Politics

FILE - People gather in a parking lot as people arrive for early in-person voting in Cincinnati, Nov. 2, 2023. Ohio is expected to play a starring role in the 2024 high-stakes races for state supreme court seats. The Ohio Supreme Court’s 4-3 Republican majority could flip to Democrats’ favor in the fall if the party sweeps the three seats up for election this year. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Ohio primary: Open seat on state supreme court could flip partisan control

Ohio is expected to star in this year’s big races for state supreme court seats. During Tuesday’s primary, Democrats will be choosing a candidate to compete for an open seat on a court that will be at the center of fights over redistricting, public education, health care, environmental issues and cr

Town Clerk Sandra Lacasse, places a sign outside the town office as polls opens Tuesday, March 5, 2024, for Super Tuesday and when the town holds its annual Town Meeting in Elmore, Vt. Across the United States, people are disgusted with politics. Many feel powerless and alienated from their representatives at every level. The tone long ago became nasty, and many feel forced to pick a side and view those on the other side as adversaries. But in pockets of New England, democracy is done a bit differently. One day each year, townsfolk gather to hash out local issues. They talk, listen, debate, vote. And in places like Elmore, once it's all over, they sit down together for a potluck lunch. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

In Vermont, ‘Town Meeting’ is democracy embodied. What can the rest of the country learn from it?

From left, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, President Joe Biden, and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., walk down the steps following the annual St. Patrick's Day gathering at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, March 15, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Biden campaign has amassed $155M in cash on hand for 2024 campaign and raised $53M last month

President Joe Biden meets with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, March 15, 2024 in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Biden says at DC dinner that of 2 presidential candidates, 1 was mentally unfit. ‘The other’s me’

Judge Juan Merchan poses for a picture in his chambers in New York, Thursday, March 14, 2024. Merchan is poised to become the first judge ever to oversee a former U.S. president’s criminal trial. He's presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money case in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

‘There’s no agenda here': A look at the judge who is overseeing Trump’s hush money trial

Erin go bragh! A look back at White House St. Patrick’s Day festivities

The White House has a long history of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, starting back with President Harry S. Truman.

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Judge delays Trump’s hush-money trial until April

Prosecutor leaves Georgia election case against Trump after relationship with district attorney

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures to the crowd at a campaign rally Saturday, March 16, 2024, in Vandalia, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures to the crowd at a campaign rally Saturday, March 16, 2024, in Vandalia, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

Trump ramps up dark rhetoric in Ohio stump speech for Senate candidate Bernie Moreno

Former President Donald Trump claimed that he — not President Joe Biden — will protect Social Security and warned of a “bloodbath” if he loses in November as he campaigned for Senate candidate Bernie Moreno in Ohio.

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Wisconsin voters to decide on banning private money to help fund elections

Illinois primary features competitive congressional races in the Chicago area

FILE - President Donald Trump listens as Vice President Mike Pence speaks during a briefing at the White House, March 29, 2020, in Washington. In an interview with Fox News Channel Friday, March 15, 2024, Pence said he will not be backing Donald Trump in the 2024 election. "It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year," he said. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Former Vice President Mike Pence says he’s not endorsing Trump

White House

A person waves an Irish flag while watching the St. Patrick's Day parade, Sunday, March 17, 2024, in Boston's South Boston neighborhood. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Boston celebrates St. Patrick’s Day; Biden holds White House brunch with Irish leader

Congress

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., joined by fellow Republicans, speaks during a news conference ahead of the State of the Union at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, March 6, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House Republicans are seeking unity at an idyllic West Virginia retreat. Many didn’t bother to come

Supreme Court

App logos for Facebook, left, and X, formerly known as Twitter, are seen on a mobile phone in Los Angeles, Saturday, March 16, 2024. The Supreme Court is taking up a dispute Monday, March 18, between Republican-led states and the Biden administration over how far the federal government can go to combat controversial social media posts on topics like COVID-19 and election security. The case involves posts on Facebook, X and other media platforms. (AP Photo/Paula Ulichney)

