Politics

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem raise her arm before the House Committee on Homeland Securi...

Homeland Security Secretary Noem defends Trump’s hard-line immigration policies under scrutiny

WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defiantly defended the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration policies on Thursday during a House committee hearing, portraying migrants as a major threat faced by the nation that justifies a crackdown that has seen widespread arrests, deportations and a dizzying pace of restrictions on foreigners. Noem, who heads the […]
9 months ago
President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable discussion with business leaders in the Roosevelt...

Trump’s handling of the economy is at its lowest point in AP-NORC polling

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s approval on the economy and immigration have fallen substantially since March, according to a new AP-NORC poll, the latest indication that two signature issues that got him elected barely a year ago could be turning into liabilities as his party begins to gear up for the 2026 midterms. Only […]
9 months ago
This photo provided by Joel Brennan's campaign shows Democratic candidate for Wisconsin governor Jo...

Joel Brennan, former top Evers aide, joins crowded 2026 Wisconsin governor race

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Joel Brennan, a former top official in Gov. Tony Evers’ administration, announced Thursday that he is running to succeed the two-term Democrat, joining a crowded primary field for the 2026 election. Brennan, president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, told The Associated Press that he would be a governor who both fights […]
9 months ago
Jakelin Pasedo's three-year-old son washes his hands in the Miami-area motel room where Pasedo and ...

Families set off on migration journeys and find themselves torn apart

MIAMI (AP) — During the first Trump administration, families were forcibly separated at the border. Now parents inside the United States are being arrested by immigration authorities and separated from their families during prolonged detention inside the country. Three recent migrants told The Associated Press that their journeys were sources of deep pain and uncertainty […]
9 months ago
FILE - Nassau Hall at Princeton University is seen, Oct. 8, 2024, in Princeton, N.J. (AP Photo/Ted ...

Without affirmative action, elite colleges are prioritizing economic diversity in admissions

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some of the country’s most prestigious colleges are enrolling record numbers of low-income students — a growing admissions priority in the absence of affirmative action. America’s top campuses remain crowded with wealth, but some universities have accelerated efforts to reach a wider swath of the country, recruiting more in urban and rural […]
9 months ago
Members of the National Guard patrol in front of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, Friday,...

Senate to question military leaders on Trump’s National Guard deployments

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators for the first time are poised to question military leaders over President Donald Trump’s use of the National Guard in American cities, an extraordinary move that has prompted legal challenges as well as questions about states’ rights and the use of the military on U.S. soil. The hearing Thursday before the […]
9 months ago
FILE - A national flag hangs over the site where conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and ki...

Judge to decide degree of media access in Charlie Kirk killing case

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Lawyers for the 22-year-old Utah man charged with killing Charlie Kirk are due in court Thursday as they push to further limit media access in the high-profile criminal case. A Utah judge is weighing the public’s right to know details in Tyler Robinson’s case against his attorneys’ concerns that the […]
9 months ago
Protesters gather outside the Senate chamber at the Statehouse as senators meet during a special se...

Indiana redistricting is up for a final, deciding vote in the state Senate

Indiana state senators are expected to take a final, high-stakes vote on redistricting Thursday after months of pressure from President Donald Trump, and the outcome is still uncertain. Even in the face of one-on-one pressure from the White House and violent threats against state lawmakers, many Indiana Republicans have been reluctant to back a new […]
9 months ago

Trump wants to keep farmers happy with cash. They’re still worried about the future

RANDOLPH, Minn. (AP) — When Donald Trump promised new tariffs while running for president, Gene Stehly worried that trade disputes would jeopardize his international sales of corn, soybeans and wheat. A little more than a year later, Stehly said his fears have become a reality, and Trump’s latest promise of federal assistance is insufficient to […]
9 months ago
Pregnant asylum-seeker Yaoska, 32, comforts her two-year-old son who was not feeling well, inside t...

Trump administration separates thousands of migrant families in the US

MIAMI (AP) — President Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance immigration policy split more than 5,000 children from their families at the Mexico border during his first term. new wave of immigration enforcement is dividing families inside the U.S. Federal officials and their local law enforcement partners are poor conditions for weeks or months before asking to go […]
9 months ago

Time magazine to name its person of the year for 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — Time magazine is set to name its person of the year for 2025 on Thursday. Among those in the running according to prediction markets is artificial intelligence itself, along with tech CEOs Jensen Huang of Nvidia and Sam Altman of OpenAI. Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope whose election this […]
9 months ago
The National Security Strategy, released in November 2025, is photographed Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025...

