Politics

FILE - Ghana's President John Mahama speaks during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at t...

Rights lawyers sue Ghana over third-country deportation deal with the US

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — An international coalition of human rights lawyers and advocates sued Ghana on Tuesday, accusing the government of forcing deportees from the U.S. back to the home countries they had fled in violation of their rights. It’s the latest legal case targeting an African country over a deal it signed with the […]
2 months ago
The U.S. Supreme Court is seen Monday, June 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)Credit...

Supreme Court strikes down limits on party spending in federal elections, backing Republican appeal

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday erased limits on how much political parties can spend in coordination with candidates for Congress and president, striking down a federal election law that is more than 50 years old. Prodded by a Republican-led lawsuit that includes Vice President JD Vance, the court’s conservative justices were again […]
2 months ago
The U.S. Supreme Court is seen Monday, June 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)Credit...

Supreme Court upholds state laws banning transgender girls and women from school athletic teams

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on school athletic teams, in another setback for transgender people. The court’s conservative majority, which has repeatedly ruled against transgender Americans in the past year, ruled that state bans in Idaho and West Virginia don’t violate the […]
2 months ago
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zel...

Live updates: AP-NORC poll shows who flies the American flag — and why

It’s been 123 days since the U.S. and Israel launched the Iran war, and the world again awaits another round of some sort of talks, this time in Qatar, although President Donald Trump and Iranian officials disagree over what and even how they’ll communicate. A new AP-NORC poll shows Republicans and older, white adults are […]
2 months ago
Dr. Iman Abuzeid, co-founder and CEO of Incredible Health, is photographed in San Francisco in 2024...

Carnegie Foundation unveils 2026’s ‘Great Immigrants, Great Americans’ list

This year’s class of “Great Immigrants, Great Americans” includes Citi CEO Jane Fraser, Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Hernan Diaz and Cristina Rivera Garza, and fashion designer Gabriela Hearst. The newly renamed Andrew Carnegie Foundation announced the honorees Tuesday as immigration advocates expressed concern about the future of U.S. immigration policy following last week’s Supreme Court rulings. […]
2 months ago
Steve Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East, listens as President Donald Trump and NATO Secreta...

U.S. envoys arrive in Qatar for meetings on Iran amid tensions following weekend attacks

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two U.S. envoys arrived in Qatar on Tuesday for talks with mediators about the implementation of an initial deal to end the war in Iran, an official said. The visit by Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special Mideast envoy, and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, comes after a weekend […]
2 months ago
The U.S. Supreme Court is seen Monday, June 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)Credit...

The Latest: Supreme Court is set to rule on Trump’s challenge to birthright citizenship

The Supreme Court on Tuesday will rule on the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s order on are not American citizens. The decision comes on the final day of a Supreme Court term that has centered on Trump’s expansive claims of presidential power — and largely ruled in his favor. The court on Monday handed Trump […]
2 months ago
FILE - Miniature American flags flutter in wind gusts across the National Mall near the Capitol in ...

Who flies the American flag for holidays — and who never flies one, according to an AP-NORC poll

DETROIT (AP) — Jerry Esters proudly displays the American flag each day on his Detroit home. A few miles away, Yvonne Pistochini says there is no scenario under which she would allow the Stars and Stripes to cast its shadow where she lives. Both are Black. For Esters, the flag represents the opportunities that allowed […]
2 months ago
FILE - Rep. Tom Kean, R-N.J., listens during a Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs about Bela...

Republican Tom Kean Jr. set to return to Congress after long unexplained absence

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Tom Kean Jr., the New Jersey Republican who’s been away from Congress for almost four months, is expected to re-emerge in public after months of speculation about the unspecified medical condition he says has kept him away from Washington. Kean, 57, a second-term lawmaker and scion of a New Jersey political […]
2 months ago
President Donald Trump addresses the crowd as he departs after speaking at the Faith & Freedom Coal...

Trump’s fixation on voting has had mixed results. He still has ways to affect November’s elections

ATLANTA (AP) — President Donald Trump has tried many ways to tighten his grip on U.S. elections, from signing executive orders to pushing restrictive legislation in Congress. Monday’s Supreme Court ruling siding with states that accept late-arriving mail ballots was the latest example showing the limits of his reach. It followed back-to-back rulings last week […]
2 months ago
People vote in the Democratic primaries at Blair-Caldwell Library, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in Denve...

Colorado Democrats choose between insurgent progressives and veteran incumbents

Colorado’s Democratic primaries on Tuesday will help answer a question the party has increasingly faced nationally: Are voters gravitating toward a younger, more progressive generation of leaders or sticking with established veterans? That choice is starkly reflected in the fight to represent the state’s 1st Congressional District, where incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette has been in […]
2 months ago
FILE - A statue of Thomas Jefferson, right, stands in New York's City Hall Council Chamber, July 14...

A Jefferson for every era, from Lincoln to Trump, and the contradictions that endure

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — He’s a prize-winning presidential historian who wrote an entire biography of Thomas Jefferson. But even Jon Meacham needs to think for a moment before defining what it means to be a “Jeffersonian.” “Well for a long time, before the civil rights movement, it meant to be more inclined toward states’ rights […]
2 months ago
California Gov. Gavin Newsom arrives ahead of the Obama Presidential Center dedication ceremony Thu...

