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This Month

Peach harvesting in Georgia. The agriculture sector is entirely reliant on the H-2A program for temporary agricultural workers.

Business owners warn Trump’s deportation plan could shut them down

Food producers, manufacturers and hotels are hiring lawyers to audit the legal status of their workers ahead of the president-elect’s deportation orders.

  • Taylor Nicole Rogers
Donald Trump and Elon Musk attend a UFC 309 mixed martial arts flyweight title bout on the weekend.

Trump seeks assurance that his economic chief will enact tough tariffs

The president-elect’s Treasury secretary appointment has kicked off a fierce lobbying effort among his loyalists.

  • James Politi, Colby Smith and Demetri Sevastopulo
Matt Gaetz was investigated by the Justice Department for nearly three years over sex-trafficking allegations.

‘Not on my bingo card’: Trump’s shock justice pick faces pushback

Firebrand Matt Gaetz, who has never worked in the Justice Department or as a prosecutor at any level of government, is the latest in a wave of Donald Trump’s nominations.

  • Andrew Goudsward and Sarah N. Lynch
Marco Rubio with Donald Trump at a rally in North Carolina just before election day last week.

Trump taps China hawks in Beijing’s ‘nightmare come true’

The president-elect is set to choose Marco Rubio as his top US diplomat while Representative Mike Waltz is expected to be his new national security adviser.

  • Updated
  • Nancy Cook
Elise Stefanik

Meet Trump’s MAGA warrior set to take on the UN

Elise Stefanik, who has repeatedly accused the United Nations of being plagued by “antisemitic rot”, is now at the centre of Donald Trump’s orbit.

  • Nicholas Fandos
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Tom Homan: “It’s going to be a well-targeted, planned operation conducted by the men of ICE.”

Former head of immigration enforcement named US ‘border tsar’

Tom Homan was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border and Trump’s pledge to launch the largest deportation operation in US history.

  • Jill Colvin
Vice President Kamala Harris waves to the crowd after delivering a concession speech.

Kamala Harris turns the page on herself

A gracious, optimistic concession speech from the vice president was an unwitting demonstration of the practical problems with her campaign.

  • Jennifer Hewett
Congress so far has failed to pass any spending bills to fund federal agency programs in the fiscal year starting on October 1 amid a feud within the Republican Party.

Republicans to take control of US Senate after flipping two seats

With no further prospects of Democratic gains in outstanding races, Republicans were on track to retake the upper chamber of Congress for the first time in four years.

  • Colby Smith
Trump’s success was driven more by economic anxiety than red-hatted MAGA diehards.

Don’t worry: America and Australia will survive this election

Harris was hindered and Trump boosted by the economic issues that have plagued incumbent governments around the world.

  • Michael Green
A Trump supporter at the Palm Beach Convention Centre

Trump’s stunning rebuff of his critics

Donald Trump’s return to the White House means the return of an unpredictable president with big plans to Make America Great Again – and fewer restraints on his power.

  • Jennifer Hewett
Kamala Harris and Beyoncé at a rally in Texas this month.

Taylor Swift v Joe Rogan. How gender will decide the US election

Deep divisions in America’s electorate have been exposed in a tumultuous race to be decided in just a few hours.

  • James Politi, Lauren Fedor and Stefania Palma
Campaign signs in Eden, North Carolina. TV advertising

Campaign TV ads give voters permission to go rogue

Democrats and Republicans are highlighting relatable characters offering measured testimonials to coax voters into crossing party lines.

  • Adam Nagourney

October

The election race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris is too close to call.

How the US has a healthy economy, unhealthy politics

America’s economy remains robust despite the sickness infecting its politics. But Donald Trump still says emergency economic surgery is needed.

  • Jennifer Hewett
Insurrectionists loyal to then US president Donald Trump breach the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021.

This is what could happen if Trump loses the election

The former president refused to concede defeat in 2020 and there are signs he could do it again.

  • Joe Miller
Tesla billionaire Elon Musk roared from behind the podium at Donald Trump’s rally in New York City at the weekend.

Musk wants a $3 trillion cut from the US budget. It’d be difficult

His target, mentioned at Donald Trump’s Sunday rally in Madison Square Garden, exceeds the amount Congress spends annually on government agency operations.

  • Steven T. Dennis
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Americans now grealy fear political polarisation and violence.

How Australia can fix America’s broken election system

Voters in seven US states will vote to adopt Australian-style preferential voting as electoral reformers try to move American politics back to the centre.

  • Benjamin Reilly and Ava Kalinauskas
Australians risk being taxed on grains which appear and them disappear quickly.

How can it be right to pay tax on something you never had?

The plan to tax paper gains in superannuation funds will harm savers and damage the economy.

  • Geoff Wilson
Coles is defending the ACCC lawsuit against alleged “illusory discounts”.

Albanese spots a bargain bagging Coles and Woolies

The government needs a political scapegoat to blame for cost-of-living pressures and inflation. The big supermarkets are reliable targets.

  • Jennifer Hewett

September

Resources Minister Madeleine King has helped drive the new critical minerals financing initiative.

‘NATO of critical minerals’ deal to hit China dominance

Local mining and processing projects could be funded by more than a dozen like-minded nations as part of a new joint financing body agreed to by 14 countries.

  • Phillip Coorey
Donald Trump’s tax pledges are politically popular, energising crowds at his rallies.

Trump is pledging ‘mind-boggling’ tax cuts he can’t deliver

Whether he is speaking to retirees, CEOs or tipped workers, the former president is promising tax cuts in swing states that could cost trillions.

  • Andrew Duehren and Michael Gold

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/united-states-senate-64a