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Today's Political News Compilation - Wednesday, August 19, 2026

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Below are some of the top political news stories of the day:



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The US national debt now stands at $40 trillion

By FATIMA HUSSEIN
Updated 6:07 PM CDT, August 19, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — The national debt surpassed a record $40 trillion on Wednesday, a staggering milestone as defense costs, social programs like Social Security and Medicare and interest on the burgeoning deficit make up an enormous share of federal spending.

The milestone figure was recorded just five months after the U.S. hit a record $39 trillion debt in March. It reached $38 trillion five months before that, in October.

The unprecedented $40 trillion figure highlights competing administration priorities, from boosting defense spending that the U.S. relies on to carry out President Donald Trump’s almost-6-month-old war in Iran to lowering the cost of gas and groceries.

Kush Desai, a White House spokesman, said the Trump administration “has been focused on slashing waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending while accelerating economic growth to get America’s debt-to-GDP ratio trending in the right direction.”

However, experts say the exploding debt and the latest record milestone are already affecting Americans’ pocketbooks by raising borrowing costs for things like mortgages and cars, lowering wages from businesses that have less money available to invest, and creating more expensive goods and services.

“If we want to improve our living standards, today and for the next generation, now is the time for lawmakers to put our nation on a more affordable and sustainable path,” says Michael A. Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a think tank focused on U.S. fiscal challenges. ...

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Dan Green wins crowded GOP primary in Florida's 9th District

  • News source: Politics - CBSNews.com
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Dan Green narrowly won a crowded GOP primary in Florida's 9th Congressional District, the Associated Press projected Thursday, two days after the election.

Green will face Democratic Rep. Darren Soto, who has held the central Florida seat since 2017 but is facing a tough reelection bid after gerrymandering reshaped the district. Soto's district, which had been protected under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, was one of four in the state that were redrawn to favor Republicans.

The University of Virginia's Center for Politics rates the race as...
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Dem mayor torches DNC in scathing letter for 'abandoning' Black voters after convention snub

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 1
Atlanta's Democratic Mayor Andre Dickens launched a scathing attack on the Democratic National Committee's leadership Thursday, accusing party leaders of turning their backs on Black voters and the South after the DNC excluded the city from its shortlist to host the 2028 presidential convention.

"The DNC continues to make the wrong choices," Dickens wrote in a scathing letter obtained by Fox News Digital, singling out DNC Chairman Ken Martin after party officials narrowed their convention search to Boston, Denver and Philadelphia.

Dickens’ rebuke...
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Rubio designates US citizen held in China as wrongfully detained as Trump prepares to host Xi at White House

  • News source: FOX News
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The Trump administration has designated an American scholar detained in China as wrongfully held after he traveled there at Beijing’s invitation, escalating his case just weeks before President Donald Trump is set to host Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined that U.S. citizen Min Zin is "wrongfully detained" after the State Department reviewed the circumstances of his June 3 detention in Yunnan, the State Department said Thursday.

Zin had traveled to China for an academic conference at the invitation of the...
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UK, France, Germany, Italy and Canada condemn Israel's West Bank settlement project

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 1
European countries and Canada pile on pressure over Israel's plans to expand settlements in a strategically vital part of the occupied West Bank.
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Bessent urges US partners to back plans to 'squash' Iran economy

  • News source: BBC News - World
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  • Views: 1
The US Treasury secretary says allies will need to decide whether they "are with us or against us".
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Mushroom killer must stay in jail forever for 'truly dreadful' crime, appeal court told

  • News source: BBC News - World
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  • Views: 1
Prosecutors say Erin Patterson's sentence was "manifestly inadequate" as it allows for the possibility of parole.
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New details about Trump's plans for the Kennedy Center and White House ballroom

  • News source: Politics - CBSNews.com
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Washington — While President Trump fights in court over his remaking of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts and construction of the White House ballroom, plans for the two Washington institutions are moving ahead.

Now, the latest court filings in those cases are providing a window into the scope of work taking place at the White House on the site of the now-demolished East Room and Mr. Trump's visions for the Kennedy Center.

At the White House, the ballroom project involves millions of pounds of steel and rebar, miles of...
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Army to nix drone battalion set up to absorb lessons from Ukraine war

  • News source: Politics - CBSNews.com
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The U.S. Army is planning to phase out a drone battalion tasked just last year with studying and taking on board lessons on drone warfare, including from the ongoing Ukraine war, an Army official confirmed to CBS News on Thursday.

