DETROIT (AP) — A federal appeals court on Wednesday blocked Michigan’s ban on conversion therapy for minors who are LGBTQ+, declaring it violates the First Amendment rights of therapists and counselors. In a 2-1 opinion, the court said the law illegally restricts speech that reflects the moral beliefs of therapists. It set aside a lower […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump demanded Wednesday that Venezuela return assets that it seized from U.S. oil companies years ago, justifying anew his announcement of a “blockade” against oil tankers traveling to or from the South American country that face American sanctions. Trump cited the lost U.S. investments in Venezuela when asked about his […]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s top prosecutor said China is suing after the state pressed federal officials for help collecting on a roughly $25 billion court judgment related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said Tuesday in a news release that China is demanding a public apology from the state in a […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said Wednesday that he will resign from the bureau next month, ending a brief and tumultuous tenure in which he clashed with the Justice Department over the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and was forced to reconcile the realities of his law enforcement job with provocative […]
Minneapolis’ police chief is criticizing federal immigration agents after a confrontation with protesters and an attempted arrest of a woman in which an officer kneeled on her back as she lay atop a snow bank and then tried to drag her to a car. Tensions have been rising in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area as federal […]
NEW YORK (AP) — Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend and longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell asked a federal judge on Wednesday to set aside her sex trafficking conviction and free her from a 20-year prison sentence, saying “substantial new evidence” has emerged proving that constitutional violations spoiled her trial. Maxwell maintained in a habeas petition she has […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge in the nation’s capital has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing policies limiting members of Congress’ access to immigration detention facilities. The judge ruled on Wednesday that it is likely illegal for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to demand a week’s notice from members of Congress seeking to […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Wednesday confirmed billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman to be NASA administrator on Wednesday, placing him atop the agency after a monthslong saga where President Donald Trump revoked his nomination as part of a feud with tech billionaire Elon Musk. Isaacman, who has promised to bring a business-minded approach to the […]
MIAMI (AP) — Some oil vessels are diverting away from Venezuela after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving the South American country, a dramatic escalation in the White House’s pressure campaign on leader Nicolás Maduro. Trump said Tuesday on social media, in all caps, that he is […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans rejected a pair of Democratic-backed resolutions Wednesday that would have put a check on President Donald Trump’s power to use military force against drug cartels and the nation of Venezuela. Democrats forced the votes using war powers resolutions as Trump has stepped up his threats against the South American nation […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is dismantling the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, moving to dissolve a research lab that a top White House official described as “one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country.″ White House budget director Russ Vought criticized the lab in a social media post […]
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A Republican push to make drilling cheaper on federal land is creating new fiscal pressure for states that depend on oil and gas revenue, most notably in New Mexico as it expands early childhood education and saves for the future. The shift stems from the sweeping law President Donald Trump […]
The Senate moved quickly Wednesday afternoon to close a loophole that could allow military aircraft to fly without broadcasting their locations just like an Army helicopter was doing last January before it collided with an airliner over Washington, D.C., killing 67 people. Just hours after passing a massive defense bill that included the worrisome provisions […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Veteran police officer Jeffery Carroll will take over as interim chief of Washington’s police force, Mayor Muriel Bowser said Wednesday, after it was announced earlier this month that the department’s leader was stepping down. Carroll, who joined the Metropolitan Police Department in 2002, takes over as a federal law enforcement surge is […]
A federal judge on Wednesday blocked Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ‘s attempt to shut down an aging oil pipeline running beneath a channel linking two of the Great Lakes, finding that only the federal government can regulate interstate pipeline safety. Whitmer, a Democrat, ordered regulators in 2020 to revoke an easement that allows Enbridge Inc. […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Months after President Donald Trump refashioned a West Wing walkway into what he calls the Presidential Walk of Fame, he has added partisan and subjective plaques to the display, deepening his fingerprints on the White House’s aesthetic and continuing his effort to bend the telling of history to his liking. From “Sleepy […]
Four moderate House Republicans — from swing districts Democrats are already eyeing for next year’s midterms — have broken ranks with Speaker Mike Johnson, signing on to Democrats’ petition to force a vote on extending health care subsidies that expire at the end of this year. From battleground districts in Pennsylvania and New York, the […]
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump is threating to blockade sanctioned oil tankers from Venezuela, a move that could devastate a country already wrangling with years of spiraling crisis. Seasoned by years of political, social and economic challenges, Venezuelans on Wednesday acknowledged that the threat added to the collective anxiety over their country’s […]
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A 33-year-old antitrust lawyer with ties to major Democratic politicians is challenging U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson to represent Mississippi’s 2nd congressional district. Evan Turnage is the latest in a trend of young Democrats looking to oust the party’s old guard and rebrand the party after the 2024 election. “The same old […]
With the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act by the Senate on Wednesday, the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina is all but assured to become a federally recognized tribal nation. The state-recognized tribe, whose historic and genealogical claims have been a subject of controversy, has been seeking federal recognition for generations. Congress has considered […]
The U.S. Treasury asked major philanthropic donors to contribute to new investment accounts for children Wednesday as part of what Secretary Scott Bessent called a “50 State Challenge” to raise funds for the Trump Accounts program. “The president is calling on our nation’s business leaders and philanthropic organizations to help us make America great again […]
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Former University of Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron announced Wednesday that he is ending his campaign for lieutenant governor of Alabama to pursue a sports-related opportunity. McCarron did not disclose the details of the new position but said “football is calling my name once again.” The announcement comes two months after McCarron […]
Nebraska will become the first state to implement new work requirements for some people with Medicaid health insurance under a law President Donald Trump signed last year. Gov. Jim Pillen, a Republican, announced Wednesday that the requirement would take effect in the state May 1 and could impact about 30,000 people who have slightly higher […]
A Wisconsin woman who almost killed her sixth-grade classmate to please horror villain Slender Man and then fled a group home won’t fight the state’s attempt to revoke her release privileges. Waukesha County Circuit Judge Scott Wagner signed off on a plan in July to release 23-year-old Morgan Geyser from a state psychiatric hospital where […]
