Politics

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. The race is on for Congress to pass the final spending package for the current budget year and push any threats of a government shutdown to the fall. With spending set to expire for several key federal agencies at midnight Friday, the House and Senate are expected to take up a $1.2 trillion measure that combines six annual spending bills into one package.(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Congress rushes to approve final package of spending bills before shutdown deadline

The race is on for Congress to pass the final spending package for the current budget year and push any threats of a government shutdown to the fall.

Stumpy the mascot dances near 'Stumpy' the cherry tree at the tidal basin in Washington, Tuesday, March 19, 2024. The weakened tree is experiencing its last peak bloom before being removed for a renovation project that will rebuild seawalls around Tidal Basin and West Potomac Park. (AP Photo/Nathan Ellgren)

Over 100 iconic cherry trees in Washington will be cut down. So long, Stumpy

President Joe Biden arrives on Air Force One Wednesday March 20, 2024, at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Biden and Trump ask voters if they’re ‘better off’ than they were 4 years ago. It’s complicated

FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, March 9, 2024, in Rome Ga. An attorney for Donald Trump says he’s optimistic an appellate review will lead to the Georgia 2020 election interference case against him being dismissed and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis being disqualified. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

Trump’s latest 2024 campaign fundraising report shows him lagging behind Biden in cash

FILE - Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., speaks at a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 26, 2020. Legislation introduced in the House of Representatives on Thursday, March 21, 2024, and sponsored by Eshoo, and Rep. Neal Dunn, R-Fla., will require online platforms to label audio and video generated using artificial intelligence. The bill is the latest legislative proposal to address the privacy, national security and consumer risks raised by the rapidly developing technology. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

New bipartisan bill would require online identification, labeling of AI-generated videos and audio

Justice Department hits Apple with sweeping antitrust suit alleging illegal monopoly

The Justice Department announces an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, accusing the tech giant of engineering an illegal monopoly in smartphones that boxes out competitors and stifles innovation.

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Country stars applaud Tennessee bill to protect artists against artificial intelligence

Gov. Abbott says Texas has the right to take action as immigration law teeters in court

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., and the House Republican leadership meet with reporters as lawmakers work to pass the final set of spending bills to avoid a partial government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., and the House Republican leadership meet with reporters as lawmakers work to pass the final set of spending bills to avoid a partial government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Congressional leaders sell $1.2 trillion spending package to members before shutdown deadline

Congressional leaders are working to put a positive light on a $1.2 trillion spending package that lawmakers look to approve before funding expires at midnight Friday for several key government agencies.

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Biden is using the ‘are you better off today’ question to contrast himself with Trump

United Steelworkers union endorses Biden, giving him more labor support in presidential race

FILE - Protesters dressed as Abraham Lincoln chant during a Planned Parenthood rally in support of abortion access outside the U.S. Supreme Court, April 15, 2023, in Washington. A new poll from from AAPI Data and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. are highly supportive of legal abortion, even in situations where the pregnant person wants an abortion for any reason. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard, File)

Nearly 8 in 10 AAPI adults in the US think abortion should be legal, an AP-NORC poll finds

White House

Rye Development CEO Paul Jacob talks about his company's plans to build a $1.3 billion coal-to-pumped storage hydropower facility as Gov. Andy Beshear looks on during a news conference, Thursday, March 21, 2024 in Frankfort, Ky. Jacob says the project will create about 1,500 construction jobs and 30 operations jobs once the facility is operational. (Tom Latek/Kentucky Today via AP)

Energy agency announces $475M in funding for clean energy projects on mine land sites

Congress

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., and the House Republican leadership meet with reporters as lawmakers work to pass the final set of spending bills to avoid a partial government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Speaker Johnson says he plans to invite Netanyahu to address the US Congress

Supreme Court

FILE - Otero County, New Mexico Commissioner Couy Griffin speaks to reporters at federal court in Washington, June. 17, 2022. The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by a former New Mexico county commissioner banished from public office for participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. The court’s order Monday means former Otero County commissioner Couy Griffin remains disqualified from public office under a constitutional provision designed to prevent ex-Confederates from serving in government after the Civil War. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe, File)

Supreme Court rejects appeal by former New Mexico county commissioner banned for Jan. 6 insurrection

More politics news

In this image taken from video provided by Menendez for Senate, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., announces that he will not run in the state's Democratic primary, Thursday, March 21 2024. Menendez, who faces federal corruption charges, left open the possibility that he would reenter the race as an independent later this year if he is exonerated at a trial. (Menendez for Senate via AP)

New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez says he won’t run in Democratic primary

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey says he will not run in the Democratic primary as he faces federal corruption charges, but he is leaving open the possibility that he would reenter the race as an independent later this year if he is exonerated at a trial.

