Arizona GOP Senate candidates hold debate as negative ads overtake airwaves
CBSN
The Republican candidates for Senate in Arizona faced off in a heated debate for the first time on Thursday night as the closely watched race is becoming one of the most expensive primary battles in the country.
GOP hopefuls vying to take on incumbent Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly include Attorney General Mark Brnovich, businessman Jim Lamon and venture capitalist Blake Masters. Kelly defeated incumbent Republican Sen. Martha McSally, who had been appointed to fill out the rest of late Sen. John McCain's seat, in 2020. Kelly is considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the evenly divided Senate as Republicans hope to retake control in the midterm elections.
With early voting for the primary set to begin in two weeks, Republicans have already spent nearly $40 million on TV advertising, according to AdImpact, which keeps track of political ad spending.
More employees of the Environmental Protection Agency were informed Wednesday that their jobs appear in doubt. Senior leadership at the EPA held an all-staff meeting to tell individuals that President Trump's executive order, "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing," which was responsible for the closure of the agency's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office, will likely lead to the shuttering of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights as well.
In her first hours as attorney general, Pam Bondi issued a broad slate of directives that included a Justice Department review of the prosecutions of President Trump, a reorientation of department work to focus on harsher punishments, actions punishing so-called "sanctuary" cities and an end to diversity initiatives at the department.
The quick-fire volley of tariffs between the U.S. and China in recent days has heightened global fears of a new trade war between the world's two largest economies. Yet while experts think the battle is likely to escalate, they also say the early skirmishes offer hope for an agreement on trade and other key issues that could head off a larger conflict.