AP US Politics News

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

By JONATHAN J. COOPER Associated Press Elon Musk’s plan to create a new political party puts him in the company of a long line of business and political titans looking to upend the two-party system that has dominated U.S. politics since almost the beginning. From the Anti-Masonic Party in the early 1800s to last year’s

By GABRIELA AOUN ANGUEIRA Associated Press Just weeks ago, President Donald Trump said he wanted to begin “phasing out” the Federal Emergency Management Agency after this hurricane season to “wean off of FEMA” and “bring it down to the state level.” But after months of promises to overhaul or eliminate the federal agency charged with

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Four high-ranking former New York City police officials are accusing Mayor Eric Adams and his top deputies of doling out promotions to unqualified allies as part of a scheme that also involved alleged cash bribes paid to the ex-police commissioner. In separate lawsuits filed Monday, the

By WILL WEISSERT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Turns out Donald Trump gauges his esteem for presidential predecessors by how well their portraits fit into his White House redecorating scheme. Or sometimes how well the frames around those portraits do. “I’m a frame person,” Trump said Tuesday during a meeting with his Cabinet. “Sometimes I

By JAIMIE DING and CHRISTOPHER WEBER Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hector Velasquez was playing cards with friends at MacArthur Park in Los Angeles early Monday when a young man with a megaphone walked through announcing federal agents were on their way. Another man drove past in a car, shouting out the window, “Immigration

By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump leaped to the defense of Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday in the face of mounting criticism from far-right influencers and conservative internet personalities over the Justice Department’s abrupt refusal to release additional documents from the Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation. When a reporter attempted

By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s plans to downsize the federal workforce despite warnings that critical government services will be lost and hundreds of thousands of federal employees will be out of their jobs. The justices overrode lower court orders that

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The second of two defendants from Nevada who were charged in Minnesota with conspiracy to commit voter registration fraud pleaded guilty Tuesday, federal prosecutors announced. Ronnie Williams, 58, entered his plea before U.S. District Judge Laura Provinzino in St. Paul. Court records don’t say whether there was

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has avoided talking about his plan to scrap the federal disaster response agency after the catastrophic flash flood in Texas that killed more than 100 people, including children attending a girls-only camp. Asked shortly after the disaster whether he still intended to phase out

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department is warning U.S. diplomats of attempts to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio and possibly other officials using technology driven by artificial intelligence, according to two senior officials and a cable sent last week to all embassies and consulates. The warning came after

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court cleared the way Tuesday for the state to institute a ban on conversion therapy in a ruling that gives the governor more power over how state laws are enacted. The court ruled that a Republican-controlled legislative committee’s rejection of a state agency

By JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Republican Burt Jones made his long-telegraphed entry into the 2026 governor’s race on Tuesday, touting his ties with President Donald Trump and pledging to eliminate Georgia’s state income tax in a campaign video. “I don’t back down from tough fights — I step up to deliver

By The Associated Press The Supreme Court cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s plans to cut down on the size of the federal workforce, despite warnings from experts that vital government services will be lost and hundreds of thousands of federal employees will be out of their jobs. There have been no official numbers

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press BENNETTSVILLE, S.C. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday launched a two-day tour of South Carolina, calling on voters across rural areas — some tucked in GOP strongholds — to exercise their “moral authority” in standing up to President Donald Trump and Republicans in next year’s midterm elections. But

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS says pastors who endorse political candidates from the pulpit should not have to risk losing their tax-exempt status. The move effectively calls for a carve out for religious organizations from the rarely used IRS rule called the Johnson Amendment, put in place in 1954 and

By JULIE WATSON and CHRISTOPHER WEBER Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — U.S. military troops and federal immigration officers made a brief but mighty show of force Monday at a Los Angeles park in a neighborhood dubbed the “Ellis Island of the West Coast” for its large immigrant population. The operation left local officials and

By REBECCA SANTANA and GISELA SALOMON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is ending the temporary status for nearly 80,000 Hondurans and Nicaraguans that has allowed them to live and work in the U.S. for a quarter of a century after a devastating hurricane hit Central America, according to federal government notices —

By AMANDA SEITZ and JONEL ALECCIA Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday praised a company that makes $7-a-pop meals that are delivered directly to the homes of Medicaid and Medicare enrollees. He even thanked Mom’s Meals for sending taxpayer-funded meals “without additives” to the homes of sick or

By COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is reshaping a student loan cancellation program into what some fear will become a tool for political retribution, taking aim at organizations that serve immigrants and transgender youth. Public Service Loan Forgiveness allows government employees, such as teachers and firefighters, plus many who

By JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said Monday he raised another $1.25 million for his 2026 gubernatorial bid from Feb. 1 to June 30. The Republican announced the fundraising totals to The Associated Press on Monday, although he hasn’t yet filed an official report with the state Ethics

By PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Attorneys for the state of Maine and a conservative lawmaker who identified a transgender teen student athlete online now agree that the lawmaker’s appeal over her loss of voting rights for her post is now moot. Republican state Rep. Laurel Libby identified the athlete in a

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and BEN FINLEY Associated Press GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — The U.S. government would initiate deportation proceedings against Kilmar Abrego Garcia if he’s released from jail before he stands trial on human smuggling charges in Tennessee, a Justice Department attorney told a federal judge in Maryland on Monday. The disclosure by U.S. lawyer

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press Elon Musk has said that he’s formed a new political party, but it’s unclear what steps — if any — he’s taken to do so, or how the effort might affect upcoming elections. Musk has not yet released any additional information. Spokespeople for Musk and his political action committee, America

By ERIC TUCKER and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Jeffrey Epstein did not maintain a “client list,” the Justice Department acknowledged Monday as it said no more files related to the wealthy financier’s sex trafficking investigation would be made public despite promises from Attorney General Pam Bondi that had raised the expectations

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The clock is ticking closer to U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest tariff deadline of Aug 1. And while several more deals — or at least frameworks for deals — have been reached since his last tariff deadline of July 9 came and went, trade talks

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer Shares of Tesla tumbled 8% at the opening bell Monday as the feud between CEO Elon Musk and Trump reignited over the weekend. Musk, once a top donor and ally of Trump, announced that he was forming a third political party in protest over the Republican spending bill that

By JAMES POLLARD Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The former Librarian of Congress abruptly fired by President Donald Trump has found a new position with the country’s largest philanthropic supporter of the arts. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation exclusively told The Associated Press that Carla Hayden will join the humanities grantmaker Monday as a

By The Associated Press U.S. President Donald Trump held a private dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday as families of hostages held in Gaza pushed for any ceasefire agreement to include the release of all remaining hostages. As the two leaders meet for the third time this year, the outwardly triumphant visit