AP US Politics News

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Oil prices spiked Thursday after the U.S. announced massive new sanctions on Russia’s oil industry in an attempt to get Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and end Moscow’s brutal war on Ukraine. U.S. benchmark crude jumped 5.6% to $61.79 per barrel and analysts

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI and PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — After days of posting multiple apology videos, showing off his chest to reveal a covered up tattoo that had been connected with a Nazi symbol and distancing himself from old online comments, Maine Democrat Graham Platner says he’s only further committed to his

By The Associated Press President Donald Trump on Thursday pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who created the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and pled guilty in 2023 to enabling money laundering. Zhao served prison time for failing to stop criminals from using the platform to move money connected to child sex abuse, drug trafficking and terrorism.

By JULIE CARR SMYTH Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A documentary proof-of-citizenship requirement for voting in U.S. elections hasn’t been able to pass Congress and has been blocked by the courts, so allies of President Donald Trump’s administration are pursuing another avenue to try to impose the idea — asking a little-known federal agency

By JANIE HAR Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday it is providing a base of operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in the San Francisco area as part of its effort to support federal efforts to track down immigrants in the country illegally and provide border and

By MEAD GRUVER Associated Press CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Investigators in Wyoming sought to identify two men they believe left a homemade bomb in front of the state Capitol, causing the building’s evacuation after a passerby found the object and brought it inside. The bomb, at a time of heightened political angst in the U.S.,

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A federal lawsuit that temporarily had interrupted operations at an immigration detention in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” was paused Wednesday by an appellate court because of the government shutdown. Earlier this month, U.S. government attorneys had asked the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals

By DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press President Donald Trump’s desire to secure the Republican majority in Congress has prompted an unusual burst of mid-decade redistricting in multiple states. North Carolina is the latest to take action. The Republican-led General Assembly approved changes Wednesday to U.S. House district designed to help the party unseat a Democratic

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer Several conservative news outlets said Wednesday they had agreed to a new press policy rejected by virtually all legacy media organizations and will take their place in the Pentagon to cover Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the U.S. military. The new Pentagon press corps will include the Gateway Pundit,

By COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The University of Virginia has agreed to abide by White House guidance forbidding discrimination in admissions and hiring, becoming the latest campus to strike a deal with the Trump administration as the college tries to pause months of scrutiny by the federal government. The Justice Department

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Author Michael Wolff claims in a lawsuit that First Lady Melania Trump threatened to sue him for over $1 billion in damages if he didn’t retract Jeffrey Epstein -related statements he recently made about her. Wolff sought unspecified damages in the lawsuit filed Tuesday in state

By SOPHIE AUSTIN Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday he will deploy National Guard troops to support food banks in November, a move that comes in light of anticipated delays to federal food assistance amid the government shutdown. About 40 million low-income people across the U.S., including roughly 5.5

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD AP Political Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Less than two weeks from Election Day, the fight over new California U.S. House maps that could erase up to five Republican seats is starting to look like a lopsided match-up, with opponents running low on campaign ads and options. The dynamics of the

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has suggested he’s entitled to compensation from the federal government over investigations he faced that he claims were politically motivated. Now, the Justice Department that Trump has exerted control over could approve a hefty payout in taxpayer dollars. The Republican

By The Associated Press President Donald Trump’s effort to bring down record-high beef prices by boosting imports from Argentina is facing sharp pushback from U.S. ranchers enjoying some rare profitable years and doubts from analysts who say the move is unlikely to lower grocery store prices. This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI and PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press OGUNQUIT, Maine (AP) — His U.S. Senate campaign under fire, Maine Democrat Graham Platner said Wednesday that a tattoo on his chest has been covered to no longer reflect an image widely recognized as a Nazi symbol. The first-time political candidate said he got the skull and

By The Associated Press North Carolina lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday to a revised U.S. House map backed by President Donald Trump that is intended to help Republicans win an additional seat in next year’s elections. The new congressional map reshapes the state’s only current swing district, held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis, by

By HOLLY RAMER and JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire Republican John E. Sununu announced a campaign for U.S. Senate on Wednesday, hoping to reclaim a seat he lost nearly two decades ago and boosting the GOP’s chances of regaining a foothold in a region overwhelmingly represented by Democrats. Sununu, 61,

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s Republican legislative leaders completed their remapping of the state’s U.S. House districts on Wednesday, intent on picking up one more seat for President Donald Trump’s push to retain GOP control of Congress in next year’s midterm elections. The boundaries approved by the state

By BEN FINLEY and KONSTANTIN TOROPIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Leaders at the Pentagon have significantly altered how military officials will speak with Congress after a pair of new memos issued last week. In an Oct. 15 memo, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his deputy, Steve Feinberg, ordered Pentagon officials — including the chairman

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the federal government owes him “a lot of money” for prior Justice Department investigations into his actions and insisted he would have the ultimate say on any payout because any decision will “have to go across my desk.” Trump’s comments to reporters at the White House

By THOMAS BEAUMONT, KIMBERLEE KRUESI and PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner revealed Tuesday that he was tattooed years ago with an image widely recognized as a Nazi symbol, but he dismissed the connotation and chalked it up to a drunken Marine’s attempt at fearsomeness. He said