Two Republican-led states have removed hundreds of thousands of registrations from their voter rolls this month, while another identified hundreds of non-citizen voters during their voter list maintenance.

At least 33 people were killed in a powerful cross-country storm system that has devastated much of the Midwest and Southeast since Friday, officials said. 

The death toll continues to rise as severe weather and raging tornadoes obliterate homes, businesses and schools, leaving hundreds of thousands without power, with the monster storm expected to slam parts of the East Coast on Sunday. 

In an unprecedented move to funnel more public tax dollars toward groups that oppose abortion, Republican lawmakers in Missouri are advancing a plan to allow residents to donate to pregnancy resource centers instead of paying any state income taxes.

The proposal would establish a 100% tax credit, up from 70%, and a $50,000 annual cap per taxpayer. The result: Nearly all Missouri households — except those with the highest incomes — could fully satisfy their state tax bill by redirecting their payment from the state to pregnancy centers.

Representative Cori Bush (D., Mo.), the progressive “Squad” member who recently stopped short of calling Hamas a terrorist organization, lost a competitive House primary bid Tuesday night against St. Louis County prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell, who positioned himself as a pro-Israel alternative during the race.

The Associated Press called Bell’s primary victory at 11 p.m. EDT. He will now vie for Bush’s place in the House come November, facing the winner of Tuesday’s GOP primary in a district that President Joe Biden won by more than 60 points in 2020.

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) lost her Democratic primary on Tuesday, shrinking the ranks of the House’s left-wing “Squad” and delivering another major victory to the pro-Israel and business-friendly groups that backed her challenger.

Wesley Bell, the St. Louis County prosecutor, defeated Bush. Since Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, which includes all of St. Louis and many of its northern and western suburbs, is overwhelmingly Democratic, Bell is all but assured of a seat in Congress come November.

Democratic congresswoman and "Squad" member Cori Bush has lost her primary race in Missouri, according to US media projections.

Wesley Bell, a St Louis prosecutor, will instead be the party's candidate in the state's first congressional district this November.

Ms Bush came to prominence as an organiser in the Black Lives Matter movement and, after taking office in 2021, as one of the "Squad" of Democratic members of the House known for supporting progressive causes.

Progressives suffered a major blow in Tuesday night’s primaries as Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) became the second “squad” member to lose to a challenger this cycle. 

Coming just hours after Vice President Harris announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate in a move seen as a win for the progressive wing of the party, Bush’s loss put internal party frictions over the Israel-Hamas war on full display.

Voters in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District will head to the polls Tuesday as Rep. Cori Bush fights to hold on to her seat in the Democratic primary against St. Louis County prosecutor Wesley Bell, who is backed by a powerful pro-Israel lobbying group. The race between two liberal Black candidates in this district gets to the heart of a fissure within the Democratic Party over the United States’ unwavering support of Israel’s military operation in Gaza.