AP US Politics News

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration can slash hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of research funding in its push to cut federal diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, the Supreme Court decided Thursday. The split court lifted a judge’s order blocking $783 million worth of cuts made by the National

By MIKE CATALINI Associated Press A federal judge ruled Thursday that President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Alina Habba, has been unlawfully serving as the the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey since last month. U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann held that Habba’s term as the interim U.S. attorney ended in July, and the Trump administration’s

Associated Press Before he battled his way back to the White House, President Donald Trump was in court battling a slew of civil lawsuits and criminal charges that threatened to upend his finances and take away his freedom. Those cases have mostly abated since his return to office, albeit with some loose ends. On Thursday,

By MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. (AP) — Vice President JD Vance pitched President Donald Trump’s sweeping new law as a “working families’ tax cut” during a visit Thursday to a refrigeration facility in swing-state Georgia, a preview of the midterm message that Republicans are expected to campaign on next year. In

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Orlando officials on Thursday denounced the overnight removal of a rainbow-colored crosswalk outside the Pulse nightclub where 49 people were gunned down, saying it was part of an attack on LGBTQ lives by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said the painting over

By CHRIS MEGERIAN and JACQUELYN MARTIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal authorities have set up checkpoints around the nation’s capital, sometimes asking people for their immigration status and detaining them, as President Donald Trump’s crackdown ensnares more residents each day. Trump claimed that a crime crisis required his Republican administration’s intervention in the Democratic-led

By HANNAH FINGERHUT Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Just days before national Democrats gather for their annual summer meeting, Iowa’s state party officials on Thursday said it was a mistake for the party to have abandoned Iowa in the 2024 early nominating calendar and opened up the possibility of going rogue the next

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he is firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook late Monday, in a move viewed as a sharp escalation in his battle to exert greater control over the independent institution. Trump said in a letter posted on his Truth Social platform Monday that

By MIKE CATALINI and HOLLY MEYER Associated Press James Dobson, a child psychologist who founded the conservative ministry Focus on the Family and was a politically influential campaigner against abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, died on Thursday. He was 89. Born in 1936 in Shreveport, Louisiana, Dobson launched a radio show counseling Christians on how to

By The Associated Press President Donald Trump took a field trip Thursday to the U.S. Park Police operations facility in Washington, where he addressed about 300 National Guard troops and federal law enforcement officials and praised his military crackdown on crime and immigration in the city. The White House said there have been 630 arrests,

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Just three weeks ago, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell spoke to reporters after the central bank had kept its key interest rate unchanged for a fifth straight meeting and said the job market was “solid.” His assessment was important because if the job market is healthy,

By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press A longtime adviser to New York City Mayor Eric Adams who resigned from his administration while under FBI scrutiny gave a reporter a potato chip bag filled with cash Wednesday following a campaign event, a gift her lawyer later insisted wasn’t an attempted bribe. The local news site The City

By JEFF AMY Associated Press JACKSON, Ga. (AP) — Second-term Georgia Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins is seeking to solidify support as he seeks the GOP nomination to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in 2026. Collins, who’d declared his intent to run in July, officially launched his candidacy Tuesday in his hometown of Jackson

By AAMER MADHANI, ERIC TUCKER and ALI SWENSON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Office of the Director of National Intelligence will dramatically reduce its workforce and cut its budget by more than $700 million annually, the Trump administration announced Wednesday. The move amounts to a major downsizing of the office responsible for coordinating the

NEW YORK (AP) — “South Park” continued its cartoon assault on the Trump administration Wednesday, with an episode that addressed the federal takeover of Washington, D.C.’s police department. The latest installment on Comedy Central depicted the recurring character “Towelie” — a walking, talking towel — riding in a bus past landmarks like the Supreme Court

By ERIC OLSON AP Sports Writer Ten Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives have asked the NCAA if and how college sports’ major governing body plans to protect the interests of female athletes as the largest portion of NIL and revenue-sharing payments continue to be directed to male athletes. The lawmakers, in a

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press Former President Barack Obama has waded into states’ efforts at rare mid-decade redistricting efforts, saying he agrees with California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s response to alter his state’s congressional maps, in the way of Texas redistricting efforts promoted by President Donald Trump aimed at shoring up Republicans’ position in next year’s

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Democratic Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski, who passed up a chance to run for the open governor’s seat, announced Wednesday that she instead will go for the No. 2 slot in 2026. Godlewski is the first candidate from either party to announce for lieutenant governor,

BY LIAM BOWMAN, TAYLOR NICHOLS and MARY BURKE / Howard Center for Investigative Journalism Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland A train derails and spills at least 1,000 gallons of hazardous materials in the U.S. about once every two months. Nearly half of those derailments resulted in evacuations; more than a

By The Associated Press The Republican-controlled Texas House of Representatives passed Wednesday a redrawn congressional map that creates up to five new winnable GOP seats in Congress, further deepening a national redistricting battle between states. Republicans want to make it easier for the GOP to hold on to its slim U.S. House majority in the

By ERIC GAY and STEPHEN SPILLMAN Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas House of Representatives, led by Republicans, approved a redrawn congressional map that could give the GOP up to five new seats in Congress ahead of the 2026 midterms. After a two-week walkout that stalled the vote on a new political map,

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — President Donald Trump wants the U.S. government to own a piece of Intel, less than two weeks after demanding the Silicon Valley pioneer dump the CEO that was hired to turn around the slumping chipmaker. If the goal is realized, the investment would deepen the

By JIM VERTUNO and NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas House on Wednesday approved redrawn congressional maps that would give Republicans a bigger edge in 2026, muscling through a partisan gerrymander that launched weeks of protests by Democrats and a widening national battle over redistricting. The approval came at the urging