PUBLISHED Feb 18, 2026, 3:38 PM ET National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Wednesday that researchers at the New York Federal Reserve who produced a study finding American businesses and consumers are shouldering 90% of the cost of President Donald Trump’s tariffs should be “disciplined.” “It’s, I think, the worst paper I’ve ever seen in the history of the Federal Reserve system,” Hassett told CNBC in an interview. “The people associated with this paper should presumably be disc ...

United States Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro shocked her own prosecutors when she instructed them to seek indictments of six lawmakers, according to a new report. The New York Times published on Wednesday new details about Pirro’s failed attempt to indict multiple Democratic lawmakers who earned President Donald Trump’s ire with a video urging military members to not follow “illegal orders.” Department of Justice prosecutors reportedly failed to secure an indictment of the ...

By BROOKE HESS-HOMEIER, JULIE WATSON and JOHN SEEWER Updated 2:07 PM CST, February 18, 2026 Leer en español NEVADA CITY, Calif. (AP) — Crews found the bodies of eight backcountry skiers and are searching for one more who remains missing after an avalanche in the mountains near Lake Tahoe, authorities said Wednesday, making it the deadliest U.S. avalanche in nearly half a century. Authorities have told the families the mission has moved from rescuing people to recovering bodies, Nevada County ...

Feb 18th, 2026, 7:37 am A billionaire supporting President Donald Trump allegedly funneled millions of dollars through a "straw donor" scheme, according to a complaint filed by a nonpartisan public interest watchdog. On Tuesday, the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) submitted a 16-page complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging a Venezuelan billionaire and banker "funneled" $3.5 million to the MAGA Inc. super PAC months before he received a presidential pardo ...

February 18, 2026 9:28AM ET Last year, President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address since retaking the White House was met with vocal opposition from Democratic lawmakers, but next week on Tuesday, Democrats have a new plan to push back against the president with an unprecedented “break with tradition,” The New York Times reported Wednesday. Last March, Democratic lawmakers were seen sporting signs with labels like “False” and “Save Medicaid” to protest Trump’s first State of the ...

(NY Times) The strict voter identification measure that Republicans have pushed through the House is just their opening salvo in a broader legislative effort aimed at keeping control of Congress this fall and helping to amplify the president’s false claims of mass voter fraud in the event that they lose. The G.O.P.’s relentless focus on the bill and an even more restrictive measure making its way through the House — both of which face a steep uphill path to becoming law — is aimed chiefly at intensifying pressure within their own ranks to muscle through new voting restrictions and seek to reshape the electorate in their favor.

(AZ Mirror) Polling shows that Americans want to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the murders of two American citizens in Minnesota amid a violent surge to round up immigrants as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda, but Arizona Republicans want to require ICE officers to be stationed at polling places this year. This week, the Arizona Senate will take up a proposal to force all 15 of the state’s counties to sign an agreement with ICE “to provide for a federal immigration law enforcement presence at each location within this state where ballots are cast or deposited.” Even if it passes, the proposal by Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, seems to directly run afoul of federal law, which bars “any troops or armed men” who are part of “the civil, military, or naval service of the United States” from being deployed to polling locations.

(Lincoln Square) Jess Michaels attended Pam Bondi’s hearing on Capitol Hill last week where she was asked about the administration’s handling of the Epstein files. The Attorney General, who demanded people talk about how amazing the stock market was doing, had three chances to look Epstein survivors in the eyes and apologize. Bondi refused. But while the administration says it’s time to move on, survivors like Jess are still fighting for justice. And she told Lincoln Square exclusively that they’re coming back to Washington next week to attend Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, February 24.

(AP) Paris prosecutors opened on Wednesday two new investigations into potential sex abuse crimes and financial wrongdoings linked to Jeffrey Epstein following the release of millions of files of the millionaire financier and convicted sex offender, and called on possible victims to come forward. Paris prosecutor Laurence Beccuau said the investigations are seeking to use the files released by the U.S. administration, media reports and new complaints that are being filed.

(Reuters) British police are assessing whether Jeffrey Epstein trafficked women through a London airport on private flights, part of a now nationally coordinated effort to investigate the late sex offender's ties to Britain. Essex Police said on Wednesday they were looking at information that had emerged about private flights into and out of Stansted Airport, to the northeast of London, following the publication by the U.S. government of millions of documents on Epstein at the end of January.