The U.S. will host an artificial intelligence (AI) safety summit in November, aiming to further align top nations on their tech goals and priorities of collaboration among the international community.  ‘AI is the defining technology of our generation,’ U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a press release.  ‘With AI evolving at a rapid pace, we at the Department of Commerce, and across the Biden-Harris administration, are pulling every lever. That includes close, thoughtful...

A group of Democratic lawmakers is calling for the U.S. to restore funding to a controversial United Nations agency that supports much-needed humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees but faced accusations that some of its employees participated in the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. Speaking at a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol on Thursday afternoon, Democratic Reps. André Carson of Indiana, Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, among others, said passing H.R....

A new poll suggests that support is dropping among all Americans for Taylor Swift’s efforts to encourage her legions of fans to vote in the upcoming elections. Fifty-three percent of voters questioned in a Monmouth University national survey released on Thursday said they approved of Swift’s voter encouragement efforts — which she did last week in a social media post following the first and potentially only debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President...

House Republicans are moving to protect U.S. service members’ paychecks in the event of a partial government shutdown. Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., is re-introducing her Pay Our Troops Act on Thursday, with support from at least 20 fellow House lawmakers – 16 Republicans and four Democrats. It comes a day after more than a dozen House GOP lawmakers helped defeat Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to avert a partial government shutdown by extending the current fiscal...

A shadowy group has been recruiting unsuspecting candidates to act as potential spoilers in competitive House races in the latest attempt from far-left groups to tip Republican races. For the past year, a group known as the Patriots Run Project has recruited Trump supporters to run as independent candidates in key swing districts where they could siphon votes from Republicans in races that will help determine which party controls the House next year, an Associated...

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., placed blame on former President Trump and Republicans for a potential partial government shutdown after the House failed to pass a stopgap spending measure on Wednesday.  He filed cloture on Thursday in a procedural move in order to act as quickly as possible once the House passes a continuing resolution (CR), which is a short-term measure that would keep spending levels steady.  ‘By filing today, I am giving the...

Iran envoy Robert Malley may have taken part in a ‘classified conference call’ with the White House after his security clearance was suspended, according to the State Department inspector general’s new report.  The State Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) did not interview Malley and could not confirm that he had been on the call, but his deputy notified a White House official that ‘Rob will call in’ and that Malley had ‘accessed the controlled...

Former Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi insisted on Wednesday that her party’s presidential nominating process after President Biden dropped out was ‘open,’ and Vice President Kamala Harris ‘won it,’ despite the absence of any such contest.  Prior to Biden stepping down as the Democratic Party’s nominee in mid-July, Pelosi reportedly said she favored a competitive open primary process to replace him if needed. On Wednesday, Semafor’s Kadia Goba asked Pelosi if she had...

Former President Trump had presidential-level security in place when officers foiled an attempt on his life last weekend, the U.S. Secret Service told lawmakers on Wednesday. The House task force probing the July 13 shooting at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, received a briefing from USSS after the incident at the ex-president’s golf course on Sunday. During that briefing, officials told House lawmakers that Trump had nearly all of the same protections afforded to...