Newsom signs $352B spending plan and reflects on signature policies before he leaves office

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a nearly $352 billion spending plan Monday that delays some cuts to healthcare programs, increases funding for childcare and sets aside money to help speed up the state’s vote count ahead of the November election. The plan, which avoids major cuts or significant new spending, is […]
2 months ago
FILE - Erika Kirk speaks before President Donald Trump at a Turning Point USA event at Dream City C...

Charlie Kirk’s parents and widow to attend key hearing for the man accused of his killing

PROVO, Utah (AP) — Charlie Kirk’s parents and his widow, Erika Kirk, will attend a key hearing in his murder case next week in Utah, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Prosecutors will aim to show during the weeklong […]
2 months ago
Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling walks onto stage to speak ahead of President Donald Trump d...

Trump nominates acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling to be agency’s permanent chief

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday he will nominate Keith Sonderling to be the secretary of labor, elevating him from the agency’s acting director two months after Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned amid abuse-of-power allegations. Sonderling, a lawyer who has held a variety of acting positions and leadership roles across Trump’s government, was previously the […]
2 months ago
FILE - The U.S. Department of Education building is seen in Washington, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jo...

Nursing gains ‘professional’ label for student loans after judge’s ruling, but theology now dropped

WASHINGTON (AP) — Students pursuing graduate degrees in nursing, physical therapy and several other fields will be eligible to take out higher federal student loan amounts — at least for now — after a federal judge blocked part of a Trump administration rule that held them to lower limits. The U.S. Education Department issued a […]
2 months ago
Dan Sullivan, who has filed to run for U.S. Senate in Alaska, poses for a photo Friday, June 26, 20...

Alaska Supreme Court says man with same name as US Sen. Dan Sullivan is eligible for primary ballot

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A man with the same name and party affiliation as Alaska Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan is qualified to run for the seat and ordered election officials to place him on the August primary ballot, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday. The ruling came hours after arguments Monday and just days […]
2 months ago
FILE - A California's SNAP benefits shopper pushes a cart through a supermarket in Bellflower, Cali...

Arkansas will move forward with a ban on using SNAP for candy and soda despite recent court ruling

Arkansas is moving forward with its plan to ban government food aid from being used to buy candy and soda beginning on Wednesday, even though a federal judge ruled last week that similar restrictions in other states violated federal law. Announcing the plan on Monday, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders cited an urgent need to combat […]
2 months ago
FILE - The Ralph Carr Judicial Building, which houses the Colorado Supreme Court and Colorado Court...

Colorado court rejects November ballot initiatives aimed at redrawing congressional districts

Colorado voters will not get a say this November on whether to replace the state’s congressional districts with ones that could help Democrats win additional seats in future elections. The state Supreme Court on Monday struck down a series of proposed ballot initiatives that would have sidestepped the state’s independent redistricting commission and authorized new […]
2 months ago
FILE - A Twitter page of Chinese exiled businessman Guo Wengui is seen on a computer screen in Beij...

Self-exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui gets 30 years in US prison for fraud conviction

NEW YORK (AP) — A self-exiled billionaire Chinese business tycoon once believed to be among China’s wealthiest men was sentenced Monday to 30 years in a U.S. prison for a massive financial fraud. Guo Wengui, who fled China a decade ago and reinvented himself as a U.S.-based Communist Party critic, was sentenced by U.S. District […]
2 months ago
FILE- A cannibis plant that is close to harvest grows in a grow room at the Greenleaf Medical Canna...

Virginia to allow recreational marijuana to be sold in retail stores beginning in 2027

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Five years after becoming the first Southern state to legalize possession of marijuana, Virginia has approved a legal way to sell it to recreational users. State budget legislation enacted Monday will allow up to 350 cannabis shops to open across Virginia beginning July 1, 2027. The move marks the latest expansion […]
2 months ago
FILE - The William McChesney Martin Jr. building, which houses the Board of Governors of the Federa...

What the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Cook case means for Federal Reserve independence

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday said the Federal Reserve, unlike any other agency in Washington, has a measure of independence from the presidency and day-to-day politics. But the court didn’t define to what extent. The case is the latest round in an unprecedented fight between the Fed and President Donald Trump. More […]
2 months ago
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham speaks about holding federal authorities accountable for pol...

New Mexico governor says state could seek billions after DEA let fentanyl hit streets

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s governor said Monday that state officials could pursue billions of dollars in civil damages after revelations that U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents repeatedly allowed shipments of fentanyl to flow into drug-plagued communities as investigators sought to build bigger cases. Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham vowed to take her outrage […]
2 months ago
FILE - Ballots are counted at the L.A. County Ballot Processing Center during the California primar...

Supreme Court ruling gives a reprieve to states with grace periods for receiving mail ballots

States that allow mail ballots to be counted after Election Day reacted with relief Monday after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a Republican effort to outlaw the practice. A decision favoring the state of Mississippi over the Republican National Committee delivered an immediate reprieve to the 14 states with grace periods for regular mail ballots, […]
2 months ago