Politics

FILE - Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows speaks with reporters during the National Associate ...

Judges in Maine and Wisconsin dismiss Justice Department’s attempts to force turnover of voter rolls

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Federal judges in Maine and Wisconsin on Thursday dismissed lawsuits filed by the U.S. Department of Justice seeking to compel the states to hand over detailed voter registration information. U.S. District Judge James Pederson in Wisconsin said the state’s voter registration list is not a record that can be requested under […]
3 months ago
FILE - Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris delivers a concession speech fo...

Takeaways from the Democratic National Committee’s long-awaited autopsy report on 2024 election

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s never a good sign when a report comes with a big red disclaimer at the top of each page, but that’s what happened on Thursday when the Democratic National Committee belatedly released its controversial autopsy report on the 2024 election. “This document reflects the views of the author, not the DNC,” […]
3 months ago
FILE - Candidate Tina Peters speaks during a debate for the state leadership position, Feb. 25, 202...

Colorado Democrats censure governor for conspiracy theorist sentence commutation

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — Colorado Democrats voted overwhelmingly to censure one of their own, Gov. Jared Polis, for commuting the prison sentence of Tina Peters, the election conspiracy theorist who amplified President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that mass fraud caused his 2020 election loss. About 90% of the state party’s roughly 700 Central Committee […]
3 months ago
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends at a press conference at the US Embassy in Rome, Friday, ...

Rubio doubtful of diplomacy with Cuba as Trump raises new threat of military action

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and America’s top diplomat on Thursday again raised the specter of U.S. military intervention in Cuba, a renewed threat that takes on greater weight a day after the administration announced criminal charges against the island’s former leader, Raúl Castro. Trump said previous U.S. presidents have considered intervening in Cuba […]
3 months ago
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks during a meeting with business leaders in Mexico City, M...

Mexico will discuss drug trafficking and migrant deaths during visit by US security official Mullin

MEXICO CITY (AP) — President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday that she hopes to strengthen bilateral security cooperation during U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s visit to Mexico, including on issues of combating drug trafficking, migrant smuggling and arms trafficking, and to facilitate intelligence sharing. Mullin arrives in the capital for a two-day visit following tensions […]
3 months ago
FILE - The Treasury Department building is pictured at dusk in Washington, June 6, 2019. (AP Photo/...

US sanctions Lebanese lawmakers, security officials over Hezbollah influence

WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of Hezbollah-affiliated parliamentarians, state security officials, and allies of the militant group were hit with U.S. sanctions Thursday, for allegedly seeking to preserve the Iran-backed group’s influence over Lebanese state institutions and obstruct disarmament efforts. It’s the first time Washington has sanctioned sitting Lebanese state security officials, one from the […]
3 months ago
President Donald Trump speaks during an event about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Ov...

Trump says he’s postponing signing an executive order on AI out of concern it would hurt AI industry

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump called off a Thursday signing ceremony for a new order on artificial intelligence because he worried it could dull America’s edge on AI technology. Trump said he was postponing the signing because he didn’t like what he saw in the order’s text. He announced the change hours before the […]
3 months ago
FILE - Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., right, speaks as Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., left, looks on during ...

Lawmakers warn data protection rules don’t protect key sites, including White House and CIA

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration spent almost a year crafting regulations to block U.S. adversaries from buying commercial data gathered from cell phones at the federal government’s most sensitive locations. The resulting rules, however, have a few gaps. Left off the list of 736 sensitive locations were the White House, Congress and the CIA’s […]
3 months ago

New York City residents will get a chance to purchase $50 World Cup tickets

NEW YORK (AP) — Some lucky New York City residents will soon get a chance to snag cheap seats to this summer’s high-priced World Cup. Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Thursday that 1,000 tickets costing $50 will be made available to residents of the city of more than 8 million for the most watched sporting event […]
3 months ago
FILE - Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin speaks during an interview with The Associate...

Facing intense internal pressure, DNC releases post-election autopsy

NEW YORK (AP) — Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin released a critical study of the party’s performance in the 2024 campaign on Thursday, bowing to intense internal pressure from frustrated Democratic operatives who had publicly demanded the release of the post-election autopsy. The 192-page report, which was concluded last December and authored by Democratic […]
3 months ago

Former Detroit Mayor Duggan cites toxic political climate, suspending his run for Michigan governor

DETROIT (AP) — Former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said Thursday that he is suspending his campaign for Michigan governor citing an increasingly “toxic” political climate due to President Donald Trump’s war with Iran and skyrocketing gas prices. Duggan, a longtime Democrat, was running as an independent to replace Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer who can’t run […]
3 months ago
FILE - A shop owner reaches into a drink display refrigerator at his convenience store in Kent, Was...

Trump will ease refrigerant rule in effort to address surging grocery costs

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is set to loosen a federal rule that requires grocery stores and air-conditioning companies to reduce greenhouse gases used in cooling equipment, in what officials say is a push to lower grocery costs. The head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, said the Biden-era rule imposes costly restrictions […]
3 months ago
FILE - A marcher holds a framed composite image of Fidel Castro, Raul Castro and Cuba's President M...

