Politics

(AP) – Israel has rejected a proposed Gaza deal announced by President Donald Trump, drawing a clear line in the sand: Israel will not pull back until Hamas is genuinely disarmed. At a Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed what he called the “15-point document,” emphasizing that Israel’s military will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed in reality—not in promises.

Netanyahu also said Israel is still discussing plans for Gaza with Washington, suggesting negotiations continue even as the current proposal has been rejected outright. A fragile ceasefire is still holding, but Israeli control remains heavy across the Palestinian enclave—about half of the territory—after a war that has devastated large parts of Gaza. Hamas, for its part, insists the “road map” remains the path forward and expects mediators—and the United States—to pressure Netanyahu.

But tensions between Israel and Hamas remain unresolved, and now it’s the Trump administration’s challenge to manage. The administration backed the peace framework and helped build momentum around it, but its closest regional ally says the plan has not yet met Prime Minister Netanyahu’s core demand: that Hamas fully disarm before Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Middle East security picture is growing more dangerous on multiple fronts. Iran has again reshuffled leadership at the top of its Supreme National Security Council, naming Mohsen Rezaei to replace Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr. This is part of a broader pattern of changes among Iran’s senior ranks as the country adjusts to losses during the war.

Iran’s posture toward the Strait of Hormuz also remains firm. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says negotiations with Oman over “new maritime routes” are in late stages, but he stressed that the strait does not automatically “reopen.” He pointed to conditions that, according to Iran, have been communicated through intermediaries.

Those conditions are sweeping: Iran is demanding that the United States correct its behavior, end hostilities, lift naval restrictions on Iranian ports, remove sanctions, withdraw U.S. forces from the region, and compensate Iran for war damage—while also unfreezing assets and ending threats.

In parallel, reports suggest Iran and Oman are working to finalize a temporary arrangement tied to managing the strait. The reported framework would allow ships to enter near Iran and exit near Oman without paying fees during the interim period. But key restrictions are emerging as well: a preliminary plan outlined by Iran’s security and parliamentary structures indicates that vessels connected to “hostile countries” would be barred unless Iran receives compensation for past harm.

And in Yemen, Iranian-backed Houthi forces struck a government-held port on the Red Sea coast. That escalation deepens fears about interference with strategic shipping lanes—exactly the kind of instability that threatens global commerce and reinforces the need for strong deterrence.

Bottom line: while diplomats talk, regional actors keep preparing for confrontation. Israel is refusing to move without real disarmament. Iran is demanding major concessions. And dangerous attacks around the Red Sea continue. In times like these, American leadership—and credible strength—are not optional.

FILE – President Donald Trump listens as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Sunday that his new White House counsel will be Will Scharf, the staff secretary who as the Trump-appointed head of the National Capital Planning Commission helped secure approval for the $400 million ballroom project.

Trump said that, beginning Sept. 1, Scharf will be replacing David Warrington, who will be leaving the administration to join the private sector. Trump noted that Scharf previously served as a federal prosecutor and represented him in a number of cases, including at the Supreme Court.

“Will is Tough, Strong, and Smart! He also loves our Country, and respects the Law,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Will Scharf will do a great job as White House Counsel!”

The shakeup in the White House counsel’s office comes at a critical juncture — just months ahead of the midterm elections, where Trump’s Republican Party will be fighting to hold on to control of Congress. Democrats have vowed to pursue investigations into Trump and his administration if they are successful in November.

The White House counsel’s job is to advise on legal and policy questions related to the presidency. The office is the primary White House contact for the Justice Department, and it handles presidential pardons, works on judicial appointments and reviews legislation. The office also helps investigate and manage congressional investigations into the administration and lawsuits against the president when he is sued in his official capacity.

During Trump’s first term, Scharf worked to get judges and justices confirmed for him. They included U.S. Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh — who himself served as White House staff secretary for President George W. Bush — and Amy Coney Barrett.

In the period when Trump was out of office, Scharf joined his legal team in October 2023 and was one of his lawyers in the election interference case brought by special counsel Jack Smith. The case went before the Supreme Court, which ruled that presidents enjoy sweeping immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts.

