Most recent political stories
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September 25President Biden has put a premium on improving ties in the Pacific amid rising U.S. concern about China’s growing military and economic influence.
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September 25The federal government will run out of operating funds this weekend if Congress doesn't agree to a deal.
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September 25Menendez says nearly half a million dollars in cash authorities found in his home was from his personal savings, not from bribes, and was on hand for emergencies.
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September 25Two House Democrats and two House Republicans introduced the Keep America Open Act.
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September 25Austin Theriault of Fort Kent enters 2nd Congressional District race, adding to the growing field of Republicans looking to challenge the three-term incumbent.
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September 25The Carter Center shared video of the former president and his wife, Rosalynn, taking a ride through the Plains Peanut Festival in their Georgia hometown.
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September 24Legislators want to know why they weren't informed as required by law. A meeting with officials is planned for next month.
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September 25After a spate of virtual 'bombings' of racist and antisemitic comments, some communities are changing the rules. With free speech, it's a fine line.
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September 23Here's a look at what's ahead if the government shuts down on Oct. 1.
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September 22Union leadership fears that if Question 3 passes, it will change the status of workers from private to public, affecting their rights. Backers of the ballot measure say that won't happen.
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September 22The latest indictment is unrelated to the earlier charges that alleged he accepted lavish gifts to pressure government officials on behalf of a Florida doctor.
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September 22The issue of preserving democracy is expected to be a key theme in Biden's reelection campaign.
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September 22Mike Soboleski is the second Republican to challenge Jared Golden for Maine's 2nd District seat.
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September 21Trump says he always had autoworkers’ backs. Union leaders say his first-term record shows otherwiseIn a recent campaign video addressed to autoworkers, former President Donald Trump encouraged them not to pay union dues and claimed union leaders have 'got some deals going for themselves.'
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September 21The Ukrainian president arrived at the Capitol to talk privately with Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate as the world is watching Western support for Kyiv.
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September 21His son, Lachlan, will become News Corp. chairman and continue as chief executive officer of Fox Corp.
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September 21While it hasn't committed to running candidates for president and vice president, No Labels has already secured ballot access in Arizona and 10 other states.
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September 21An Alabama senator is holding up military nominations unless the Pentagon ends its policy of paying for travel when a service member has to go out of state to get an abortion or other reproductive care.
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September 20Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the council that he would not have come if he didn’t have a proposal to end the 19-month war. He stressed that the restoration of all Ukrainian territory is the key to peace.
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September 20Garland – carefully and deliberately – defended the country’s largest law enforcement agency of more than 115,000 employees at a time when threats against agents and their families are on the rise.
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September 19Jurors for Fort Pierce trials are drawn from 5 counties, all of which Trump won in 2020.
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September 19In one dramatic sign of defeat Tuesday, House Republicans were even voting against their own defense bill during a rowdy afternoon vote.
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September 19Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took to the world stage at a sensitive point in his country’s campaign to maintain international support for its fight at the U.N. General Assembly’s annual top-level meeting.
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September 19The former Marine has claimed in a lawsuit filed this year that Fox News Channel made him a scapegoat for the Capitol riot, falsely claiming he was a government agent who was whipping up trouble.
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September 19Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine argues that the relaxed rules debase the institution of the Senate and joked, 'I plan to wear a bikini tomorrow to the Senate floor.'
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September 19Biden exhorts world leaders at the UN to stand up to Russia, warns not to let Ukraine ‘be carved up’He implores the leaders to stand up to 'this naked aggression today to deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow.'
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September 19House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced the impeachment inquiry last week after facing mounting pressure from his right flank to take action against Biden or risk being ousted from his leadership job.
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September 18Canada expels Indian diplomat amid investigation of India’s possible link to Sikh activist’s slayingSikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a strong supporter of an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan, was gunned down on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia.
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September 18The House speaker panned the idea of compromising with Democrats, and several right-wing Republicans are threatening to try to oust him from the speakership if he does.
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September 18In North Carolina and Wisconsin, Republicans are trying to seize power over elections and redistricting.
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September 17Trump's former aides have said he sequestered himself in the room off the Oval Office to watch, at times even rewinding and rewatching some parts.
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September 17The group, which drew criticism from some voters who said they were misled into changing party affiliations, still has well over the 5,000 signatures needed to qualify for the 2024 ballot.
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September 16The Republican was acquitted Saturday after a historic impeachment trial that divided his party over whether to remove a powerful Trump defender after years of scandal and criminal charges.
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September 16New Hampshire’s primary tradition may be little more than a fairy tale in the 2024 presidential race as the Republican presidential field largely overlooks the state.
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September 15On National Muslim Voter Registration Day, organizers at the Maine Muslim Community Center encouraged people to register to vote and worked to correct misperceptions about U.S. elections.
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September 15After Justice Michaela Murphy rejected a proposed deal this week, the ACLU says it will continue working on a settlement, but is prepared to go to trial.
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September 14An administration official said the Ukrainian leader will meet with President Biden at the White House on Sept. 21.
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September 14With a government shutdown looming, McCarthy is confronting the same stubborn problem that has driven Republicans before him from the speaker’s job: trying to lead a split Republican majority.
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September 14Biden administration restores the power of states and tribes to review projects to protect waterwaysThe rule, which takes effect in November, reverses a Trump-era action that limited the ability of states and tribes to review pipelines, dams, and other federally regulated projects within their borders.
