Politics

People listen and cheer as lawmakers speak about redistricting during a special legislative session...

How a congressional redistricting battle could gain new life for the 2028 elections

The ballots remain to be cast for the November midterm elections. Yet Democrats and Republicans in some states already are looking at how they could reshape congressional voting districts to gain an advantage in the 2028 elections. The new gerrymandering efforts are part two of a mid-decade redistricting battle that already spans 10 states, which […]
2 months ago
United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, right, speaks during a meeting of the North Atlantic ...

Pentagon chief’s review appears out of step with what NATO allies are already doing

BRUSSELS (AP) — Hours after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth upbraided his NATO allies and announced a Pentagon review of their performance, the leaders of many European nations were assessing a check list of progress made on security priorities. In essence, Hegseth was telling the Europeans things they already know. The list included their hike […]
2 months ago

Vietnamese man deported from U.S. to South Sudan is repatriated after months in detention

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — A Vietnamese national deported to South Sudan by the Trump administration under its controversial third-country deportation program was repatriated to Vietnam on Friday after spending more than a year in detention. South Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the repatriation of 44-year-old Tuan Phan at a press briefing on Friday. […]
2 months ago
U.S. President Donald Trump, center, takes questions during a media conference at the end of the G7...

Trump approval on Iran low even as tentative deal to end fighting emerged, new AP-NORC poll finds

WASHINGTON (AP) — Most Americans continue to disapprove of how President Donald Trump is handling Iran, while his overall presidential approval holds steady, according to a new AP-NORC poll that was conducted as Trump suggested a deal with Iran had been reached. The poll points to just how unpopular the three-month war with Iran has […]
2 months ago
Maine Republican gubernatorial candidate Bobby Charles fields a question from moderator Steve Robin...

Pingree and Charles will compete for Maine governor and Dunlap gets Democratic nod for US House

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Democrat Hannah Pingree and Republican Bobby Charles will compete this fall to become Maine’s next governor. Pingree and Charles won their primaries Friday, after the June 9 contests advanced to ranked choice voting. In another ranked runoff in Maine, Democrat Matt Dunlap won the nomination in the 2nd Congressional District. Dunlap […]
2 months ago
D.C. Council member Janeese Lewis George speaks to the crowd after winning D.C. Mayor primary elect...

Democratic socialists surge in mayoral races across the country as anti-Trump fervor rises

WASHINGTON (AP) — As Janeese Lewis George paves a path to the mayor’s office in Washington, D.C., she’s told voters they could have it all. Her unapologetically expansive, left-wing agenda includes subsidized or even free childcare, increased down payment assistance for homebuyers and community resources to reduce crime, plus a promise to aggressively confront President […]
2 months ago
Vice President JD Vance speaks to reporters in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White ...

Vance’s push to get Iran talks started hits an early bump as weekend negotiations are put on hold

ZURICH (AP) — The U.S. push to quickly begin high-stakes talks with Iran hit a snag just two days after the signing of an agreement that opens a 60-day window to negotiate a permanent understanding about Iran’s nuclear program while getting oil traffic moving through the Strait of Hormuz back to prewar levels. Vice President […]
2 months ago
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a Medal of Honor ceremony in the East Room of the White Hous...

Senators seek to block Hegseth travel funds until Pentagon releases report on Iran school strike

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators are seeking to block Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel funds until the Pentagon submits several overdue reports to lawmakers, including its investigation into a deadly strike on an elementary school in Iran at the start of the U.S.-Israeli war. According to an annual defense authorization bill, outdated intelligence. Congress, which conducts […]
2 months ago
President Donald Trump presents the Medal of Honor to retired U.S. Marine Corps Maj. James Capers, ...

Trump presents the Medal of Honor to 3 veterans for heroism in Vietnam and Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump gave the Medal of Award to three veterans on Thursday, honoring acts of heroism that saved lives and repelled enemy forces in Vietnam and Afghanistan. Trump bestowed the military’s highest honor on Marine Corps Maj. James Capers Jr. and Army Maj. Nicholas Dockery. He also awarded it posthumously to […]
2 months ago
FILE - Artist renderings and diagrams for President Donald Trump's new triumphal arch released by t...

Senator urges FAA to reject any pressure from Trump to approve triumphal arch over aviation safety

Sen. Tammy Duckworth sent a letter Thursday urging the head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resist any pressure from President Donald Trump to prioritize construction of his planned triumphal arch over aviation safety. The letter from the Illinois senator, the top Democrat on the Senate’s aviation subcommittee, adds to questions and concerns over Trump’s […]
2 months ago
FILE - Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appears for an oversight hearing before the Senate J...

South Dakota man whose life sentence was commuted by Noem now implicated in his niece’s death

Two men, including one whose life sentence was commuted by then-South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, have been charged in the death of a 14-year-old girl whose body was found in a rural area five days after she went missing in March. McKenna Wendel was reported missing March 13 and last seen alive in her hometown […]
2 months ago
President Donald Trump disembarks Air Force One after attending the G7 summit in France, Thursday, ...

