Politics

FILE - Assemblywoman Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside, at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., May 4, 2...

California state senator cited for suspicion of drunken driving, says she wasn’t intoxicated

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A California state lawmaker denied having any alcohol in her system after Sacramento police cited her earlier this week on suspicion of drunken driving. Sacramento police responded at around 1:30 p.m. Monday to a report of a vehicle crash involving state Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, department spokesperson Allison Smith said. Cervantes was […]
1 year ago
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., testifies before a Senate Committee on A...

RFK Jr.’s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ report worries farmers, Republicans ahead of release

WASHINGTON (AP) — A highly-anticipated White House report about childhood diseases has provoked a tug-of-war pitting farmers and some prominent Republican lawmakers against health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his “Make America Healthy Again” movement ahead of its release. President Donald Trump promised a review within 100 days that would analyze the ramifications that […]
1 year ago
President Donald Trump meets South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office of the Whi...

Lights, video, confrontation — Trump’s meeting with South African leader takes dramatic turn

WASHINGTON (AP) — “Turn the lights down,” President Donald Trump said. It was showtime in the Oval Office. Sitting next to him was South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was visiting in hopes of reaching new agreements on trade. But Trump wanted to talk about baseless allegations that white farmers in his country were being […]
1 year ago
FILE - The Department of Justice seal is seen during a news conference Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in M...

How federal consent decrees have been used in police reform across the US

The Justice Department announced Wednesday it was canceling proposed consent decrees reached with Minneapolis and Louisville to implement policing reforms in the wake of the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. The department also announced it would retract its findings in six other recent sweeping investigations into police departments as part of a move […]
1 year ago
A video plays during a meeting between President Donald Trump and South Africa's President Cyril Ra...

Trump seizes on videos of a fringe South African politician as evidence of threats to white farmers

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump confronted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday with claims that white farmers are being targeted and killed in the country. Trump’s main evidence, compiled in a video shown during their Oval Office meeting: Speeches by a politician who was kicked out of Ramaphosa’s party, is not part […]
1 year ago
FILE - EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, April 30, 2...

Budget cuts at Trump EPA become flashpoint at a heated hearing — and, Democrats say, may kill people

WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Environmental Protection Agency clashed with Democratic senators Wednesday, accusing one of being an “aspiring fiction writer” and saying another does not “care about wasting money.” Democrats countered that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s tenure will likely mean more Americans contracting lung cancer and other illnesses. The heated exchanges, at […]
1 year ago
Power lines rise in front of electric towers and smokestacks at the Palo Seco power plant in Toa Ba...

$365M slated for solar projects in Puerto Rico will be diverted to power grid, sparking outcry

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. Department of Energy announced Wednesday that $365 million originally slated for solar projects in Puerto Rico will be diverted to improve the island’s crumbling power grid, sparking an outcry just days before the Atlantic hurricane season starts. The funds had been hanging in limbo in recent weeks, […]
1 year ago
FILE - The emblem of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is shown on a podium i...

Judge vacates federal rules requiring employers to provide accommodations for abortions

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday struck down regulations requiring most U.S. employers to provide workers with time off and other accommodations for abortions. The ruling by U.S. District Judge David Joseph of the Western District of Louisiana was a victory for conservative lawmakers and religious groups who decried the Equal Employment […]
1 year ago
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, testifies before a Senate Committee on Homeland Security a...

Federal judge orders pretrial detention for man accused of stealing Kristi Noem’s purse

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal magistrate judge on Wednesday ordered the pretrial detention of a man charged with stealing a purse from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem while she dined at a restaurant under the protection of Secret Service agents. U.S. Magistrate Matthew Sharbaugh concluded after a hearing that the suspect, Mario Bustamante Leiva, must […]
1 year ago
FILE - President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump watch as the U.S. Army Golden Knights Pa...

Here’s what to expect at the Army’s 250th anniversary parade on Trump’s birthday

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Army on Wednesday started loading up some of the tanks that will take to the streets of the nation’s capital during the 250th anniversary celebration of the service next month, which will feature hundreds of military vehicles and aircraft and thousands of soldiers. The event has grown extensively in scope and […]
1 year ago
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at the commencement for the United States Coast Guar...

Promising reform, Noem tells US Coast Guard Academy graduates they will lead a ‘brand new’ service

The U.S. Coast Guard is facing its largest readiness crisis since World War II, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Wednesday as she promised an overhaul of the service that she called the “point of the spear” in the nation’s defense. Noem, the keynote speaker at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s commencement, outlined the Trump […]
1 year ago

Louisiana lawmaker arrested on DWI and child endangerment charges after single-car crash

A Louisiana lawmaker is facing criminal charges after striking a concrete barrier while allegedly driving impaired with his three children in the vehicle, state police said on Wednesday. Rep. Kyle M. Green Jr., a Democrat who represents a portion of south Louisiana’s Jefferson Parish, has been charged with a first-offense of driving while intoxicated, a […]
1 year ago

Federal judge blocks Trump’s firing of two Democratic members of privacy oversight board

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s firing of two Democratic members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. The ruling Wednesday from U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton ends the lawsuit brought by two of the three fired board members in February. The five-member board is an independent watchdog […]
1 year ago
FILE - A 13-year-old private Boeing aircraft that President Donald Trump toured on Saturday to chec...

