Top United States government News

Control of Congress is at stake and with it a president's agenda

Nov. 05, 2024 00:14 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Control of Congress is at stake Tuesday, with ever-tight races for the House and Senate that will determine which party holds the majority and the power to boost or block a president’s agenda, or if the White House confronts a divided Capitol Hill. The key...

Abortion is on the ballot in nine states and motivating voters across the US

Nov. 05, 2024 00:05 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters in nine states are deciding whether their state constitutions should guarantee a right to abortion, weighing ballot measures that are expected to spur turnout for a range of crucial races. Passing certain amendments in Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Nebraska...

The final day of voting in the US is here, after tens of millions have already cast their ballots

Nov. 05, 2024 00:23 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Election Day 2024 arrived Tuesday — with tens of millions of Americans having already cast their ballots. Those include record numbers in Georgia, North Carolina and other battleground states that could decide the winner. The early turnout in Georgia, which has...

Empty seats become a more common sight at Trump's final rallies

Nov. 05, 2024 00:32 AM EST

PITTSBURGH, Pa. (AP) — Donald Trump has spent nearly a decade bragging about his crowds. Lately, he’s been making the same boasts to swaths of empty seats. In his third presidential bid, Trump for the first time is facing an opponent who stages her own massive rallies, calling...

On the night before Election Day, Kamala Harris brings in celebrities. Donald Trump is unimpressed

Nov. 04, 2024 23:52 PM EST

On the night before Election Day, at campaign events across the country, celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Lady Gaga and Jon Bon Jovi turned out in force for Kamala Harris ' presidential bid. The battleground state of Pennsylvania was particularly starry: In Pittsburgh, the vice...

Harris campaign spends final hours reminding Pennsylvania of a Trump ally's joke about Puerto Rico

Nov. 04, 2024 22:29 PM EST

READING, Pa. (AP) — The day before Election Day, 17-year-old girl Carmen Hernandez held a cardboard sign with the Puerto Rican flag outside Trump’s rally in Reading, Pennsylvania, a city that is two-thirds Hispanic. “What you call trash is our treasure,” the sign read. ...

Trump wants the presidential winner to be declared on election night. Why that's unlikely

Nov. 04, 2024 17:39 PM EST

Former President Donald Trump is stepping up his demands that the winner of the presidential race be declared shortly after polls close Tuesday, well before all the votes are counted. Trump set the pattern in 2020, when he declared that he had won during the early morning hours after...

Some Republican-led states refuse to let Justice Department monitors into polling places

Nov. 04, 2024 21:09 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some Republican-led states say they will block the Justice Department's election monitors from going inside polling places on Election Day, pushing back on federal authorities' decades-long practice of watching for violations of federal voting laws. Officials in...

About 24 states say they'll send National Guard troops to DC for vote certification and inauguration

Nov. 04, 2024 19:33 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than two dozen states have indicated they would be willing to send National Guard troops to Washington if requested in the weeks following the presidential election and in the runup to the inauguration, Guard officials said Monday. The District of Columbia...

Harris and Trump set sights on Pennsylvania in final push before Election Day

Nov. 05, 2024 02:11 AM EST

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kamala Harris and Donald Trump closed out this year’s presidential race with a fierce battle for Pennsylvania on Monday, making their final pitch to voters across a state that could prove decisive in the campaign for the White House. Harris ended her night in...

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Competitive Virginia races could play a critical role in the battle for Congress

Nov. 05, 2024 03:24 AM EST

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s marquee matchups for U.S. House races in Tuesday’s election feature tight contests in a district being vacated by three-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger and a district known to flip between Democratic and Republican control. In...

In Maryland, competitive US House race focuses on abortion, economy and immigration

Nov. 05, 2024 03:23 AM EST

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) — In Maryland’s most competitive U.S. House race, voters on Tuesday will decide whether the sprawling 6th Congressional District will flip red after being represented by Democrats for over a decade. Democrat April McClain Delaney, whose husband previously...

A tiny village in India where Kamala Harris has ancestral roots is praying for her victory

Nov. 05, 2024 03:12 AM EST

THULASENDRAPURAM, India (AP) — The temple reverberated with rhythmic Sanskrit and Tamil hymns, as a Hindu priest held a flame before the god. As this tiny South Indian village gathered to pray for Kamala Harris, a gaggle of reporters jostled for space and camera angles. There's...

Lisa Blunt Rochester could make history with a victory in Delaware's US Senate race

Nov. 05, 2024 02:23 AM EST

DOVER, Del. (AP) — The U.S. Senate race in Delaware carries the potential of a historic first for residents and their congressional delegation in Washington. U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, a Democrat, faces Republican Eric Hansen and independent Michael Katz in Tuesday’s Senate...

Florida Sen. Rick Scott seeks reelection with an eye toward top GOP leadership post

Nov. 05, 2024 02:12 AM EST

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott is hoping being reelected to a second term will put him in a position to earn a Senate leadership role, while former Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell seeks an upset victory that could help her party maintain its razor-thin...

Harris and Trump set sights on Pennsylvania in final push before Election Day

Nov. 05, 2024 02:11 AM EST

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kamala Harris and Donald Trump closed out this year’s presidential race with a fierce battle for Pennsylvania on Monday, making their final pitch to voters across a state that could prove decisive in the campaign for the White House. Harris ended her night in...

Nancy Mace tries to cement her hold on her US House seat in South Carolina

Nov. 05, 2024 02:10 AM EST

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace is trying to cement her hold on her seat in a state that doesn't mind sending people back to Congress for decades. There have been questions over whether Mace’s attention-seeking personality and brashness and...

US Rep. Lauren Boebert will find out whether switching races worked in Colorado

Nov. 05, 2024 01:17 AM EST

DENVER (AP) — Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert will soon find out whether her political gamble, abruptly switching congressional districts in Colorado mid-election, will cost the GOP or reinforce its position in the U.S. House. Boebert, a far-right standard-bearer whose...

The Latest: All eyes on Pennsylvania as candidates spend final day campaigning there

Nov. 05, 2024 01:03 AM EST

The presidential campaign comes down to a final push across a handful of states on the eve of Election Day. Kamala Harris spent all of Monday in Pennsylvania, whose 19 electoral votes offer the largest prize among the states expected to determine the Electoral College outcome. Donald...

Stock market today: Asian shares are mostly higher after Wall Street drifts ahead of US election

Nov. 05, 2024 00:50 AM EST

Shares were mostly higher in Asia early Tuesday, with major benchmarks gaining more than 1%, after U.S. stock indexes drifted lower a day ahead of the U.S. presidential election. This week will bring various potential flashpoints, among them Election Day in the United States. But...