Multiple current and former U.S. officials told CBS News the decision to nix the unit came amid tension between the senior officers who championed the battalion and Gen. Christopher LaNeve, the acting chief of staff of the Army.

The unit was pushed by former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George and the former commander...
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New U.S. sanctions target cocaine smuggling network in Ecuador

  • News source: Politics - CBSNews.com
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Washington — The U.S. on Thursday imposed fresh sanctions on 15 individuals and entities based in Ecuador, along with 10 vessels, for their roles in an alleged maritime cocaine trafficking operation.

According to the Treasury Department, the network — tied to Ecuadorian groups Los Choneros and Los Lobos, both designated by the U.S. as foreign terrorist organizations — used a fleet of seemingly legitimate fishing vessels operating out of Manta, Ecuador, to move thousands of kilograms of cocaine each month.

The department said the network supplies...
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Darline Graham’s ‘embarrassing and inexcusable’ national security stumble spotlights break from late brother

  • News source: FOX News
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President Donald Trump has endorsed Graham and is scheduled to rally for her in Myrtle Beach on Friday, days before the GOP runoff against Norman on Tuesday.

The debate question carried consequences beyond a campaign-stage stumble. China claims Taiwan and has not ruled out using force to take the self-governing island, a conflict that could draw the United States and its military into a major war in the Indo-Pacific. Beijing’s aggressive claims in the South China Sea have also put it at odds with U.S. allies and partners. As a sitting senator on the...
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Sherrill escalates Trump fight over voter fiasco day after Mullin praises NJ cooperation

  • News source: FOX News
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New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill criticized the Trump administration Wednesday while releasing findings from her investigation into thousands of ineligible voters improperly registered in the state.

Sherrill’s critique came one day after DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin issued a statement thanking her for agreeing to cooperate with his agency on the matter — an assertion a Democratic source disputed.

Sherrill has faced criticism since mid-July, when she revealed that thousands of noncitizens were found on voting rolls because of a "software error" in...
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Como mayor bans 'beasts' in city centre after being hit by bike

  • News source: BBC News - World
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  • Views: 4
Alessandro Rapinese issues the prohibition for the historic city centre after an encounter with a cyclist last month.
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The fight to protect Big Bend, one of America's last wild places

  • News source: Politics - CBSNews.com
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Alpine, Texas — Months after Congress approved billions for infrastructure across one of the least-trafficked stretches of the southern border, bulldozers arrived at Big Bend National Park, West Texas's wild crown jewel.

What followed was an unlikely revolt against President Trump's decade-old promise to build a wall. Cattle ranchers, environmentalists, sheriffs, Republican senators and country singers united around a distinctly Texas argument: Secure the border, but don't tread on us.

Images of bulldozers scraping through the 801,163-acre expanse...
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ActBlue co-founder pleads Fifth Amendment in closed-door House GOP grilling

  • News source: FOX News
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  • Views: 6
FIRST ON FOX: ActBlue co-founder Matt DeBergalis pleaded the Fifth Amendment during his closed-door deposition before three key House committees, sources familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital.

The Committee on House Administration, House Oversight Committee, and House Judiciary Committee are conducting a joint investigation into ActBlue, a massive fundraising platform for Democrats, over allegations that lax fraud prevention standards may have allowed foreign donations to seep into U.S. campaigns.

DeBergalis' deposition, which was...
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Michigan Dem invokes comparison to Jesus when pressed on socialist views: 'Radical in his time, too'

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
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Michigan’s Democratic Senate nominee compared his "radical" policy positions to Jesus Christ’s teachings during a podcast appearance earlier this year.

During an episode of the Progressive Christians Podcast that aired in May, Abdul El-Sayed was asked how his faith as a Muslim spurs his policies and positions in his campaign for the Senate.

Rev. Blair Stowe, one of the podcast’s hosts, noted that through many progressive races during the midterm election cycle where policies like Medicare for all, being anti-war and resisting corporate money in...
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Tulsi Gabbard gives promising, emotional update on husband's successful bone cancer surgery

  • News source: FOX News
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  • Views: 6
Tulsi Gabbard delivered a hopeful and emotional message in a video posted to X on Thursday morning, updating the success of her husband Abraham Williams' bone cancer surgery for sacral chordoma, an extremely rare cancer, and giving an update on the challenges of his recovery.

