https://www.scmp.com/rss/522038/feed Rand Paul is a prominent American politician and physician, serving as a US Senator for Kentucky since 2011. Formerly a practising ophthalmologist, he is known for his strong advocacy of fiscal conservatism, promoting limited government, lower taxes, and reduced federal spending. He identifies as a libertarian conservative, often challenging government overreach. Paul has chaired the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and has been influential in debates on budget and... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Xinmei Shen,Lucy Quaggin Xinmei Shen,Lucy Quaggin A bipartisan resolution that would block US President Donald Trump from launching further strikes on Iran failed to pass the Senate floor on Wednesday, as the Pentagon pledged to “accelerate” its actions in a war that’s “just getting started”. In a 52-47 procedural vote on Wednesday, the Republican-controlled Senate blocked a war powers resolution aimed at curbing Trump’s ability to escalate military action against Iran, preventing the measure from reaching the floor for debate. The resolution... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3345487/us-senate-rejects-bid-curb-trumps-iran-war-powers-pentagon-set-increase-attacks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3345487/us-senate-rejects-bid-curb-trumps-iran-war-powers-pentagon-set-increase-attacks?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2026 23:42:10 +0000 Reuters Reuters US President Donald Trump’s border tsar, Tom Homan, met with the Minneapolis mayor and the Minnesota governor on Tuesday in a show of detente, as the ‌White House sought to ease unrest gripping the city after two US citizens were shot dead by federal agents. Homan was put in charge of the Minneapolis immigration enforcement drive to replace US Border Patrol “commander at large” ‍Gregory Bovino, who sources said was being demoted and removed after having overseen most of Trump’s crackdowns in... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3341470/trump-says-will-de-escalate-little-bit-minneapolis-amid-outcry-over-killings?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3341470/trump-says-will-de-escalate-little-bit-minneapolis-amid-outcry-over-killings?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Jan 2026 22:30:58 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg US President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign to unify his party behind his takeover of Venezuela succeeded Wednesday when all but three Senate Republicans voted to block a resolution opposing further military action in the country. US Vice-President J.D. Vance broke a tie vote in order to stop the resolution. The 51-50 vote followed fiery phone calls from Trump to Republican defectors who last week voted to advance the resolution. Trump’s success in flipping votes effectively ends one of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3339940/trump-prevails-us-senate-showdown-over-venezuela-war-powers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3339940/trump-prevails-us-senate-showdown-over-venezuela-war-powers?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Jan 2026 01:17:28 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The US Senate advanced a resolution on Thursday that would limit US President Donald Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks against Venezuela, sounding a note of disapproval for his expanding ambitions in the western hemisphere. Democrats and five Republicans voted to advance the war powers resolution on a 52-47 vote and ensure a vote next week on final passage. It has virtually no chance of becoming law because Trump would have to sign it if it were to pass the Republican-controlled... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3339242/us-senate-rejects-trumps-venezuela-threats-war-powers-vote?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3339242/us-senate-rejects-trumps-venezuela-threats-war-powers-vote?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Jan 2026 18:41:12 +0000 Seong Hyeon Choi Seong Hyeon Choi Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s characterisation of US-China relations as a “G2” partnership is “deeply problematic”, a Democratic lawmaker has warned in a letter to the Pentagon chief. Such a description sidelines Washington’s allies and partners in the region, House Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi said in his letter sent on Monday. Krishnamoorthi, a ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, also expressed “profound concern” about such a label being used... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3336018/hegseths-g2-description-us-china-relations-deeply-problematic-lawmaker-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3336018/hegseths-g2-description-us-china-relations-deeply-problematic-lawmaker-says?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Dec 2025 06:25:24 +0000 Bochen Han Bochen Han US President Donald Trump signed a bill to end the record-breaking US government shutdown after the House of Representatives approved a bipartisan funding deal on Wednesday. The signing at the White House in Washington capped a 43-day stoppage that has left hundreds of thousands of federal employees without pay and disrupted public services in the United States. However, just how quickly full government services and operations would resume was not immediately clear. “This is no way to run a... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/politics/article/3332563/us-government-shutdown-house-representatives-votes-end-historic-funding-deadlock?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/politics/article/3332563/us-government-shutdown-house-representatives-votes-end-historic-funding-deadlock?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Nov 2025 01:27:12 +0000 Reuters Reuters The threat of a US government shutdown surged on Friday, as the US Senate rejected a short-term funding bill to keep federal agencies operating after September 30 and then left town for a week-long break. The lawmakers voted 44-48 to defeat a stopgap spending bill that would have kept federal agencies operating at current funding levels through November 21. The measure faced near-universal opposition from Democrats, who demanded increased healthcare funding. Republicans said they could vote... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3326224/us-government-shutdown-looms-senate-rejects-stopgap-funding-bill?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3326224/us-government-shutdown-looms-senate-rejects-stopgap-funding-bill?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Sep 2025 19:56:51 +0000 Reuters Reuters US President Donald Trump said he wants to make more investments in healthy US companies on Monday. Whether Corporate America is on board is another story. The White House announced a near-10 per cent stake in chipmaker Intel on Friday that converts government grants into an equity share. Trump doubled down on the idea of similar deals in other sectors on Monday, telling reporters at the White House: “I hope I’m going to have many more cases like it.” The administration’s approach upends a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3323124/trump-wants-more-investment-deals-us-firms-intels-worrying-business-community?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3323124/trump-wants-more-investment-deals-us-firms-intels-worrying-business-community?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Aug 2025 23:46:49 +0000 Khushboo Razdan Khushboo Razdan A federal appeal court just steps from the White House signalled scepticism on Thursday over whether a broad swathe of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs are legal, while lawyers representing the administration asserted that the US judiciary lacked the authority to review such “discretionary” actions. All 11 active judges on the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington – eight appointed by Democratic presidents and three by Republican administrations – heard the high-stakes... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3320203/court-washington-hear-arguments-legality-trump-reciprocal-tariffs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3320203/court-washington-hear-arguments-legality-trump-reciprocal-tariffs?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Jul 2025 09:00:15 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A congressional inquiry into the attempt to assassinate US President Donald Trump at a campaign rally a year ago on Sunday lamented “inexcusable” failures in the Secret Service’s operations and response, and called for more serious disciplinary action. On July 13, 2024, a gunman shot the then-Republican presidential candidate during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing his ear. One bystander was killed and two other people in addition to Trump were wounded before a government sniper... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3318060/inexcusable-failures-led-trump-assassination-attempt-senate-report?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3318060/inexcusable-failures-led-trump-assassination-attempt-senate-report?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Jul 2025 16:39:19 +0000