AP US Politics News

By KATE BRUMBACK Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — The government of Georgia’s most populous county must pay $10,000 a day until it appoints two Republican nominees to its election board under a judge’s ruling issued Wednesday. Superior Court Judge David Emerson found that the Fulton County Board of Commissioners had not complied with his earlier

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer Like its namesake barrels that transported soda crackers until boxes replaced them, Cracker Barrel needed to change. The restaurant chain’s new CEO, Julie Felss Masino, laid out the argument to investors last year: Cracker Barrel’s customer traffic was down 16% compared to 2019. Research showed consumers thought the brand

By MARGERY A. BECK Associated Press A Democrat has won a special election for an Iowa state Senate seat in a district that had been held by Republicans and had voted heavily for President Donald Trump in 2024, adding to the Democratic Party’s hope that it can flip more seats during the 2026 midterm elections.

By STEVE PEOPLES AP National Politics Writer MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Democratic National Committee is seriously considering scrambling the party’s 2028 presidential primary calendar. And South Carolina — the state that hosted the Democrats’ first-in-the-nation contest in 2024 — is far from a lock to go first. That’s according to several members of the DNC’s

By The Associated Press As President Donald Trump asserts his power to control the nation’s capital, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Wednesday that his department will manage Union Station, taking control away from Amtrak. Lawyers for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, now the face of Trump’s hardline immigration agenda, told a federal judge on Wednesday that the

By STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats were plunged into political crisis, especially splintered on immigration and border security, after their thorough defeat last year in an election in which President Donald Trump made hard-line immigration action a centerpiece of his campaign. That may be changing. From New York to California, Democratic lawmakers

By BERNARD CONDON AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump has a message for critics who think turning the U.S. government into a major stockholder of Intel is a “socialist” move: More is coming. “I will make deals like that for our Country all day long,” the president posted on Truth Social after

By GABRIELA AOUN ANGUEIRA Associated Press Some employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency who signed a public letter of dissent earlier this week were put on administrative leave Tuesday evening, according to documents reviewed by The Associated Press. More than 180 current and former FEMA employees signed the letter sent to the FEMA Review

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The wife of former Sen. Bob Menendez should serve at least seven years in prison for playing a pivotal role in a bribery scheme that put the New Jersey Democrat behind bars for 11 years, prosecutors told a judge Tuesday. Nadine Menendez, age 58, was convicted

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Voting-rights advocates sued Tuesday to overturn a redistricting map drawn by Texas Republicans meant to favor the party in the 2026 midterm elections, saying it weakens the electoral influence of Black voters. The NAACP and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed the lawsuit in Texas. They accuse Texas

By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has reached settlements with a group of current and former FBI agents who have said they were disciplined for invoking personal and political views, including about the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and the COVID-19 vaccine, and for clashing with supervisors about approaches to

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Citing “the most illegal search I have ever seen in my life,” a magistrate judge is upbraiding the federal government for the way it has handled arrests in the District of Columbia this month and says the possible effects — violations of rights and the potential for

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Days after getting his staggering civil fraud penalty thrown out, President Donald Trump asked New York’s highest court on Tuesday to overturn his other punishments, including a multiyear ban on him and his two eldest sons holding corporate leadership positions. Trump’s lawyers filed a notice

By CHRISTINE FERNANDO, SOPHIA TAREEN and OBED LAMY Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — President Donald Trump’s threats to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago sent ripples through America’s third-largest city as many residents defended their home against Trump’s escalating rhetoric toward its violent crime, including claims it is a “killing field.” The threat of federal

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah is being thrust into a national battle over redistricting because of a court order to redraw its congressional map for the 2026 midterm elections, while President Donald Trump is pushing other Republican-led states to add winnable U.S. House seats for the GOP. The new

By CHRIS MEGERIAN, BRIAN SLODYSKO and FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — When Bill Pulte was nominated as the country’s top housing regulator, he told senators that his “number one mission will be to strengthen and safeguard the housing finance system.” But since he started the job, he’s distinguished himself by targeting President Donald

By JOHN RABY Associated Press CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Tim Armstead, a West Virginia Supreme Court justice who also served as Republican speaker of the House of Delegates during a 20-year legislative career, died Tuesday, the court announced. He was 60. Armstead died following a brief hospitalization, the court said in a statement without elaborating.

By ALI SWENSON Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A conservative election researcher whose faulty findings on voter data were cited by President Donald Trump as he tried to overturn his 2020 election loss has been appointed to an election integrity role at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Pennsylvania activist Heather Honey is now

By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press The late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said that if it were up to him, he would jail “every sandal-wearing, scruffy-bearded weirdo who burns the American flag,” But the Constitution, the conservative hero noted in 2015, protects flag-burning as a form of free speech. And importantly: “I am not king”

By The Associated Press Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement following a two-year romance was swiftly praised by stars from the entertainment and sports worlds, British royalty and even the U.S. president. “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” the couple announced in an Instagram post Tuesday. The couple took the spotlight

By MARC LEVY Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that it is unconstitutional for the presidential battleground state of Pennsylvania to throw out mail-in ballots simply because the voter didn’t write an accurate date on the return envelope. The unanimous decision by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of

By STEVE PEOPLES AP National Politics Writer MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Democratic National Committee planned to clarify its position on the Israel-Hamas war this week. But after a surprise reversal, it may be several months before DNC officials adopt a formal position on an issue that has divided their party perhaps more than any other.

NEW YORK (AP) — In an unprecedented move, U.S. President Donald Trump said that he’s firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook — marking a sharp escalation in his efforts to exert greater control on one of the most powerful financial institutions in the world. Trump took to social media Monday night to announce that he

By The Associated Press Financial markets worldwide have been rattled by President Donald Trump’s announcement that he’s firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, an unprecedented move and sharp escalation in his effort to exert greater control over what has long been considered an institution independent from day-to-day politics. But Cook said she’s not leaving, and

By THOMAS BEAUMONT Associated Press BOLIVAR, Missouri (AP) — One of the few Republican U.S. House members making in-person appearances embarked on a town hall tour of his district to meet with constituents Monday, and a civil conversation broke out. Rep. Mark Alford and an audience of about 100 in west central Missouri spent an

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and WILL WEISSERT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday night that he’s firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, an unprecedented move that would constitute a sharp escalation in his battle to exert greater control over what has long been considered an institution independent from day-to-day politics. Trump said

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Utah Legislature will need to rapidly redraw the state’s congressional boundaries after a judge ruled Monday that the Republican-controlled body circumvented safeguards put in place by voters to ensure districts aren’t drawn to favor any party. The current map, adopted in 2021, divides Salt