WASHINGTON (AP) — Louisiana voters will participate in a revamped and stripped-down state primary Saturday and decide the political fate of an embattled Republican U.S. senator targeted for defeat by President Donald Trump. Sen. Bill Cassidy is running for a third term but first must overcome a Republican primary field that includes state Treasurer John […]
NEW YORK (AP) — North America’s largest commuter rail system is facing a potential shutdown as a deadline nears to reach a deal with unionized workers to avert a strike. The Long Island Railroad that serves New York City’s eastern suburbs has been negotiating for months on a new contract with labor officials representing locomotive […]
NEW YORK (AP) — Democratic leaders, desperate to compete in red states where their party brand is toxic, are embracing something new this midterm season: Not backing Democrats. In states like Nebraska, Idaho and Alaska, Democratic officials are, in some cases, looking past their own party’s candidates while subtly encouraging — or even openly promoting […]
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell is considered such a titan in his home state that Kentucky lawmakers voted to put a statue of him alongside Abraham Lincoln in the Capitol. After overcoming polio as a child, McConnell rose to become the longest-serving Senate leader in history and helped secure a conservative majority […]
New U.S. House districts that could help Republicans win several additional seats in Florida are set to face their first test in court Friday against assertions that they violate a state constitutional ban on partisan gerrymandering. Lawsuits filed on behalf of voters ask a state judge to block the districts from being used in the […]
PORT ISABEL, Texas (AP) — Until recently, young children ran in and out of their public housing homes in this Gulf Coast town, playing on sun-dappled lawns as mothers looked over their shoulders for the school bus to drop off their older kids. Suddenly, couches, dressers and refrigerators started appearing curbside for movers or garbage […]
HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii’s Democratic governor on Thursday signed into law a bill that uses a novel approach to reduce the influence of corporations and hard-to-track “dark money” groups that have been able to spend unlimited amounts on politics since a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The law, which takes effect July 1, 2027, redefines […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump exceeded his authority when he issued an executive order to restrict voters’ ability to cast ballots by mail, attorneys for Democrats and civil rights groups told a federal judge on Thursday. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols didn’t rule from the bench on the plaintiffs’ request for an order blocking […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Ethics Committee announced Thursday it is investigating Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards of North Carolina over allegations that he created a hostile work environment and engaged in sexual harassment. Edwards, serving his second term in the House, said he welcomed the inquiry and planned to fully cooperate with the committee. “I […]
MIAMI (AP) — Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas urged Americans to celebrate the 250th anniversary of independence not with fireworks or empty platitudes, but by standing up for their deeply held beliefs, with the comforting knowledge that the U.S. Constitution protects free speech and serves as a common bedrock in a society otherwise beset by […]
HAVANA (AP) — The Cuban government said Thursday that CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with counterparts from the Ministry of the Interior during a high-level visit to the island. According to official reports, the meeting served as a platform for Cuba to present evidence asserting that the nation poses no threat to U.S. national security. […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is working to increase the retirement age for U.S. Capitol Police officers as the number of threats to lawmakers continues to climb and the department struggles to recruit and retain enough officers. Legislation passed unanimously by the Senate on Thursday would allow Capitol Police officers to apply to extend their service […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — When Jerome Powell was sworn in as chair of the Federal Reserve eight years ago, economists worried that inflation and interest rates were too low and that too few Americans had jobs. Now, as Powell steps down from the post after eight tumultuous years, the U.S. economy is transformed: Inflation soared after […]
The Justice Department on Thursday accused Yale University of illegally considering race in admissions to its medical school — the second institution to face discrimination allegations by the federal agency this month. In a letter to a lawyer for Yale, Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights, said a DOJ investigation found that Black […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — When Jerome Powell was sworn in as chair of the Federal Reserve eight years ago, economists worried that inflation and interest rates were too low and that too few Americans had jobs. Now, as Powell steps down from the post after eight tumultuous years, the U.S. economy is transformed: Inflation soared after […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A top California Democratic political aide agreed to plead guilty Thursday to charges including conspiracy to commit bank fraud related to a scheme to steal campaign funds from Xavier Becerra when he served as the federal health secretary. The case has drawn attention to Becerra in his bid for California governor, […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday proposed a revised budget proposal without a deficit for his last year of office and the next, laying out a $350 billion spending plan that includes little new spending but also avoids major cuts. Newsom is eager to safeguard programs that have defined his tenure […]
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday announced $1.8 billion in additional funding for U.N. humanitarian aid, saying the money will be earmarked for life-saving aid to victims of natural disasters, famine and “people who are truly in critical need.” The money will be allocated over the coming year and adds to the […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s efforts to sanction some of the nation’s most prestigious law firms “strike at the heart of the rule of law” and must remain blocked by the courts, an attorney for law firms told a panel of appellate judges on Thursday. A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Democrat Xavier Becerra is counting on his decades-long public career to catapult him into the California governor’s office, but that lengthy political resume has also given his critics fodder to question his competence in the race’s closing weeks. Becerra spent more than 35 years in public office, including with a leadership […]
A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to bring a Colombian woman back to the U.S. from Congo, after she was deported to the African nation even though it had refused to accept her because it could not care for her medical needs. The deportation of Adriana Maria Quiroz Zapata “was likely illegal,” U.S. […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators unanimously approved a resolution Thursday to withhold their pay during government shutdowns, an attempt to make federal closures financially painful for lawmakers after a string of record-breaking impasses in the past year. The bipartisan support for the measure comes at a time when federal closures have become longer and more frequent, […]
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal immigration court in Lower Manhattan has come to represent the Trump administration’s deportation campaign in New York City, with agents carrying out chaotic and sometimes violent arrests in the hallway as migrants leave hearings. Now the court is serving as a front in a different kind of battle: one […]
Two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s congressional map, state senators on Thursday are to consider a plan that would eliminate a majority-Black district while giving Republicans a chance to win an additional seat in the November midterm elections. The high court’s ruling has led to a flurry of redistricting efforts in […]