Trump from ‘hunted’ to ‘hunter’: New book details Trump’s push to test the limits of executive power

WASHINGTON (AP) — Showing off towering new flagpoles he had erected on the White House North and South Lawns last summer, President Donald Trump suggested that he wanted to make similar renovations in his first term but was worried about the negative press. “You guys were after me,” he told reporters. “I was the hunted. […]
2 months ago
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., leaves the chamber, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursd...

Some GOP senators and Trump allies have harsh reviews of his agreement to end Iran war

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, including top national security figures, were voicing strong reservations Thursday —- and some outright condemnation — of the Trump administration’s agreement to end the fighting in Iran. The memorandum of understanding signed by President Donald Trump started a 60-day negotiating clock to reach a final deal on […]
2 months ago
Construction continues on the new White House ballroom, as seen from the Washington Monument, Wedne...

Democrats say money from Trump’s tax cuts bill is paying for White House ballroom project

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than $350 million from President Donald Trump’s “ big, beautiful bill ” has been quietly directed to White House security, an allotment that Democrats warn appears to be helping fund his new ballroom project — despite the president’s insistence that no taxpayer dollars would be used. The apportionment of funds, which […]
2 months ago
A woman places her paper ballot into a machine after voting in a runoff election at C.T. Martin Rec...

Georgia’s QR codes for counting votes likely to remain for midterms as lawmakers delay action

ATLANTA (AP) — A day after postponing plans to redraw Georgia’s congressional and legislative districts, state lawmakers were poised Thursday to delay making any changes to the state’s current vote-counting method. That would mean the system, which relies on a QR code to tally the votes, will remain in place for the November election, an […]
2 months ago
FILE - Tom Kean Jr., GOP candidate for New Jersey's 7th Congressional District, arrives at his elec...

NJ Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. sets June 30 return date after monthslong absence

New Jersey Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr., who’s been absent from Congress since March with an unspecified medical issue, is set to return on June 30, a political consultant to the congressman said Thursday. Kean, who represents a battleground district in this year’s midterms, has missed more than 100 votes and hasn’t been spotted in […]
2 months ago
Former President Barack Obama, back center, and former first lady Michelle Obama, right, arrive on ...

Photos show opening Day at the Obama Presidential Center

CHICAGO (AP) — Former President Barack Obama marked the opening of his presidential center with a star-studded celebration that brought together former presidents, world leaders, celebrities and athletes. ___ This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
2 months ago
D.C. Council member Janeese Lewis George waves to the crowd as she celebrates after winning D.C. Ma...

Janeese Lewis George wins the Democratic primary for mayor of Washington, DC

WASHINGTON (AP) — Janeese Lewis George, who pledged to aggressively stand up to federal intervention into Washington, D.C.’s affairs, won Tuesday’s Democratic primary for mayor, setting up a potential showdown with the Trump administration over its moves to challenge the city’s limited autonomy. In an overwhelmingly Democratic city, Lewis George is likely to take the […]
2 months ago

Arizona prosecutors dismissing fake elector case but vow to seek new indictment

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is dismissing a sprawling criminal case that alleged President Donald Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and others tried to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss in the state. The decision announced Thursday marks the third such fake elector case filed […]
2 months ago
FILE - A person views posted signs on the locations of the now removed explanatory panels that were...

Trump administration can replace Washington slavery exhibit in Philadelphia, appeals court says

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Trump administration can replace a slavery exhibit at George Washington’s home in Philadelphia, a federal appeals court panel said Thursday, striking down a lower court’s injunction that required the National Park Service to reinstall the interpretive panels. The unanimous ruling by the three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of […]
2 months ago
District of Columbia mayoral candidate Kenyan McDuffie fills out his ranked choice ballot during th...

Washington DC mayoral candidate Kenyan McDuffie concedes primary to Janeese Lewis George

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington, D.C. mayoral candidate Kenyan McDuffie on Thursday conceded the Democratic primary race to Janeese Lewis George. Although the official certification of the primary race is continuing, McDuffie said in a statement that “it is clear that the voters have chosen a different path.” The former member of the D.C. council said […]
2 months ago
FILE - A large banner is seen at a campaign event for a proposed "billionaires tax" in Los Angeles ...

California billionaire tax proposal is slated to qualify for the November ballot

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A proposal to temporarily increase taxes on billionaires in California to counter federal cuts to healthcare for low-income people has sufficient public support to qualify for the November ballot, the state’s top elections official said. Secretary of State Shirley Weber, a Democrat, said Wednesday night that petitioners have collected more than […]
2 months ago
FILE - Fans, part of a cooling system, are visible on the roof of a data center April 27, 2026, in ...

Federal regulators back Trump’s plan to speed power to energy-hungry AI data centers

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators on Thursday agreed to let large energy users connect more quickly to the nation’s inefficient and electric transmission system to accommodate surging demand from power-hungry artificial intelligence data centers. Energy Secretary Chris Wright had urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to act in an effort to help the United States […]
2 months ago
FILE - The U.S. Supreme Court is seen, June 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)...

Supreme Court sides with a Texas man who says it’s not a crime for marijuana users to have guns

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court sided Thursday with a Texas marijuana user who wants to legally own a gun, the latest in a line of firearm cases from a court that has expanded gun rights. The justices sided with Ali Danial Hemani, who argued that a law barring guns from anyone who uses drugs […]
2 months ago