Latest John Thune News

Senate confirms Noem as Trump's homeland security secretary

Jan. 25, 2025 21:10 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate confirmed Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary on Saturday, putting the South Dakota governor in charge of a sprawling agency that is essential to national security and President Donald Trump's plans to clamp down on illegal immigration. ...

Hegseth confirmed as Trump's defense secretary in tie-breaking vote despite turmoil over his conduct

Jan. 24, 2025 23:00 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate confirmed Pete Hegseth as the nation's defense secretary late Friday in a dramatic tie-breaking vote, swatting back questions about his qualifications to lead the Pentagon amid allegations of heavy drinking and aggressive behavior toward women. Rarely...

Trump finds new ways to flex presidential power after returning to White House

Jan. 22, 2025 00:03 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is swiftly breaching the traditional boundaries of presidential power as he returns to the White House, bringing to bear a lifetime of bending the limits in courthouses, boardrooms and politics to forge an expansive view of his authority. ...

The Latest: Trump administration directs all federal DEI staff to be put on leave

Jan. 21, 2025 22:08 PM EST

Donald Trump began his presidency with a dizzying display of force, signing a blizzard of executive orders that signaled his desire to remake American institutions while also pardoning nearly all of his supporters who rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Here's the latest: ...

Trump defends pardons for rioters and suggests Proud Boys could have place in politics

Jan. 21, 2025 22:01 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on his first full day in office Tuesday defended his decision to grant clemency to people convicted of assaulting police officers during the 2021 attack on the Capitol and suggested there could be a place in American politics for the Proud Boys and Oath...

Republican senators are mostly quiet on Trump's sweeping pardons of Jan. 6 rioters

Jan. 21, 2025 18:35 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Many Republican senators say they do not agree with President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon and commute sentences for more than 1,500 people who assaulted police officers, broke into the building or committed other crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol four...

Inauguration Day Latest: Trump issues pardons for Jan. 6 rioters and signs more executive actions

Jan. 20, 2025 23:11 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump, who overcame impeachments, criminal indictments and a pair of assassination attempts to win another term in the White House, was sworn in Monday as the 47th U.S. president, taking charge as Republicans claim unified control of Washington and set out to reshape the...

Senate confirms Marco Rubio as secretary of state, giving Trump the first member of his Cabinet

Jan. 20, 2025 19:49 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate quickly confirmed Marco Rubio as secretary of state Monday, voting unanimously to give President Donald Trump the first member of his new Cabinet on Inauguration Day. Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida, is among the least controversial of...

Inside the intimate inauguration: Close-up encounters between political rivals, some awkward

Jan. 20, 2025 19:15 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — A president’s inaugural address is typically a choreographed spectacle. A makeshift grandstand is erected next to the Capitol, hundreds of thousands of people line the National Mall and the images and words of the day endure for generations. This time was...

Then and now: What has changed as Trump returns to the White House

Jan. 19, 2025 07:32 AM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — When Donald Trump arrived in Washington in 2017 just before his first inauguration, he was a stranger to most in town. As the only president in history without prior experience in public office or the military, it was unclear how he would govern. Not this time. ...