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The State Department has ordered the departure of non-emergency personnel from the U.S. embassy in Beirut, as President Trump has directed a major military buildup in the region for potential strikes against Iran. A State Department official confirmed to The Hill the mandatory evacuations as a “prudent” decision based on the current security environment. “The Embassy remains operational with core staff in place. This is a temporary measure intended to ensure the safety of our personnel while maintaining our ability to operate and assist U.S. citizens,” the official said. Trump has warned he is considering a limited strike on Iran...

Kansas Republicans voted to override Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly's veto of a bill that requires transgender people to use restrooms and changing facilities based on biological sex rather than gender identity. The Kansas Senate voted to override the veto Tuesday, 31-9, and the Kansas House followed Wednesday with an 87-37 vote, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported. The override means Senate Bill 244 is the second new law of the 2026 legislative session and the first to take effect, according to the report. Senate President Ty Masterson, a Republican, praised the outcome, saying the override "restored sanity." He said Kelly's veto "would...

Trump’s announcement Wednesday evening that he was, for the first time, imposing sanctions on Russia was welcomed by Kyiv and its supporters, signalling that Trump was turning away from his appeals to Putin in favor of a pressure campaign to reach a ceasefire in Ukraine. Senate Republicans and Democrats are laying the groundwork to hammer Putin with a slew of other sanctions. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday advanced a trio of bills meant to punish Russia and its enablers. This includes labeling Russia a State Sponsor of Terrorism for its abduction of Ukrainian children; strengthening the U.S. ability...

The Senate and House are on a collision course over whether to repeal comprehensive sanctions on Syria, a rare area where there are bipartisan coalitions on both sides of the debate. Discussion centers on whether to completely repeal the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019, a severe sanctions mechanism that blocked nearly all U.S. and international cooperation or engagement with the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad. Legislation to repeal Caesar is included in the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2026. But an amendment to the House version of the NDAA to repeal Caesar...

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) is standing in the way of a bipartisan push to tighten sanctions on the country of Georgia, which lawmakers and advocates say is the best way to stand up for pro-democracy forces and counter Russian, Chinese and Iranian influence in the country. Mullin is blocking passage of the Megobari Act — titled the Mobilizing and Enhancing Georgia’s Options for Building Accountability, Resilience, and Independence Act — bipartisan and bicameral legislation that codifies sanctions against officials in the ruling Georgian Dream party for human rights abuses, corruption, undermining democracy and deepening ties with American adversaries. In a...

Kansas has become the 27th state to ban minors from undergoing body-mutilating sex-change surgeries after the Republican-controlled state legislature overrode a veto issued by Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly. The GOP-majority Kansas Senate voted 31-9 to override Kelly's veto of Senate Bill 63 Tuesday while the Republican-controlled Kansas House of Representatives followed the same day with an 84-35 vote.Also known as the Help Not Harm Act, SB 63 prohibits youth with gender dysphoria from obtaining experimental puberty-blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones, as well as cosmetic surgical procedures that mutilate functioning genital organs. The votes in both chambers exceeded the two-thirds majority...

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Friday joined outrage over Elon Musk’s endorsement of the far-right German political party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has been criticized as a neo-Nazi group, ahead of February elections in the country. Musk, the tech billionaire and close ally to President-elect Trump, posted on his social platform X that “only the AfD can save Germany,” triggering backlash in the U.S. and from Berlin. “The out of touch billionaire running the incoming Trump Administration announced last night that he enthusiastically supports the neo-Nazi party in Germany,” Murphy posted on X, alongside a screenshot of Musk’s tweet....

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) said Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) is a “huge asset” to Vice President Harris’s campaign because he “understands rural America.” On whether Walz’s ability to speak to rural America is overstated, Kelly said, “No, not at all,” in an interview on CBS News’s “Face the Nation.” “Tim Walz is the epitome of the Midwestern dad. You could put him at any state fair, on any Main Street and certainly in any Friday-night football game in rural Kansas, and he would fit right in,” Kelly said. Kelly, a Democrat who leads a red state, pointed to...

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a bill on Friday that aimed to prevent companies of China and other “foreign adversaries” from acquiring real property near military installations in the state.Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly gives her inaugural address for her second four-year term on the south steps of the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan., on Jan. 9, 2023. (John Hanna/AP Photo)Senate Bill 172 aims to block individuals or companies from “countries of concern” from owning any interest in land located within a 100-mile radius of a military installation in Kansas.Under the bill, any foreign principal that owns or acquires any interest in...