Scharf is among several of Trump’s lawyers who have been rewarded with spots in his second administration. Todd Blanche, who represented Trump during the Republican’s hush money trial in New York. was confirmed last week as attorney general.

As White House staff secretary, Scharf was responsible for managing the papers that cross the president’s desk. He is at Trump’s side when the president signs executive orders and often provides running narration on what Trump is signing.

Trump in July 2025 named Scharf as chair of the National Capital Planning Commission, the executive branch agency with jurisdiction over construction and major renovations to government buildings in the region.

Trump’s ballroom won final approval from the NCPC in April, though a divided federal appeals court ruled Friday that construction on the project must stop because Congress had not approved it. Trump has vowed to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The project is already well on its way and has begun to rise above ground on the east side of the White House.

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FLORENCE, S.C. (AP) — Few people have anything bad to say about Darline Graham, who was catapulted from obscurity last month when she was appointed to replace her late brother Lindsey Graham in the U.S. Senate.

“I think Darline’s wonderful,” said Kathy Bustos of Mount Pleasant, after attending a Republican forum last week.

But that doesn’t mean Bustos wants to vote for her in the state’s special primary on Tuesday.

“I think it’s a very nice gesture for her to have the rest of his term to complete, but I’m not sure that she’s really qualified or ready to be elected to the Senate,” she said.

It’s a common sentiment among Republican voters pondering an unexpected decision about replacing Lindsey Graham, who was nominated for a fifth term before he died from a tear in his aorta. Darline Graham was often by his side throughout his career, but she remains largely unknown in South Carolina’s clubby political circles.

President Donald Trump has endorsed her, and she’s backed by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is running television advertising to support her candidacy.

However, Graham has been largely absent from the campaign trail, spending most of her time in Washington as an interim senator. Her appointment to the role, instead of giving her a leg up over the competition, may ultimately hold her back by preventing her from getting to know voters during a weeks-long sprint to Tuesday.

She is up against several well-known Republicans, including Representatives Russell Fry and Ralph Norman, as well as former Gov. Mark Sanford. The crowded field makes a runoff more likely, and it would be held on Aug. 25.

All of them spoke at a Friday meeting of the Fourth District Republican Club in Greenville, but Graham sent a video message, saying she was “in Washington working hard for you.” She promised to be “a great friend and ally” to Trump and that she wanted to “earn your vote.”

And at a candidate event in Florence on Saturday, where Graham spoke, some of her supporters said they backed the interim senator’s decision to stay in Washington, even if it meant not campaigning.

“She committed to not missing votes or not being there to push forward with those bills,” said Teresa Castrinos, who made the hours-long drive from Bluffton to see Graham. “I feel like she’s putting South Carolina first. She’s wanting to fulfill her time as a senator right now, so I really admire her for that.”

While Lindsey Graham was single and well-known around the world, his sister lived a relatively quiet life with her husband and daughters in Lexington, South Carolina. She spent years in state government, working with people with disabilities and as an agency head of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind.

Before participating in a candidate forum Saturday in Florence, her only public campaign event had been a candidate forum in Lexington. Charles Brentnell of Greenville County, who was still considering his options, said he liked her decision to stay in Washington when the Senate was in session.

“Let’s keep the Senate at the Senate instead of taking a month off for no good reason,” he said.

Appearing alongside other contenders Saturday, Graham apologized for reading from notes from a lectern, pointing to the Senate votes that kept her in Washington until just hours before she headed to meet voters in South Carolina.

“Yes, I have some notes. You know why? Because I haven’t slept in two days, so I’m going to keep my thoughts straight,” Graham said, adding that she opposed Senate recess but lost out to others who wanted to end votes and go home. “I wanted to stay there, and I wanted to get things done.”

Graham also participated in one of two televised debates, where she backed Trump’s plan to change filibuster rules to make it easier to pass strict proof-of-citizenship voting legislation.

While other candidates came to speak to the media gathered afterward, Graham skipped the session and merely gave a thumbs-up outside when asked how she felt the debate had gone.

In contrast to her loquacious late brother, Graham has not spoken with reporters in Capitol Hill hallways or fielded questions on the stump.

