Politics

President Joe Biden waves to members of the media as he walks toward Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, March 22, 2024, to travel to Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Biden signs $1.2 trillion funding package after Senate’s early-morning passage ended shutdown threat

President Joe Biden has signed a $1.2 trillion package of spending bills that Congress just passed, ending the threat of a potential partial government shutdown.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, left, and prosecutor Daysha Young speak to each other during a hearing on the Georgia election interference case, Friday, March, 1, 2024, in Atlanta. The hearing is to determine whether Willis should be removed from the case because of a relationship with Nathan Wade, special prosecutor she hired in the election interference case against former President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Alex Slitz, Pool)

Fulton County DA Fani Willis says despite efforts to slow down Trump case, ‘the train is coming’

FILE - Adrian Fontes speaks at a news conference in Phoenix, Nov. 14, 2022. Arizona's top election officials are taking an aggressive approach to combating disinformation and responding to threats against election workers in a state that has been an epicenter of both. Fontes, the Arizona Secretary of State, says election meddlers have attempted to hack the state's electronic systems. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

Arizona expects to be back at the center of election attacks. Its top officials are going on offense

FILE - The Pentagon is seen in this aerial view made through an airplane window in Washington, Jan. 26, 2020. The Defense Department found $300 million for weapons for Ukraine in March 2024, even though the bill to fund the military aid is stalled in Congress. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

Finding money: How the Pentagon dug down and found $300M for Ukraine but is still deep in the red

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to the media after she and the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention met with families whose loved ones were murdered during the 2018 mass shooting that took the lives of 14 students and three staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., Saturday, March 23, 2024. (Al Diaz/Miami Herald via AP)

‘Frozen in time.’ Kamala Harris tours bloodstained building where 2018 Parkland massacre happened

LIVE: Congress to vote on plan to avert partial government shutdown

Watch the live voting by lawmakers to pass the final spending package needed for the current budget year, a long overdue action that will set funding for federal agencies and push any threats of a government shutdown to the fall.

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White House reacts to news that Kate, Princess of Wales, has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene files motion to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson

FILE - This combo image shows Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, left, March 9, 2024 and President Joe Biden, right, Jan. 27, 2024. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - This combo image shows Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, left, March 9, 2024 and President Joe Biden, right, Jan. 27, 2024. (AP Photo, File)

Missouri and Louisiana will hold presidential primaries on Saturday. Their outcome is not in doubt

Missouri and Louisiana are holding presidential primaries this weekend. None of the races will offer suspense.

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Republican Mike Boudreaux advances to special election to complete term of ousted Speaker McCarthy

Biden and Trump ask voters if they’re ‘better off’ than they were 4 years ago. It’s complicated

In this image taken from video provided by Menendez for Senate, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., announces that he will not run in the state's Democratic primary, Thursday, March 21 2024. Menendez, who faces federal corruption charges, left open the possibility that he would reenter the race as an independent later this year if he is exonerated at a trial. (Menendez for Senate via AP)

New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez says he won’t run in Democratic primary

White House

FILE - Border Patrol agents ask asylum-seeking migrants to line up in a makeshift, mountainous campsite after the group crossed the border with Mexico,Feb. 2, 2024, near Jacumba Hot Springs, Calif. The number of arrests for illegally crossing the U.S. southern border with Mexico nudged upward February over the previous month. But at a time when immigration is increasingly a concern for voters, the numbers were still among the lowest of Joe Biden's presidency. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

Arrests for illegal border crossings nudge up in February but still among lowest of Biden presidency

Congress

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., and the House Republican leadership meet with reporters as lawmakers work to pass the final set of spending bills to avoid a partial government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

What’s next now that Speaker Mike Johnson is facing a motion to vacate from Marjorie Taylor Greene

Supreme Court

FILE - Otero County, New Mexico Commissioner Couy Griffin speaks to reporters at federal court in Washington, June. 17, 2022. The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by a former New Mexico county commissioner banished from public office for participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. The court’s order Monday means former Otero County commissioner Couy Griffin remains disqualified from public office under a constitutional provision designed to prevent ex-Confederates from serving in government after the Civil War. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe, File)

Supreme Court rejects appeal by former New Mexico county commissioner banned for Jan. 6 insurrection

More politics news

FILE - Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., leads a hearing at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 28, 2023. Gallagher, who has spearheaded House pushback against the Chinese government, announced Friday, March 22, 2024, he will resign from his position in the House on April 19. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Rep. Mike Gallagher says he’s resigning early, leaving House Republicans with thinnest of majorities

Rep. Mike Gallagher, a Wisconsin Republican who has spearheaded House pushback against the Chinese government, says he will resign from the House.

