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Today's Political News Compilation - Thursday, April 16, 2026

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Below are some of the top political news stories of the day:



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House rushes to overnight vote to renew key surveillance tool used by US spy agencies

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI and LISA MASCARO
Updated 11:19 PM CDT, April 16, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House rushed early Friday to renew a controversial surveillance program used by U.S. spy agencies that is set to expire in a matter of days, unveiling several changes and calling lawmakers back to session for a middle-of-the-night vote.

Republican leaders rolled out a new proposal that would extend the program for five years with changes — far from the clean renewal President Donald Trump has demanded and Speaker Mike Johnson had previously backed.

Democrats late Thursday blasted the process ahead of votes expected early Friday.

“Does anybody actually know what the hell is in this thing?” Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern said after the proposal was unveiled.

At the center of the standoff that has stretched throughout the week is Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which permits the CIA, National Security Agency, FBI and other agencies to collect and analyze vast amounts of overseas communications without a warrant. In doing so, they can incidentally sweep up communications involving Americans who interact with foreign targets.

Its path to passage has teetered all week in a familiar fight, as lawmakers weigh civil liberties concerns against intelligence officials’ warnings about national security risks. The program is set to expire April 20 and still must pass the Senate. ...

READ THE FULL STORY - AP
















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Judge blocks Nexstar's acquisition of Tegna until antitrust suit resolved

  • News source: Politics - CBSNews.com
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 10
A federal judge has blocked a $6.2 billion merger of local television giants Nexstar Media Group and rival Tegna until an antitrust lawsuit is resolved.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Troy L. Nunley in Sacramento, California, made the ruling late Friday afternoon, finding that eight attorneys general and DirecTV were likely to prevail in their legal bid to stop the merger.

The deal, announced last year and approved by the Federal Communications Commission, would create a company that owns 265 television stations in 44 states and the District of...
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Trump set to read Scripture from the Oval Office during 'America Reads the Bible' event starting Sunday

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 8
FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump will read from 2 Chronicles 7 during a nationwide Bible-reading event this week, a passage organizers say was deliberately reserved for the president because of its decades-long role as a call to prayer in America.

Trump is set to read 2 Chronicles 7:11–22 from the Oval Office as part of "America Reads the Bible," a weeklong event marking 250 years of the Bible in America and featuring nearly 500 participants reading Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.

Organizers said Trump’s section was not assigned at...
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Fox News Campus Radicals Newsletter: Dem teachers groom 'foot soldiers,' justice served to anti-Israel group

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 7

RFK Jr clashes with Dem lawmaker over Trump’s mental fitness in heated exchange

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 7
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended comments about President Donald Trump's mental health following a tense exchange during a congressional hearing.

During Friday's hearing, Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) addressed Trump's recent social media posts, pointing to an AI-generated image that critics said depicted him as Jesus Christ and his criticism of Pope Leo as evidence he is mentally unwell.

"Millions of Americans are questioning this president’s mental fitness, his emotional stability, and whether he can carry out the...
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Gold Star father says prior Afghanistan review smelled 'like a cover-up' as new look examines millions of docs

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 7
Gold Star father Darin Hoover says a new Pentagon review of the deadly Abbey Gate bombing finally feels different after years of what he described as "crickets" from the Biden administration — but he is still asking whether critical information was deliberately kept from military families and the public.

Hoover, whose son, Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin "Taylor" Hoover, was among the 13 U.S. service members killed in the Aug. 26, 2021, suicide bombing during the Afghanistan withdrawal, told Fox News Digital that for years families got little more...
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U.S. delegation visited Cuba last week as Trump heaped pressure on island

  • News source: Politics - CBSNews.com
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 7
A delegation of senior State Department representatives traveled to Cuba via a U.S. government plane last week, a department official and two U.S. officials told CBS News, a diplomatic opening as the island nation struggles with months of intense pressure from the Trump administration.

While in Cuba, one U.S. diplomat met with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of former President Raúl Castro, who is widely seen as a key power center within the Cuban government, the State Department official said.

