Top United States government News

Trump chooses Bessent to be treasury secretary, Vought as budget chief, Chavez-DeRemer for Labor

Nov. 22, 2024 20:22 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump announced Friday that he'll nominate hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, an advocate for deficit reduction, to serve as his next treasury secretary. Trump also said he would nominate Russell Vought to lead the Office of Management and...

Vance takes on a more visible transition role, working to boost Trump's most contentious picks

Nov. 22, 2024 16:11 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — After several weeks working mostly behind closed doors, Vice President-elect JD Vance returned to Capitol Hill this week in a new, more visible role: Helping Donald Trump try to get his most contentious Cabinet picks to confirmation in the Senate, where Vance has served for the...

What to know about Scott Bessent, Trump's pick for treasury secretary

Nov. 22, 2024 19:53 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen money manager Scott Bessent, an advocate for deficit reduction and deregulation, to serve as his next treasury secretary. Bessent is a past supporter of Democrats who has become an enthusiastic supporter of Trump. He’s an...

Matt Gaetz says he won't return to Congress next year after withdrawing name for attorney general

Nov. 22, 2024 14:48 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Rep. Matt Gaetz said Friday that he will not be returning to Congress after withdrawing his name from consideration to be attorney general under President-elect Donald Trump amid growing allegations of sexual misconduct. “I’m still going to be in the...

What to know about Pam Bondi, Trump's new pick for attorney general

Nov. 22, 2024 10:12 AM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, was chosen by Donald Trump to serve as U.S. attorney general hours after his first choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew from consideration after a federal sex trafficking investigation and ethics probe made his ability to be confirmed...

Judge delays Trump hush money sentencing in order to decide where case should go now

Nov. 22, 2024 11:29 AM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge confirmed Friday that President-elect Donald Trump won't be sentenced this month in his hush money case, instead setting a schedule for prosecutors and his lawyers to expand on their ideas about what to do next. Amid a flurry of filings in the case since...

Gaetz's withdrawal highlights how incoming presidents often lose Cabinet nominees

Nov. 22, 2024 00:02 AM EST

MARTIN, Tenn. (AP) — Losing a Cabinet nominee to the confirmation process isn't unheard of for incoming presidents — including for Donald Trump when he was elected the first time. Matt Gaetz's decision to pull his name Thursday from consideration for attorney general — amid...

JD Vance is leaving the Senate for the vice presidency. That's set off a scramble for his Ohio seat

Nov. 22, 2024 09:42 AM EST

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — JD Vance's election as vice president has opened up one of Ohio's U.S. Senate seats for the third time in as many years, setting off a scramble for the appointment among the state's ruling Republicans. GOP Gov. Mike DeWine is tasked with filling the vacancy,...

Supreme Court steps into fight over FCC's $8 billion subsidies for internet and phone services

Nov. 22, 2024 15:36 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday stepped into a major legal fight over the $8 billion a year the federal government spends to subsidize phone and internet services in schools, libraries and rural areas, in a new test of federal regulatory power. The justices will...

Republicans rally around Hegseth, Trump's Pentagon pick, as Gaetz withdraws for attorney general

Nov. 21, 2024 16:16 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s allies on Capitol Hill rallied around Pete Hegseth, Trump’s Pentagon pick, on Thursday even as new details surfaced about allegations that he had sexually assaulted a woman in 2017. The GOP embrace of Hegseth came as another...

Latest United States government News

Venezuela's government will investigate opposition leader Machado for supporting US House bill

Nov. 22, 2024 20:02 PM EST

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s government on Friday announced another investigation against opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, continuing its efforts to blame her for the economic sanctions that the United States and other nations have imposed against the South American country. ...

A courtroom of relief: FBI recovers funds for victims of scammed banker

Nov. 22, 2024 18:23 PM EST

WICHITA, KANSAS (AP) — Sobs of relief broke out in a federal courtroom in Kansas on Monday as dozens of people whose life savings had been embezzled by a bank CEO learned that federal law enforcement had recovered their money. "I just can’t describe the weight lifted off of...

NATO and Ukraine to hold emergency talks after Russia's attack with new hypersonic missile

Nov. 22, 2024 16:49 PM EST

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — NATO and Ukraine will hold emergency talks Tuesday after Russia attacked a central city with an experimental, hypersonic ballistic missile that escalated the nearly 33-month-old war. The conflict is “entering a decisive phase,” Poland's Prime Minister...

Vance takes on a more visible transition role, working to boost Trump's most contentious picks

Nov. 22, 2024 16:11 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — After several weeks working mostly behind closed doors, Vice President-elect JD Vance returned to Capitol Hill this week in a new, more visible role: Helping Donald Trump try to get his most contentious Cabinet picks to confirmation in the Senate, where Vance has served for the...

Bitcoin ticks closer to $100,000 in extended surge following US elections

Nov. 22, 2024 15:22 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — Bitcoin extended its streak of record highs after ticking above $99,000 for the first time. The cryptocurrency has rocketed more than 40% in just two weeks. Now, bitcoin is at the doorstep of $100,000, just two years after dropping below $17,000 following the...

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

Nov. 22, 2024 11:04 AM 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...

House passes bill that would allow Treasury to target nonprofits it deems to support terrorism

Nov. 22, 2024 04:21 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. House passed legislation Thursday that would give the Treasury Department unilateral authority to strip the tax-exempt status of nonprofits it claims support terrorism, alarming civil liberties groups about how a second Trump presidency could invoke it to punish...

Putin says Russia attacked Ukraine with a new missile that he claims the West can't stop

Nov. 21, 2024 20:46 PM EST

The Kremlin fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile at Ukraine on Thursday in response to Kyiv's use this week of American and British missiles capable of striking deeper into Russia, President Vladimir Putin said. In a televised address to the country, the Russian president...

Mexico acknowledges Canada's concerns about a Chinese auto plant, but says none exists

Nov. 21, 2024 19:51 PM EST

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president acknowledged Thursday that Canada is concerned about reports of a Chinese company’s plan to build an auto plant in Mexico, but she said it does not currently exist. President Claudia Sheinbaum said she talked recently to Canadian Prime...

US intelligence warns defense companies of Russian sabotage threat

Nov. 21, 2024 16:27 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. intelligence officials warned American defense companies on Thursday to increase security precautions following several acts of sabotage in Europe that officials have blamed on Russia. The public bulletin issued by the National Counterintelligence and...