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September 14Hunter Biden indicted on federal firearms charges in long-running probe weeks after plea deal failedThe president's son's defense attorney argues he didn't violate the law and remains protected by an immunity provision that was part of the plea deal.
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September 13Prosecutors say the Tennessee man, a former prison corrections officer, spent hours the day of the riot verbally and physically attacking police.
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September 13While some individual schools and colleges have implemented temporary mask requirements, federal and state leaders don't appear to be considering widespread COVID-19 restrictions with the pandemic over.
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September 13Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart, R-Presque Isle, will help lead Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's presidential campaign in Maine, along with former House Republican leader Josh Tardy and state Rep. Reagan Paul, R-Winterport.
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September 13The secretary of state rejects claims made in lawsuits that Trump is ineligible to run for the White House again under a rarely used clause under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
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September 13A UAW strike could reshape the political landscape in Michigan and potentially unleash economic shockwaves nationwide.
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September 12Williamson's campaign said her visit was put off because she is ill, and that she plans to reschedule a visit to Portland.
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September 13Democrats have reiterated that the Justice Department investigated an unverified bribery allegation against Joe Biden when Trump was president and found 'insufficient evidence' to pursue it further.
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September 12The Republican leader is once again at a political crossroads – trying to keep his most conservative lawmakers satisfied and prevent his own ouster.
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September 12Matthew S. Boulerice, a member of the Waterville Planning Board, plans to run with no party affiliation against City Councilor Michael J. Morris, a Democrat, for the mayor's seat.
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September 11U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has stood out as one of the toughest punishers of Jan. 6 defendants.
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September 14Two of three City Council races and two of four Board of Education races are expected to be contested this November.
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September 11The judge says it 'carried a great deal of weight' to learn that Dodge Hellonen maintained a positive attitude and stellar work ethic when he was effectively demoted after the Jan. 6 attack.
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A bill sponsored by Sen. Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, and signed by Gov. Janet Mills devotes about $60 million to Maine’s child care system over the next two years.
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September 9Trump has made a habit of visiting Iowa on the same day as DeSantis, whom Trump treats as his main threat.
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September 8U.S. District Judge Steve Jones in Atlanta wrote in a 49-page ruling that Meadows “has not met even the ‘quite low’ threshold” to move his case to federal court.
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September 8Pelosi announced labor allies in the San Francisco area district she has represented for more than 35 years.
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September 9The nine-page report showed jurors recommended charges against 39 people, compared to the 18 who were charged along with former President Donald Trump.
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September 8The event was expected to raise more than $1 million, and a second event is planned. But Giuliani's son says it still 'won’t be enough to get through this.'
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September 8John Anthony Castro, a write-in Republican presidential candidate, filed suit in U.S. District Court in Portland seeking to disqualify the former president from the 2024 ballot, alleging that he violated the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
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September 7After the summit, Biden and Vietnamese General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong will meet in Hanoi and are expected to announce plans to tighten economic cooperation.
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September 8Sen. Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, declared a second home in Augusta as his principal residence on his mortgage, and Republican critics say he should be investigated for potential violations.
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September 6The complaint, likely destined for the U.S. Supreme Court, was filed on behalf of 6 Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters by the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
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September 5Tarrio wasn't in Washington on Jan. 6 – he was arrested 2 days earlier in a separate case – but prosecutors say he helped put in motion and encourage the violence.
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September 5The assessments entailed several medical evaluations including a brain MRI. McConnell fell and suffered a concussion earlier this year.
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September 5The House is scheduled to meet for just 11 days before the government's fiscal year ends on Sept. 30.
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September 5Unlike state agencies, which require supervisor-subordinate relationship be disclosed immediately, the AG's office policy contains no such requirement – a loophole that allowed Aaron Frey to conceal his relationship for 8 months.
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September 4Several campaigns are placing a huge emphasis on South Carolina, where the Republican primary is traditionally the last chance before Super Tuesday for many White House hopefuls to break through.
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September 4The president spoke about how the economy is recovering from the pandemic and what his administration has done to pay for infrastructure improvements.
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September 3Violent incidents in Bowdoin and Westbrook have been used by advocates on both sides of the gun control debate to argue that the current laws don't work as intended.
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State legislators' voting records varied widely last session.
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September 3State Sen. Eric Brakey hopes Biden will pardon a man the lawmaker called 'the Nelson Mandela of Bitcoin.'
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September 1Two Proud Boys were sentenced Friday, one-time leader Ethan Nordean and 'enthusiastic foot soldier' Dominic Pezzola.
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August 31He appeared to freeze up and remained silent for about 30 seconds during a news conference Wednesday, almost a month after a similar incident in Washington.
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August 31Kennebec County Superior Justice Michaela Murphy still has to decide whether a proposed deal between the ACLU and MCILS will move forward.
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August 31Biden administration proposes rule that would require more firearms dealers to run background checksThe bureau estimates that the rule would affect anywhere from 24,500 to 328,000 sellers.
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September 1Like officials in other states, Maine's secretary of state and attorney general are considering whether the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits former President Donald Trump from holding office because of his role in the Jan. 6 riots.
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August 31That means he won't have to show up for the arraignment hearing that Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee had set for next week.
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August 31The federal government will shut down on Oct. 1 unless lawmakers either extend current spending or fund programs through next year.