Politics

FILE - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers use a chain to more comfortably restrain a...

Judge refuses to block IRS from sharing tax data to identify and deport people illegally in U.S.

A federal judge on Monday refused to block the Internal Revenue Service from sharing immigrants’ tax data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the purpose of identifying and deporting people illegally in the U.S. In a win for the Trump administration, U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich denied a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed by […]
1 year ago
FILE - Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker speaks during the McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Dinner, Sunday April 2...

Illinois governor is first in US to block federal access to personal data on autism

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has signed a first-in-the-nation executive order to block the federal government from collecting personal health data related to autism, a direct rebuke to the Trump administration. Democrat Pritzker, who has been one of the more vocal critics of Trump’s second administration, signed the order last week, saying […]
1 year ago
President Donald Trump answers a reporter's question during an event in the Roosevelt Room at the W...

Trump’s tariff truce with China brings some relief but uncertainty over what’s next

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s agreement with China to temporarily slash tariffs for 90 days offered the world a bit of welcome relief. But what persists is a sense of uncertainty and the possibility that some damage from the trade war could already be done. The Trump administration agreed after talks this weekend in […]
1 year ago
FILE - Ken Honeycutt demonstrates charging his Kia Soul electric vehicle in San Lorenzo, Calif., No...

House Republicans target clean energy tax credits and pollution rules in budget proposal

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are calling for billions of dollars in funding cuts for Biden-era climate and environmental programs, including clean energy tax credits, as lawmakers seek to reverse what one GOP leader called “the most reckless parts of the engorged climate spending” approved under former President Joe Biden. Environmental groups warned the proposals […]
1 year ago
President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on his way to Riyadh, Saudi...

Trump starts his foreign trip with a crush of problems — and outsized certainty he has the answers

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump set out on a three-nation visit to the Middle East on Monday, a trip he had originally intended to use to focus on his efforts to press wealthy Gulf nations to pour billions in new investment into the United States. But now Trump finds himself navigating a series of […]
1 year ago
FILE - Karen Ortiz, an administrative judge at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, poses f...

Civil rights agency moves to fire judge fighting Trump directives

The federal agency tasked with protecting workers’ civil rights has moved to terminate a New York administrative judge who has resisted compliance with directives from the White House, including President Donald Trump’s executive order decreeing male and female as two “immutable” sexes. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in response to Trump’s order has moved […]
1 year ago
FILE - Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks during the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pe...

Sen. Paul points to business-sector resistance to Trump’s tariffs in solidly red Kentucky

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — In solidly Republican Kentucky, resistance to President Donald Trump’s trade wars has sprung up from a cross-section of key business sectors, GOP Sen. Rand Paul said Monday. Paul said he’s heard concerns from agriculture, the auto sector, bourbon production, home building and package shipping in response to Trump’s aggressive use of […]
1 year ago

Former longtime New Jersey mayor who was convicted in corruption probe dies at 89

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Sharpe James, the charismatic longest-serving mayor of Newark whose political accomplishments were marred by a corruption conviction, has died. He was 89. James died Sunday evening, according to his son, John Sharpe James, a former Newark City Council member. After entering politics, James never lost an election. The Democrat was first […]
1 year ago
Afrikaner refugees from South Africa arrive, Monday, May 12, 2025, at Dulles International Airport ...

Trump administration welcomes 49 white South Africans as refugees

DULLES, Virginia (AP) — The Trump administration on Monday welcomed a small group of white South Africans as refugees, saying they face discrimination and violence at home, which the country’s government strongly denies. The decision to admit the 49 people also has raised questions from refugee advocates about why the group should be admitted when […]
1 year ago
FILE - Asian carp are unloaded at Two Rivers Fisheries in Wickliffe, Ky, Feb. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/M...

Trump administration promises Illinois it will pay to keep carp out of the Great Lakes

A stalemate between President Donald Trump and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker that threatened a $1.2 billion plan to keep invasive carp from reaching the Great Lakes appears to have been settled after the Trump administration offered assurances it will cover its share of the costs. After a delay that has stretched on since February, Illinois […]
1 year ago
President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on his way to Riyadh, Saudi...

What is the Emoluments Clause? And how might it apply to Qatar giving Trump a plane?

President Donald Trump ‘s readiness to accept a luxury jet as a gift from the ruling family of Qatar for conversion into a presidential aircraft has revived the conversations around emoluments and the notion of a president otherwise allegedly profiting off of the office. “I would never be one to turn down that kind of […]
1 year ago
FILE - In this image from a Zoom meeting provided by the Grand Traverse, Mich., County Board of Com...

Pandemic-era lawsuit over gun at Michigan Zoom meeting is settled for $100,000

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan county has settled a lawsuit over an elected official who flashed a rifle during a COVID-19-era public meeting on Zoom. Patricia MacIntosh accused Ron Clous of trying to silence her right to free speech when he displayed the rifle during a 2021 meeting of Grand Traverse County commissioners. […]
1 year ago
President Donald Trump walks across the South Lawn of the White House to board Marine One en route ...