Supreme Court weighs how far federal officials can go to combat controversial posts on hot topics

More politics news

FILE - The Idaho state flag hangs in the State Capitol in Boise, Idaho, Jan. 9, 2023. The Idaho Senate is expected to take a final vote on Monday, March 18, 2024, on a bill that would prohibit transgender and nonbinary Idahoans enrolled in Medicaid, or state employees enrolled in the state's insurance plan, from obtaining gender-affirming care. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, File)

Idaho considers a ban on using public funds or facilities for gender-affirming care

Idaho lawmakers are expected to vote on a bill that would ban the use of any public funds for gender-affirming care, including for state employees using work health insurance and for adults covered by Medicaid.

In this image from video provided by Senate TV, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks on the Senate floor at the Capitol in Washington, March 14, 2024. Schumer is calling on Israel to hold new elections. Schumer says he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has "lost his way" amid the Israeli bombardment of Gaza and a growing humanitarian crisis there. Schumer is the first Jewish majority leader in the Senate and the highest-ranking Jewish official in the U.S. (Senate TV via AP)

Schumer’s rebuke of Netanyahu shows the long, fragile line the US and allies walk on interference

Republicans and Israeli officials were quick to express outrage after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer lashed out at Prime Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza and called for Israel to hold new elections.

Imani Mfalme poses for a portrait outside her late mother's house Thursday, March 7, 2024, in Knoxville, Tenn. Mfalme's mother suffered from Alzheimer's and was placed in long term care. After her death the state is now trying to lay claim to the estate to pay for that care. (AP Photo/Caitie McMekin)

State Medicaid offices target dead people’s homes to recoup their health care costs

Many Americans rely on Medicaid when fighting diseases. But there’s a catch. Often, states try to recoup the costs after the recipients die.

FILE - Students line up to enter a school for the first day of China's national college entrance examinations, known as the gaokao, in Beijing, Tuesday, June 7, 2022. After the pandemic, young Chinese are again looking to study abroad. But the decades-long run that has sent an estimated 3 million Chinese students to the U.S. could be trending down. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File )

After the pandemic, young Chinese again want to study abroad, just not so much in the US

After the pandemic, young Chinese are again looking to study abroad. But the decades-long run that has sent an estimated 3 million Chinese students to the U.S. could be trending down.

FILE - Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaks during a campaign event, Oct. 9, 2023, in Philadelphia. The lack of excitement many Americans feel about a presidential rematch has heightened interest in alternatives to the major-party candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose famous name has helped him build buzz for his independent bid. He plans to announce his vice presidential nominee later this month in Oakland, Calif, and is stoking rumors that he might pick New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Who is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and why is he running for president?

The lack of excitement many Americans feel about a presidential rematch has heightened interest in alternatives to the major-party candidates — none more so than Robert F.

Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen delivers his State of the County Address at the Maui Arts & Cultural's Castle Theater, in Kahului, Hawaii, Friday, March 15, 2024. (Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via AP)

Maui’s mayor prioritizes housing and vows to hire more firefighters after Lahaina wildfire

Maui’s mayor says he is prioritizing housing, evaluating evacuation routes and hiring more firefighters as his Hawaii community recovers from the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century.

FILE - Members of the public attend a Cochise County, Ariz., Board of Supervisors meeting to provide feedback on the proposed transfer of election functions and duties to the county recorder, Feb. 14, 2023, in Bisbee, Ariz. Lisa Marra, the former elections director for Arizona's largely Republican Cochise County who resigned in 2023 over a flap over the hand counting of ballots, has been elevated to a top electoral post for the state. (AP Photo/Alberto Mariani, File)

A local Arizona elections chief who quit in a ballot-counting dispute just got a top state job

The former elections director for a rural Arizona county who resigned last year because a flap over the hand-counting of ballots has been elevated to a top electoral post for the state.

