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FILE - This July 24, 2018, file photo shows a portion of the 1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return form. The IRS began accepting and processing tax returns for individuals on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

What to know for year two of the Trump tax plan

Jan. 28, 2020 3:34 AM EST

It’s that time again. The IRS began accepting and processing tax returns for individuals on Monday. Last year’s filing season was an adjustment for taxpayers and industry professionals alike as it was the first under a massive overhaul of federal tax law. While this year’s season is...

FILE - In this Oct. 29, 2019 file photo, Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at pre-legislative news conference on in Tallahassee, Fla. The state of Florida is asking a U.S. appellate court in Georgia to set aside an earlier judge's ruling that allowed some impoverished felons to regain access to the ballot box, despite owing fines and other legal debts. The matter that will play out Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020 before the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals is far from inconsequential because of the razor-thin margins that sometimes decide election contests in Florida, a perennial battleground state.(AP Photo/Steve Cannon, File)

Appellate court weighs Florida law on felon voting rights

Jan. 28, 2020 1:19 AM EST

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Lawyers for the electoral battleground state of Florida are asking a U.S. appellate court to set aside a ruling that let some impoverished felons regain access to the ballot box, despite owing fines and other legal debts. Florida Republicans, led by Gov. Ron DeSantis, argue that...

Rep. Doug Collins, R-Georgia, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, speaks to reporters outside the Senate as defense arguments by the Republicans resume in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Collins expected to try ousting new GA senator in GOP battle

Jan. 27, 2020 11:32 PM EST

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, an ardent ally of President Donald Trump and vocal opponent of his impeachment, is expected to announce he will challenge fellow Republican and newly appointed Sen. Kelly Loeffler for her seat this year, a Republican official said Monday. The decision by the...

Most legal experts say crime not required for impeachment

Jan. 27, 2020 8:15 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's defense relies in part on arguments made in the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson more than 150 years ago: that impeachment requires a crime. But most legal scholars disagree, including a law professor called by Republicans in the House investigation...

Tennessee governor signs anti-LGBT adoption bill

Jan. 24, 2020 4:39 PM EST

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee has become the latest state to assure continued taxpayer funding of faith-based foster care and adoption agencies even if those organizations exclude LGBT families and others based on religious beliefs. Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed the bill Friday without fanfare or an...

In this April 2019 photo provided by Direct Action Everywhere, Matt Johnson with Direct Action Everywhere, a Berkeley, California-based animal welfare group, holds a pig in a barn on a hog farm owned by Iowa Sen. Ken Rozenboom that the group entered through an unlocked door near Oskaloosa, Iowa. Johnson, one of those who entered the barn, said he submitted a complaint Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020 to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and local law enforcement after seeing conditions in the barn, which he contends constitute criminal animal neglect under Iowa law. (Direct Action Everywhere via AP)

Group's video shows suffering at Iowa lawmaker's pig farm

Jan. 24, 2020 3:58 PM EST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An animal welfare group gained access to an Iowa state lawmaker’s hog farm and has posted a video on the internet that shows pigs suffering and even dying in what appear to be inhumane conditions. Two people with Direct Action Everywhere, a Berkeley, California-based group,...

LoRebecca Gotwalt from Fairfax, squats in the back of the room and listens to speakers during a press conference for a meeting, sponsored by the Pro Choice Coalition, inside the Pocahontas Building in Richmond, Va., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020. With a newly empowered Democratic majority at the Virginia General Assembly, abortion-rights advocates say the state has a chance to roll back decades of restrictions and become a “safe haven” for women in neighboring conservative states. (Bob Brown/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)

Advocates want to make Virginia an abortion 'safe haven'

Jan. 24, 2020 1:02 PM EST

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — With a newly empowered Democratic majority at the Virginia General Assembly, abortion-rights advocates say the state has a chance to roll back decades of restrictions and become a “safe haven” for women in neighboring conservative states. Abortion-rights groups laid out...

People holding a Poland and European Union flags take part in a protest outside Poland's parliament building as lawmakers voted to approve the much-criticized legislation that allows politicians to fire judges who criticize their decisions, in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. Poland's lawmakers gave their final approval Thursday to legislation that will allow politicians to fire judges who criticize their decisions, a change that European legal experts warn will undermine judicial independence. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Legal chaos in Poland deepens, posing major challenge for EU

Jan. 24, 2020 12:51 PM EST

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Legal chaos has deepened dramatically in Poland, with the government and the country’s high court judges clashing over who administers justice — a rift that some experts say is an assault on the young democracy and could lead to a break from the European Union. The...

Virginia House advances gun control measures

Jan. 24, 2020 12:43 PM EST

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democrats in the Virginia House are advancing a package of gun-control measures less than a week after tens of thousands of pro-gun advocates from around the country rallied at the state Capitol. But the advancing bills don't yet include a proposed assault weapon ban, a top priority...

NCAA President Mark Emmert speaks at the NCAA convention Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

NCAA's Emmert: 'Our job' to solve athlete compensation

Jan. 23, 2020 9:54 PM EST

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — NCAA President Mark Emmert spoke for 20 minutes Thursday in a crowded ballroom at the Anaheim Convention Center, two huge video boards on either side of the stage showing his image so the folks way in the back could see. He said many outside that room view college sports as...

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