FILE - Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich speaks with news reporters Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2006, in Springfield, Ill. Blagojevich, the ex-governor and ex-con who often pulled great and sometimes puzzling quotations out of thin air to emphasize his positions, found himself at the other end Thursday, March 212, 2024, when a federal judge dismissed his lawsuit attempting to return to public life by quoting Dr. Seuss: “Just go.” (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

Quoting Dr. Seuss, ‘Just go, Go, GO!’ federal judge dismisses Blagojevich political comeback suit

A federal judge has dismissed a federal lawsuit by ex-governor and ex-con Rod Blagojevich seeking a return to public office by quoting Dr. Seuss. U.S.

FILE - Supporters of Niger's ruling junta, gather for a protest called to fight for the country's freedom and push back against foreign interference, in Niamey, Niger, Aug. 3, 2023. A top Pentagon official says that the U.S. has not received a formal request from Niger's junta to depart the country, saying instead it has received mixed signals on whether the hundreds of U.S. troops based there are no longer welcome. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)

US says it has not received a formal request by Niger junta to leave military bases

A top Pentagon official says that the U.S. has not received a formal request from Niger’s junta to depart the country, saying instead it has received mixed signals on whether the hundreds of U.S. troops based there are no longer welcome.

FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally March 16, 2024, in Vandalia, Ohio. Trump's new joint fundraising agreement with the Republican National Committee directs donations to his campaign and a political action committee that pays the former president's legal bills before the party gets a cut, according to a fundraising invitation obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean, File)

Trump’s invite to major donors prioritizes the committee paying his legal bills over the RNC

Donald Trump and his Republican allies are well behind President Joe Biden and Democrats on fundraising.

FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2021 file photo, people try out iPhone products at an Apple Store in Beijing. The Supreme Court on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024 allowed a court order to take effect that could loosen Apple's grip on its lucrative iPhone app store, potentially siphoning billions of dollars away from one of the world's most profitable companies. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, file)

Justice Department sues Apple, alleging it illegally monopolized the smartphone market

The Justice Department on Thursday announced a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Apple, accusing the tech giant of engineering an illegal monopoly in smartphones that boxes out competitors, stifles innovation and keeps prices artificially high.

FILE - Police officers and emergency crews park outside the Louis Vuitton store in San Francisco's Union Square on Nov. 21, 2021, after looters ransacked businesses. Facing mounting pressure to crack down on a retail theft crisis, California lawmakers are split on how best to tackle the problem that some say had caused major store closures and products like deodorants to be locked behind plexiglass. (Danielle Echeverria/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, File)

California Democratic lawmakers seek ways to combat retail theft while keeping progressive policy

California lawmakers are split on how to best address the retail theft cases that have proliferated in the state.

FILE - A marriage official offers a couple their rings during their wedding at the Empire State Building in New York, Wednesday Feb. 14, 2007. Cheating on your spouse is illegal in New York — but the state might soon change that. A bill working its way through the New York Legislature could repeal a more than century old law that makes adultery a crime. (AP Photos/Bebeto Matthews, File)

Cheating on your spouse is a crime in New York. The 1907 law may finally be repealed

Cheating on your spouse is illegal in New York, but the state might soon change that. A bill working its way through the New York Legislature could repeal a more than a century-old law that makes adultery a crime.

Philadelphia Police Academy applicants take a a reading entry exam in Philadelphia, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. The city has moved to lower requirements for the entry physical exam at its police academy as part of a broader effort nationally to reevaluate policies that keep law enforcement applicants out of the job pool amid a hiring crisis. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

With police departments facing a hiring crisis, some policies are being loosened to find more cadets

The Philadelphia Police Department is seeing success in more recruits passing the entry physical fitness exam thanks to a new law that changed the standards.

