AP US Politics News

By COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday opened a civil rights investigation into the hiring practices at George Mason University, expanding a national campaign against diversity policies to Virginia’s largest public university. The Education Department said it is responding to a complaint from multiple professors at George Mason

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER, AAMER MADHANI and JOSEF FEDERMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended a memorial service Thursday for two slain Israeli Embassy staffers as he wrapped up a four-day visit to Washington in which talks with President Donald Trump, White House aides and lawmakers focused on finding a pathway to

By JIM VERTUNO Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton, the wife of Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, filed for divorce on Thursday, seeking to end 38 years of marriage as her husband campaigns for the U.S. Senate. Angela Paxton had stuck by her husband through a decade of legal

By JOSH BOAK and CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is escalating his pressure campaign to get the Federal Reserve chairman to either lower interest rates or quit his post by targeting the expensive renovation at the central bank’s headquarters. The latest step came Thursday when Russ Vought, Trump’s top budget

By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Kash Patel pledged at his confirmation hearing that the bureau would not look backward, but the Trump administration’s fresh scrutiny of the Russia investigation has brought back into focus a years-old inquiry that continues to infuriate the Republican president. The Justice Department appeared to acknowledge

By JACK BROOK Associated Press/Report for America NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Democrats used a Louisiana town hall Thursday night to preview one of their main strategies for attempting to retake the U.S. House next year, ripping into the health care changes in the just-passed Republican tax and spending bill. The top House Democrat, Hakeem Jeffries,

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon said Thursday that he will run for reelection next year to seek a fourth term in Congress. In a statement, the 68-year-old denounced the Trump administration and described efforts to stand against growing threats to democracy as “the fight of our lives, and I’m

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Federal judges will weigh a request to bring Alabama back under the preclearance requirement of the Voting Rights Act after ruling the state intentionally diluted the voting strength of Black residents when drawing congressional lines. Black voters and civil rights organizations, who successfully challenged Alabama’s congressional map, are asking a three-judge

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — On a recent afternoon, Mahmoud Khalil sat in his Manhattan apartment, cradling his 10-week-old son as he thought back to the pre-dawn hours spent pacing a frigid immigration jail in Louisiana, awaiting news of the child’s birth in New York. For a moment, the outspoken Palestinian

By ISABELLA VOLMERT Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State University professor Josh Cowen announced Thursday that he is running for one of the battleground state’s most competitive congressional districts, joining a crowded field of Democrats seeking to challenge Republican Rep. Tom Barrett. In an interview with The Associated Press, Cowen said federal worker

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Judge to temporarily block Trump order ending birthright citizenship in nationwide class action lawsuit.

By The Associated Press President Donald Trump posted a letter to social media Thursday evening announcing Canadian goods will be subject to a 35% tariff rate starting Aug. 1, an aggressive increase to the 25% tariff first announced by Trump in February. Trump justified the tariffs as necessary to manage America’s opioid crisis, which he

By HOLLY MEYER Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — One hundred years ago, a public high school teacher stood trial in Dayton, Tennessee, for teaching human evolution. His nation is still feeling the reverberations today. The law books record it as State of Tennessee v. John T. Scopes. History remembers it as the “ Monkey

By HOLLY RAMER and MIKE CATALINI Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A federal judge in New Hampshire issued a ruling Thursday prohibiting President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship from taking effect anywhere in the U.S. Judge Joseph LaPlante issued a preliminary injunction blocking Trump’s order and certified a class action lawsuit including

By RYAN J. FOLEY, CHRISTOPHER L. KELLER, SEAN MURPHY, and JIM MUSTIAN Associated Press KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Over the last decade, an array of Texas state and local agencies missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system intended to avert a disaster like the one that killed dozens of young campers and scores of

By DEEPA BHARATH and FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A surprise move by the IRS that would allow pastors to back political candidates from the pulpit without losing their organization’s tax-exempt status is drawing praise from conservatives and even some progressive religious groups but concern from other leaders of faith, along with tax

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A new lawsuit seeking to redraw Wisconsin’s congressional district boundary lines was filed on Tuesday, less than two weeks after the state Supreme Court declined to hear a pair of other lawsuits that asked for redistricting before the 2026 election. The latest lawsuit brought by a

By MAKIYA SEMINERA Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Josh Stein cleared his desk Wednesday of the deluge of bills passed to him from the North Carolina General Assembly last month, three of which he vetoed. Stein topped off his veto total at 14 for this year’s legislative session. One of the vetoes

By JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Every time the door swings open this week at the county courthouse in the tiny south Georgia town of Statenville, six election workers have a moment to hope that someone is coming to vote. “Anybody that comes in pretty much has to walk by our office,” said

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A “confluence of errors” including unlawful actions by the former clerk in Wisconsin’s capital city led to nearly 200 absentee ballots not being counted in the November presidential election, an investigation by the state elections commission released Wednesday concluded. Maribeth Witzel-Behl resigned as Madison city clerk

By COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are urging seven U.S. universities to cut ties with a Chinese scholarship program that lawmakers call a “nefarious mechanism” to steal technology for the Chinese government. In letters to Dartmouth College, the University of Notre Dame and five other universities, leaders of the House

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court on Wednesday overturned a self-styled right-wing propagandist’s conviction for spreading falsehoods on social media in an effort to suppress Democratic turnout in the 2016 presidential election. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ordered a lower court to enter

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Former Rhode Island Gov. Edward DiPrete, who served as the state’s chief executive for six years and was later jailed for corruption, has died. He was 91. Robert Murray, DiPrete’s former chief of staff, co nfirmed that the Republican died Tuesday after celebrating his 91st birthday

By MARC LEVY Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser will not seek the Republican nomination for governor of Pennsylvania, despite having President Donald Trump’s recent promise of support if he were to run. Meuser’s decision to run again for his northeastern Pennsylvania seat rather than governor leaves the Republican Party with

By The Associated Press Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Wednesday that the 50% tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump would trigger the country’s economic reciprocity law. That allows trade, investment and intellectual property agreements to be suspended for countries that harm the South American nation’s competitiveness. “Brazil is a sovereign country

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A suburban Milwaukee businessman, former Navy SEAL and political newcomer entered Wisconsin’s race for governor Wednesday, likening himself to President Donald Trump and promising a “Wisconsin First” agenda. Bill Berrien, 56, becomes the second Republican to announce for the 2026 contest. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, 73,

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and his advisers promised a lightning round of global trade negotiations with dozens of countries back in April. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro predicted “90 deals in 90 days.’’ Administration officials declared that other countries were desperate to make concessions to avoid

By ANNA FURMAN Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Growing up, Sage Sol Pitchenik wanted to hide. “I hated my body,” the nonbinary 16-year-old said. “I hated looking at it.” When therapy didn’t help, Pitchenik, who uses the pronoun they, started going to the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles,

By MORIAH BALINGIT AP Education Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The impact of the massive spending bill President Donald Trump signed into law on Independence Day is expected to filter down to infants and toddlers — a segment of the population that’s particularly vulnerable to cuts to the federal social safety net. Many middle-class and wealthy