AP US Politics News

By MICHAEL PHILLIS, ALEXA ST. JOHN and MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has transformed the Environmental Protection Agency in its first year, cutting federal limits on air and water pollution and promoting fossil fuels, a metamorphosis that clashes with the agency’s historic mission to protect human health and the environment.

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press If history is a guide, Republicans stand a good chance of losing control of the House of Representatives in 2026. They have just a slim majority in the chamber, and the incumbent party usually gives up seats in midterm elections. President Donald Trump, whose loss of the House halfway through

By HANNAH FINGERHUT and HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Some Iowans are ringing in 2026 with a special election on the final Tuesday of the year, casting ballots for a state senator in a race that offers Republicans an opportunity to reclaim two-thirds control of the chamber. Democrat Renee Hardman faces

By DAVID FISCHER Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick reiterated her innocence Monday outside a Miami federal courthouse, where she faces charges of conspiring to steal $5 million in federal COVID-19 disaster funds. Cherfilus-McCormick was scheduled to be arraigned, but her attorney requested the proceeding be rescheduled to Jan. 20 so that

By ROBERT YOON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters in a Democratic-leaning West Des Moines-area district will pick a new state senator Tuesday in a special election that could allow Iowa Republicans to regain a supermajority in the chamber and secure the party’s grip on state government. Democrat Renee Hardman of West Des Moines and

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press Zohran Mamdani has promised to transform New York City government when he becomes mayor. Can he do it? Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist, already faces intense scrutiny, even before taking office in one of the country’s most scrutinized political jobs. Republicans have cast him as a liberal boogeyman. Some of

By JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — It’s the biggest mystery in Georgia politics right now: Who’s paying for the attacks on Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones? Someone operating under the name “Georgians for Integrity” has dumped around $5 million into television ads, mailers and texts. The attacks claim Jones, who already has President

By The Associated Press As 2025 wraps up, The Associated Press has curated a list of memorable stories and enjoyable reads published this year that you may have missed in the flurry of news and the busyness of living. There are storybook endings and heartbreak. Some are stranger than fiction, and others take you behind

By WILL WEISSERT Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump said the United States launched a “powerful and deadly” strike against forces of the Islamic State group in Nigeria, after spending weeks accusing the West African country’s government of failing to rein in the targeting of Christians. In a Christmas evening

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Former Colorado elections clerk Tina Peters is asking the state appeals court to recognize President Donald Trump’s pardon of her state convictions as valid. In a motion Tuesday, Peters’ lawyers said the Colorado appeals court no longer has jurisdiction over her case because of a Dec. 5

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A planned Christmas Eve jazz concert at the Kennedy Center, a holiday tradition dating back more than 20 years, has been canceled. The show’s host, musician Chuck Redd, says that he called off the performance in the wake of the White House announcing last week

By LAURA UNGAR AP Medical Writer The American Academy of Pediatrics sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday, seeking to block nearly $12 million in cuts to the group. Earlier this month, the federal government “abruptly terminated” grants to the group, the lawsuit says. The funding supported numerous public health programs,

By SEUNG MIN KIM, ERIC TUCKER and MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department said Wednesday that it may need a “few more weeks” to release all of its records on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after suddenly discovering more than a million potentially relevant documents, further delaying compliance with

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a March presidential memorandum to revoke the security clearance of prominent Washington attorney Mark Zaid, ruling that the order — which also targeted 14 other individuals — could not be applied to him. The decision marked the

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) — A man accused of shooting two National Guard troops near the White House has been charged in a complaint with federal firearms charges in connection with the ambush on November 26 that fatally wounded one of the West Virginia National Guard members and seriously injured the second. Rahmanullah Lakanwal,

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday it was replacing its longstanding lottery system for H-1B work visas with a new approach that prioritizes skilled, higher-paid foreign workers. The change follows a series of actions by the Trump administration aimed at reshaping a visa program that critics

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST and SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department has released tens of thousands more documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, a tranche that included multiple mentions of President Donald Trump but added little new revelatory information to the long-anticipated public file on the late financier and convicted sex

By DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The question of whether Missouri’s new congressional districts are in effect for the 2026 elections will be up to a court to decide. A lawsuit filed Tuesday on behalf of voters contends the redrawn map backed by President Donald Trump should have been automatically

By The Associated Press Former Nebraska U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse, a conservative who rebuked political tribalism and stood out as a longtime critic of President Donald Trump, announced Tuesday he was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. Sasse, 53, made the announcement on social media, saying he learned of the disease last week and is “now

By MEAD GRUVER Associated Press Wyoming’s lone U.S. representative is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Cynthia Lummis, who isn’t seeking reelection. Rep. Harriet Hageman, a Republican, on Tuesday became first to announce for Senate in Wyoming after Lummis, also a Republican, said Friday she isn’t seeking a second term. “I will

By JULIE CARR SMYTH Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The number of states that will accept late-arriving mail-in ballots during next year’s critical midterm elections continues to dwindle, as Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine “reluctantly” signed new restrictions into law Friday, citing the uncertainty of pending litigation to ban the counting of such ballots in

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — George Conway, a former conservative lawyer who has become one of President Donald Trump’s most outspoken critics, is taking steps toward a run for Congress in an open New York City seat. Conway filed paperwork Monday to run as a Democrat in New York’s 12th Congressional District,

By MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — EDITOR’S NOTE — This is an exclusive excerpt adapted from “Storm at the Capitol: An Oral History of January 6th” by Associated Press reporter Mary Clare Jalonick. The book, which will be published on Jan. 6, 2026, draws on personal interviews by the author, testimony, court

By MATT SEDENSKY AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — After a half-century immersed in the world of trade, customs broker Amy Magnus thought she’d seen it all, navigating mountains of regulations and all sorts of logistical hurdles to import everything from lumber and bananas to circus animals and Egyptian mummies. Then came 2025. Tariffs

By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for former CIA Director John Brennan want the Justice Department to be prevented from steering an investigation of him and other former government officials to a “favored” judge in Florida who dismissed the classified documents case against President Donald Trump. The request Monday is addressed to