Bill on school bathroom use by transgender students clears Ohio Legislature, heads to governor

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Senate on Wednesday approved a ban on transgender students using bathrooms that fit their gender identities and sent the measure to Republican Gov. Mike DeWine. The Republican-backed bill applies to public K-12 schools and institutions of higher...

Speaker Mike Johnson wins GOP nomination to remain in job, faces full House vote in new year

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson won the House Republican nomination Wednesday to stay on the job, on track to keep the gavel after a morning endorsement from President-elect Donald Trump ahead of a full House vote in the new year. While Johnson has no serious...

All eyes on tight US House races in California as GOP on threshold of controlling the chamber

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Republicans and Democrats awaited the outcome of vote-counting for crucial U.S. House districts in California on Wednesday, as the GOP moved within one win of maintaining control of the chamber next year. In a rematch from 2022, Rep. Ken Calvert — the...

Maine elections chief who drew Trump's ire narrates House tabulations in livestream

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine’s elections chief, a former civil liberties advocate who sparred with President-elect Donald Trump over ballot access, is acting like a play-by-play sports announcer as she describes the state’s process of determining a congressional winner through ranked choice...

Trump picks Matt Gaetz for attorney general, Marco Rubio for Secretary of State

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump chose Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to serve as his attorney general on Wednesday, bypassing more experienced options in favor of a loyalist who has built a national reputation as a disruptor and has pledged to dramatically overhaul the...

Speaker Mike Johnson wins GOP nomination to remain in job, faces full House vote in January

Trump promises to turn Washington upside down. He's being welcomed back anyway

WASHINGTON (AP) — The fireplace was crackling in the Oval Office on Wednesday morning as President Joe Biden shook hands with Donald Trump and congratulated him on his election victory. “Welcome back,” Biden told Trump, who said the transition “would be as smooth as it can...

Prosecutor failed to show that Musk’s $1M-a-day sweepstakes was an illegal lottery, judge says

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The $1 million voter sweepstakes linked to billionaire Elon Musk was allowed to continue through Election Day because Philadelphia’s top prosecutor failed to show that it was an illegal lottery, a judge said in a new opinion. District Attorney Larry Krasner...

Republican John Thune of South Dakota is elected the next Senate majority leader

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans have elected South Dakota Sen. John Thune as the next Senate majority leader, completing a momentous shift in their leadership that elevates a top deputy of Mitch McConnell into a key position as President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House. ...

Trump returns to Washington vowing a smooth transition -- something he didn't ensure four years ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump made a victor’s return to Washington on Wednesday, visiting the White House for a nearly two-hour meeting with President Joe Biden and committing to a straightforward transition of power despite actively working to disrupt the same process four...