She’s spoken at length to Fox News personalities Sean Hannity and Trey Gowdy, both of whom eulogized Lindsey Graham at memorial services last month, and granted two interviews to local news outlets.

On Saturday, in her first gaggle with reporters, Graham addressed some of voters’ concerns, reiterating her commitment to do Senate work when the chamber is in session.

“I feel like my job is to be in D.C. working for everyone right now. I hate that I can’t be here. I want to be here,” she said. “That’s why I left and didn’t sleep at all last night, so I could attend today’s event.”

As to the skepticism in sending Graham to Washington for six years, Graham cited her state government experience, plus the past several weeks she’s had serving as interim.

“Trust me, I have learned a lot already, so I think I have experience,” she said.

A second debate took place while Graham was in Washington on Tuesday, a date her campaign pointed out had been scheduled despite the senator’s conflict.

Gigi Bray of Charleston said the idea of Darline Graham serving in the interim makes sense, but electing her to a full term does not.

“I think it’s a great honor for her to hold her brother’s spot till November, but it’s time for a change,” said Bray, who backs Sanford. “I don’t think she has a lot of government experience, and I think right now, with the state of our country, I think it’s very important that somebody has experience.”

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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

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By David Morgan

WASHINGTON, Aug 8 (Reuters) – The Republican-led U.S. Senate passed a temporary measure to fund federal agencies through December 11 on Saturday, in a move intended to avert a crippling federal government shutdown weeks before the November midterm elections.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed its own short-term funding measure last month. The two chambers will have to resolve their differences before President Donald Trump can sign it into law before current funding expires on September 30 — less than five weeks before the November 3 congressional elections.

Democrats said the Senate version, in contrast to the House version, would prevent the Trump administration from reallocating funding to border security from other programs. It also includes language to allow funding adjustments for housing and food assistance programs. 

The Senate measure would also temporarily block the White House budget office from implementing a new rule giving political appointees control over hundreds of billions of dollars in grant money. 

(Reporting by David Morgan; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

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By Jasper Ward

WASHINGTON, Aug 9 (Reuters) – Some Taylor Swift songs have been removed from social media videos posted by President Donald Trump’s campaign and the White House, which has used two of the American superstar’s songs over the past week.

The White House and a representative for Swift did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Swift has not spoken recently about Trump, although she endorsed his Democratic rival, then-Vice President Kamala Harris, in 2024. During the 2020 campaign, Swift posted on social media that Trump was “WELL AWARE we do not want him as our president.”

Trump has repeatedly criticized Swift. After she endorsed Harris, the Republican said on social media, “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” Last year he wrote: “Has anyone noticed that, since I said ‘I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT,’ she’s no longer “HOT?”

Dozens of artists, including Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande, have called on the Trump administration not to use their songs.

The Trump campaign used two Swift songs over the last week on its TikTok page. One, playing on her lyrics, featured the caption: “Red (Donald Trump’s Version). Red (Taylor Swift Wrote A Whole Album About Republicans). Donald Trump. Everything Has Changed (At Our Southern Border). Donald Trump. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (The Biden Harris Administration). Donald Trump. The Last Time (An Autopen Runs The Country).” It referenced famous songs by the pop star.

In June, Trump’s campaign posted a video on the short-video platform with Swift’s new “Toy Story 5” song “I Knew It, I Knew You.” The short video was captioned “Nobody loves our country & the American People more than @President Donald J Trump.” It showed him interacting with children at the White House, dancing at a UFC match and appearing at a rally.

It was the third time the Trump administration or his campaign had used one of the Grammy Award-winning pop star’s songs in recent months.

In April, the White House shared a video showing the crew of Artemis II meeting with Trump at the White House the day before. The video used Swift’s “High Infidelity” and lyrics from the song: “Do you really want to know where I was April 29th?”

The White House shared another TikTok video in November featuring “The Fate of Ophelia” from Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl” album, which had been released the month before. That video featured images of the U.S. flag, monuments and various photos of Trump, including his 2023 arrest mugshot.

That post garnered widespread social media reaction and led to a White House spokesperson telling multiple news outlets the video was created because the Trump administration knew news outlets “would breathlessly amplify them.”