FILE - Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon speaks during a news conference in Cheyenne, Wyo., Monday, June 3, 2019. Gordon, on Friday, March 22, 2024, vetoed a bill that would have repealed certain gun-free zones, allowing people to carry concealed firearms in schools and government meetings. (Jacob Byk/The Wyoming Tribune Eagle via AP, File)

Wyoming governor vetoes bill to allow concealed carry in public schools and meetings

Wyoming Republican Gov. Mark Gordon has vetoed a bill that would have allowed people to carry concealed guns in schools and government meetings.

One Tech Tip: How to get around Instagram’s new limits on political content

Instagram has started an automatic clamp down on the amount of political content appearing in its users’ feeds, but there is a relatively quick and easy way to turn off the controls if you don’t want to keep the limitations place.

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., smiles while speaking during an event at AFSCME Council 13 offices, March 14, 2024, in Harrisburg, Pa. For Democrats trying to defend the White House and Senate majority, Casey is emerging as the tip of the spear in trying to reframe the election-year narrative around inflation, a key soft spot in 2024 for Democrats on the all-important voter issue of the economy. (AP Photo/Marc Levy)

Casey, McCormick to appear alone on Senate ballots in Pennsylvania after courts boot off challengers

Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and Republican David McCormick will be the only names on ballots for the office in Pennsylvania’s April primary after a ruling by the state’s highest court.

Army general suspended and under investigation for alleged interference in command selection process

The Army says a four-star general has been suspended from his job for allegedly trying to use his power to influence the selection of a lower-ranking officer for a command job.

FILE - Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., faces reporters at the Capitol, Nov. 30, 2023, in Washington. Santos said Friday, March 22, 2024, that he will leave the Republican Party and run as an independent in a bid to return to Congress after having been expelled while facing fraud charges. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

George Santos says he’ll ditch GOP, run as independent, in bid to return to Congress after expulsion

Former U.S. Rep. George Santos of New York says he is leaving the Republican Party and will run as an independent in a bid to return to Congress, after having been expelled while facing federal fraud charges.

FILE - The five Republican members of the Georgia Public Service Commission discuss a rate increase for Georgia Power Co. to pay costs at the utility's Vogtle nuclear power plant, Dec. 19, 2023, in Atlanta. A bill passed Thursday, March 21, 2024, by Georgia lawmakers would add an extra two years to the terms of commissioners in response to a court case. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy, File)

Georgia bill would give utility regulators extra years in office without facing voters

Georgia’s Public Service Commission is an elected body that’s gone years without having elections because of a redistricting lawsuit.

Guest lineups for the Sunday news shows

Guest lineups for the Sunday news shows

FILE - West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice delivers his State of the State address, Jan. 10, 2024, in Charleston, W.Va. Justice signed a law concerning science teaching Friday, March 22, 2024, supporters say promotes the free exchange of ideas in the classroom and opponents say is constitutionally vague and could allow for the incursion of religion into public schools. (AP Photo/Chris Jackson, File)

West Virginia governor signs vague law allowing teachers to answer questions about origin of life

West Virginia Republican Gov. Jim Justice has signed a law that supporters say promotes the free exchange of ideas in science classrooms.

FILE - Visitors fill the gallery of the House chamber, Friday, April 13, 2018, in Frankfort, Ky. Kentucky's Republican-dominated legislature wrapped up work Friday, March 22, 2024, on a bill meant to lay the foundation to attract nuclear energy projects to a state where coal has reigned as king for generations, fueling the economy. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston, File)

Lawmakers who passed a bill to lure nuclear energy to Kentucky say coal is still king

Kentucky lawmakers have wrapped up work on a bill meant to help attract nuclear energy projects to a state where coal has been king for generations.

CORRECTS SOURCE TO DAILY MEMPHIAN INSTEAD OF COMMERCIAL APPEAL - Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner, speaks during a police reform activist panel at Renasant Convention Center in Memphis, Tenn., Friday, March 22, 2024. (Ziggy Mack/Daily Memphian via AP)

Relatives of Tyre Nichols, George Floyd and Eric Garner say lack of police reform is frustrating

Relatives of Tyre Nichols, George Floyd and Eric Garner are expressing frustration with politicians who have failed to pass legislation targeting police violence or have worked to invalidate laws intended to reduce chances that citizens’ encounters with police end in death.

Alabama gambling bill faces uncertain outlook in second half of legislative session

Legislation to start a state lottery, and possibly allow casinos and other gambling devices, faces an uncertain outlook in the Alabama Statehouse.