The Latest: US indictment of former President Raúl Castro raises pressure on Cuba

The Trump administration’s indictment of former Cuban President Raúl Castro in the 1996 downing of civilian planes flown by Miami-based exiles is escalating pressure on the island’s socialist government. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are expected to abandon a proposal for $1 billion in security money for the White House complex and Trump’s ballroom on Thursday. And […]
3 months ago
The Memorial Circle, where President Donald Trump has proposed building an arch to commemorate the ...

Trump’s proposed Washington arch gets another review

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s plan to build a triumphal arch in Washington is getting a second look from a federal agency that suggested changes before it approved the concept last month. The proposed 250-foot (76 meter) arch is one of several projects the Republican president is pursuing alongside a White House ballroom to […]
3 months ago
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Thu...

Democrats are hoping for a breakthrough as the House takes another Iran war vote

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House is expected to vote on legislation Thursday to compel President Donald Trump to withdraw from the war with Iran, a significant test of lawmakers’ willingness to go along with a conflict the president launched over two months ago without congressional approval. The vote is the latest effort by Democrats to […]
3 months ago
Republican State Rep. TJ Roberts, 28, talks during a meeting of young Republicans at a bar in Covin...

At one Kentucky bar, young Republicans wrestle with their disappointment in Trump and their party

COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) — On a recent evening in northern Kentucky, over a dozen young Republicans gathered with beers and brightly colored cocktails at a bar called dEcORa, its neon interior as eccentric as its capitalization, ribbing each other and picking apart the presidential administration they welcomed with high hopes last year. By now, their […]
3 months ago
Work continues on the construction of the ballroom at the White House, Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in Wa...

Republicans expected to abandon $1B security proposal for White House and Trump’s ballroom

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leaders on Thursday are expected to abandon a proposal for $1 billion in security money for the White House complex and President Donald Trump’s ballroom amid backlash from members of their own party. Pressured by the White House, Republicans tried to add the money to a roughly $70 billion bill […]
3 months ago
Georgia gubernatorial candidate Burt Jones speaks during a primary election night watch party, Tues...

Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election are casting a shadow over Georgia’s GOP runoffs

ATLANTA (AP) — For Donald Trump, it seems the 2020 presidential election is never over. That’s especially true in Georgia. The Republican president’s years of false claims that his defeat to Democrat Joe Biden was due to widespread fraud have shadowed many elections since in the presidential battleground. The issue is almost certain to play […]
3 months ago
FILE - Aimee Bock, founder and executive director of the nonprofit organization Feeding Our Future,...

Prosecutors seek 50-year sentence for nonprofit leader at center of sprawling Minnesota fraud case

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The former leader of a Minnesota nonprofit who was convicted for her role at the center of a staggering $250 million fraud case that helped ignite a federal immigration crackdown should spend 50 years in prison, prosecutors argued in a court filing. Aimee Bock, who ran the organization Feeding our Future, which […]
3 months ago
A Sheriff's deputy investigates a shooting scene outside the Montgomery County Courthouse, Wednesda...

Some see white livestreamer’s freedom of speech claims as cover for race-baiting

A shooting involving a white livestreamer known for filming himself provoking people with racist words that left a Black man wounded has reignited debate over freedom of speech and content creators who monetize hate-filled interactions. As more users of livestreaming social media platforms find being performative with bigoted language can draw big bucks, the line […]
3 months ago
FILE - Former Cuban President Raul Castro looks at the Cuban flag during his speech at the event ce...

What to know about the US indictment of former Cuban President Raúl Castro

Former Cuban President Raúl Castro has been charged in a U.S. indictment with murder and other crimes for his alleged role in the downing of two civilian aircraft operated by Miami-based exiles in 1996 off the coast of the Caribbean island. The allegations come as part of escalating pressure by the Trump administration on Cuba’s […]
3 months ago
President Donald Trump speaks to the press after returning and stepping off Air Force One, Wednesda...

Trump has long kept his tax returns secret. He says that might change now, after IRS deal

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has long kept his past tax returns shielded from public scrutiny, something he insisted was necessary because of ongoing IRS audits. But he says that could change now after his legal team forged a deal with the Justice Department this week that includes permanently dropping tax claims against the […]
3 months ago
FILE - Travelers walk with their luggage past TSA agents at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International...

House committee discusses modernizing the TSA as Trump seeks to privatize airport screening

NEW YORK (AP) — A House committee on Wednesday expressed bipartisan support for ensuring Transportation Security Administration officers get paid during future government shutdowns and are equipped with the latest technology, discussing the agency’s future as the Trump administration lobbies to make airport screening a job for private contractors. Members of the House Committee on […]
3 months ago
The Ballroom construction site can be seen as President Donald Trump tours the area at the White Ho...

Democratic senators will test GOP unity with votes on Trump’s ‘anti-weaponization’ fund

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic senators plan to force a vote this week on President Donald Trump’s new $1.776 billion settlement fund to compensate political allies, testing Republican unity as Trump lashes out at lawmakers in his own party. Republicans are expected to vote on a roughly $72 billion bill to restore funding to U.S. Immigration […]
3 months ago