"A few weeks after the surgery was done, the pathologist and the doctors said that they are confident that they were able to cut out all of the cancerous bone and tissue," Gabbard said in a 3-minute video. "So here we are now, almost three months after, and he started a very...
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FBI seizes Swalwell's devices, executes warrants in sexual misconduct probe

  • News source: Politics - CBSNews.com
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Washington — FBI agents executed search warrants targeting former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell over the weekend and seized his electronic devices, two sources familiar with the matter told CBS News, as part of a criminal probe into allegations of sexual misconduct by the former lawmaker.

One of the warrants was executed Saturday night after Swalwell landed at San Francisco International Airport, the sources said. The second targeted his residence in Washington, D.C., and was executed on Sunday. The Daily Mail first reported the searches.

News of...
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Trump could face impeachment if Democrats seize House majority, GOP leader warns

  • News source: FOX News
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A top House Republican is arguing that Democrats would upend work in Washington by impeaching President Donald Trump immediately if they win the majority in November.

"Democrats aren't even being shy about it. They're telling you what they would do. I mean, they'll impeach the president day one," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Digital.

House Democrats successfully impeached Trump twice the last time they held the House majority, though both efforts failed to get him convicted by the Senate.

PUSH TO OUST TRUMP EXPOSES...
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FBI seizes Swalwell’s devices at airport as sexual misconduct investigation escalates: sources

  • News source: FOX News
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized disgraced congressman and former California gubernatorial candidate Eric Swalwell's electronic devices at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday night, two sources familiar with the incident confirmed to Fox News Digital.

Swalwell's home in Washington, D.C. was subsequently searched on Sunday, a source said.

DOJ OPENS INVESTIGATION INTO ERIC SWALWELL OVER SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS

The devices seized included at least one cell phone. The devices were taken from the ex-lawmaker related to a...
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Blue-city drug gear exposes hypocrisy as cleanup group faces probe, leader cries foul

  • News source: FOX News
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The founder of a Seattle nonprofit that cleans up discarded drug paraphernalia distributed through city and county harm reduction programs says she was stunned to learn her organization is now under state investigation over how it handles those same supplies.

Andrea Suarez is the founder of We Heart Seattle. She rallies volunteers to pick up and dispose of needles, smoking supplies such as pipes and foil, and other drug-use items distributed through King County "harm reduction" programs. Critics argue the policies can enable continued drug use...
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Dem’s ‘sexist’ remark against cancer survivor provokes Republican to go scorched earth: ‘Guy’s got a problem’

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 10
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Mike Collins is going scorched earth, accusing his Democratic opponent Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., of making a "sexist" and "misogynist" viral remark involving a female cancer survivor working in the Trump White House.

Ossoff, a 39-year-old freshman senator running for re-election in Georgia, drew criticism after making a remark about White House aide Natalie Harp during an Atlanta campaign rally Sunday. Ossoff suggested that President Donald Trump has been neglecting his duties, saying, "He doesn't want to do the...
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Togo charges two French journalists over incorrect documents, rights group says

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 11
Gaël Mocaër and Sebastian Perez Pezzani's detention is "unjustified and disproportionate", Reporters Without Borders says.
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Battle over federal courthouses erupts as GSA warns against giving judiciary more control

  • News source: FOX News
  • Replies: 0
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EXCLUSIVE: The agency overseeing U.S. courthouses is pushing back against a new bill that would give the judicial branch more property control, arguing that the judiciary has a history of mismanaging its buildings.

The General Services Administration (GSA), which serves as landlord for most federal courthouse space, said the bill would allow the judiciary to assume real property authority over facilities in up to 10 federal judicial districts from the GSA, including responsibility for repairing and maintaining facilities.

The bill, the Judicial...
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Assad officer extradited to Syria on war crimes charges for first time

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 14
Lebanon handed over former General Adel Issa, as Syria steps up its pursuit of wanted members of the former regime.
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At least 13 workers killed in landslide at Colombian gold mine

  • News source: BBC News - World
  • Replies: 0
  • Views: 9

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