Politics Election category, Page 56
New York’s governor meets top political leaders as she weighs removing Mayor Eric Adams from office
NEW YORK — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul held a series of meetings with key political figures Tuesday as she contemplates removing Mayor Eric Adams from his office, an unprecedented step that reflects the growing turmoil inside City Hall. The governor’s scheduled sit-downs — with a cohort of influential Black...
White House says Elon Musk is not in charge at DOGE, but is advising the president
WASHINGTON — The White House says billionaire Elon Musk is not technically part of the Department of Government Efficiency team that is sweeping through federal agencies, but is rather a senior adviser to President Donald Trump. Musk’s exact role could be key in the legal fight over DOGE’s access to...
Social Security head steps down over DOGE access of recipient information: AP sources
WASHINGTON — The Social Security Administration’s acting commissioner has stepped down from her role at the agency over Department of Government Efficiency requests to access Social Security recipient information, according to two people familiar with the official’s departure who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Acting Commissioner Michelle...
Trump will sign new executive orders while his 1st joint TV interview with Musk airs in prime time
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump on Tuesday was set to sign new executive orders from his Florida home while his first joint TV interview with adviser Elon Musk airs in prime time. Trump’s Florida home will also be the setting for an awards program by a conservative...
Wisconsin Supreme Court rules Republican had no right to bring lawsuit challenging mobile voting
MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a Republican Party official lacked the standing to bring a lawsuit challenging the use of a mobile voting van in 2022. The lawsuit sought to ban the use of mobile voting vans in any future election in the presidential battleground...
French lawmakers mull banning headscarves in sport. Amnesty International says it’s discriminatory
Amnesty International is urging French lawmakers to reject a bill this week that would ban headscarves in all sporting competitions. The bill is backed by right-wing senators and will be debated from Tuesday in the upper house of the French parliament. Its aim is to ban all “ostensibly religious” clothing...
Republicans consider cuts and work requirements for Medicaid, jeopardizing care for millions
WASHINGTON — Republicans are weighing billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid, threatening health care coverage for some of the 80 million U.S. adults and children enrolled in the safety net program. The signing up of millions of additional Americans for taxpayer-funded health care coverage like Medicaid and the Affordable...
Colleges, K-12 schools ordered by Trump administration to abolish DEI or face funding cuts
The U.S. Department of Education has given colleges and schools with race-specific programs — including financial aid and racially themed dormitory floors and graduation ceremonies — until the end of the month to abolish them or risk losing federal funding as educators scrambled over the holiday weekend to interpret the...
Trump nominates Ed Martin, an ally who defended Jan. 6 rioters, to stay as top D.C. federal prosecutor
WASHINGTON — Conservative activist Ed Martin, who echoed Donald Trump’s baseless claims of a stolen 2020 election and defended Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol rioters, was nominated by the president on Monday to be the top federal prosecutor in Washington on a permanent basis. Martin had been serving as U.S....
Trump begins firings of FAA air traffic control staff just weeks after fatal D.C. plane crash
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has begun firing several hundred Federal Aviation Administration employees, upending staff on a busy air travel weekend and just weeks after a January fatal mid-air collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Probationary workers were targeted in late night emails Friday notifying them they had...
Trump’s tariffs expose Ukraine’s steel industry to another war
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine — The steel mill in a partially occupied region of Ukraine is a dystopian maze of flames, chutes and tentacled pipes, vast enough to be a small city. Thunderous blazes of sparks flash above the open furnaces where workers smelt iron ore into streams of molten metal day...
Justice Department’s independence threatened as Trump’s team asserts power over cases, staff
WASHINGTON — Pam Bondi had insisted at her Senate confirmation hearing that as attorney general, her Justice Department would not “play politics.” Yet in the month since the Trump administration took over the building, a succession of actions has raised concerns the department is doing exactly that. Top officials have...
Fired nuclear bomb specialists recalled by Energy Department
WASHINGTON — The Energy Department is seeking to bring back nuclear energy specialists after abruptly telling hundreds of workers that their jobs were eliminated, according to two people familiar with the matter. The employees, responsible for designing and maintaining the nation’s cache of nuclear weapons at the National Nuclear Safety...
