AURN News

(AURN News) — President-elect Donald Trump has declared his intention to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, characterizing the practice as detrimental to the nation.

"The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn't!" Trump posted on Truth Social. "Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation," he added.

The biannual time change has a complex history in the United States. First established in 1918, it was quickly repealed the following year. The practice returned on a national scale during World War II.

Current regulations, established by Congress in 2007, set the time change to begin on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November. However, not all states participate, with Hawaii and most of Arizona opting out of the practice.

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According to Fortune.com, Southwest Airlines has ended its program assisting Hispanic college students living far from home, following a lawsuit by conservative activist Edward Blum and his group, the American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER).

The program provided select students free flights to visit family or bring parents to campus. Isabella, one of the final recipients, expressed excitement about reuniting with family, but the initiative is now under legal scrutiny.

Blum’s AAER claims the program discriminated against two non-Hispanic applicants, violating civil rights laws. Though Southwest canceled the program, a federal judge ruled the case could proceed.

Legal experts warn this decision could complicate future efforts by companies to resolve anti-DEI lawsuits by dismantling contested programs.

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(AURN News) — President Joe Biden's pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, faces strong disapproval across party lines, according to two major polls released recently as his presidency draws to a close.

A new AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll finds that 51% of Americans somewhat or strongly disapproved of Hunter Biden's pardon. The disapproval spans the political spectrum, with 27% of Democrats, 51% of Independents, and 80% of Republicans opposing the decision.

A separate Monmouth University poll showed even stronger opposition, with 58% of Americans disapproving of the pardon. The survey revealed similar partisan divisions, with 24% of Democrats, 64% of independents, and 81% of Republicans expressing disapproval. The Monmouth poll also indicates broader challenges for the outgoing president, showing only 34% of Americans approve of his overall job performance, while 61% disapprove.

Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump's favorability has reached a historical high, with a Real Clear Politics average of polls showing 49.4% approval as he prepares to return to office.

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President Biden made history on Thursday, granting clemency to nearly 1,500 individuals and pardoning 39 others in what the White House calls the largest single-day active clemency in modern history.

The commutations focused on those serving long sentences that would have been shorter under today's laws, while the pardons were for individuals convicted of nonviolent crimes who have since rebuilt their lives.

Advocates applaud the move but say more needs to be done. Critics also point to Biden's controversial pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, as a missed opportunity to spotlight broader, systemic injustices.

While this marks significant progress, as Malcolm X said, "progress is healing the wound that the blow made." For many, the healing will require bolder actions to address racial disparities and overhaul the justice system.

The Biden administration says we should expect more clemencies and pardons before he leaves office.

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On Dec. 12, 1964, Jomo Kenyatta was elected the first president of the newly independent Kenya, marking a historic milestone for the nation.

Born Kamau wa Ngengi on Oct. 20, 1893, in British East Africa, Kenyatta rose to prominence as a champion for land rights after white settlers seized Kenyan territories.

Kenyatta’s political journey began with the East African Association, which led him to London to oppose British plans for an East African union. He spent 15 years abroad, studying and advocating for African rights.

Kenyatta’s influence endured, culminating in Kenya’s independence in 1963 and his presidency until 1978, during which he played a pivotal role in shaping the nation’s identity and governance.

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $6.3 billion to modernize infrastructure in rural and tribal communities across 44 states, creating good-paying jobs and improving access to essentials like electricity and clean water.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said the initiative aims to revitalize small towns and remote areas, fueling economic growth from the ground up.

Most of the funding, $5.7 billion, will upgrade electric grids in 23 states, making power more reliable and introducing smart grid technology.

Notable projects include a $293 million investment in Virginia's Rappahannock Electric Cooperative to connect over 11,000 residents and a $432 million project in Arkansas to enhance nearly 900 miles of electric lines.

The investment reflects the Biden-Harris administration's commitment to rural communities by fostering job creation, improving living conditions, and addressing systematic changes.

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(AURN News) — Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and City Council Chair Phil Mendelson defended allowing non-citizen residents to vote in local elections during a House Appropriations Committee hearing this week.

"We have a lot of long-term residents here who have the ability to work, they have work permits, and that's one level of identification that I think is well proven," Bowser said. The mayor also emphasized the importance of including residents with temporary protective status, adding, “We think that people who live here, who pay taxes here, who raise their families here, who have mortgages here, who have jobs here, and have been here and come here with temporary protective status and other means, should have a pathway to citizenship. Those residents participating in a local election, I think, makes our process better.”

Mendelson drew a clear distinction between local and federal elections, stating, "Where we come from, our perspective is that these individuals, who may not be United States citizens, still are residents of the district, and they participate, as the mayor said, we want them to participate, if for no other reason than public safety purposes."

He also elaborated on the public safety aspect: "If there's some illegal activity or domestic violence, we want them to feel that they can report that. We need them to report that, and so we try not to discriminate against them. And if they are participating in our city, then, because we provide city services, we feel that they should have a voice in the election of the city."

Both officials emphasized that the voting rights are only limited to local elections, with Mendelson explicitly noting, "We make that distinction... because we're not saying they should participate in federal elections."

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A new report from the Justice Department's Inspector General shows the Trump administration secretly obtained phone and text logs as part of a leak investigation in 2017 and 2018. The report found no political motives but criticized the DOJ for disregarding constitutional safeguards by targeting lawmakers and staff solely for their access to classified information.

Using subpoenas and gag orders, prosecutors accessed records from providers like Apple, preventing those targeted from being notified. Though the seizures had been previously reported, the IG's findings revealed the scope of the effort was much broader than initially known.

The report also found violations in how the DOJ handled reporters' records from outlets like the New York Times and CNN, seizing data without following its own policies.

With President-elect Donald Trump headed back into the White House, there are growing fears and concerns about the protection of press freedoms.

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Nikki Giovanni, the legendary poet, activist, and cultural trailblazer, passed away on Dec. 9 at the age of 81. A literary giant and a fearless truth teller, she died with her wife, Virginia Fowler, by her side.

For over five decades, Giovanni's words were a battle cry for justice, a love letter to Black culture, and a mirror reflecting the beauty and complexity of the Black experience.

Dubbed the Poet of the Black Revolution, her groundbreaking collections Feeling Black, Black Talk, and Black Judgment helped define the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s. Her work was unapologetic and raw, a powerful testament to the resilience of Black people.

Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, Giovanni didn't just write history, she made it. At Fisk University, she revitalized the campus Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) chapter. But she didn't stop at a page. She spent over 35 years at Virginia Tech, shaping future generations as a professor and mentor.

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(AURN News) — President Joe Biden offered a spirited defense of his economic policies during a speech Tuesday at the Brookings Institution, framing his administration's work as a departure from "trickle-down economics" while acknowledging ongoing challenges for working families.

"After decades of trickle-down economics that primarily benefited those at the very top, we've written a new book that's growing the economy the middle out and the bottom up, that benefits thus far everyone,” Biden said.

Speaking about the incoming Trump administration, Biden maintained that his successor would inherit a strengthened economy. He highlighted his administration's efforts on inflation, noting bipartisan cooperation in bringing it "down to pre-pandemic levels."

However, Biden did acknowledge persistent economic challenges. "Wages have increased, but still too many working middle-class families struggle with high prices for housing and groceries and the daily needs of life," he said.

The speech comes as Biden prepares to hand over the presidency to President-elect Donald Trump in just 40 days.

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