Congress would target China with new restrictions in massive defense bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration may have softened its language on China to maintain a fragile truce in their trade war, but Congress is charging ahead with more restrictions in a defense authorization bill that would deny Beijing investments in highly sensitive sectors and reduce U.S. reliance on Chinese biotechnology companies. Included in the […]
9 months ago

Trump’s ‘gold card’ program goes live, offering US visas starting at $1 million per person

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that his long-promised “ gold card ” was officially going on sale, offering legal status and an eventual pathway to U.S. citizenship for individuals paying $1 million and corporations ponying up twice that per foreign-born employee. A website accepting applications went live as Trump revealed the start […]
9 months ago

Trump administration adds militarized zone in California along southern US border

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The Trump administration is adding another militarized zone to the southern U.S. border to support border security operations — this time in California. The Department of Interior on Wednesday said it would transfer jurisdiction along most of California’s international border with Mexico to the Navy to reinforce “the historic role […]
9 months ago
FILE - A census taker's briefcase is visible as she knocks on doors, Aug. 11, 2020, in Winter Park,...

Scores of government statisticians are gone, leaving data at risk, report says

The ranks of U.S. government statisticians have been gutted in the past year due to layoffs and buyouts. That along with diminished funding and attacks on their independence have put at risk the data used to make informed decisions about everything from the nation’s economy to its demographics, according to a new report from outside […]
9 months ago
The seal is seen on a podium at the Pentagon, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Washington, before Defen...

House is voting on a defense bill to raise troop pay and overhaul weapons purchases

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House was headed toward a final vote Wednesday on a sweeping defense bill that authorizes $900 billion in military programs, including a pay raise for troops and an overhaul of how the Department of Defense buys weapons. The vote comes at a time of increasing friction between the Republican-controlled Congress and […]
9 months ago
Flanked by founder and CEO of Dell, Michael Dell, left, and Arvind Krishna CEO of IBM, President Do...

Trump says the US has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela amid mounting tensions with the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. It’s the Trump administration’s latest push to increase pressure on Maduro, who has been charged with narcoterrorism in the United States. The […]
9 months ago
Travelers wait in a TSA checkpoint at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport Wednesday, Nov. 26,...

Foreigners allowed to travel to the US without a visa could soon face new social media screening

WASHINGTON (AP) — Foreigners who are allowed to come to the United States without a visa could soon be required to submit information about their social media, email accounts and extensive family history to the Department of Homeland Security before being approved for travel. The notice published Wednesday in the stepping up monitoring of international […]
9 months ago
FILE - Oil platforms are visible through the haze near the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanc...

Companies offer $279 million for Gulf of Mexico drilling rights in first of 30 planned oil sales

WASHINGTON (AP) — Oil companies offered $279 million for drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday in the first of 30 sales planned for the region in coming years under Republican efforts to ramp up U.S. fossil fuel production. The sale came after President Donald Trump’s administration recently announced plans to allow new […]
9 months ago
Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives to join Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a secure room in t...

Calibri font becomes the latest DEI target as Rubio orders return to Times New Roman

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered diplomatic correspondence to stop using the Calibri font and return to the more traditional Times New Roman effective Wednesday, reversing a Biden administration shift to the less formal typeface that he called wasteful, confusing and unbefitting the dignity of U.S. government documents. “Typography shapes how […]
9 months ago
Elon Musk attends the Saudi Investment Forum at the Kennedy Center, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025, in Wa...

Elon Musk says DOGE was only ‘somewhat successful’ and he wouldn’t do it again

Mega billionaire Elon Musk, in a friendly interview with his aide and conservative influencer Katie Miller, said his efforts leading the Department of Government Efficiency were only “somewhat successful” and he would not do it over again. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who also owns the social media platform X, still broadly defended President Donald […]
9 months ago
FILE - Members of the California National Guard and U.S. Marines guard a federal building on Tuesda...

Judge orders Trump to end California National Guard troop deployment in Los Angeles

The Trump administration must stop deploying the California National Guard in Los Angeles and return control of the troops to the state, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco granted a preliminary injunction sought by California officials who opposed President Donald Trump’s extraordinary move to use state Guard troops […]
9 months ago

UN human rights office in ‘survival mode’ with $90M budget shortfall and 300 job cuts

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief said Wednesday that his office is facing a $90 million funding shortfall this year and staff cuts would include about 300 posts, or about 15%, over the course of the year. Volker Turk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, says the Geneva-based office was in “survival […]
9 months ago
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, right, speaks while Dr. Benjamin Simmons with the North Carolina Ac...

North Carolina Gov. Stein cancels Medicaid rate cuts amid legal and legislative battles

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Democratic Gov. Josh Stein is canceling Medicaid reimbursement rate reductions he initiated over two months ago, preserving in the short term access to care for vulnerable patients while a political fight with Republican legislators to enact additional funding gets resolved. Stein and state Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. […]
9 months ago