Politics

FILE - The Maryland State House is shown, May 11, 2023, in Annapolis, Md. (AP Photo/Brian Witte, Fi...

Maryland loses triple-A bond rating from Moody’s rating agency

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland lost its triple-A bond rating from Moody’s on Wednesday, a rating the state has cited for more than 50 years as a sign of strong fiscal stewardship. Moody’s downgraded the state’s credit rating to Aa1. Maryland had received a triple-A bond rating from Moody’s since 1973. The state has benefitted […]
1 year ago
FILE - New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks at the opening of New York's Wollman Rink in Centr...

Ex-NYC Mayor de Blasio agrees to pay $330K for misusing public funds on failed White House bid

NEW YORK (AP) — Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has agreed to pay $329,794 fine to settle an ethics board’s complaint that he misspent public funds on his security detail during his brief, failed run for U.S. president. The deal, announced Wednesday by the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board, is the costliest […]
1 year ago
FILE - Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., speaks at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex...

Las Vegas man sentenced to prison for threatening US Sen. Jacky Rosen and her family

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Las Vegas man who made antisemitic threats against Nevada U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen and her family has been sentenced to just under four years in federal prison. Rosen, a Democrat, is Jewish and has maintained a vocal pro-Israel stance. Rosen’s office previously confirmed that she and her family were targeted. […]
1 year ago
FILE - Mapheze Saleh, right, wife of arrested and detained Georgetown University scholar Badar Khan...

Judge says Georgetown student can be released from immigration detention as case proceeds

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday ordered that a Georgetown scholar from India be released from immigration detention after he was detained in the Trump administration’s crackdown on foreign college students. Khan Suri was arrested by masked, plain-clothed officers on the evening of March 17 outside his apartment complex in Arlington, Virginia. […]
1 year ago
FILE - Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., listens to comments before the NAACP Detroit branch Fight for F...

Democratic congressman pushes articles of impeachment against Trump, but colleagues criticize it

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Democratic lawmaker is launching a renegade effort to impeach President Donald Trump, pushing past party leaders on Wednesday with an attempt to force a procedural vote in the U.S. House that is expected to fail. Rep. Shri Thanedar of Michigan announced his intention to charge ahead, saying that as an immigrant […]
1 year ago
FILE - California Gov. Gavin Newsom stands in front of a state flag during a press conference about...

California governor proposes pausing expansion of health care to low-income immigrants

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Gavin Newsom wants California to stop enrolling more low-income immigrants without legal status in a state-funded health care program starting in 2026 and begin charging those already enrolled a monthly premium the following year. The decision is driven by a higher-than-expected price tag on the program and economic uncertainty from […]
1 year ago
FILE - President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks with reporters in the Oval Office of the White ...

Funds from migrants sent back home help fuel some towns’ economies. A GOP plan targets that

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel Vail’s entire life in the small western Guatemalan town of Cajolá is built off the money that his three children send home from the United States. The money from their construction jobs paid for the two-story white home where Vail now lives — and where his children, who are in the […]
1 year ago
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, of N.Y., right, speaks as Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., le...

Democrats are deeply pessimistic about the future of their party, an AP-NORC poll finds

NEW YORK (AP) — Six months after Donald Trump’s presidential victory, Democrats remain deeply pessimistic about the future of their party, although neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party is viewed favorably by a majority of U.S. adults. A new poll conducted earlier this month by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research […]
1 year ago
John Reid, Virginia's Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, greets supporters at his rally at...

Virginia GOP embraced a diverse ticket in this year’s elections. Then things got complicated

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Republicans engaged in scrubbing the federal government of diversity, equity and inclusion programs are fielding a historically diverse ticket in Virginia in one of the only states holding elections this year. Those two things aren’t inherently incompatible, and some experts say nominating diverse candidates could reinforce the argument that officeholders should […]
1 year ago
Travelers check into their flights at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, N.J., Monday,...

Newark problems and recent crashes put focus on air traffic controller shortage and aging equipment

The recent chronic delays and cancellations at New Jersey’s largest airport have highlighted the shortage of air traffic controllers and the aging equipment they use, which President Donald Trump’s administration wants to replace. The Federal Aviation Administration is working on a short-term fix to the problems at the Newark airport that includes technical repairs and […]
1 year ago
FILE - The Supreme Court at sunset in Washington, Feb. 13, 2016. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick, File)Credit...

A pregnant Cuban emigre worries about her baby’s citizenship as Supreme Court weighs a Trump order

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barbara, a Cuban emigre 30 weeks into a high-risk pregnancy, is dealing with the additional stress of not knowing for sure that her baby girl will be an American citizen. “It scares me a lot that my baby will be born without citizenship because she would not be a citizen of this […]
1 year ago
President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman shake hands after exchanging docu...

Trump’s Middle East visit comes as his family deepens its business, crypto ties in the region

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s not just the “gesture” of a $400 million luxury plane that President Donald Trump says he’s smart to accept from Qatar. Or that he effectively auctioned off the first destination on his first major foreign trip, heading to Saudi Arabia because the kingdom was ready to make big investments in U.S. […]
1 year ago
Abigail Disney, second right, speaks during The Elevate Prize Foundation's Make Good Famous Summit,...