FILE - Work is done on the roof of a building under construction in Sacramento, Calif., on March 3, 2022. New numbers released Friday, March 22, 2024, show California has the highest unemployment rate in the country. Job losses in February were led by a drop in the construction industry. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

California’s unemployment rate is the highest in the nation. Slower job growth is to blame

California’s unemployment rate is now the highest in the country. The state’s unemployment rate was 5.3% in February. That’s higher than Nevada’s 5.2% rate.

Using public funds or facilities for gender-affirming care banned by GOP-led Idaho Legislature

Lawmakers in Idaho have passed a bill to 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.

FILE - Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during an interview, Sept. 20, 2023, in Washington. The U.S. Education Department says it discovered a calculation error in hundreds of thousands of student financial aid applications sent to colleges this month and will need to reprocess them, a blunder that follows a series of others and threatens further delays to this year's college applications. Senate Republicans are requesting a hearing with Cardona to discuss their “serious concerns” about the FAFSA rollout. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

Hundreds of thousands of financial aid applications need to be fixed after latest calculation error

The U.S. Education Department says it discovered a calculation error in hundreds of thousands of student financial aid applications sent to colleges this month and will need to reprocess them, a blunder that follows a series of others and threatens further delays to this year’s college applications.

A wildfire burns along the western slope of Massanutten Mountain near New Market, Va., Friday, March 22, 2024. (Daniel Lin/Daily News-Record via AP)

National Guard helicopters help battle West Virginia wildfires in steep terrain

The National Guard has joined in fighting wildfires that erupted this week in West Virginia. Two Blackhawk helicopters dropped water from buckets on the fires Friday in steep, wooded terrain in Hardy County, near the Virginia border.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, joins former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger during a news conference for the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy California campaign for Keep The Law (SB 1137) in Inglewood, Calif., on Friday, March. 22, 2024. The law, if upheld, would require all oil or gas production facilities or wells within a health protection zone to comply with new regulations. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

California governor, celebrities and activists launch campaign to protect law limiting oil wells

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jane Fonda are calling on voters to keep a law banning new oil and gas wells near homes, schools and hospitals as the oil industry fights to overturn it.

Pennsylvania lawmakers push to find out causes of death for older adults in abuse or neglect cases

Republican lawmakers are pushing Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration to do more to investigate the deaths of older adults who are possibly being abused or neglected.

FILE - West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice delivers his annual State of the State address in the House Chambers of the state Capitol, Jan. 11, 2023, in Charleston, W.Va. Justice signed a bill Friday, March 22, 2024, that would ban smoking in cars with children present. West Virginia has the highest rate of adult cigarette use in the nation. (AP Photo/Chris Jackson, File)

Heavy-smoking West Virginia becomes the 12th state to ban lighting up in cars with kids present

West Virginia has become the 12th state to ban smoking in vehicles with children present. Republican Gov.

Missouri GOP sues to remove candidate with ties to KKK from Republican ballot

The Missouri GOP is suing to remove a gubernatorial candidate with ties to the Ku Klux Klan from the Republican ballot.

North Dakota Sen. Merrill Piepkorn, D-Fargo, holds a Non-Partisan League political cartoon drawn by his uncle, John Hoaas, who farmed near Tioga, March 12, 2019, in Bismarck, N.D. The Democratic state senator in North Dakota has filed paperwork for a campaign to run for governor. He did not confirm his candidacy, however, he said he is planning a press conference soon. (Tom Stromme/The Bismarck Tribune via AP)

Democratic state senator files paperwork for North Dakota gubernatorial bid

A Democratic state senator in North Dakota has filed paperwork for a campaign to run for governor. Merrill Piepkorn, of Fargo, did not confirm his candidacy.

File - A bee hangs onto a stem of goldenrod as it collects pollen, Friday Sept. 18, 2020 in Havertown, Pa. Vermont lawmakers on Friday, March 22, 2024, passed a bill to ban some pesticides in an effort to protect bees and other pollinators. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma, File)

Vermont House passes a bill to restrict a pesticide that is toxic to bees

Vermont’s House of Representatives has passed a bill to severely restrict a type of pesticide that is toxic to bees and other pollinators.

FILE - Voters walk past a sign pointing them to the polling location for in-person voting, Nov. 8, 2022, in Cranberry Township, Pa. Some Pennsylvania counties are moving polling places out of synagogues and other Jewish buildings this week because the Legislature deadlocked in 2023 over proposals to move the April 2024 primary election so it would not fall on the first day of Passover. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

Polling places inside synagogues are being moved for Pennsylvania’s April primary during Passover

Some of Pennsylvania’s most populous counties are relocating polling places out of synagogues because next month’s primary election falls on the first day of Passover.

