Top United States government News

Trump is already testing Congress and daring Republicans to oppose him

Nov. 15, 2024 00:04 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — After a resounding election victory, delivering what President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans call a “mandate” to govern, an uneasy political question is emerging: Will there be any room for dissent in the U.S. Congress? Trump is laying down a gauntlet...

As he fills his new administration, Trump values loyalty above all else

Nov. 14, 2024 20:06 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump spent much of his first term feeling stung and betrayed by those he’d placed in power. This time, he’s not taking chances. As he works to fill his administration a second time, Trump has turned to a head-spinning mix of candidates. Many of those...

Trump chooses anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary

Nov. 14, 2024 21:01 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday he will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, putting a man whose views public health officials have decried as dangerous in charge of a massive agency that oversees...

Trump meets with Argentina's president, the first foreign leader he's met with since election

Nov. 14, 2024 22:56 PM EST

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Donald Trump met Thursday at his Mar-a-Lago club with Argentine President Javier Milei, the first foreign leader to meet with the president-elect since his victory in last week's election. The meeting was confirmed by a person who insisted on anonymity to...

What to know about Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's pick for health secretary

Nov. 14, 2024 18:27 PM EST

President-elect Donald Trump 's plan to appoint Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to lead the Health and Human Services Department will put a prominent vaccine skeptic at the helm of the nation's sprawling public health apparatus. A scion of a famous Democratic dynasty, Kennedy made a name in...

Trump rewards legal defense team, picks lawyer Todd Blanche as No. 2 Justice official

Nov. 14, 2024 18:43 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Todd Blanche, an attorney who led the legal team that defended the Republican at his hush money criminal trial, to serve as the second-highest ranking Justice Department official. A former federal prosecutor, Blanche has...

What to know about Doug Collins, Trump's pick to oversee veterans affairs

Nov. 14, 2024 20:35 PM EST

ATLANTA (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday that he would appoint Doug Collins to lead the Veterans Affairs Department in his new administration. Here are five things to know about the former Republican congressman from Georgia who would lead the agency tasked...

What to know North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, tapped by Trump to run the Interior Department

Nov. 14, 2024 21:11 PM EST

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has chosen North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to head the Interior Department. Some things to know about the two-term Republican governor of a sparsely populated state: Burgum's background is in business Burgum, 67, grew...

Gaetz pick shows value Trump places on loyalty — and retribution — as he returns to Washington

Nov. 14, 2024 05:50 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has had few defenders in Congress as reliable as Matt Gaetz, who has thundered at one prosecutor after another for perceived bias against the president-elect and emphatically amplified the Republican's rallying cry that the criminal investigations into him are...

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a long record of promoting anti-vaccine views

Nov. 14, 2024 18:10 PM EST

Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was building up a following with his anti-vaccine nonprofit group, Children’s Health Defense, and becoming one of the world’s most influential spreaders of fear and distrust around vaccines. Now, President-elect Donald...

Latest United States government News

Stock market today: Asian stocks climb after Wall Street's post-election boom slows

Nov. 15, 2024 00:15 AM EST

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks were mostly higher on Friday after U.S. stocks slipped as the market’s big rally following Trump's election victory cooled further. U.S. futures and oil prices were lower. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index was up 0.8% at 38,842.13 as the...

Trump is already testing Congress and daring Republicans to oppose him

Nov. 15, 2024 00:04 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — After a resounding election victory, delivering what President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans call a “mandate” to govern, an uneasy political question is emerging: Will there be any room for dissent in the U.S. Congress? Trump is laying down a gauntlet...

APEC leaders to open Lima summit as Trump prepares to return to office

Nov. 14, 2024 23:22 PM EST

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Representatives from 21 members representing the Pacific Rim are meeting in Peru on Friday for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, the first global summit since U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s victory featuring several major world leaders. The...

With Peru in the global spotlight for APEC, so is one of the world's least popular presidents

Nov. 14, 2024 23:13 PM EST

LIMA, Peru (AP) — It was a big day for Peru’s accidental president, Dina Boluarte, whose official schedule has been blank for months. On Thursday, the high-profile Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima thrust Boluarte — among the world's least popular presidents,...

Navy didn't understand well-documented risks posed by Hawaii fuel tanks, watchdog says

Nov. 14, 2024 22:49 PM EST

HONOLULU (AP) — Navy officials “lacked sufficient understanding” of the risks of maintaining massive fuel storage tanks on top of a drinking water well at Pearl Harbor where spilled jet fuel poisoned more than 6,000 people in 2021, a U.S. military watchdog said Thursday. That...

Here are the people Trump has picked for key positions so far

Nov. 14, 2024 21:26 PM EST

President-elect Donald Trump is filling key posts in his second administration, and it's shaping up much differently than his first. He's prioritizing loyalists for top jobs. Trump was bruised and hampered by internal squabbles during his initial term in office. Now he appears...

The Latest: Trump selects anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary

Nov. 14, 2024 21:01 PM EST

President-elect Donald Trump says he will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Trump’s pick of conservative loyalist Matt Gaetz to serve as attorney general has Democrats sounding the alarm with Sen. Dick Durbin...

What are recess appointments and how could Trump use them to fill his Cabinet?

Nov. 14, 2024 20:10 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — As President-elect Donald Trump moves to set up a more forceful presidency than in his first term, he is choosing loyalists for his Cabinet and considering a tool known as recess appointments to skip over Senate confirmations for even some of the most powerful positions in U.S....

As he fills his new administration, Trump values loyalty above all else

Nov. 14, 2024 20:06 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump spent much of his first term feeling stung and betrayed by those he’d placed in power. This time, he’s not taking chances. As he works to fill his administration a second time, Trump has turned to a head-spinning mix of candidates. Many of those...

New York races to revive Manhattan tolls intended to fight traffic before Trump can block them

Nov. 14, 2024 17:07 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — Rather than alienate suburban commuters in an election year, New York's governor slammed the brakes last spring on a plan to launch America's first “congestion pricing” tolling system to discourage people from driving into the most traffic-choked parts of Manhattan. ...