Deputy attorney general who defended Trump in hush money trial named acting Librarian of Congress

NEW YORK (AP) — Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who represented Donald Trump during his 2024 criminal trial, has been appointed acting Librarian of Congress, the Justice Department said Monday. Blanche replaces longtime librarian Carla Hayden, whom the White House fired last week amid criticism from some conservatives that she was advancing a “woke” agenda. […]
1 year ago
FILE - Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand talks with residents Wednesday, June 28, 2023, in Audubon, Iowa....

Iowa’s lone Democratic statewide officeholder Rob Sand announces 2026 bid for governor

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State Treasurer Rob Sand, the only Iowa Democrat currently serving in statewide office, announced a bid Monday for the open governor’s race in an effort to break up a long streak of Republican leadership in the state. Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds made a surprise announcement last month that she would […]
1 year ago
FILE - A man walks past a homeless encampment in downtown Los Angeles, Oct. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Jae...

Gov. Gavin Newsom urges California cities and counties to ban homeless encampments

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday urged California’s local governments to clear homeless encampments, escalating the state’s efforts to ban the growing number of makeshift camps on sidewalks and in parks that are the most visible signs of the crisis of people living on the streets. The announcement of a new model […]
1 year ago
FILE - Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John King makes a statement and answers quest...

Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King enters 2026 Republican race for US Senate

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King on Monday became the second major Republican to enter the 2026 race to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen Jon Ossoff, saying “President Trump needs reinforcements and Georgia needs a new senator.” King jumped in after U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced Friday that she would not seek the […]
1 year ago
FILE - An entrance to the Arizona PBS offices in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass ...

A landscape transformed: As it responds to cuts in federal programs, the arts community reels

NEW YORK (AP) — Poet Marie Howe, one of this year’s winners of the Pulitzer Prize, says being a writer is often less a career than a vocation. You rely on teaching and other outside work and seek support from foundations or from a government agency, like the National Endowment for the Arts. “Everybody applies […]
1 year ago
Students register to vote for school board elections during a Town Hall at the Bethany Baptist Chur...

In Pittsburgh, candidates face their future voters, part of a national effort to engage the young

PITTSBURGH (AP) — At Perry Traditional Academy, students took time out from classes on a recent Thursday to listen quietly in the school auditorium while a small group of their classmates questioned the four candidates running in Pittsburgh’s upcoming mayoral primary. The topics covered an array of issues important to the teens: policing, school funding […]
1 year ago

Pharmaceutical industry criticizes the drug pricing plan Trump says he’ll sign

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s plan to change the pricing model for some medications is already facing fierce criticism from the pharmaceutical industry before he’s even signed the executive order set for Monday that, if implemented, could lower the cost of some drugs. Trump has promised that his plan — which is likely to […]
1 year ago
FILE - Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., speaks at the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs...

Arizona Democratic Sen. Gallego wades into immigration debate with new plan

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego is wading into one of Washington’s most contentious and intractable political problems as he puts forward a plan Monday aimed at reforming the country’s immigration system and beefing up border security. The beat Republican Kari Lake in last fall’s tight Senate race, calls for hiring more Border […]
1 year ago

US and China take a step back from sky-high tariffs, agree to pause for 90 days

GENEVA (AP) — U.S. and Chinese officials said Monday they had reached a deal to roll back most of their recent tariffs and call a 90-day truce in their trade war for more talks on resolving their trade disputes. Stock markets rose sharply as the globe’s two major economic powers took a step back from […]
1 year ago
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol, Tuesday, ...

House Republicans unveil Medicaid cuts that Democrats warn will leave millions without care

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans unveiled the cost-staving centerpiece of President Donald Trump’s “ big, beautiful bill ” late Sunday, at least $880 billion in cuts largely to Medicaid to help cover the cost of $4.5 trillion in tax breaks. Tallying hundreds of pages, the legislation is touching off the biggest political fight over health […]
1 year ago
Students, faculty and members of the Harvard University community rally, Thursday, April 17, 2025, ...

Trump’s reshaping of higher education tests America’s appeal for international students

As he finishes college in China, computer science student Ma Tianyu has set his sights on graduate school in the United States. No country offers better programs for the career he wants as a game developer, he said. He applied only to U.S. schools and was accepted by some. But after the initial excitement, he […]
1 year ago
Cathy Votaw, 69, left, and her daughter Anna Eisenberg, pose with a painting of Votaw's father, Alb...

USAID is all but gone. For one family, 3 generations of service were defined by it

WASHINGTON (AP) — He was special, Albert Votaw’s daughter remembers all these decades later. Cathy Votaw is 70 now, more than a dozen years older than her father lived to be. She describes a man with a larger-than-life personality and a love of fun — as if you couldn’t tell that from the photos, which […]
1 year ago