Politics and views in the United States.

Kentucky's Mitch McConnell says he'll step down as GOP Senate leader in November, Michigan's "not committed" vote costs President Biden two delegates and the Pentagon says reliance on stop-gap spending bills hurts military readiness.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2024 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

I'm no longer the young man sitting in the back, hoping colleagues would remember my name.

It's time for the next generation of leadership.

Republican Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the longest serving Senate leader ever, will serve out the last three years of his term, but will stop being minority leader in November.

The 82-year-old has suffered health issues of late, but he's also come into conflict with the dominant figure in the party, former President Donald Trump.

The Supreme Court will decide whether Trump is immune from prosecution for trying to overturn the 2020 election.

The court scheduled arguments in late April and at the former president's request has put his March trial date on hold.

Loyola law professor Jessica Levinson tells NBC, she expects the high court will uphold an appellate court's rejection of immunity, but it's new legal territory.

This is the type of case that the Supreme Court does look at.

It's a big constitutional question.

It's a matter of first impression because we've never been here before.

Illinois has now become the third state to kick the former president off the ballot for leading an insurrection.

Meanwhile, a New York appellate judge has refused to stop collection of the half billion dollar civil penalty while Trump appeals that ruling.

And former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley is calling on the Republican National Committee to bar the party from paying the former president's legal fees.

More than one in eight Democrats in Michigan's primary voted uncommitted, enough to deny President Joe Biden two delegates.

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hamoud says Biden's support for Israel's war in Gaza betrays the more than quarter million Arab Americans in his state. 2020, we're promised a president who is going to bring decency back to the White House, who led with humanity.

And what we found since the events unfolded on October 7th is anything but.

Some organizers want Biden to call for a ceasefire.

Robert McCaul with the Council on American Islamic Relations says now they're focused on next month's Minnesota and Washington state primaries.

Our communities are organized.

We're a political force in these states and other swing states.

And we can tip the results in any election when it counts.

Congressional leaders have reached a potential deal on six of 12 annual budget bills pending approval by the House and Senate, along with another temporary spending stopgap.

That would avoid a Friday government shutdown, keeping it open into next month.

But Pentagon spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder says budgeting this way hurts national security.

The fact is that this uncertainty undermines our military readiness and jeopardizes critical modernization efforts.

Meanwhile, the leaders of two dozen European parliaments are urging Speaker Johnson to pass additional aid for Ukraine.

And the New York legislature has approved new maps for the state's congressional districts, including several that could be very competitive this fall.

I'm Katherine Carley for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.