Articles by Focus Washington

Amazon is canceling its plans to build a new headquarters in New York after facing backlash from members of the community, CNN reported. “After much thought and deliberation, we’ve decided not to move forward with […]

Trump Intends to Allocate $8 Billion to Fund Border Wall, Source Says

President Donald Trump’s plans to declare a national emergency in order to fund his long-promised border wall will enable his administration to move $8 billion from various federal agencies to fund the project, a senior […]

Trade Talks with China to Continue Next Week in Washington

The trade talks between China and the U.S. will continue next week in Washington as both sides said that during this week’s negotiations in Beijing progress was made. According to Reuters, The White House is […]

Apple to Ship iPhones with Qualcomm Chips to German Stores

Apple said Thursday that it will resume selling older iPhone models in its stores in Germany, where they were banned last year due to a patent infringement ruling, Reuters writes. The iPhones will be sold […]

Fresh Russia Sanctions Hinder Gas Export Pipelines

Fresh sanctions against Russia proposed this week by U.S. legislators could hinder the development of some natural gas export pipelines, but otherwise do little to harm the country’s largest energy companies, Bloomberg writes citing analysts. […]

Top General Disagrees with Trump Over Syria Withdrawal

The U.S. commander who has been leading the war against ISIS disagrees with President Donald Trump’s decision to pull troops out of Syria, warning that the terror group is far from defeated, CNN informs. Joseph […]

Pelosi Says a Democratic President Could Declare Gun Violence a National Emergency

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Thursday stated that if President Donald Trump can declare a national emergency in order to circumvent Congress to fund the border wall, there’s no reason that a Democratic president […]

Pompeo Expects Trump, Kim to Discuss End of Korean War Declaration

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that he expects President Donald Trump to discuss the possibility of formally ending the 1950-53 Korean War at his next summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Yonhap/The […]

Trump Administration Demands Tougher Action from Europe on Iran

U.S. and Israeli leaders continued to push for confrontation with Iran at the Warsaw ministerial meeting on Middle East security Thursday, strongly criticizing Europe in the process, CNN informed. According to Vice President Mike Pence, […]

Ocasio-Cortez ‘Shocked’ at Lobbyist Tactics to Gain Influence

Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she was “shocked” when she found out that Washington D.C. lobbyists pay great amounts of money in order to buy influence. “Today I left a hearing on homelessness & saw […]

Head of FEMA Brock Long Resigns

Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Brock Long announced his resignation Wednesday after two years on the job. “While this has been the opportunity of the lifetime, it is time for me to go home to […]

SpaceX Protests NASA for Awarding Lockheed Martin-Boeing Venture an Overpriced Launch Contract

SpaceX has filed a protest challenging the nearly $150 million contract that NASA recently awarded to its chief rival, a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing, the latest salvo in an ongoing war between […]

Former U.S. Air Force Intelligence Specialist Charged with Spying for Iran

The Justice Department said on Wednesday that Monica Witt, a former U.S. Air Force sergeant who defected to Iran, has been charged with spying for the Middle Eastern country and revealing the identities of her […]

Top Chinese, U.S. Officials Meet Ahead of Tariff Deadline

Chinese Deputy PM Liu He met with top U.S. officials in Beijing on Thursday for negotiations to avert a worsening of the countries’ trade war, ahead of a U.S. deadline for raising tariffs on Beijing’s […]

Senator Says Trump ‘Violated Law’ in Defense of Saudi

President Donald Trump has been accused of violating the law and attempting to conceal Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader and his alleged connection in the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Members of the Senate […]

Manafort Lied to Special Counsel After Plea Deal

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort may be facing a more severe prison sentence after a federal judge ruled Wednesday that he had lied to the special counsel after signing a plea deal with him. […]

NASA’s Rover Opportunity Declared Dead after 15 Years of Exploring Mars

NASA‘s longest-running rover on Mars, Opportunity, has been announced dead after 15 years of exploring the red planet although the vehicle was built to operate for just three months. However, the rover kept going and […]

For First Time in 100 Years Black Panthers Spotted in Africa

Very rare black panthers were discovered in Laikipia County, Kenya, which is close to the setting of Marvel’s Oscar-nominated “Black Panther.” “Our researchers spotted rare black leopards–sometimes called black panthers–in Laikipia County, Kenya,” the San […]

Senators Prepare Massive New Russia Sanctions Bill

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has proposed a far-reaching bill aimed at punishing Russia for its “broad spectrum of bad behavior” that will for the first time force the Trump administration to assess whether […]

U.S. North Korea Envoy Warns of Gap in Nuclear Talks Before Summit

The U.S. envoy to North Korean nuclear talks said it would be hard to resolve remaining disputes before President Donald Trump’s upcoming summit with Kim Jong-un, according to a South Korean lawmaker, in a sign […]

U.S. House of Representatives Passes a Resolution Stopping Involvement in Yemen War

The House of Representatives passed a resolution Wednesday calling for the end of any US military support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, which was deemed the world’s worst humanitarian crisis last year by the […]

EU, USA Preparing New Sanctions on Russia over Ukraine

The European Union and the United States are close to an agreement on new sanctions against Russia following the capture of 24 Ukrainian sailors off the coast of Crimea late last year, Russia Business Today […]

Democratic Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang Gives $1,000 to Families as a Test for Universal Basic Income

Andrew Yang, who is the youngest Democratic presidential candidate, is giving $1,000 a month to two families as a way to show that a universal basic income, a government-funded policy for all American adults with […]

McConnell to Force Senate to Vote on Green New Deal

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that he would force the Senate to vote on the sweeping climate change and economic overhaul proposal introduced last week by Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Senator […]

Burr Criticizes Cohen for Postponing Hearing Again

The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman, Richard Burr, said Tuesday that “any goodwill” between his committee and the President’s former lawyer Michael Cohen is gone. “I can assure you that any goodwill that […]

Trump Claims Crime at El Paso Went Down with Border Wall

President Donald Trump held a rally in Texas on Monday where he rejected statistics and official statements from El Paso city authorities regarding the reports of crime at the U.S.-Mexico border, Newsweek reported. “I don’t care […]

President’s Former Lawyer Says Trump Incapable of Interviewing with Mueller

President Donald Trump’s former lawyer John Dowd said in a podcast Tuesday that he advised his former client not to sit for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller because he believed Trump was incapable […]

Pompeo Says Putin Poses Threat to Democracies Worldwide

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a statement on Tuesday that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is a threat to democracies worldwide, Newsweek reported. “For a decade and a half, or a little bit more, too many […]

Trump ‘not Happy’ with Border Deal, Doesn’t Believe Second Shutdown Is Likely

President Donald Trump expressed dissatisfaction with the border security deal reached by congressional negotiators but noted that a second government shutdown was unlikely to happen. He also didn’t immediately commit to signing the agreement reached […]

February 12, 2019 Focus Washington

Pentagon to Request $270mn for Space Force Headquarters

The Defense Department is expected to request approximately $270 million in its fiscal year 2020 budget to stand up a Space Force headquarters, a Space Development Agency and U.S. Space Command, according to draft documents, […]