AP US Politics News

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Rep. Elise Stefanik suspended her campaign for New York governor on Friday and said she will not seek reelection to Congress, bowing out of what was expected to be a bruising Republican primary and ending a once-promising tenure in the House. Stefanik, an ally of President

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — First-term U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming announced Friday that she won’t seek reelection in 2026, but she said she’s committed to retaining Republic control of the Senate. Lummis said her stamina “doesn’t match up” with the energy required for another term. “In the difficult, exhausting session weeks this fall I’ve

By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administration has awarded a $1.6 million, no-bid contract to a Danish university to study hepatitis B vaccinations on newborns in Africa that is raising ethical concerns. The unusual contract was awarded to scientists who have been cited by anti-vaccine activists and whose work

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Rep. Elise Stefanik announced Friday that she is suspending her campaign for New York governor and will not seek reelection to Congress. In a post on X, Stefanik, a Republican ally of President Donald Trump, said “it is not an effective use of our time or

By MARK SHIEFELBEIN, JACQUELYN MARTIN and RAHMAT GUL Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Kennedy Center has added President Donald Trump’s name to the building after its board, handpicked by Trump, voted to rename it The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. This is a photo gallery

By MATT BROWN and JONATHAN J. COOPER Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Erika Kirk, widow of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and the organization’s new leader, endorsed a potential presidential bid by Vice President JD Vance on the opening night of the conservative youth group’s annual conference. After telling the cheering crowd that Turning

By JOSHUA GOODMAN Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — A U.S. Army Reserve lawyer detailed as a federal immigration judge has been fired barely a month into the job after granting asylum at a high rate out of step with the Trump administration’s mass deportation goals, The Associated Press has learned. Christopher Day began hearing cases

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorneys for President Donald Trump urged a federal judge on Friday to rule that Trump is entitled to presidential immunity from civil claims that he instigated a mob’s attack on the U.S. Capitol to stop Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election. U.S. District Judge

By JAMIE STENGLE and JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — Court documents detailing the divorce of Republican U.S. Senate candidate and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, were released Friday by order of a judge, months after she filed citing “biblical grounds.” The initial filing showed that

By JON CHERRY Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Turning Point USA is holding its annual youth conference in Phoenix, where conservative influencers have clashed and the women have drawn inspiration from Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, who now leads the political movement that helped return President Donald Trump to the White House. This is a

By COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration will appeal a federal judge’s order reversing billions of dollars in funding cuts to Harvard University, extending a standoff over the White House’s demands for reforms at the Ivy League school. The Justice Department filed a notice of appeal late on Thursday in

By The Associated Press The Department of Justice on Friday released some of its records related to its investigations of Jeffrey Epstein. The convicted sex offender and wealthy financier known for his connections to some of the world’s most powerful people, including President Donald Trump, who long sought to keep the files sealed. Among the

By BILL BARROW Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — When Donald Trump delivered the first White House address of his second presidency Wednesday night, all major U.S. networks beamed his image and voice onto their airwaves, cable feeds and online platforms. Americans ended up watching the Republican president stand in the Diplomatic Reception Room and deliver

By SEJAL GOVINDARAO Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Camdyn Glover used to be a quiet conservative. She worried what her teachers would think or if she would lose friends over her convictions. But she said something changed when Charlie Kirk was assassinated in September, and she started crying in her classroom at Indiana University while

By MAKIYA SEMINERA Associated Press ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (AP) — She had worked 22 days straight in her job as a technician at an engine plant to save up, and now Daijah Bryant could finally do what she was putting off: Christmas shopping. Bryant pushed her cart out of a Walmart in Rocky Mount, North

By SUSAN HAIGH Associated Press References in U.S. Coast Guard policy calling hate symbols “potentially divisive” were removed Thursday, and a U.S. senator said she was lifting a hold she had placed on a nomination for the service’s top job. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose agency oversees the Coast Guard, said on social media

NEW YORK (AP) — One of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani ’s appointees has resigned over social media posts she made more than a decade ago that featured antisemitic tropes, Mamdani’s office said Thursday. In a statement, Catherine Almonte Da Costa, who was tapped this week to join the incoming administration, said she expressed

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Four-term North Carolina Democratic Gov. Jim Hunt, a towering figure in North Carolina politics in the late 20th century who helped leaders from both major parties strive for public education reform, died Thursday at the age of 88, his daughter Lt. Gov. Rachel Hunt announced.

By BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — TikTok has signed agreements with three major investors — Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX — to form a new TikTok U.S. joint venture, ensuring the popular social video platform can continue operating in the United States. The deal is expected to close on Jan. 22,

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department sued three states and the District of Columbia on Thursday for not turning over requested voter information to the Trump administration. The latest lawsuits were filed against Wisconsin, Illinois, Georgia and the District of Columbia. The Justice Department has now filed 22

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday denied a request for a preliminary injunction to close an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” saying a detainee who asked for the order hadn’t shown he was suffering irreparable harm at the facility. U.S. District Judge

By FREIDA FRISARO and DANIEL KOZIN Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — Democrat Eileen Higgins was sworn in Thursday as Miami’s first female mayor, two weeks after defeating a Republican endorsed by President Donald Trump. Higgins also becomes the first Democrat in almost 30 years to lead the city of 487,000 people. She replaces Republican Francis

By JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Zohran Mamdani can claim multiple firsts when he becomes New York’s mayor Jan. 1. Besides being the first Muslim and first person of South Asian heritage elected to the office, the Democrat also is poised to shape city history by being the 112th mayor — rather

By BILL BARROW Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Democrats will not issue a postelection report on their 2024 shellacking after all. The Democratic National Committee head has decided not to publish a formal assessment of the party’s defeat that returned Donald Trump to power and gave Republicans complete control in Washington. Ken Martin, a Minnesota

By STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats released several dozen more photos Thursday from the estate of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, showing his associations with the rich and famous, as the Department of Justice faces a deadline to release many of its case files on the late financier by the

By MATT O’BRIEN and JENNIFER MCDERMOTT Associated Press The parent company of President Donald Trump’s Truth Social media platform is merging with a fusion power company, an unusual pairing of the Trump name with a futuristic clean energy venture that aims to power the next wave of artificial intelligence. Trump Media & Technology announced its

By The Associated Press The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday unveiled a series of regulatory actions designed to effectively ban gender-affirming care for minors, building on broader Trump administration restrictions on transgender Americans. The sweeping proposals — the most significant moves this administration has taken so far to restrict the use