morning vote on Blanche's nomination late Wednesday […] The post Todd Blanche confirmation vote stalls as Cornyn demands DOJ put anti-weaponization fund agreement in writing appeared first on American Almanac .
Two Republican senators are holding up acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's confirmation over the Justice Department's refusal to formally kill a $1.8 billion settlement fund, and one of them says he won't vote yes until he sees it on paper. The Senate Judiciary Committee pulled a scheduled Thursday morning vote on Blanche's nomination late Wednesday after Sen. John Cornyn of Texas made clear he would not support the nominee without a written agreement from the Justice Department. Cornyn wants two things in writing: confirmation that the DOJ's controversial "anti-weaponization fund" is permanently dead, and a clear answer on who exactly is shielded by the tax audit immunity baked into a settlement of President Trump's lawsuit against…Open
Hurricane Genevieve became the first Category 5 hurricane in waters near North and Central America since 2024, and Super Typhoon Dolphin is threatening to match it, twin Pacific powerhouses fueled by El Niño's warm waters. Genevieve's maximum sustained winds hit 160 mph overnight Sunday into Monday, July 27, making it the strongest hurricane in the […] The post Two monster storms churn across the Pacific as El Niño supercharges the 2026 season appeared first on American Almanac .
Hurricane Genevieve became the first Category 5 hurricane in waters near North and Central America since 2024, and Super Typhoon Dolphin is threatening to match it, twin Pacific powerhouses fueled by El Niño's warm waters. Genevieve's maximum sustained winds hit 160 mph overnight Sunday into Monday, July 27, making it the strongest hurricane in the eastern Pacific this year. The storm formed as a tropical depression well off the coast of Mexico on the morning of July 24, strengthened into Tropical Storm Genevieve just hours later, and reached hurricane status by Saturday. Within another 24 hours it had exploded to Category 4 with 155-mph winds before crossing the Category 5 threshold overnight. AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex…Open