No Labels, No Candidate: Rejections Pile Up as Time Runs Short
The New York Times
The group’s quest to find a candidate to take on President Biden and Donald Trump has members frustrated.
No Labels, the group that for months has pledged to run a centrist presidential ticket in the event of a rematch between President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump, is running out of time to recruit a standard-bearer after a string of rejections.
With a number of prominent prospective candidates saying no thanks in recent months, some No Labels members and leaders have grown frustrated with the failure to advance a ticket, according to two people involved with the group and notes provided to The New York Times from a recent video meeting of No Labels delegates.
Still, the group’s leadership continues to hold out hope for November, even as the possibility of outright defeating both Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump seems increasingly remote. Leaders have promoted a far-fetched scenario in which the group could play the role of power broker in the general election if neither major-party candidate reaches an outright majority.
As the group charts a path forward, deadlines to get on state ballots are approaching.
“To be credible, you want to be on the ballot in every state,” former Representative Tom Davis of Virginia, a No Labels co-founder, said in an interview.
“Although,” he added, “you know, Lincoln wasn’t on the ballot in 10 states, and he won.”
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Spending that the White House does not like is being labeled fraudulent. At the same time, President Trump is rolling back anticorruption efforts and ethical standards for himself and allies like Elon Musk.
The remains of Edwin Echevarria, 65, were found floating in the East River on Feb. 5. His roommate, Christian Millet, 23, has been charged with second degree murder.
Even as they praise the president’s unilateral actions to slash federal spending, G.O.P. lawmakers have quietly moved to seek carve outs or exemptions for their own constituents.
The mayor discussed options to run for re-election in the Republican contest as recently as Monday. Asked for comment, he said he was running as a Democrat.
A lawsuit appears to be the first challenge to the constitutionality of an executive order barring trans athletes from girls’ and women’s sports teams.
The comptroller’s office, which first noticed the missing money, said that the federal agency had unilaterally taken the funds from the city’s accounts.
The executive order would ban citizenship for children born in the United States to foreign workers on visas that often lead to permanent residency.
The Trump administration’s order to drop the charges against Mayor Eric Adams was the most pronounced example of the president using his power to determine the city’s future.
President Trump had already pardoned his adviser in a similar federal case, which accused him of skimming money from donations to build a southern border barrier.
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act makes it illegal for companies that operate in the United States to pay foreign government officials to secure or keep business deals.
Representative Dan Goldman’s support may help Mr. Myrie, a state senator from Brooklyn, to emerge from a pack of progressive Democrats.
The new tone of the department, current and former officials say, appears to promise a campaign of intimidation against career employees viewed as insufficiently loyal.