Top United States government News
White House punts economic update as election draws near
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House has taken the unusual step of deciding not to release an updated economic forecast as planned this year, a fresh sign of the administration's anxiety about how the coronavirus has ravaged the nation just months before the election. The decision, which was confirmed...
Chinese grad students may be next hit by US-China tensions
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration may soon expel thousands of Chinese graduate students enrolled at U.S. universities and impose other sanctions against Chinese officials in the latest signs of tensions between Washington and Beijing that are raging over trade, the coronavirus pandemic, human...
Trump escalates war on Twitter, social media protections
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump escalated his war on Twitter and other social media companies Thursday, signing an executive order challenging the lawsuit protections that have served as a bedrock for unfettered speech on the internet. Announced with fanfare, the president's action yet appeared to...
Trump tries a new response after George Floyd's death
WASHINGTON (AP) — It was the kind of personal statement expected from a president in response to the disturbing video of a black man gasping for help as a white policeman pinned him to the street by the neck. But it was a very different tone for President Donald Trump, who has often been silent in the face...
Democrats pull surveillance bill after Trump veto threat
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats on Thursday pulled legislation from the House floor to extend FBI surveillance authorities after President Donald Trump and Republicans turned against the measure and ensured its defeat. The House later voted 284-122 to officially start those negotiations. House Speaker Nancy...
House approves changes to business virus aid subsidy program
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House gave sweeping bipartisan approval Thursday to legislation to modify a new “paycheck protection” program for businesses that have suffered COVID-related losses, giving them more flexibility to use federal subsidies for other costs and extending the lifespan of the...
Sen. Cortez Masto withdraws name from Biden VP consideration
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada said Thursday that she’s not interested in serving as running mate to presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden. Cortez Masto, who in 2016 became the first Latina elected to the U.S. Senate, said in a statement that she supports the...
Graham urges older judges to retire so GOP can fill openings
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lindsey Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is publicly urging federal judges in their mid-60s or older to step aside so President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans can fill the vacancies with conservative jurists. Graham’s comments, in an interview Thursday...
Democrats charge OSHA isn't protecting front-line workers
WASHINGTON (AP) — As U.S. coronavirus deaths top 100,000, Democrats are slamming the Trump administration for failing to protect front-line workers, including those at meatpacking plants and health care facilities where outbreaks of the disease are spiking. At a House hearing Thursday, Democrats charged...
VA says it'll stop almost all use of unproven drug on vets
WASHINGTON (AP) — Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie said Thursday that his department has all but stopped use of an unproven malaria drug on veterans with COVID-19. At a House hearing, he defended initial use of hydroxychloroquine on coronavirus patients as justified “to give them...
Latest United States government News
George Floyd protesters set Minneapolis police station afire
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Cheering protesters broke into a Minneapolis police precinct station on Thursday after the department abandoned it, setting it ablaze and igniting fireworks as three days of violent protests spread to cities across the U.S over the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man. A police...
Debate over $600 in jobless aid to intensify as claims rise
WASHINGTON (AP) — A debate in Congress over whether to extend $600 a week in federally provided benefits to the unemployed looks sure to intensify with the number of people receiving the aid now topping 30 million — one in five workers. The money, included in a government relief package enacted in...
Kansas man charged $50K in medical bills after accident
PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) — Alvin Letner doesn’t remember signing the form where he promises to pay a medical bill of nearly $50,000 he hadn’t yet seen. Much of that day in July 2019 is a blank for him. A dog ran onto the highway as he and other motorcyclists on a veterans fundraiser rode by. It...
Australian court rules queen's letters can be made public
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s highest court ruled on Friday to make public letters between Queen Elizabeth II and her representative that would reveal what knowledge she had, if any, of the dismissal of an Australian government in 1975. The High Court's 6-1 majority decision in historian...
Whitmer: Congress can prevent deep cuts; K-12 is priority
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Thursday that protecting K-12 funding is her priority as Michigan seeks a federal bailout to avoid steep spending cuts during the pandemic, and her budget director signaled the next state budget won't be complete by a July 1 deadline. The state is facing a...
NSA: Russian agents have been hacking major email program
BOSTON (AP) — The U.S. National Security Agency says the same Russian military hacking group that interfered in the 2016 presidential election and unleashed a devastating malware attack the following year has been exploiting a major email server program since last August or earlier. The timing of the...
US charges North Koreans in $2.5B sanctions-busting scheme
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has accused a network of North Korean and Chinese citizens of secretly advancing North Korea’s nuclear weapons program by channeling at least $2.5 billion in illicit payments through hundreds of front companies. The indictment, unsealed Thursday in...
Sen. Cortez Masto withdraws name from Biden VP consideration
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada said Thursday that she’s not interested in serving as running mate to presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden. Cortez Masto, who in 2016 became the first Latina elected to the U.S. Senate, said in a statement that she supports the...
Man charged in Mennonite woman's death grew up in the faith
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — In a forest clearing outside Flagstaff, Arizona, Sasha Krause was found cold and stiff, with a bullet wound to the back of her head. She was face down beneath brush, wearing a gray dress, white coat and hiking shoes. Her hair was pinned in a bun and her hands bound by duct tape. Her...
North Carolina governor: RNC hasn't submitted safety plan
North Carolina's governor said Thursday that his administration hasn't received the written safety plan for the upcoming Republican National Convention requested by his health secretary in response to President Donald Trump's demands for a full-scale event. Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said during a media...
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