Abigail Disney urges donors to be braver about their giving and shouldering more risk

MIAMI BEACH, Florida (AP) — Activist and philanthropist Abigail Disney urged donors and the leaders of major foundations and nonprofits to be braver with their giving, especially at a time when more are fearful about speaking their minds. “The people who speak up against their own self-interest are becoming very, very important,” Disney said Tuesday […]
1 year ago
FILE - A tribute to slain Native American teen Emily Pike adorns a fence near a vigil in her honor ...

Arizona governor signs ‘Emily’s Law’ to alert when Native Americans go missing

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona’s governor on Tuesday signed legislation to create an alert system for Native Americans who have gone missing in the state, a measure that won unanimous approval from lawmakers in the wake of the disappearance and death of a San Carlos Apache teen. With Gov. Katie Hobbs’ signature, Arizona becomes the latest […]
1 year ago
Relatives of Venezuelan migrants in the U.S. who were flown to a prison in El Salvador by the U.S. ...

Federal judge OKs use of Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans who are labeled gang members

A federal judge says President Donald Trump can use the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan citizens who are shown to be members of the Tren de Aragua gang. The ruling Tuesday from U.S. District Judge Stephanie Haines in Pennsylvania appears to be the first time a federal judge has signed off on Trump’s proclamation […]
1 year ago
U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr. speaks at a news conference, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Washingto...

Trump’s new pardon attorney says he will scrutinize pardons that Biden issued at the end of his term

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ed Martin Jr., who will be the Justice Department’s new pardon attorney after President Donald Trump pulled his nomination to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, said Tuesday that he plans to scrutinize pardons that former President Joe Biden issued on his way out of the White House. “These are big […]
1 year ago
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli army airstrike on the European hospital in Khan Younis,...

UN humanitarian chief blasts Israel for ‘deliberately’ blocking aid to Gaza

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations’ top humanitarian official blasted Israel on Tuesday for “deliberately and unashamedly” imposing inhumane conditions on Palestinians, including the risk of famine — one of the strongest condemnations by a high-ranking U.N. official during the war in Gaza. Tom Fletcher, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of […]
1 year ago
FILE - Fans watch an NFL football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New York Giants at Ar...

Missouri House backs new stadium incentives to try to keep the Chiefs and Royals

The Missouri House on Tuesday endorsed a new framework of financial incentives to try to keep the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals from possibly leaving the state by helping fund new or renovated stadiums for them. The legislation, which has the backing of Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe, would authorize the state to issue bonds valued […]
1 year ago
FILE - Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks to reporters just after House Republicans na...

What’s in Trump’s big bill? Trillions in tax cuts, changes to Medicaid and more

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans in Congress are moving with rapid speed to advance President Donald Trump’s big bill of tax breaks, spending cuts and beefed-up border security funding as leaders work to enact many of his campaign promises. House committees have been laboring for months to draft the legislation, which Republicans have labeled “THE ONE, […]
1 year ago
FILE - A few Democrats appear on the House floor for the swearing in of Rep. Roni Green, D-Philadel...

Democrats endorse set of changes to Pennsylvania election rules, sending bill to state Senate

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania voters would get more than a week of early voting and county election officials would have more time to start processing mail-in ballots under an election law proposal that advanced out of the state House on Tuesday by a single vote, with all Republicans opposed. The wide-ranging bill sponsored by […]
1 year ago
FILE - Honduras migrants who were deported from the U.S. deplane at Ramon Villeda Morales Airport, ...

Family of US-born child deported to Honduras drops lawsuit against Trump administration

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Lawyers for a 2-year-old U.S. citizen who was deported with her mother to Honduras said on Tuesday that the family was lifting its lawsuit against the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. The girl -– one of three U.S.-born children who were deported alongside their Honduran-born mothers -– had been at […]
1 year ago
FILE - Fireworks fill the sky near the Iowa Statehouse during Iowa Statehood day, Dec. 28, 1996, in...

With Trump’s plans for America’s 250th in mind, Iowa lawmakers don’t want cities to limit fireworks

Iowa lawmakers want President Donald Trump to know that their state is eager to be at the center of next year’s celebration of the nation’s 250th birthday and shares his vision of fireworks filling the skies — so much so that they don’t want local officials blocking any small, neighborhood displays. The Republican-controlled Legislature passed […]
1 year ago

20 Democratic attorneys general sue Trump administration over conditions placed on federal funds

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A coalition of 20 state Democratic attorneys general filed two federal lawsuits on Tuesday, claiming that the Trump administration is threatening to withhold billions of dollars in transportation and disaster-relief funds unless state’s agree to certain immigration enforcement actions. According to the complaints, both Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and […]
1 year ago
FILE - A flag stand atop the Maryland State House on May 11, 2023, in Annapolis, Md. . (AP Photo/Br...

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signs bill to tap unused ACA insurance funds for abortion grant program

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland will become the first state to use money collected from a surcharge on insurance plans sold under the Affordable Care Act to fund a program to pay for abortions, regardless of a patient’s insurance coverage, under a measure signed into law Tuesday by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore. The law will […]
1 year ago