FILE - George Alan Kelly enters court for his preliminary hearing in Nogales Justice Court in Nogales, Ariz., Feb. 22, 2023. The Arizona rancher goes on trial Friday, March 22, 2024, in the fatal shooting of a migrant on his property near the boundary with Mexico. (Mark Henle/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool, File)

The trial of an Arizona border rancher charged with killing a migrant is set to open

An Arizona rancher is set to go on trial in the fatal shooting of a migrant on his property near Mexico.

FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks after voting in Florida's primary election in Palm Beach, Fla., Tuesday, March 19, 2024. Trump’s return to the stock market could be right around the corner. All eyes are on a vote Friday by shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp., a shell company that is looking to merge with the former president’s media business. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

Is Donald Trump’s Truth Social headed to Wall Street? It comes down to a Friday vote

Donald Trump’s return to the stock market could be right around the corner. All eyes are on a vote Friday by shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp., a shell company that is looking to merge with the former president’s media business.

FILE - Homes leveled by the Camp Fire line a development on Edgewood Lane in Paradise, Calif., on Nov. 12, 2018. State Farm will discontinue coverage for 72,000 houses and apartments in California starting summer 2024, the insurance giant said. The Illinois-based company, California's largest insurer, cited soaring costs, the increasing risk of catastrophes like wildfires and outdated regulations as reasons it won’t renew the policies on 30,000 houses and 42,000 apartments, the Bay Area News Group reported Thursday, March 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)

State Farm discontinuing 72,000 home policies in California in latest blow to state insurance market

Insurance giant State Farm says it will discontinue coverage for 72,000 houses and apartments in California starting this summer.

FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2011 photo, people walk past the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Men's Central Jail facility in Los Angeles. Up to one-third of the 12,000 inmates in Los Angeles County jails can’t get to their court appearances because of a shortage of functioning buses, and county supervisors this week advanced a proposal to try and fix the problem. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

Lack of buses keeps Los Angeles jail inmates from court appearances and contributes to overcrowding

Up to one-third of the 12,000 inmates in Los Angeles County jails can’t get to their court appearances because of a shortage of functioning buses.

FILE - Southwest Georgia Regional Medical Center in Cuthbert, Ga., shown here on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022, closed in 2020. The Georgia state Senate passed a bill on March 14, 2024, that would let the hospital reopen without a state permit, called a certificate of need. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy, File)

Georgia Senate lawmakers give final passage to bill to loosen health permit rules

Georgia lawmakers are agreeing on a plan to loosen some parts the state’s health care permitting law.

FILE - A healthcare worker fills a syringe with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at Jackson Memorial Hospital, Oct. 5, 2021, in Miami. Three years after COVID-19 vaccines became widely available in the United States, Louisiana continues to debate policies related to inoculation mandates, including civil labilities if a work place mandates vaccines or not and a bill that would prohibit schools from requiring students to receive the vaccine. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

Louisiana debates civil liability over COVID-19 vaccine mandates, or the lack thereof

Three years after COVID-19 vaccines became widely available in the United States, Louisiana continues to debate policies related to inoculation mandates, including civil labilities if a work place mandates vaccines or not.

Liberal Wisconsin justice won’t recuse herself from case on mobile voting van’s legality

A liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court justice says she won’t recuse herself from a case dealing with the legality of mobile voting sites.

Ohio Secretary of State and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Frank LaRose answers reporters questions during a campaign event in Hamilton, Ohio, Monday, March 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)

Senate rival Frank LaRose joins other GOP Ohio officeholders in endorsing Bernie Moreno

Secretary of State Frank LaRose has joined other Ohio officeholders in backing his former rival, Republican Senate nominee Bernie Moreno.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom comments on the passing of Proposition 1, a $6.4 billion bond ballot measure, during a news conference at the Ronald Reagan State Building Thursday, March 21, 2024, in Los Angeles. California voters have passed the measure that will impose strict requirements on counties to spend on housing and drug treatment programs to tackle the state's homelessness crisis. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

California homelessness measure’s razor-thin win signals growing voter fatigue

A key measure to combat homelessness backed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom has barely passed despite his multimillion-dollar campaign supporting it.

