Top United States government News

On the brink of a government shutdown, McCarthy pivots to a 45-day plan relying on Democratic help

Sep. 30, 2023 11:40 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — On the brink of a federal government shutdown Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced a dramatic pivot Saturday, trying to push a 45-day funding bill through the House with Democratic help — a move that could keep government open but most certainly risks his job. ...

President Biden says the looming shutdown isn't his fault. Will Americans agree with him?

Sep. 30, 2023 09:02 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Staring down a likely government shutdown, the White House wants to make sure any blame falls at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue — specifically on House Republicans. After all, it's House Republicans who have been paralyzed by their inability to pass a...

The Supreme Court will take up abortion and gun cases in its new term while ethics concerns swirl

Sep. 30, 2023 09:49 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is returning to a new term to take up some familiar topics — guns and abortion — and concerns about ethics swirling around the justices. The year also will have a heavy focus on social media and how free speech protections apply online. A big...

The Dianne Feinstein they knew: Women of the Senate remember a tireless fighter and a true friend

Sep. 30, 2023 09:43 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Washington Sen. Patty Murray received a call early Friday morning that Sen. Dianne Feinstein had died, she immediately started calling her fellow female senators. The Democrat’s first call was to Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who had worked with Feinstein...

A government shutdown is nearing this weekend. What does it mean, who's hit and what's next?

Sep. 30, 2023 08:04 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is headed toward a shutdown this weekend that would disrupt many government services, squeeze federal employees and roil politics. House Republicans, fueled by hard-right demands to slash budgets, are forcing a confrontation over federal spending. ...

A lead prosecutor in the Hunter Biden case cut a contentious path during his time in Baltimore

Sep. 30, 2023 11:17 AM EDT

BALTIMORE (AP) — Before being assigned to investigate President Joe Biden’s son, Leo Wise built a reputation in Baltimore as a tough and hard-charging federal prosecutor, taking on powerful, and seemingly untouchable, figures — whether a gang of corrupt cops, a police commissioner, a top...

Anti-abortion groups are at odds on strategies ahead of Ohio vote. It could be a preview for 2024

Sep. 30, 2023 11:10 AM EDT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Abortion opponents in Ohio are at odds not only over how to frame their opposition to a reproductive rights initiative on the state's November ballot but also over their longer-term goals on how severely they would restrict the procedure. The disagreements,...

Iowa's two campaigns: Donald Trump's rivals search for paths to stop him as he blazes his own trail

Sep. 30, 2023 00:06 AM EDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Having stood out in two presidential debates, Nikki Haley has booked her largest venue in Iowa since launching her campaign. She's hoping to fill a 600-person hall in a western Des Moines suburb on Saturday. That would be a huge number for most of her...

Dianne Feinstein was at the center of a key LGBTQ+ moment. She's being lauded as an evolving ally

Sep. 30, 2023 10:16 AM EDT

Dianne Feinstein once stood at the center of a pivotal moment in LGBTQ+ history. Decades later, in death, she's being lauded by LGBTQ+ leaders as a longtime ally who, if she didn't always initially do the right thing, was able to learn and evolve. Feinstein was president of the San...

Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, trailblazer and champion of liberal priorities, dies at age 90

Sep. 29, 2023 17:25 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, a centrist Democrat and champion of liberal causes who was elected to the Senate in 1992 and broke gender barriers throughout her long career in local and national politics, has died. She was 90. Feinstein died on Thursday...

Latest United States government News

On the brink of a government shutdown, McCarthy pivots to a 45-day plan relying on Democratic help

Sep. 30, 2023 11:40 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — On the brink of a federal government shutdown Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced a dramatic pivot Saturday, trying to push a 45-day funding bill through the House with Democratic help — a move that could keep government open but most certainly risks his job. ...

Rejected by US courts, Onondaga Nation take centuries-old land rights case to international panel

Sep. 30, 2023 10:22 AM EDT

ONONDAGA NATION TERRITORY (AP) — The Onondaga Nation has protested for centuries that illegal land grabs shrank its territory from what was once thousands of square miles in upstate New York to a relatively paltry patch of land south of Syracuse. It took its case to President...

President Biden says the looming shutdown isn't his fault. Will Americans agree with him?

Sep. 30, 2023 09:02 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Staring down a likely government shutdown, the White House wants to make sure any blame falls at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue — specifically on House Republicans. After all, it's House Republicans who have been paralyzed by their inability to pass a...

A government shutdown is nearing this weekend. What does it mean, who's hit and what's next?

Sep. 30, 2023 08:04 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is headed toward a shutdown this weekend that would disrupt many government services, squeeze federal employees and roil politics. House Republicans, fueled by hard-right demands to slash budgets, are forcing a confrontation over federal spending. ...

McCarthy's last-ditch plan to keep the government open collapses, making a shutdown almost certain

Sep. 29, 2023 20:29 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's last-ditch plan to keep the federal government temporarily open collapsed in dramatic fashion Friday as a robust faction of hard-right holdouts rejected the package, making a shutdown almost certain. McCarthy’s right-flank...

Bail bondsman charged alongside Trump in Georgia pleads guilty, becoming first defendant to do so

Sep. 29, 2023 18:52 PM EDT

ATLANTA (AP) — A bail bondsman charged alongside former President Donald Trump and 17 others in the Georgia election interference case pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges on Friday, becoming the first defendant to accept a plea deal with prosecutors. As part of the deal, Scott...

Senate confirms Mississippi US Attorney, putting him in charge of welfare scandal prosecution

Sep. 29, 2023 17:27 PM EDT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The U.S. Senate on Friday confirmed a U.S. attorney in Mississippi who will oversee the largest public corruption case in the state’s history. President Joe Biden nominated Todd Gee for the post overseeing the Southern District of Mississippi in September...

What would a government shutdown mean for me? SNAP, student loans and travel impacts, explained

Sep. 29, 2023 16:45 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — With gridlock persisting in Washington, a government shutdown is looking all but inevitable ahead of this weekend's deadline. While the Senate pushes forward with bipartisan approach aimed at keeping the government open, the Republican-controlled House has made...

Mexico's president slams US aid for Ukraine and sanctions on Venezuela and Cuba

Sep. 29, 2023 14:20 PM EDT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president on Friday slammed U.S. aid for Ukraine and economic sanctions on Venezuela, Cuba and other nations as the first of two high-level U.S.-Mexico meetings got underway in Washington. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador issued a broad...

Judges maintain bans on gender-affirming care for youth in Tennessee and Kentucky

Sep. 29, 2023 14:13 PM EDT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee and Kentucky can continue to ban gender-affirming care for young transgender people while legal challenges against those state laws proceed, federal appeals judges ruled. In a 2-1 decision by a 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel late Thursday,...