The communications team for Trump, who is prolific on social media, has posted an array of hit songs with images including Trump’s immigration crackdown, U.S. military operations against Iran and the arrest of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington; Editing by William Mallard)

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By Andy Sullivan

Aug 8 (Reuters) – The ideological divide roiling U.S. Democratic politics moves to Hawaii on Saturday, where voters will decide whether to nominate a seasoned lawmaker to another term in Congress or pick a younger, more left-wing candidate.

U.S. Representative Ed Case, 73, faces a challenge for the Democratic nomination from Jarrett Keohokalole, 43, a state senator who has argued the incumbent is too close to corporate interests.

Keohokalole is also calling for expanded government healthcare and limiting aid to Israel, in line with other progressive candidates who have won Democratic primaries in Michigan, New York and Colorado this year.

The outcome will not likely affect Democrats’ chances of winning control of the House of Representatives in the November midterm elections, as the Honolulu-based district is seen as safely Democratic.

Case has held the seat since 2019, and also served in the House between 2002 and 2007. A moderate who holds a senior position on a key spending committee, Case has argued that Hawaii will attract fewer federal dollars if he is not reelected. Keohokalole has highlighted Case’s campaign donations from businesses to argue he has lost touch with voters.

If he wins, Keohokalole would be the latest progressive challenger to capitalize on Democratic voters’ frustration with party leaders who they view as too old, too close to Israel, and unable to effectively oppose Republican President Donald Trump. But Case could draw support from independent and Republican voters, who can vote in primary contests in Hawaii. 

(Reporting by Andy Sullivan. Editing by Michael Learmonth and Rod Nickel)

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By Jan Wolfe

Aug 8 (Reuters) – Former U.S. President Joe Biden’s prostate cancer has spread beyond his bones and is very painful, his son, Hunter Biden, said in an interview with the BBC.

• “The cancer has spread, metastasized into his bones and further,” Hunter Biden told BBC’s “Newsnight,” according to video posted online on Friday. “It’s very painful and it’s very debilitating in many respects.”

• A spokesman for the 83-year-old Democrat declined on Saturday to comment on Hunter Biden’s interview.

• Biden revealed in May 2025, less than four months after he left the White House, that he had been diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer, saying at the time that it had spread to his bones.

• A Biden spokesman said in October he was undergoing radiation treatment and hormone therapy.

• Biden was the oldest person to win the U.S. presidency at the time of his election in 2020.

• Biden’s physical health and mental acuity drew scrutiny during his 2021 to 2025 presidency.

• Biden attended the dedication of Barack Obama’s presidential library in June in Chicago. Biden served as Obama’s vice president from 2009 to 2017.

• Biden’s presidential memoir is scheduled for release on November 17.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Sergio Non and Cynthia Osterman)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate in an overnight vote Saturday approved a short-term measure to fund federal agencies into early December and avoid a potentially chaotic government shutdown during the middle of campaign season.

The late-summer action on a funding fix is unusual. Normally, Congress waits until the final days or hours of a funding deadline to pass short-term patches, but this time senators acted nearly two months before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.

The 90-6 vote showed lawmakers are still smarting from the two historic shutdowns that occurred this past year and want to avoid another before voters go to the polls.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune wanted the funding dealt with before senators went home for the next five weeks to focus on their reelection campaigns and other matters. It got caught up with other issues that pushed votes into the night, but the bill had broad bipartisan support. The House will also have to approve the measure when members return from their August recess before it can go to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature.

The bill generally funds the federal government at current levels though Dec. 11, but includes a variety of exceptions that senators negotiated with the White House.

Democrats secured language to ensure no money could be transferred to the Border Patrol. They also rejected the White House’s request of $1 billion for early work on a new “Trump-class” battleship that the administration announced on Dec. 22.

“The only person who wants these golden ships is Donald Trump so he can slap his name on them,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said.

The bill also includes language delaying a national ban on most intoxicating hemp products. That one-month delay prompted outrage from some Senate Republicans who say that too many such products are falling into the hands of often unsuspecting children. The packaging of the products often relies on bright colors and intentionally mimics popular snack brands to attract consumers.

Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., said that since 2017 there has been nearly a 10-fold increase in cannabis-related emergency room visits by minors in his home state.

“This is a public health crisis that deserves this Senate’s immediate attention,” Budd said. “Our children should never be the testing ground for an industry willing to exploit a loophole in federal law for profit.”

But the hemp industry said the delay buys time for Congress to craft legislation that protects hemp farmers and businesses while also putting in place safeguards to protect children.

Trump himself has called Budd to discuss the issue, though the president did not specifically ask the senator to drop his effort, Budd’s spokesman said.

“Senator Budd had a friendly phone call with President Trump discussing the legislative efforts regarding THC,” said spokesman Christian McMullen. He said the senator outlined his concerns about “any delay to closing the hemp loophole.”

Budd tried to strip the hemp delay from the bill, but the Senate turned aside his effort.

Democratic lawmakers, along with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, also got language in the bill that would block, for the duration of the funding patch, new regulations on federal grants. The regulations would require a senior political appointee to review grants before they are awarded to ensure, among other things, that they advance the president’s policy priorities. Democrats worry it’s an effort to kill grants destined for Democratic-leaning states.

“They are not interested in making our tax dollars work better — they just want them to work for Donald Trump,” said Sen. Patty Murray, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The White House Office of Management and Budget says its effort is about improving accountability to ensure taxpayer dollars aren’t wasted or misused. The issue is sure to be a topic of future negotiations on a full-year spending measure.

But Collins said the vast majority of the nearly 500,000 people and groups weighing in on the rule are opposed to it.

“I don’t think in my time that I’ve been privileged to serve in the Senate that I have ever seen a proposed rule generate that many negative comments,” Collins said.

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By Steve Gorman

Aug 7 (Reuters) – New Jersey civil rights officials have opened an investigation into the treatment of detainees at a controversial Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Newark run by the private prison company GEO Group, the state attorney general said on Friday.

A statement announcing delivery of investigative subpoenas in the civil rights probe of Delaney Hall came after a man from El Salvador, Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, died in custody on Saturday after suffering what ICE called a medical emergency.

Delaney Hall earlier this year was the scene of protests that led to clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement personnel.

The man’s family on Tuesday accused facility operators of failing to provide vital medical attention to Lopez-Cornejo, who they said suffered from health issues such as high blood pressure, diabetes and epilepsy, and relied on several medications to keep those conditions under control.

His mother, Maria Cornejo, said her son had called the day before his death and told her he lost feeling in half his face and arm. Relatives demanded an independent investigation of his death.

ICE said Lopez-Cornejo received proper medical care and was seen by health professionals.

The newly launched state investigation “will focus on whether any action or inaction by GEO Group employees violated the civil rights of people detained at the facility,” Attorney General Jennifer Davenport’s office said in the statement.

There was no immediate reply from ICE, the Department of Homeland Security or GEO Group to requests by Reuters for comment.

Delaney Hall, a 1,000-bed facility, has been a flashpoint for protests over complaints of spoiled food, squalid, unsanitary bathroom conditions, faulty ventilation and inadequate medical care. Two local Democratic politicians helping to spearhead the demonstrations, U.S. Representative LaMonica McIver and Mayor Ras Baraka, were arrested outside the facility in May in what they said were politically motivated acts of intimidation.

Democratic New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill later ordered state police to assume control of the area around Delaney after increasingly tense face-offs between protesters and federal officers at the jail.

Complaints have been lodged against other migrant detention centers, with more than 50 people dying in ICE custody nationwide since President Donald Trump returned to office in January of last year and launched a sweeping deportation campaign.

(Reporting and writing by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Sergio Non and Chris Reese)

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Weeks before voting ended in California’s primary for governor, Los Angeles-based influencer Shaka Smith took to Instagram to tell his more than 700,000 followers whom he was voting for and why.

“Healthcare shouldn’t bankrupt you, housing should not feel impossible, polluters shouldn’t pass their bill to us and artists should not be replaced by AI,” Smith said. “That’s why I’m supporting Tom Steyer for governor.”

