Politics Election category, Page 83
FEMA faces shakeup under Trump while it wrestles with disasters on both coasts
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is preparing to reshape the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has been on the frontlines of responding to recent wildfires in California and last year’s hurricane in North Carolina. He spoke at length about the issue with congressional Republican leaders on Tuesday, discussing whether the...
Trump orders release of JFK, RFK and MLK assassination records
DALLAS — President Donald Trump has ordered the release of thousands of classified governmental documents about the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which has fueled conspiracy theories for decades. The executive order Trump signed Thursday also aims to declassify the remaining federal records relating to the assassinations of...
Trump revokes protections for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and top Iran aide
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has revoked government security protection for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his top aide, Brian Hook, who have faced threats from Iran since they took hard-line stances on the Islamic Republic during Trump’s first administration. A congressional staffer and a person familiar with...
Senate confirms John Ratcliffe to lead CIA, giving Trump his 2nd Cabinet memberVideo
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday confirmed John Ratcliffe as CIA director, giving President Donald Trump the second member of his new Cabinet. Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term and is the first person to have held that position and the top post at the CIA,...
Louisiana law requiring Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms is back in court
As Louisiana public schools remain in limbo over a new law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms — caught between the state releasing guidelines for districts to comply with the mandate that took effect this year and opponents threatening to sue if any such posters are hung...
Costco successfully defends its diversity policies as other U.S. companies scale theirs back
NEW YORK — Costco shareholders rejected a proposal urging the wholesale club operator to evaluate any risks posed by its diversity, equity and inclusion practices. According to preliminary results shared by Costco executives at its annual meeting Thursday, more than 98% of shares voted against the proposal. The National Center...
Federal judge temporarily blocks Trump’s executive order redefining birthright citizenship
SEATTLE — A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order redefining birthright citizenship, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional” during the first hearing in a multi-state effort challenging the order. U.S. District Judge John Coughenour repeatedly interrupted a Justice Department lawyer to ask how he could consider the...
Trump says he may withhold federal aid for Los Angeles if California doesn’t change water policies
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to withhold federal disaster aid for wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles unless California leaders change the state’s approach on its management of water. In a Fox News interview, Trump repeated false claims that the state’s fish conservation efforts in the northern part of the...
Rep. Barry Loudermilk to lead select subcommittee to continue Jan. 6 probe
WASHINGTON — Rep. Barry Loudermilk, who has led the charge for House Republicans to reexamine the events of Jan. 6, 2021, is slated to continue his probe this Congress under the auspices of Jim Jordan and the House Judiciary Committee, according to Speaker Mike Johnson. Johnson announced Wednesday his intent...
Law enforcement groups criticize Trump pardons for Jan. 6
WASHINGTON — The Capitol Police union and other law enforcement groups sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s pardons for his supporters who attacked the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, a move that cut against years of pro-police messaging from Republican members of Congress. The union wrote in a statement Tuesday...
Elon Musk clashes with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman over Trump-supported Stargate AI data center project
Elon Musk is clashing with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman over the Stargate artificial intelligence infrastructure project touted by President Donald Trump, the latest in a feud between the two tech billionaires that started on OpenAI’s board and is now testing Musk’s influence with the new president. Trump on Tuesday had...
House passes immigrant detention bill that would be Trump’s 1st law to sign
WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday gave final approval to a bill that requires the detainment of unauthorized migrants accused of theft and violent crimes, marking the first legislation that President Donald Trump can sign as Congress, with some bipartisan support, swiftly moved in line with his plans to crackdown...
Pentagon sending 1,500 active duty troops to help secure the U.S.-Mexico border
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said Wednesday it has begun deploying 1,500 active duty troops to help secure the southern border, putting in motion plans President Donald Trump laid out in executive orders shortly after he took office to crack down on immigration. Acting Defense Secretary Robert Salesses said the troops...
Trump administration freezes many health agency reports and online posts
The Trump administration has put a freeze on many federal health agency communications with the public through at least the end of the month. In a memo obtained by The Associated Press, acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Dorothy Fink told agency staff leaders Tuesday...
U.S. adults want border security action but mostly oppose arrests in schools, churches, poll shows
WASHINGTON — Many U.S. adults are on board with the idea of beefing up security at the southern border and undertaking some targeted deportations, according to a poll. But as President Donald Trump begins his second term with a series of sweeping executive orders on immigration, the findings suggest his...
Trump administration shuts down White House Spanish-language page and social media
Within hours of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the new administration took down the Spanish-language version of the official White House website. The website now gives users an “Error 404” message. It also included a “Go Home” button that directed viewers to a page featuring a video montage of Trump in...
Trump administration directs all federal DEI staff be put on paid leave
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump ‘s administration is directing that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion staff be put on paid leave, and that agencies develop plans to lay them off, according to a memo Tuesday from the Office of Personnel Management. The memo follows an executive order Trump signed...
Pete Hegseth’s former sister-in-law alleges abuse against 2nd wife in affidavit to Senate
WASHINGTON — Senators vetting the nomination of Pete Hegseth for defense secretary received an affidavit Tuesday from a former sister-in-law alleging that the onetime Fox News host was abusive to his second wife, to the point where she feared for her safety. Hegseth denies the allegations. The sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth,...
Trump highlights partnership investing $500 billion in AIVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday talked up a joint venture investing up to $500 billion for infrastructure tied to artificial intelligence by a new partnership formed by OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank. The new entity, Stargate, will start building out data centers and the electricity generation needed for the...
Trudeau says Canada will respond to U.S. tariffs as Ontario’s premier says Trump ‘declared war’
TORONTO — Canada’s outgoing prime minister and the leader of the country’s oil rich province of Alberta are both confident Canada can avoid the 25% tariffs President Donald Trump says he will impose on Feb. 1. Justin Trudeau and Danielle Smith will argue that Canada is the energy super power...
At inaugural prayer service, bishop pleads for Trump to ‘have mercy’ on LGBTQ+ people and migrantsVideo
WASHINGTON — At the inaugural prayer service, the Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, made a direct appeal to President Donald Trump to have mercy on the LGBTQ+ community and undocumented migrant workers. Referencing Trump’s belief that he was saved by God from assassination, Budde said, “You...
Sen. John Fetterman had ‘zero clue’ that he took a photo with a Jan. 6 rioter, his office says
Sen. John Fetterman inadvertently took a photo Monday with the rioter who grabbed then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern and posed with it during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The photo came the same day President Donald Trump took the oath of office and hours before Trump...
States sue to stop Trump’s order blocking birthright citizenship
Attorneys general from 18 states sued Tuesday to block President Donald Trump’s move to end a decades-old immigration policy known as birthright citizenship guaranteeing that U.S.-born children are citizens regardless of their parents’ status. Trump’s roughly 700-word executive order, issued late Monday, amounts to a fulfillment of something he’s talked...
Fetterman says he’s not planning on switching parties
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., shot down rumors he plans to jump to the Republican Party after meeting with President Donald Trump. “It’s not going to happen,” Fetterman told Semafor on Monday night. “And even if I wanted to do that, that is a rocket sled to Palookaville to try to...
Trump wants to pull the U.S. out of the World Health Organization again. Here’s what may happen next
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump used one of the flurry of executive actions that he issued on his first day back in the White House to begin the process of withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization for the second time in less than five years — a...