Lawrence County Superintendent Robbie Fletcher selected as Kentucky’s next education commissioner

Lawrence County schools Superintendent Robbie Fletcher has been selected as Kentucky’s next education commissioner.

Rwandan man in US charged with lying about his role during the 1994 genocide

Federal authorities have charged a Rwandan man they accused of repeatedly lying about his involvement in murders and rapes amid the country’s 1994 genocide to win asylum and citizenship in the U.S.

FILE - Students sit on the lawn near Royce Hall at the University of California, Los Angeles, in the Westwood section of Los Angeles on April 25, 2019. On Thursday, March 21, 2024, the California Legislature voted to extend the deadline for some state student financial aid programs in response to delays with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

FAFSA delays prompt California lawmakers to extend deadline for student financial aid applications

The California Legislature has voted to give prospective college students more time to apply for financial aid.

Jason Riley, father of slain nursing student Laken Riley, speaks at the Senate at the Capitol in Atlanta on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Georgia lawmakers advance bills targeting immigrant-friendly policies

The Georgia Senate on Thursday pushed through bills aimed at forcing local governments to help deport immigrants instead of sheltering them.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, speaks during the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

House GOP sues in bid to force Justice Department lawyers to testify as part of impeachment inquiry

House Republicans filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to force two Justice Department lawyers to testify about the criminal investigation of Hunter Biden as part of the chamber’s impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

FILE - Donna Cooper holds up a dosage of Wegovy, a drug used for weight loss, at her home, March 1, 2024, in Front Royal, Va. The popular weight-loss drug Wegovy may be paid for by Medicare — as long as patients using it also have heart disease and need to reduce the risk of future heart attacks, strokes and other serious problems, federal officials said Thursday, March 21. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, File)

Medicare can pay for obesity drugs like Wegovy in certain heart patients

Certain Medicare patients may get help paying for the popular weight-loss drug Wegovy, as long as they also have heart disease.

Wisconsin Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos derides supporters of former President Donald Trump who are trying to recall him from office as "whack jobs" and "morons" and predicted their effort would fail on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, during an event in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)

Wisconsin GOP leader says Trump backers seeking to recall him don’t have enough signatures

Wisconsin’s top Republican lawmaker says the effort by supporters of former President Donald Trump to recall him from office has failed.

FILE - The Massachusetts Statehouse is seen, Jan. 2, 2019, in Boston. A Massachusetts bill that bars someone from sharing explicit images or videos without their consent was approved Thursday, March 21, 2024, by the Massachusetts Senate. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)

Massachusetts Senate passes bill aimed at outlawing “revenge porn”

A Massachusetts bill that bars someone from sharing explicit images or videos without consent was approved unanimously by the Massachusetts Senate.

FILE - The Warren Regional Juvenile Detention Center is seen on Jan. 24, 2023, in Bowling Green, Ky. Kentucky's next juvenile justice commissioner vowed Thursday, March 21, 2024, to focus on efforts to reduce youth detention rates as he prepares to take the helm of an agency that's been plagued by problems. (Grace Ramey/Lexington Herald-Leader via AP, File)

Kentucky governor appoints new commissioner to run the state’s troubled juvenile justice department

Kentucky’s new juvenile justice commissioner is vowing to focus on efforts to reduce youth detention rates as he prepares to take the helm of the troubled agency. Gov.

Bill Walker, Chairman of the Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission, left, and Bryan Malinowski, Executive Director of the Clinton National Airport, listen to a report by an airport director during a meeting of the commission on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024 in Little Rock, Ark. Bryan Malinowski, the executive director of Little Rock's airport who was injured earlier this week in a shootout with federal agents serving a search warrant at his home has died on Thuresday, March 21, 2024.(Stephen Swofford/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via AP)

Arkansas airport director shot by federal agents dies, affidavit alleges illegal firearm sales

The executive director of Little Rock’s airport has died after he was injured earlier this week in a shootout with federal agents serving a search warrant at his home.

