AP US Politics News

By BERNARD CONDON AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Elon Musk says he’ll be spending less time in Washington slashing government costs and more time running Tesla after his electric vehicle company reported a big drop in profits. Musk said on a conference call with analysts Tuesday that “now that the major work of

By MARC LEVY Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department has withdrawn its lawsuit that accused a heavily Hispanic city in Pennsylvania of illegally diluting the political power of its growing Hispanic population. U.S. District Judge Karoline Mehalchick in Scranton approved the dismissal of the case against Hazleton on Tuesday, a day

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump says he has no plans to fire Fed chair, days after he hinted he might do just that and caused a market selloff.

NEW YORK (AP) — Elon Musk says starting in May his time spent with DOGE will ‘drop significantly’ and he’ll allocate more time to Tesla.

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a preemptive lawsuit Tuesday against Republican President Donald Trump seeking to block his administration from acting against Minnesota in the way it’s taking on Maine under a federal push to ban transgender athletes from girls and women’s sports.

By FARNOUSH AMIRI, MATTHEW LEE and ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio unveiled a massive overhaul of the State Department on Tuesday, with plans to reduce staff in the U.S. by 15% while closing and consolidating more than 100 bureaus worldwide as part of the Trump administration’s “America First”

By JOSH BOAK and FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Tuesday speech that the ongoing tariffs showdown against China is unsustainable and he expects a “de-escalation” in the trade war between the world’s two largest economies. But in a private speech in Washington for JPMorgan Chase,

By TARA COPP Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is defending himself against a second assertion that he shared classified material through an unapproved and unsecured network — this time taking airstrike information from a military communications channel and sharing it in a chat with his wife, his brother and others. Hegseth

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro reopened the governor’s official residence to the public Tuesday for an Easter egg hunt barely a week after an alleged arsonist’s fire tore through one of its wings and said he will begin sleeping there again soon. “I’m not going to live in fear,” Shapiro told reporters

By GARY FIELDS and ASHRAF KHALIL Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser tried to keep the focus on a groundbreaking ceremony for a new mixed-used development. But she couldn’t help fielding a string of questions about the budget crisis hanging over the nation’s capital city. Asked Monday about the risk of layoffs

By The Associated Press While in India on Tuesday, U.S. Vice President JD Vance called for enhanced engagement with the South Asian country. He said India should buy more defense equipment and energy from the U.S. and allow Washington greater access to its market, lending momentum to an expected bilateral trade deal. Meanwhile, U.S. health

By CHRIS MEGERIAN and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The infighting and backstabbing that plagued President Donald Trump’s first term have returned as a threat to his second, with deepening fissures over trade, national security and questions of personal loyalty. The latest turmoil threatens to engulf the Pentagon, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth

By ISABELLA VOLMERT Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Fourth-term U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens has launched her run for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat on Tuesday with a video focused on the economic crisis caused by President Donald Trump’s volatile tariffs policies. Walking through a lot full of pickup trucks and SUVs to make the

By DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press As drivers on U.S. highways cross from one state to another, they often are greeted by a large “Welcome to ….” sign. But not all drivers are welcome in every state. In Florida, motorists with special out-of-state driver’s licenses issued to those in the U.S. illegally are not welcome

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Colorado’s chief deputy attorney general urged a federal judge on Tuesday to reject the Trump administration’s unprecedented bid to help an imprisoned former county clerk who embraced Trump’s lies that he lost the 2020 election because of fraud. The U.S. Justice Department in March submitted a federal

By SOPHIE BATES Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The mayor of Mississippi’s capital city, who’s under indictment on federal bribery and conspiracy charges, trailed his opponent in Tuesday’s Democratic primary runoff, according to unofficial vote totals released by the City Clerk’s Office. Preliminary results showed state Sen. John Horhn leading with 18,493 votes compared

SEJAL GOVINDARAO Associated Press PHOENIX, Ariz. (AP) — President Donald Trump added another endorsement in next year’s Republican primary for Arizona governor, saying Monday that he was backing U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs in addition to his previously announced endorsement of housing developer Karrin Taylor Robson. Trump’s endorsement of Robson late last year angered some of

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD AP Political Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Monday proposed laying off more than 1,600 government workers in an attempt to close a nearly $1 billion budget gap amid a slumping economy while the city contends with the costly job of rebuilding a seaside neighborhood leveled

By MICHAEL CASEY and JOCELYN GECKER Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Harvard University announced Monday that it has filed suit to halt a federal freeze on more than $2.2 billion in grants after the institution said it would defy the Trump administration’s demands to limit activism on campus. In an April 11 letter to Harvard,

By MARGERY A. BECK Associated Press OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A jury has found that the Nebraska Republican Party defamed one of its own candidates during an ugly legislative race five years ago and ordered it to pay her $500,000. The Lancaster County jury sided with Janet Palmtag on Friday in her defamation lawsuit against

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A former Minnesota state senator who was caught in a police sting operation pleaded not guilty Monday to a federal charge of attempted enticement of a minor for prostitution. Justin Eichorn entered his plea in a brief appearance before Magistrate Judge Shannon Elkins. The judge granted his request for more

BOSTON (AP) — Harvard sues the Trump administration to stop the freeze of more than $2 billion in grants.

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s purse was stolen at a Washington, D.C. restaurant Sunday night, according to department officials. The department in an email said Noem had money in her purse to buy gifts for her children and grandchildren and to pay for Easter dinner and other activities. The department

By LARRY NEUMEISTER and MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin testified Monday at a defamation trial that an editorial about gun control in The New York Times in 2017 was devastating and “kicked the oomph” out of her. The former Republican candidate for vice president whose college

By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s Republican-dominated Senate voted 33-8 on Monday to kick the Republican treasurer out of office over a $1.8 billion accounting error. It will now be up to the House, also dominated by the GOP, to decide whether to hold its own hearing. If at least

The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — In just two months as the federal health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made sweeping changes to the Department of Health and Human Services — and its priorities. He’s dismissed 10,000 public health workers, met with state governors who want to restrict unhealthy foods in taxpayer-funded programs and

By CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — One of Pope Francis’ final encounters before his death was with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who visited the Vatican over the weekend. The meeting took place on Easter Sunday. Vance, a Catholic convert, entered the room and reached down for the pope’s hand. “Hello,” the vice

By KATHY McCORMACK Associated Press Dominick Ruggerio, Rhode Island’s longest-serving legislator at nearly 44 years and its Senate president since 2017, died Monday, his office said. He was 76. Ruggerio, a Democrat, died at Fatima Hospital in North Providence, said Greg Pare, a spokesperson for the Rhode Island Senate. He was hospitalized last week. Ruggerio

By JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Democrat Jason Esteves announced on Monday that he’s running for governor in 2026, entering a field that remains murky for his party after two top potential candidates backed away from a run. The 41-year-old state senator, also a lawyer and business owner, remains largely unknown outside

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump repeated his attacks Monday against the chair of the Federal Reserve, demanding that the central bank lower its key interest rate to boost the economy. Trump called Powell “a major loser” and said that energy and grocery prices are “substantially lower” and “there