FILE - Former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin speaks with reporters at the White House, March 13, 2020, in Washington. Mnuchin is interested in buying TikTok, just days after his investment firm led a $1 billion deal to inject life into a beaten-down bank.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Mnuchin’s interest in TikTok and a distressed NY bank echoes his pre-Trump investment playbook

Steven Mnuchin is a former U.S. Treasury secretary who said this week that he is interested in buying TikTok, just days after his investment firm led a $1 billion deal to inject life into a beaten-down bank.

FILE -Former California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, left, and Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher talk during the Assembly session at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. Rendon created the Select Committee on Happiness and Public Policy Outcomes to study how state policy can make Californians happier. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli,File)

California forms a happiness committee to make government better

A California lawmaker is trying to get the state Legislature to rethink policymaking by creating a committee to study how to make people happier.

Republican U.S. Senatorial candidate Sam Brown joins his wife Amy Brown after speaking to a small group of supporters and media after filing his paperwork to run for the Senate, Thursday, March 14, 2024, at the State Capitol in Carson City, Nev. Brown is seeking to replace incumbent U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen. (AP Photo/Andy Barron)

Abortion story from wife of Nevada Senate hopeful reveals complexity of issue for GOP candidates

When the wife of Nevada Senate candidate Sam Brown spoke about an abortion she had in Texas right before they met, some Republicans welcomed the disclosure.

What TikTok creators say a ban would mean for them

TikTok creators across the country are expressing frustration over a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that would lead to a nationwide ban of the app if its China-based owner doesn’t sell its stake.

FILE - Migrants are taken into custody by officials at the Texas-Mexico border, Jan. 3, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas. The Supreme Court on Tuesday, March 12, 2024 extended a stay on a new Texas law that would empower police to arrest migrants suspected of illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. The order puts the law on hold until at least Monday while the high court considers a challenge by the Justice Department, which has called the law an unconstitutional overreach. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, file)

How Texas’ plans to arrest migrants for illegal entry would work if allowed to take effect

Texas’ plan to arrest migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally is on hold while the U.S. Supreme Court considers a challenge to Republican Gov.

FILE - Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., talks to the media as he walks to the House chamber before President Joe Biden's State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol, March 7, 2024, in Washington. Sanders, the far-left independent from Vermont, introduced a bill Thursday, March 14, that would shorten to 32 hours the amount of time many Americans can work each week before they're owed overtime. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

Bernie Sanders wants the US to adopt a 32-hour workweek. Could workers and companies benefit?

The 40-hour workweek has been standard in the U.S. for more than eight decades. Now some members of Congress want to give hourly workers an extra day off. Sen.

FILE - Members of the Kentucky House of Representatives listen during a floor discussion of a House bill in Frankfort, Ky., Feb. 1, 2024. The Kentucky House voted Friday, March 15, to choke off funding for diversity, equity and inclusion offices at public universities following an impassioned debate that had a GOP lawmaker dismissing DEI efforts as a failure and Democrats defending them as pillars of support for students from underrepresented groups. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)

GOP Kentucky House votes to defund diversity, equity and inclusion offices at public universities

The Kentucky House has voted to defund diversity, equity and inclusion offices at public universities. The Friday vote came after an impassioned debate.

FILE - Arizona State Sen. Theresa Hatathlie talks during a news conference on Friday, May 19, 2023. Hatathlie said Friday, march 15, 2024, that she's hoping for final approval of her bill to tighten regulations for rehab facilities amid widespread fraud that has bilked hundreds of millions in Arizona Medicaid dollars. Hundreds of Native Americans seeking help for addictions have also been scammed. (AP Photo/Anita Snow, File)

Arizona legislation to better regulate rehab programs targeted by Medicaid scams is moving forward

A Navajo state senator in Arizona says she’s hoping for final approval of her bill to tighten regulations for rehab facilities amid widespread fraud that has bilked hundreds of millions in Medicaid dollars.