Trump administration wants Supreme Court to permit the firing of whistleblower agency head
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration wants the Supreme Court to permit the firing of the head of the federal agency dedicated to protecting whistleblowers, according to documents obtained Sunday that would mark the first appeal to the justices since President Donald Trump took office. The emergency appeal is the start...
Trump administration cuts reach FDA employees in food safety, medical devices and tobacco products
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s effort to slash the size of the federal workforce reached the Food and Drug Administration this weekend, as recently hired employees who review the safety of food ingredients, medical devices and other products were fired. Probationary employees across the FDA received notices Saturday evening that...
‘It’s a wake-up call’: Researchers, companies say NIH funding changes could be lethal to innovations
During her medical training, Dr. Miriam Cremer watched a woman suffering from advanced cervical cancer bleed to death in Arcatao, El Salvador. That preventable tragedy is what sowed the seeds of her Pittsburgh-based nonprofit, she said. Basic Health International’s mission is to develop ways to diagnose and treat cervical cancer....
Trump moves with dizzying speed on his to-do list. But there are warning signs in his 1st month
WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump approaches the first-month mark in his second term, he has moved with dizzying speed and blunt force to reorder American social and political norms and the economy while redefining the U.S. role in the world. At the same time, he has empowered Elon Musk,...
Anger, chaos and confusion take hold as federal workers face mass layoffs
NEW YORK — Workers across the country responded with anger and confusion Friday as they grappled with the Trump administration ‘s aggressive effort to shrink the size of the federal workforce by ordering agencies to lay off probationary employees who have yet to qualify for civil service protections. While much...
AP reporter, photographer barred from Air Force One over ‘Gulf of Mexico’ terminology dispute
The White House barred a credentialed Associated Press reporter and photographer from boarding the presidential airplane Friday for a weekend trip with Donald Trump, saying the news agency’s stance on how to refer to the Gulf of Mexico was to blame for the exclusion. It represented a significant escalation by...
McConnell tests the strengths and limits of his power opposing a trio of Trump’s Cabinet nominees
WASHINGTON — No longer in charge, Sen. Mitch McConnell has been speaking his mind, the long-serving GOP leader rejecting President Donald Trump’s more high-profile Cabinet nominees — alone at times, among the Republicans, casting his no votes. When it came to Pete Hegseth, now the defense secretary, who faced allegations...
Guarded optimism in India as Trump and Modi outline plans to deepen defense partnership
SRINAGAR, India — There was guarded optimism among military experts in India as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump outlined plans to ramp up sales of defense systems to New Delhi, including F-35 stealth fighter jets, to deepen the U.S.-India strategic relationship. “Defense sector is a big...
Federal freeze hits major Pa. food bank, halts fresh milk, eggs and meat program
One of Pennsylvania’s largest food banks relies on a little-known federal program that allows it to help more people by purchasing milk, eggs and meat directly from farmers at reduced prices. That program is now in jeopardy amid the widespread rollout of funding cuts and program stoppages directed by President...
Judge orders Trump administration to temporarily allow funds for foreign aid to flow again
WASHINGTON — A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to temporarily lift a three-week funding freeze that has shut down U.S. aid and development programs worldwide. Judge Amir Ali issued the order Thursday in U.S. district court in Washington in a lawsuit brought by two health organizations that receive...
Linda McMahon says Trump’s plan to close Education Department would need Congress’ approval
WASHINGTON — Linda McMahon, the former CEO of a professional wrestling and entertainment juggernaut and Donald Trump’s pick as Education secretary, told senators Thursday that the president’s plan to dismantle the Education Department would need congressional approval. “We’d like to do this right,” she said. “We’d like to make sure...
Elon Musk’s son X causes stir in Oval Office with Trump
After Elon Musk’s 4-year-old son — X Æ A-Xii, known as X — made an appearance in the Oval Office Tuesday with his dad and President Donald Trump, videos of the child’s antics have gone viral online. X stole the show from Trump and Musk’s first public comments in front...
