Elite public colleges slash acceptance rates, raising pressure on students
Story at a glance Surging demand has led California flagships Berkeley and UCLA to admit 9 and 11 percent of applicants, respectively. Universities such as North Carolina and Virginia have reduced their acceptance rates to 17-19 percent. Such Vegas-style odds are still not the norm. Most schools accept 70 percent of t
Read MoreMcConnell, McCarthy public splits raise questions about ability to govern
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) have drifted apart over the past two years, raising questions about whether they’ll be able work together if Republicans win back the House. Republicans who know both men say they have a good relationship and continue to meet regularly, but also acknowledge their different jobs and constituencies will invariably drive them apart publicly. Working hand in glove next year also is complicated by their strikingly different relationships with former President Trump,
Read MoreTuberville reparations remarks bring renewed attention to House bill
Backlash to Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) remarks at a campaign rally in Nevada linking slavery reparations to crime is drawing attention to a long-sought bill that has stalled in Congress. Tuberville prompted an uproar this past weekend after comments he made about reparations during a rally hosted by former President Trump went viral. “They want crime because they want to take over what you got,” Tuberville said in Nevada on Saturday, referring to Democrats. “They want to control what you have. They want reparations because they think the people that do the crime ar
Read MoreFuture Ukraine aid faces bumpier road in House Republican majority
Republican divisions on foreign policy and aid could become more consequential if Republicans win control of the House in the midterm elections, creating a rockier road for future humanitarian or military assistance to Ukraine. The GOP is widely projected to win control of the lower chamber in this year’s elections, which would give the “America First” wing of the party that is resistant to foreign intervention a larger voice and potentially more power. Uncertainty remains about the course of the war and how much more aid Ukraine will request from the U.S., but man
Read MoreWhy the Supreme Court is taking on so many politically divisive cases
On Fridays at the Supreme Court, justices gather behind closed doors to discuss the petitions for appeal filed from across the country. Roughly 98 percent of the time, the justices deny an appeal, a result which leaves intact the decision of a lower court and consigns the unsuccessful petition to the trash heap. For the slim fraction of cases the court does hear each term, however, the dynamics surrounding the selection of these disputes represent a huge source of the 6-3 conservative majority Supreme Court’s power as it remakes constitutional law. Yet despite bein
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