It is unclear who else participated in...
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4/17: CBS Evening News

  • News source: Politics - CBSNews.com
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 7
More than 50 million people are in the path of dangerous weather; Trump speaks to young conservatives about the economy.
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Trump says first releases from Pentagon UFO study will come out 'very, very soon' after Phoenix rally tease

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 8
President Donald Trump said the first releases from a Pentagon study on UFOs will come out "very, very soon."

Speaking at a rally at Dream City Church in north Phoenix on Friday night hosted by Turning Point USA and Turning Action, Trump told the audience they seemed like the right crowd to hear about the study because Arizonans are "really into that."

The comments come as interest in unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs, continues to grow in Washington, with lawmakers pushing for greater transparency and the Department of Defense expanding...
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How the dispute between Trump and Pope Leo escalated

  • News source: Politics - CBSNews.com
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 7
President Trump has been lobbing insults at Pope Leo XIV in response to his criticisms of the war in Iran and appeals for peace, marking an unusually pronounced rupture between the leaders of the world's most powerful country and the world's largest Christian denomination.

But Leo criticized the Trump administration's mass deportation efforts both before and after he was elected leader of the Catholic Church. He told reporters in November that the treatment of immigrants is "extremely disrespectful," echoing the views of his predecessor, Pope...
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CBS News gets exclusive look at the Strait of Hormuz

  • News source: Politics - CBSNews.com
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 8
Imtiaz Tyab is the first American network news correspondent to get a look inside the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran war.
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Trump speaks at Turning Point USA event after declaring Strait of Hormuz open

  • News source: Politics - CBSNews.com
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 8
President Trump headlined a rally for Turning Point USA with Erika Kirk in Phoenix on Friday. His goal is to fire up Republican voters ahead of the midterm elections. Caitlin Huey-Burns has more details.
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4/17: The Takeout with Major Garrett

  • News source: Politics - CBSNews.com
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 7
Iran reopens Strait of Hormuz with U.S. blockade still in effect; Congress passes temporary extension of surveillance law FISA.
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Thomas, Alito not planning to retire from Supreme Court this year, sources say

  • News source: Politics - CBSNews.com
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 10
Sources close to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito confirm that he is not planning to retire this year. Sources close to Justice Clarence Thomas also tell CBS News that he does not plan to step down.

That indicates that this year, with the midterm elections on the horizon, President Trump will not be able to plan on an opportunity to make his fourth nomination to the Supreme Court.

Alito's plans were first reported by Fox News. Alito, who is 76, and Thomas, 77, are two of the core members of the court's conservative majority.

This is a...
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Grieving mothers scorch Dem lawmaker after he pivots during hearing to attack 'MAGA Republicans'

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 9
A congressional hearing featuring the victims of crimes tied to illegal immigration erupted into a tense confrontation Thursday, as Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., drew fierce backlash from grieving mothers and Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, for appearing to dismiss their tragedies while pivoting to attacks on "MAGA Republicans."

The fiery exchange happened during a hearing focused on "The Human Toll of Sanctuary Policies," where Johnson claimed the victims' families' comments were a "Steve Miller approved" stunt with the sole purpose of "stir[ring] up...
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Newsom PAC bought thousands of memoir copies about his hardships, juicing sales

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 10
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s political action committee spent more than $1.5 million buying thousands of copies of his new memoir — accounting for about two-thirds of all copies sold nationwide — according to campaign finance filings.

The PAC spending helped propel Newsom’s memoir, "Young Man in a Hurry," onto the New York Times bestseller list and is raising new scrutiny as his national profile builds ahead of a possible 2028 presidential run.

In November, the Campaign for Democracy Committee launched a book campaign asking donors to...
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Alito not expected to retire this term, cooling Supreme Court vacancy speculation: sources

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 9
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is not expected to step down this term and has already hired all four law clerks for the upcoming annual term, multiple sources said, despite speculation that the high court justice was weighing retirement.

Alito "is not stepping down this term and is in the process of hiring the rest of his clerks for the next term," a source told Fox News Digital. Two other sources told Fox News that Alito is not retiring this term, which lasts until the Supreme Court's new year kicks off in October.