Defense Department accepts Boeing 747 from Qatar for Trump’s use

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has accepted a gifted Boeing 747 from Qatar for President Donald Trump to use as Air Force One, the Pentagon said Wednesday. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the department will “work to ensure proper security measures” on the aircraft to make it safe for use by the president. […]
1 year ago
In this photo combo Bruce Springsteen, left, appears at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festiva...

Springsteen doubles down on political criticism with a digital EP that includes anti-Trump comments

There’s no retreat or surrender from Bruce Springsteen — or from President Donald Trump, for that matter. The rock star released a digital EP on Wednesday with four songs recorded live in Manchester, England last week, along with two of his addresses to the audience that attacked Trump’s “corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration.” The Boss […]
1 year ago
Some students react as Columbia University's acting president Claire Shipman speaks during Columbia...

Over boos, Columbia University president notes Mahmoud Khalil’s absence at graduation

NEW YORK (AP) — The head of Columbia University gave a commencement speech Wednesday acknowledging the absence of student activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was due to receive his diploma this week but is instead in a Louisiana jail facing deportation for his role in pro-Palestinian campus protests. The brief address drew loud boos and chants […]
1 year ago
President Donald Trump greets South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House, Wednesday...

Trump hosts Ramaphosa for talks as South African leader looks to salvage relationship with US

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is hosting South African President Cyril Ramaphosa for White House talks Wednesday at a moment when relations between the two countries are at a nadir, with Trump laying into South African officials on widely rejected charges of allowing a “genocide” against minority white farmers. South African officials have strongly […]
1 year ago

Trump administration will evaluate request to sell leases for seabed mining of critical minerals

The Trump administration said Wednesday that it will consider selling leases to extract minerals from the seabed off the South Pacific island of American Samoa, a potential first step in a wider industry push to allow deep-sea mining that environmentalists oppose because they say it could irreparably harm marine ecosystems. The Department of Interior said […]
1 year ago
A one bitcoin token reflects as it is placed on a mirror in Prague, Czech Republic, Sunday, May 11,...

Bitcoin hits new price highs as crypto industry scores wins

Bitcoin hit a new all-time high as the world’s most popular cryptocurrency reached price levels not seen since President Donald Trump’s inauguration. The digital asset traded above $109,400 Wednesday morning, a huge increase from recent lows of about $75,000 last month. Several other cryptocurrencies have seen similar large gains in recent days. That includes Trump’s […]
1 year ago
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, May20, 2025, in Washi...

Trump administration asks Supreme Court to block watchdog access to DOGE documents

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to block court orders requiring Elon Musk ’s Department of Government Efficiency to turn over documents about its operations to a government watchdog group. The Justice Department’s latest emergency appeal to the high court concerns whether DOGE, which has been central to President […]
1 year ago
FILE - Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks to reporters just after House Republicans na...

Trump’s ‘beautiful’ bill spans more than 1,000 pages. Here’s what’s inside it

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are getting closer to passing President Donald Trump’s tax breaks, spending cuts and beefed-up border security as Speaker Mike Johnson attempts to pass the package over unified Democratic opposition by Memorial Day. House committees have labored for months on the legislation, which exceeds 1,000 pages and is titled the “One […]
1 year ago
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies before the House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommitt...

US sanctions two members of a Mexican drug trafficking group known as the Northeast Cartel

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States imposed sanctions Wednesday on two members of the Mexican drug trafficking organization Cartel del Noreste, the Northeast Cartel, which was formerly known as Los Zetas. The Treasury Department is targeting Miguel Angel de Anda Ledezma, who allegedly oversees the procurement of guns and ammunition for the cartel, and Ricardo […]
1 year ago

Justice Department moves to cancel police reform settlements reached with Minneapolis and Louisville

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Justice Department moved Wednesday to cancel a settlement with Minneapolis that called for an overhaul of its police department following the murder of George Floyd, as well as a similar agreement with Louisville, Kentucky, saying it doesn’t want to pursue the cases. Following a scathing report by the Justice Department in […]
1 year ago
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, testifies before a Senate Committee on Homeland Security a...

Judge orders US officials to appear in court to answer questions about migrants sent to South Sudan

WASHINGTON (AP) — A judge has ordered U.S. officials to appear at an emergency hearing Wednesday to answer questions about their apparent deportation of immigrants to South Sudan and other countries. U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Massachusetts ruled late Tuesday that the Trump administration must retain custody and control of those “currently being […]
1 year ago