FILE - An official walks toward an entrance to the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, Calif., March 11, 2024. A judge on Friday, March 15, appointed a special master to oversee the federal prison — dubbed the "rape club" by prisoners and workers alike — in the San Francisco Bay Area. The judge's order encompasses the prison in Dublin, located about 21 miles (34 kilometers) east of Oakland. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Judge will appoint special master to oversee California federal women’s prison after rampant abuse

A judge will appoint a special master to oversee a federal women’s prison in California known for rampant sexual abuse against inmates.

FILE - This Jan. 20, 2004, file photo shows the Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis in Buckeye, Arizona. On Friday, March 15, 2024, a judge held a hearing in U.S. District Court in Phoenix to examine Arizona's noncompliance with a court order to improve medical and mental health care for the nearly 25,000 people incarcerated in Arizona's state-run prisons. (AP Photo/Tom Hood, File)

Judge mulls third contempt case against Arizona for failing to improve prison health care

A federal judge presiding over a lawsuit challenging the quality of health care in Arizona’s prisons is considering whether to launch a third contempt-of-court proceeding against the state for failing to improve prisoner care.

FILE - Utah Gov. Spencer Cox speaks during a news briefing, Friday, March 1, 2024, in Salt Lake City. Cox, Wednesday, March 13, 2024, has approved an overhaul of social media laws meant to shield children from potential harms as the state fends off multiple lawsuits challenging their constitutionality. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

Utah governor replaces social media laws for youth as state faces lawsuits

Utah’s governor has approved an overhaul of social media laws meant to protect children as the state fends off multiple lawsuits challenging their constitutionality.

Guest lineups for the Sunday news shows

Guest lineups for the Sunday news shows

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures at a campaign rally Saturday, March 9, 2024, in Rome Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Donald Trump wanted trial delays, and he’s getting them. Hush-money case is latest to be put off

Delays in Donald Trump’s criminal cases are increasing the possibility Americans will be deep into the presidential election season before they know whether or not he has been convicted of any wrongdoing.

FILE - South Dakota Republican Rep. Jon Hansen poses in the House of Representatives in the state Capitol in Pierre, S.D., on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. Hansen sponsored a bill Gov. Kristi Noem signed on Friday, March 15, 2024, that allows signers of initiative petitions to withdraw their signatures. (AP Photo/Jack Dura, File)

A new front opens over South Dakota ballot initiatives: withdrawing signatures from petitions

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has signed a bill allowing signers of ballot initiative petitions to revoke their signatures.

FILE - Georgia state Sen. Colton Moore, R-Trenton, speaks to reporters outside the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta, Sept. 7, 2023. Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, banned Moore from the House floor on Thursday, March 14, 2024 after Moore attacked late House Speaker David Ralston as "corrupt" in a speech as both the House and Senate were honoring Ralston. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy, File)

A Georgia senator was exiled from the GOP caucus. Now Colton Moore is banned from the state House

A Georgia state senator has been banned from the House floor after he made a slashing attack on the memory of House Speaker David Ralston. Republican Sen.

FILE - Peter Navarro, former director of the White House National Trade Council, speaks during CPAC at National Harbor, in Oxon Hill, Md., Feb. 24, 2024. An appeals court Thursday, March 14, denied Navarro’s bid to stave off his jail sentence on contempt of Congress charges for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Navarro has been ordered to report to a federal prison by March 19. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Trump White House official Peter Navarro asks Supreme Court to stave off contempt sentence

Trump White House official Peter Navarro appealed to the Supreme Court Friday to allow him to stay out of prison as he appeals his contempt of Congress conviction.

FILE - Former President Donald Trump leaves Manhattan criminal court, Feb. 15, 2024, in New York. Judge Juan Manuel Merchan agreed Friday, March 16, to delay former President Donald Trump’s hush-money criminal trial in New York until mid-April after his lawyers said they needed more time to sift through new evidence. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

Judge delays Trump’s hush-money criminal trial until mid-April, citing last-minute evidence dump

A judge has delayed ex-President Donald Trump’s hush-money criminal trial in New York until mid-April after his lawyers said they needed more time to sift through new evidence.