Justices tend to hire their...
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Utah leaders launch probe into Supreme Court justice over alleged relationship with redistricting lawyer

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 10
Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and top state lawmakers ordered an independent investigation Friday into a state Supreme Court justice over allegations she had an unethical relationship with an attorney who worked on a high-stakes redistricting case.

Justice Diana Hagen, who was appointed by Cox, stands accused by her ex-husband of sending what he described as "inappropriate" text messages to an attorney who helped challenge a Republican-friendly map that maintained four red congressional seats in Utah. Hagen joined a unanimous decision to toss out...
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Texas AG sues Houston mayor and city council over new sanctuary city ordinance limiting ICE cooperation

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 9
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Houston city officials over the adoption of a "sanctuary" ordinance designed to limit cooperation between local authorities and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The ordinance, passed by a 12-5 vote last week, ended a Houston police policy that required officers to wait at least 30 minutes for ICE to arrive if a suspect had an immigration warrant.

The lawsuit names Houston Mayor John Whitmire, the city's 16 council members, and Houston Police Chief J. Noe Diaz as defendants.

Paxton argued...
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Boebert fires back at Dave Chapelle over 'weaponized' transgender jokes

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 7
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., lashed back at accusations she "weaponized" a social media post with Dave Chappelle, arguing the comedian had already waded into the political debate over transgender issues.

"Dave Chappelle can have his little counseling session with NPR," Boebert told Fox News Digital, referring to an interview Chappelle gave earlier this week when he criticized a post of the two of them together at the U.S. Capitol.

"That's fine. You know, I took a photo with 50 Cent, a lot of people and posted about them. And none of them cried...
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White House meets AI firm Anthropic amid political tensions, Pentagon dispute

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 8
One month after President Donald Trump ordered a government-wide halt on artificial intelligence firm Anthropic’s technology following a clash with the Pentagon, the company’s CEO is back at the White House for high-level talks — as officials reconsider whether a system they sidelined over national security and political concerns may be too important to ignore.

A source familiar with the meeting told Fox News White House chief of staff Susie Wiles met with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei Friday.

Anthropic’s new artificial intelligence model, Mythos...
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Chicago mayor links restaurant industry to ‘slavery’ as tipped wage fight intensifies

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 8
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson linked the restaurant industry to "slavery" Wednesday as he defended his push to eliminate the tipped wage, doubling down after surviving a City Council effort to block the policy.

Johnson’s remarks came after the Chicago City Council failed to override his veto of a measure that would have halted the city’s phaseout of the subminimum wage for tipped workers — a policy set to raise base pay to the full minimum wage by 2028 that is opposed by restaurant owners who warn it could drive up prices and cut jobs.

He called on...
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Sanders-backed Dem blistered for making 'excuses for terrorists,' slamming 'high and mighty' Americans

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 8
Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers said his Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, has "no business" running for public office after seeing a video of him discussing the importance of having empathy for terrorists.

El-Sayed, a medical doctor and former Wayne County health director, is running in the Democratic primary for Michigan's open Senate seat in the 2026 midterms. He suggested during a town hall last summer that the United States should try to understand why terrorists commit such "heinous acts," suggesting those actions stem from...
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Japan reveals new name for 40C-and-hotter days after blistering summer

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 11
The term - kokushobi - translates to "cruelly hot", "brutally hot" or "severely hot", and comes after Japan's hottest summer on record.
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Officer on horseback chases suspect through New York streets

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 7
The suspect was accused of purse-snatching and has been charged with larceny and providing false information.
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Lead prosecutor on probe into John Brennan is removed from case, sources say

  • News source: Politics - CBSNews.com
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 9
The lead career federal prosecutor in Miami who was overseeing a criminal investigation into whether former CIA Director John Brennan lied to Congress is no longer assigned to the case, multiple sources confirmed to CBS News on Friday.

Maria Medetis Long, who is the head of the national security section for the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of Florida, informed lawyers who have clients involved in the matter late this week that she was off the case, several of them confirmed.

Medetis Long did not explain the reason for her...
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