Politics - The Boston Globe Skip to main content

New England politics news

Before court ruling, Brookline’s generational ban on tobacco sales was an oddity. That’s quickly changed.

A rule banning the sale of tobacco and e-cigarettes to most, if not all, people born this century has quickly proliferated in Massachusetts.

Nonprofit, residents continuing with lawsuit over White Stadium redevelopment plan
A Suffolk Superior Court judge last month rejected the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction to temporarily pause any progress on the project until the lawsuit could be resolved.

Felix Arroyo sexual harassment trial to feature former mayor Walsh and other Boston political and legal figures
Hilani Morales, who used to work for Felix G. Arroyo when he was the city’s chief of health and human services department, filed the lawsuit against him in 2018.

The Latest from Washington, D.C.

Has changed abortion landscape altered the political reality of deep-red Florida? The president thinks so.

Harvard suspends pro-Palestinian student group

In op-ed, Liz Cheney urges Supreme Court to rule ‘quickly and decisively’ on Trump’s immunity claim

There’s a rise in the use of A.I. in campaigning— are Mass. congressional candidates prepared?

National politics news

Senate gives final approval to aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, sending long-delayed bill to Biden

The Senate passed $95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Biden after months of delays and debate.

Senate votes to push aid to Ukraine and Israel toward final passage

The critical test vote reflected the wide bipartisan support for the measure, which passed the House on Saturday by lopsided margins after a tortured journey on Capitol Hill.

When can doctors provide emergency abortions in states with strict bans? Supreme Court to weigh in.

Nearly two years after overturning the constitutional right to abortion, the Supreme Court will consider Wednesday how far state bans can extend to women in medical emergencies.

Trump’s trial features fierce debate over what he can say: 5 takeaways

Tuesday’s session of Donald Trump’s criminal trial began with a heated clash between Justice Juan Merchan and Trump’s lead lawyer over a gag order. It ended with an insider’s look into a tabloid newspaper practice known as “catch and kill.”

Biden blames Trump for Florida’s 6-week abortion ban, says women nationwide face health crisis

President Biden blamed Donald Trump for Florida’s upcoming abortion ban and other restrictions across the country that have imperiled access to care for pregnant women, arguing Trump has created a “healthcare crisis for women all over this country.”

Trump’s trial features fierce debate over what he can say: 5 takeaways

Tuesday’s session of Donald Trump’s criminal trial began with a heated clash between Justice Juan Merchan and Trump’s lead lawyer over a gag order. It ended with an insider’s look into a tabloid newspaper practice known as “catch and kill.”

Tabloid publisher David Pecker says he pledged to be Trump campaign’s ‘eyes and ears’ during 2016 race

David Pecker detailed his intimate, behind-the-scenes involvement in Donald Trump’s rise from political novice to the Republican nomination and then the White House.

What to know about the Supreme Court case about immunity for former president Trump

The case, to be argued Thursday, stems from Donald Trump’s attempts to have charges against him dismissed. Lower courts have found he cannot claim for actions that, prosecutors say, illegally sought to interfere with the election results.

Tabloid publisher David Pecker detailed ‘catch-and-kill’ arrangement about stories involving Trump. Here’s what happened.

Pecker, a longtime tabloid publisher, returned to the stand and told jurors about his efforts to help Donald Trump stifle unflattering stories during the 2016 campaign.

Trump could avoid trial this year on 2020 election charges. Is the hush money case a worthy proxy?

A New York case centered on payments to silence an adult film actress might provide the only legal reckoning this year on whether Donald Trump tried to undermine a pillar of American democracy.

Harvard suspends pro-Palestinian student group

The Palestine Solidarity Committee set off a series of cascading crises for the university when it posted a controversial statement on Oct. 7 that many around the world read as justifying the Hamas-led attack on Israel.

Supreme Court seems poised to allow local laws that penalize homelessness

The justices seemed split along ideological lines in the case, which has sweeping implications for how the country deals with a growing homelessness crisis.

Biden administration tightens rules for obtaining medical records related to abortion

Political notebook

Key takeaways from the opening statements in Donald Trump’s hush money trial

Monday’s opening statements provided a clear roadmap of how prosecutors will try to make the case that Donald Trump broke the law, and how the defense plans to fight the charges on multiple fronts.

With homelessness on the rise, the Supreme Court weighs bans on sleeping outdoors

The case is considered the most significant to come before the high court in decades on the issue as record numbers of people are without a permanent place to live in the United States.

Trump tried to ‘corrupt’ the 2016 election, prosecutor alleges as hush money trial gets underway

Donald Trump tried to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election by preventing damaging stories about his personal life from becoming public, a prosecutor told jurors at the start of the former president’s hush money trial.

Biden will send Ukraine air defense weapons, artillery once Senate approves, Zelensky says

President Biden has told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the US will send air defense weaponry once the Senate approves a massive national security aid package that includes $60 billion for Ukraine.

Local election workers fear threats to their safety as November nears. One group is trying to help.

As the nation barrels toward another presidential election, the threats to election offices that have been an alarming consequence of Donald Trump's false claims about his 2020 loss loom as a perilous wildcard for local election workers.

In op-ed, Liz Cheney urges Supreme Court to rule ‘quickly and decisively’ on Trump’s immunity claim

“If delay prevents this Trump case from being tried this year, the public may never hear critical and historic evidence developed before the grand jury, and our system may never hold the man most responsible for Jan. 6 to account,” Cheney wrote.

The Supreme Court will decide whether Trump is immune from federal prosecution. Here’s what’s next.

The Supreme Court is hearing arguments this week with profound legal and political consequences: whether Donald Trump is immune from prosecution in a federal case charging him with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election.