Kentucky GOP lawmakers remove Democratic governor's role in filling US Senate vacancies

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Kentucky on Friday removed the Democratic governor from any role filling future U.S. Senate vacancies — a move supporters said was unrelated to recent scrutiny about the health of the state's senior senator, Republican leader Mitch McConnell. ...

McConnell, back in Kentucky, talks about life in the Senate after leaving longtime leadership post

SHELBYVILLE, Ky. (AP) — For nearly two decades, Mitch McConnell's only job uncertainty hinged on whether he'd serve as Senate majority or minority leader after the next election. With his days as Republican leader now numbered, the Kentuckian is talking more freely about his priorities once he's...

Alabama Sen. Katie Britt cites friendship with Democrats in calling for more respectful discourse

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Katie Britt confided Tuesday that she counts some Democratic colleagues among her best friends in the Senate and said such cross-party relationships are essential to governing, especially as social media fuels widening political divisions. During a...

Some of Trump's allies in Congress already support his 2025 ideas on deportations and Jan. 6 pardons

WASHINGTON (AP) — As Donald Trump campaigns on promises of mass deportations and pardons for those convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, his ideas are being met with little pushback and some enthusiasm by a new era of Republicans in Congress. It’s a shift from the...

NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week

A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. ___ Video from 2022 misrepresented as...

Republican-passed bill removes role of Democratic governor if Senate vacancy occurs in Kentucky

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky lawmakers gave final approval Thursday to a bill stripping the state's Democratic governor of any role in picking someone to occupy a U.S. Senate seat if a vacancy occurred in the home state of 82-year-old Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. The...

Angela Chao, Mitch McConnell’s sister-in-law, was drunk when she drove into pond, police say

Angela Chao, a shipping industry CEO and sister-in-law to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, was intoxicated when she drove into a pond and died last month in Texas, according to a law enforcement report released Wednesday. The investigation by the Blanco County Sheriff’s...

Angela Chao, Sen. Mitch McConnell’s sister-in-law, was drunk when she drove into a Texas pond and drowned, police say

Schumer's rebuke of Netanyahu shows the long, fragile line the US and allies walk on interference

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans and Israeli officials were quick to express outrage after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sharply criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's handling of the war in Gaza and called for Israel to hold new elections. They accused the Democratic leader of...

Top Democrat Schumer calls for new elections in Israel, saying Netanyahu is an obstacle to peace

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday called on Israel to hold new elections, saying he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “lost his way” and is an obstacle to peace in the region amid a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. ...