FILE - The Kentucky Capitol is seen, Jan. 14, 2020, in Frankfort, Ky. Kentucky Republican lawmakers on Friday, March 15, 2024 put the political fight over whether taxpayer money should be able to flow to private or charter schools in the hands of voters to decide. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)

Republican lawmakers in Kentucky approve putting a school choice measure on the November ballot

Kentucky voters will decide whether they want to allow taxpayer money to go to private or charter schools.

Watchdogs worry a Nebraska Supreme Court ruling could lead to high fees for open records

The Nebraska Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a state government agency that sought to charge a news organization nearly $45,000 for public records on water pollution.

In close primary race, trailing North Carolina legislator files election protests

A veteran North Carolina legislator trailing in his primary election has filed formal protests. Democratic Rep.

Maryland House Speaker Adrienne Jones, a Baltimore County Democrat, announces a plan to raise more than $1 billion in revenue for K-12 education and transportation during a news conference with other House Democrats on Friday, March 15, 2024 in Annapolis, Md. (AP Photo/Brian Witte)

Maryland House pushes higher taxes, online gambling in $1.3B plan for education and transportation

Top leaders in the Maryland House are backing roughly $1.3 billion in new revenues to help pay for future education and transportation costs.

FILE - The Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 4, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

The Supreme Court won’t intervene in a dispute over drag shows at a public university in Texas

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday rejected an emergency appeal from a student group that has been blocked from staging a drag show at a public university in Texas.

President Joe Biden meets with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, March 15, 2024 in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Hosting Ireland’s prime minister, Biden celebrates his Irish roots (as he likes to do)

With St. Patrick’s Day coming up this weekend, President Joe Biden is dwelling on one of his favorite subjects: Ireland.

FILE - Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to reporters during a news conference on topics including education on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. Dunleavy has vetoed an education funding package overwhelming passed by lawmakers and urged action on teacher bonus and charter school provisions that have been divisive among legislators. The Republican governor announced his decision hours ahead of a deadline he faced to sign the bill, veto it or let it become law without his signature. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)

Alaska governor vetoes education package lawmakers overwhelmingly passed

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy says he’s moving on to other issues after vetoing an education package that was overwhelmingly passed by lawmakers.

FILE - Protesters of Kentucky Senate Bill SB150, known as the Transgender Health Bill, cheer on speakers during a rally on the lawn of the Kentucky Capitol in Frankfort, Ky., March 29, 2023. Protests at Kentucky's Capitol can seem as commonplace — and noisy — as basketball pep rallies when the Republican-led legislature is considering bills that stir the emotions of activists opposing them. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)

Kentucky GOP moves to criminalize interference with legislature after transgender protests

Protests at Kentucky’s Capitol can seem as commonplace as basketball pep rallies when Republican lawmakers are advancing bills that stir up opponents.

Travelers walk through Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. On Friday, March 15, 2024, the University of Michigan releases its preliminary reading of consumer sentiment for March. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

US consumer sentiment ticks down slightly, but most expect inflation to ease further

Consumers became slightly less optimistic about the economy this month, though they continue to expect inflation to cool further, a potential sign that price increases will keep slowing.

FILE - Eric Hovde, a Republican businessman and real estate mogul announces he is for running U.S. Senate against Wisconsin Democratic incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Feb. 20, 2024, in Madison, Wis. Hovde pledged in a new campaign ad Friday, March 15, to donate his salary to charity if elected, a move that comes as Democrats try to paint the California bank owner and real estate mogul as an out-of-touch multimillionaire.(John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, file)

Wisconsin Republican Senate candidate Hovde promises to donate salary to charity

Wisconsin Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde pledges in a new campaign ad to donate his salary to charity if elected.