AP US Politics News

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD AP Political Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — After months of uncertainty, the race to become California’s next governor started Thursday. Former Vice President Kamala Harris’ decision Wednesday to bypass the 2026 contest pushed the campaign into a new phase, lacking its biggest potential star and the presumptive early favorite. Harris’ formal

By GARY D. ROBERTSON, ERIK VERDUZCO and THOMAS BEAUMONT Associated Press GASTONIA, N.C. (AP) — Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley launched his campaign for North Carolina’s open U.S. Senate seat Thursday, equipped with President Donald Trump’s endorsement and a large fundraising network for a potential general election bid against formidable Democrat Roy Cooper. A

By REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The agency responsible for carrying out President Donald Trump’s mass deportations agenda says it has already made tentative job offers to more than 1,000 people as it ramps up hiring following the passage of legislation earlier this month giving the agency a massive infusion of cash. The

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Numerous countries around the world are facing the prospect of new tariffs on their exports to the United States on Aug. 7, a potential blow to the global economy, because they haven’t yet reached a trade deal with the Trump administration. President Donald Trump had threatened

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Jeffrey Clark, the former Justice Department official who aided President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, should be stripped of his law license, a Washington disciplinary panel ruled on Thursday. Clark, who is now overseeing a federal regulatory office, played a

By JAIMIE DING and DAVID KLEPPER Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Pentagon said Thursday it is ending the deployment of all but 250 National Guard troops that were originally sent to Los Angeles to deal with protests over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered 1,350 National Guard members to

By DIDI TANG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — China’s cyberspace regulators on Thursday summoned Nvidia over security concerns that its H20 chips can be tracked and turned off remotely, the Cyberspace Administration of China said on its website. In the meeting, Chinese regulators demanded that the U.S. chip company provide explanations on “backdoor safety risks”

By SOPHIA TAREEN and CHRISTINE FERNANDO Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — U.S. Rep. Danny Davis announced Thursday that he won’t seek reelection next year after 15 terms in office, making him the latest longtime Illinois Democrat to announce their retirement from Congress. Davis, 83, sits on the powerful House Committee on Ways and Means. First

By MICHELLE L. PRICE and SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday reestablished the Presidential Fitness Test for American children, a fixture of public schools for decades that gauged young people’s health and athleticism with 1-mile runs, sit-ups and stretching exercises. “This is a wonderful tradition, and we’re bringing

By LISA MASCARO and LEAH ASKARINAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Josh Hawley is brushing off President Donald Trump’s quip that he’s a “second-tier” senator after the Republican’s proposal to ban stock trading by members of Congress — and the president and vice president — won bipartisan approval to advance in a committee vote.

By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press A New York businesswoman has pleaded guilty in connection with a financial scheme that ripped off more than $30 million from foreign investors and funneled some of the stolen money into U.S. political campaigns, including a 2017 fundraiser for President Donald Trump during his first term. Sherry Xue Li, 48,

By KEVIN FREKING and LEAH ASKARINAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Imagine getting the day off work for Donald Trump’s birthday. Receiving a $100 bill with Trump’s portrait on it. Touching down at Donald J. Trump International Airport near the nation’s capital. And taking in a show at the Donald J. Trump Center for Performing

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is traveling next week on a trade mission to Israel, her first visit since her father Mike Huckabee was named U.S. ambassador there. Sanders, widely considered a potential Republican candidate for president in 2028, is also traveling to the United Arab Emirates on the trip,

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Former Vice President Kamala Harris will have a memoir out in the fall on her historic presidential run. The book is called “107 Days,” the length of her abbreviated campaign, and will be published by Simon & Schuster on Sept. 23. “Just over a year

By The Associated Press President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday placing tariffs on many U.S. trade partners — the next step in his trade agenda that will test the global economy and alliances. They are set to go into effect in seven days, and not the Friday deadline that the president initially set.

By PAUL WISEMAN and MATT SEDENSKY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Appellate court judges expressed broad skepticism Thursday over President Donald Trump’s legal rationale for his most expansive round of tariffs. Members of the 11-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington appeared unconvinced by the Trump administration’s insistence

By NADIA LATHAN and SEAN MURPHY Associated Press/Report for America KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Two top leaders in a rural Texas county were asleep and a third was out of town in the initial hours of a catastrophic flood that came barreling through the region, causing widespread destruction and killing more than 130 people earlier

By STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate rejected an effort Wednesday from Sen. Bernie Sanders to block the sale of U.S. bombs and firearms to Israel, though the vote showed a growing number of Democrats opposed to the arms sales amid widespread hunger and suffering in Gaza. Sanders, an independent from Vermont,

By LISA MASCARO and LEAH ASKARINAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump lashed out at Sen. Josh Hawley on Wednesday after the Republican’s proposal to ban stock trading by members of Congress — and the president and vice president — won bipartisan approval to advance in a committee vote. It’s the second time

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer For several years when he was at CNN, Sam Feist was in charge of “Crossfire,” the show that set a template for televised political combat. Now that he runs C-SPAN, Feist is going in another direction. The public affairs network debuts “CeaseFire” this fall, described as an attempt to

By JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s Ethics Commission says a political action committee linked to what federal investigators have called a Ponzi scheme illegally sought to influence elections. The complaint, filed Wednesday, says the spending came from the now-dissolved Georgia Republican Assembly PAC between 2021 and 2024. The committee was headed by

By STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, on Wednesday evening as Republicans looked past his connections to right-wing extremists and support for conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Kent won confirmation on a

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD AP Political Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former Vice President Kamala Harris will not run for California governor next year, leaving open the possibility that she could mount a third run for the White House in 2028. “Over the past six months, I have spent time reflecting on this moment in

By AMANDA SEITZ Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has announced a plan for a new private health tracking system that will make it easier for patients to access their health records and monitor their wellness across health care systems and technologies. The system, however, is raising a host of privacy questions. The

By MARTHA BELLISLE Associated Press A dozen Democratic members of Congress who have been blocked from making oversight visits at immigration detention centers filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the Trump administration that seeks to ensure they are granted entry into the facilities, even without prior notice. The lawsuit, filed in the District of Columbia’s

By MICHELLE L. PRICE and LISA MASCARO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that the Trump administration was committed to protecting Social Security hours after he said in an interview that a new children’s savings program President Donald Trump signed into law “is a back door for privatizing Social Security.”

By COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Brown University will pay $50 million to Rhode Island workforce development organizations in a deal with the Trump administration that restores lost federal research funding and ends investigations into alleged discrimination, officials said Wednesday. The university also agreed to several concessions in line with President Donald

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina legislators gave final approval Wednesday to a stopgap spending measure to boost state government spending to prepare for fall classes, cover Medicaid expenses and continue construction projects while a Republican agreement on a comprehensive budget still remains distant. The GOP-controlled General Assembly took

By SOPHIE AUSTIN Associated Press/Report for America SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Wednesday aimed at supporting men and boys and improving their mental health outcomes, in an effort to lower suicide rates among young men and help them feel less isolated. The order directs the state Health and

By OBED LAMY and JULIE CARR SMYTH Associated Press SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio city whose Haitian migrants were disparaged by President Donald Trump last year as he pitched voters on his plans for an immigration crackdown is now bracing to defend the community against possible deportation. A group of about 100 community members,