TOPEKA, Kansas (LifeSiteNews) – Kansas Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed legislation April 19 to incentivize charitable giving to non-profit pregnancy centers, falsely maligning alternatives to the abortion industry as illegitimate medical resources. HB 2465 would have increased income tax credits for the costs of adoption as well as established new tax credits for donations to charitable organizations that operate pregnancy centers, and exempt purchases by pregnancy resource centers and residential maternity facilities from sales taxes. “I do not believe it is appropriate to divert taxpayer dollars to largely unregulated crisis pregnancy centers,” Kelly said in her veto message, NBC affiliate...

Former Republican Gov. Bill Graves is once again supporting Democrat Laura Kelly for Kansas governor. Graves, a moderate Republican who served from 1995 until 2003, opted to endorse Kelly over Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, the Republican nominee and one of Graves’ former staffers. Early in his career, Schmidt worked as legal counsel to Graves’ office.

KYIV, Ukraine — Mykhail Podolyak barely flinched as air raid sirens wailed in Kyiv, signaling incoming Russian missiles. Sitting in his office at the heavily fortified presidential administration building in Ukraine’s capital, the adviser to the head of the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the sirens have become a normal part of life six months into the war with Russia. “We’re getting used to this new lifestyle — we are used to the wailing sirens now and to the bombardments, because the Russian Federation is mostly aiming at the civilian population and civilian infrastructure,” he said in an...

Democratic Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday vetoed a bill to limit the power of state health officials to mandate measures for contagious diseases, including face masks and vaccine passports. Kelly said the bill went beyond COVID-19 and would considerably limit government response to any infectious disease outbreak. Senate Bill 34, brought by the Republican-controlled Legislature, sought to curb the power of government agencies as well as state and local health officials in response to COVID-19 mandates imposed during the pandemic. Amendments to the Kansas Emergency Management Act would prohibit the mandating of protective mask requirements (pdf), except for hospitals...

Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed Friday a bill that would ban transgender athletes in girls' and women's sports, the second year in a row she has made such a move. Similar to her veto message for the 2021 bill, Kelly again raised concerns about the impact such a policy would have on transgender youth in Kansas. "We all want a fair and safe place for our kids to play and compete," Kelly wrote. "However, this bill didn't come from the experts at our schools, our athletes, or the Kansas State High School Activities Association. It came from politicians trying to score...

Democrat Kansas Governor Laura Kelly reversed her stance on not allowing local police to work with federal officers to enforce immigration laws by signing a bill on Monday revoking parts of the “safe and welcoming” ordinance put in place in Wyandotte County in February.

The White House and other observers are increasingly sounding the alarm about the mindset of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who seems poised to escalate his country’s war with Ukraine. Experts, analysts, lawmakers and even administration officials have speculated that Putin’s isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic has raised his paranoia. They’ve pointed to decisions he’s made such as the invasion itself and his move on Sunday to put his nuclear forces on alert in suggesting he is not making rational decisions.

We’ve seen a lot of protests against Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates since he announced them on Sept. 9. He ordered a vaccine mandate for all federal employees, all federal contractors, and on private businesses with over 100 employees. The private business mandate had a masking/regular testing option.But now, Biden is even getting some push back from some officials in his own partyDemocratic Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly has come out against Biden’s private business mandate, saying that not only wasn’t it the right way to do things, it also wasn’t the “most effective” thing to do either.“Yesterday, I reviewed the new...

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, came out on Friday against President Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for businesses with 100 or more employees, saying she doesn't think it’s the “correct” or “most effective” move. The Democratic governor, who is up for reelection next year, said she appreciates “the intention to keep people safe” but doesn’t think the administration’s vaccinate-or-test requirements serve as a “solution for Kansas.” “It is too late to impose a federal standard now that we have already developed systems and strategies that are tailored for our specific needs,” she said.

Republicans await chance to checkmate Kelly on eight vetoed bills.. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed two bundles of election reform measures Friday that would have restricted advance voting, eliminated emergency powers to alter voting procedures, added a new crime for turning in others’ ballots, and strengthened penalties for existing election crimes. Kelly also vetoed a bill allowing teenagers to carry concealed firearms after obtaining a state permit. It also would have automatically enabled people with conceal-carry permits issued by other states to take hidden handguns into public throughout Kansas, even residents of the 10 states that allow certain convicted stalkers...

TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced Thursday she has vetoed a proposed ban on transgender athletes from playing on school sports teams for girls and women. The bill was originally approved by the Republican-controlled House and Senate in early April. “This legislation sends a devastating message that Kansas is not welcoming to all children and their families, including those who are transgender -- who are already at a higher risk of bullying, discrimination, and suicide,” Kelly said in a news release announcing the veto. “As Kansans, we should be focused on how to include all students in extracurricular...