FILE - Merchandise is scanned to be tracked as it moves through the new Amazon Fulfillment Center in Sacramento, Calif., on Feb. 9, 2018. As global warming rises temperatures, a California labor protection board has approved standards, Thursday, March 21, 2024, that would require companies protect their employees from excessive heat even inside, particularly in warehouses. The rules still need final approval by the state's Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

California work safety board approves indoor heat rules, but another state agency raises objections

As global warming raises temperatures, a California work safety board has approved standards that would require companies to protect employees from excessive indoor heat, particularly in warehouses.

Residents gather at the Inter-Lakes Middle/High School for the annual Meredith Town Meeting vote on March 13, 2024, in Meredith, N.H. An orchestrated effort to get rid of vote-counting machines from dozens of towns and return to hand-counting elections has failed. Just a single town opted to return to hand counts in a single race, the presidential election, in a decision that both the town's attorney and the secretary of state say is unlikely to stand. (AP Photo/Nick Perry)

Vote-counting machine foes hoped for a surge of success in New Hampshire. They got barely a ripple

The latest effort to force the hand-counting of ballots in New Hampshire has fallen flat. Followers of MyPillow founder and Donald Trump ally Mike Lindell initially hoped to gather enough petitions to bring the topic up at 55 annual town meetings this month.

Alaska Airlines aircraft sit in the airline's hangar at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, in SeaTac, Wash. Boeing has acknowledged in a letter to Congress that it cannot find records for work done on a door panel that blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight over Oregon two months ago. Ziad Ojakli, Boeing executive vice president and chief government lobbyist, wrote to Sen. Maria Cantwell on Friday, March 8 saying, “We have looked extensively and have not found any such documentation.” (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

FBI tells passengers on the Alaska Airlines flight that lost a panel they might be crime victims

The FBI is telling people who were on board the Boeing 737 Max that lost a panel in midflight that they might be victims of a crime.

FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, March 9, 2024, in Rome Ga. Trump's lawyers kept pressing an appellate court Wednesday, March 20, to excuse him from covering a $454 million fraud lawsuit judgment for now, saying he'd suffer “irreparable harm" before his appeal is decided. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

Trump says he has nearly $500 million in cash but doesn’t want to use it to pay New York judgment

Donald Trump says he has almost a half-billion dollars in cash but would rather spend it on his presidential run than the $454 million civil fraud judgment against him in New York.

This image from police body-worn video and contained in the Justice Department statement of facts supporting the arrest of Rally Runner, shows Rally Runner outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. Rally Runner, who legally changed his name from Daniel Donnelly Jr., pleaded guilty on Friday, March 22, 2024, to a felony charge of civil disorder and is scheduled to be sentenced in July. (Department of Justice via AP)

Cardinals super fan known as Rally Runner pleads guilty to storming Capitol in face paint

A St. Louis Cardinals super fan who legally changed his name to Rally Runner has pleaded guilty to storming the U.S.

FILE - Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly Robin Vos speaks during a press conference at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis., on Feb. 15, 2023. Prosecutors in three Wisconsin counties declined to pursue felony charges against former President Donald Trump's fundraising committee and a Republican state lawmaker related to an effort to unseat Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. (Samantha Madar/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, File)

Prosecutors in 3 Wisconsin counties decline to pursue charges against Trump committee, lawmaker

Prosecutors in three Wisconsin counties are declining to pursue felony charges against former President Donald Trump’s fundraising committee and a Republican state lawmaker related to an effort to unseat Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.

FILE - A passer-by walks through a portion of the Cass Recreational Complex, in Boston, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, that has been turned into a temporary shelter site for families experiencing homelessness. The Massachusetts Senate has approved limits on how long homeless families can stay in emergency state shelters, Thrusday, March 21, as part of an $850 million plan to fund the system at the center of the migrant crisis. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

Amid migrant crisis, Massachusetts debates how best to keep families housed

The Massachusetts Senate has approved limits on how long homeless families can stay in emergency state shelters as part of an $850 million plan to fund the system that has been at the center of the migrant crisis.

FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks after voting in Florida's primary election in Palm Beach, Fla., Tuesday, March 19, 2024. Trump’s return to the stock market could be right around the corner. All eyes are on a vote Friday by shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp., a shell company that is looking to merge with the former president’s media business. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

What is Truth Social, Donald Trump’s social media platform?

Former President Donald Trump launched his social media platform, Truth Social, in early 2022, after he was banned from major sites such as Facebook and the former Twitter following the Jan. 6 insurrection.