FILE - In this Nov. 4, 2020, file photo, police form a perimeter during protests following the Nov. 3 presidential election in Portland, Ore. City leaders in Portland, on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, are reviving a protest response team though some residents are skeptical and say their confidence was eroded by the police response to 2020 racial justice protests in the city. (AP Photo/Paula Bronstein, File)

Portland revives police department protest response team amid skepticism stemming from 2020 protests

City leaders in Portland, Oregon, are reviving a protest response team, though some residents are skeptical and say their confidence was eroded by the police response to 2020 racial justice protests in the city.

FILE - Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers speaks at Cumberland Elementary School, Thursday, July 8, 2021, in Whitefish Bay, Wis. Evers on Thursday, March 21, 2024, has vetoed Republican proposals that would have allowed election observers to get closer to poll workers and required a new post-election audit. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer, File)

Evers vetoes Republican election bills, signs sales tax exemption for precious metals

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed Republican proposals that would have allowed election observers to get closer to poll workers and required a new post-election audit.

The Truth Social account for former President Donald Trump is seen on a mobile device, Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in New York. Trump’s Truth Social looks set to hit Wall Street in a move that could give him stock worth billions of dollars on paper. But the former president likely can’t cash it out right away, unless some things change. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Wall Street debut of Trump’s Truth Social network could net him stock worth billions on paper

The Wall Street debut of Donald Trump’s Truth Social network could give him stock worth billions of dollars on paper.

Del. David Moon, a Montgomery County Democrat who is the Maryland House majority leader, argues in support of budget legislation for the state's next fiscal year during a debate in the House of Delegates on Thursday, March 21, 2024 in Annapolis, Md. The legislation, which passed the House, includes tax and fee increases that supporters say are needed for transportation and education. (AP Photo/Brian Witte)

Maryland House OKs budget bill with tax, fee, increases

The Maryland House has approved tax and fee hikes in budget legislation for the next fiscal year, part of a $1.3 billion revenue increase.

Stefanie Lambert, left, and her attorney, Daniel J. Hartman, stand outside the Oakland County Jail in Pontiac, Mich, after she posted bond Thursday evening, March 21, 2024. Lambert turned herself in Thursday morning after having been arrested in Washington, D.C. earlier this week as a result of a bench warrant issued by a Michigan judge. Lambert is facing felony charges of improperly accessing voting equipment in a search for evidence of a conspiracy to steal the 2020 election from Trump. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)

Pro-Trump attorney in Michigan released from jail after posting bail on outstanding warrant

Pro-Trump attorney Stefanie Lambert has been released from jail in Michigan after turning herself in and posting $10,000 bond to resolve an outstanding warrant.

FILE - iPhone 15 phones are shown during an announcement of new products on the Apple campus in Cupertino, Calif., Sept. 12, 2023. The Justice Department announced a sweeping antitrust lawsuit Thursday, March 21, 2024 against Apple, accusing the tech giant of having an illegal monopoly over smartphones in the U.S. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

How Europe’s regulatory battle with Apple could signal what’s to come for American consumers

It’ll likely take years before the U.S. government’s massive antitrust lawsuit against Apple is resolved — but the iPhone maker’s troubles with European regulators offer a glimpse of what changes American customers may see down the line.

Kansas state Rep. Nikki McDonald, D-Olathe, shows off a stack of printed testimony in favor of expanding the Medicaid program in Kansas during a House Health and Human Services Committee discussion, Thursday, March 21, 2024, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. The committee has blocked Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's expansion plan. (AP Photo/John Hanna)

Republican majorities block efforts to expand Medicaid in Georgia and Kansas

Republican lawmakers in Georgia and Kansas have shot down attempts by Democrats to expand Medicaid in their states. The two states’ legislative committee voted Thursday.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks after voting in the Florida primary election in Palm Beach, Fla., Tuesday, March 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Prosecutors say Donald Trump’s hush money trial should start April 15 without further delay

New York prosecutors have urged a judge to start Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial April 15, saying defense requests for further delays or dismissal of the case because of a last-minute evidence dump are a “red herring.”