But Smith started the video with a disclaimer: “This is an ad, and honestly, I wish more political content said that first.” His caption specified that he was paid by Steyer’s campaign.

California is one of two states, along with Texas, that have passed policies requiring content creators to say if they’ve been paid by a political campaign to post, and the Golden State is considering cracking down by fining people who don’t.

Campaigns have long worked with celebrities and major influencers to win over voters, but now they are teaming up with smaller creators — sometimes with fewer than 100,000 followers — to reach more tailored audiences. That has sparked debates about whether disclosure rules for political advertisements should apply to content creators, who are expected to play prominent roles in the upcoming midterms and the 2028 presidential election.

“If you’re running for president and you are not currently trying to court some of these people or lining up your own people to act as surrogates for you, you’re already behind,” said Mike Nellis, a Democratic strategist who worked for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.

Questions about transparency have been fueled by high-profile instances of influencers making content intended to change minds or votes without disclosing they were paid for it.

In 2022, the campaign of then-Senate candidate John Fetterman paid Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi of “Jersey Shore” to record a video teasing his GOP rival for leaving New Jersey before announcing his run in Pennsylvania. In 2023, content creators were paid by an influencer marketing agency with conservative ties to defend Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, after he was impeached for alleged bribery and other accusations of misconduct, according to the Texas Tribune. The payments weren’t clearly disclosed in either case.

Steyer, a Democratic billionaire who spent more than $215 million of his own money in his unsuccessful bid for governor, took fire from rivals for paying content creators. He wasn’t the only hopeful in the race paying influencers, but he faced much of the blowback since he’d already been accused of trying to buy the election. Many of the creators who worked with Steyer’s campaign disclosed that they were paid, but the state’s campaign finance watchdog is investigating several other instances in which creators allegedly didn’t.

California Sen. Adam Schiff introduced federal legislation last month, but it hasn’t received a vote yet. Some outside groups are urging the Federal Election Commission to pass its own rule.

California’s law requiring disclosure, passed in 2023, is difficult to enforce. The state’s campaign watchdog can seek a court order compelling an influencer to disclose that they were paid, but that can take months.

That prompted Democratic Assemblymember Marc Berman to write a new bill to penalize content creators and political committees if the creator fails to state they were compensated. The bill would give the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission the power to fine influencers and committees if they are found to have violated the law, allowing the commission to bypass the court process. They could face fines of up to $5,000 per violation, according to the commission.

“Voters should have a right to know whether or not campaigns are paying for the messaging that they’re seeing,” Berman said.

Texas’ campaign watchdog passed a rule in 2024 requiring content creators to include disclaimers when they are paid for political advertisements, and the New York Legislature is considering a similar requirement. Other disclosure bills failed in recent years in Utah and Georgia.

Smith, the L.A. influencer, hadn’t committed to a candidate for governor when a trusted friend told him to look into Steyer. That friend had been paid to post about Steyer.

Smith liked Steyer’s promise to increase taxes on billionaires and his refusal to accept donations from corporate political action committees.

He ended up doing two paid ads, both of which included compensation disclaimers that the Steyer campaign told him were a requirement.

Smith wouldn’t say exactly how much the campaign paid him, but he said it was in the thousands of dollars. He thinks the posts had an impact on his followers, with only a few detractors pushing back.

“They kind of trust my voice,” he said of his audience. “They knew that if I’m saying it, it’s at least something they should look into.”

Dustin Torreverde, a content creator in Southern California who hasn’t been paid by a political campaign for social media posts, said it’s important for influencers to be transparent with their audiences. But the bill could pose an unfair burden on creators who are just trying to make a living, he said.

“A lot of us are very small creators,” he said. “So if we were to get penalized and we have to get lawyers, stuff like that, it’s going to be very difficult for us.”

Adina Flores, a libertarian content creator in Northern California who votes for both parties, said influencers should have to disclose if they are paid and she generally supports penalties. She worries that some people may take money to post political content without doing a “deep dive into the candidate to make sure that’s somebody they should support.”

Saurav Ghosh, a lawyer with the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit focused on protecting U.S. democracy, hopes disclosure requirements passed by states will lead to federal rules.

“Transparency is one of the most important pillars of our election system,” he said.

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