Former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz has withdrawn as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general following scrutiny over a federal sex trafficking investigation. The Republican’s announcement came one day after meeting with senators in an effort to win their support for his confirmation to lead the Justice Department.
Matt Gaetz has withdrawn as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general following scrutiny over a federal sex trafficking investigation. The Florida Republican made the announcement Thursday. Gaetz’s withdrawal is a blow to Trump’s push to install steadfast loyalists in his incoming administration and the first sign that Trump could face resistance from members of his own party. Trump said in a social media post that Gaetz “did not want to be a distraction for the Administration, for which he has much respect.”
The total number of women who are state lawmakers has once again reached new heights, following a trend up in recent years. That's according to data gathered by the Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics. While a record number of women will represent Americans in state legislatures, the new number only budges the overall percentage of female representation at the state level to just over 33%. Women in New Mexico and Colorado made significant gains in representation to reach female majorities in the legislature, while South Carolina saw a notable loss that has decades-long implications.
A study of access to polls during elections has found systemic barriers to voting on tribal lands contribute to substantial disparities in turnout. Released Tuesday by the Brennan Center for Justice, the study examines 21 states with federally recognized tribal lands that have a population of at least 5,000 and where more than 20% of residents identify as American Indian or Alaska Native. Researchers found that, between 2012 and 2022, voter participation in federal elections was 7% lower in midterms and 15% lower in presidential elections than among those living off tribal lands in the same states. Long distances to polling places on tribal lands and little to no public transportation are among the hurdles cited.
The leaders of the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have declined to testify publicly at a scheduled Senate hearing on global national security threats. It's a break from precedent following years of open testimony before the panel. The hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee was supposed to have taken place Thursday. The decision to not appear was blasted by the committee's chairman, Democrat Gary Peters of Michigan, who called it a “shocking departure” from tradition. In a statement, the FBI said the “Committee would benefit most from further substantive discussions and additional information that can only be provided in a classified setting.”
From its days as the "Wall Street of the Southwest" to its bustling Cotton Exchange and historic bank vaults, we journey through the city's prosperous past. Learn how its strategic location and deepwater harbor made it a pivotal economic hub, and get a rare peek inside the bank vaults that o…
Did stand-up comedians help reelect Donald Trump? Not a joke, as outgoing President Joe Biden might say. Trump has been the butt of countless late-night monologues and “Saturday Night Live” sketches for the better part of a decade, but the once and future president's path to reelection relied a lot on stand-up comedy. Trump sat for long, friendly interviews on comedians' podcasts in an effort to reach young men. But he also employed his own stand-up-like campaigning style replete with meandering stories and digressions, a rhetorical tactic that connected with audiences and also made it hard to tell what exactly was policy and what was a joke.
The leaders of the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have declined to testify publicly at a scheduled Senate hearing on global national security threats. It's a break from precedent following years of open testimony before the panel. The hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee was supposed to have taken place Thursday. The decision to not appear was blasted by the committee's chairman, Democrat Gary Peters of Michigan, who called it a “shocking departure” from tradition. In a statement, the FBI said the “Committee would benefit most from further substantive discussions and additional information that can only be provided in a classified setting.”
A woman told police that she was sexually assaulted in 2017 by Pete Hegseth after he took her phone, blocked the door to a California hotel room and refused to let her leave. That’s according to a detailed investigative report made public late Wednesday. Hegseth is a former Fox News personality who’s now President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be defense secretary. The report says Hegseth told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and he denied any wrongdoing. The police report offers the first detailed account of what the woman alleged happened. And that’s at odds with Hegseth’s version of events.
Wednesday is Transgender Day of Remembrance, which focuses on trans people who have lost their lives because of violence. Here is what to know.
Republican Nick Begich wins election to U.S. House in Alaska's at-large Congressional District, beating incumbent Mary Peltola.
Republican Nick Begich won election to a U.S. House seat representing Alaska on Wednesday, defeating Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola and flipping a seat for the GOP. Begich, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, was among the opponents Peltola defeated in 2022. Peltola, who is Yup'ik, was the first Alaska Native in Congress. Earlier this year in the all-party primary, Begich split the Republican vote with Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom. However, Dahlstrom withdrew from the race, making Begich the only Republican on the four-candidate general election ballot. The Associated Press declared Begich the winner at 9:28 p.m. EST.
Republicans on the House Ethics Committee voted Wednesday against releasing a report on their long-running investigation into President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz. That's according to the top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania. She said the ethics panel, which is evenly split between the two parties, voted at a lengthy closed-door meeting, and no Republican joined Democrats who wanted to release the report. The panel will meet again Dec. 5. Meanwhile, Gaetz met for hours behind closed doors Wednesday with Republican senators who have questions about the sexual misconduct and other allegations against him. At least one Republican, Sen. Lindsey Graham, decried the “lynch mob” forming against Gaetz.
At a delicate moment in the U.S. and for the world, President Joe Biden has been notably quiet lately. That silence may be leaving a vacuum. But Biden's public reticence also underscores a new reality: America and the rest of the world is already moving on. After warning voters for years that a Donald Trump win would be calamitous for American democracy, Biden has had little to say about his concerns for what lays ahead for America. His only public discussion of the outcome of the election came in a roughly six-minute speech in the Rose Garden two days after the election, where he urged people to “see each other not as adversaries but as fellow Americans" and to “bring down the temperature.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — Laughs and the occasional celebratory scream pierce the calm quiet of the gym and the sound of volleyballs bouncing off the hardwood floor.
As senators prepare to consider Donald Trump’s picks for his Cabinet, they’ll likely be doing so without the FBI background checks that are staples of the confirmation process. The Trump transition team hasn't yet signed the requisite agreements with the White House and the Justice Department to allow the FBI to screen the incoming administration's personnel choices. That means the Senate could be asked to vote on Trump’s picks without the usual rigorous background checking meant to uncover personal problems, criminal histories or other red flags that would raise questions about their suitability for the job.
Ethics panel Republicans reject release of Gaetz investigative report over objections of Democratic members.
If the latest dance sweeping the sports world is any indication, Donald Trump and the NFL might get along much better in his second term in the White House than they did the first time around.
The U.S. decision to provide Ukraine with antipersonnel land mines expands the use of a weapon that the international community has long condemned because of its danger to innocent civilians. U.S. officials say the mines are needed to help Ukraine stall Russian progress on the battlefield, where Moscow’s forces are moving in smaller ground units on the front lines rather than in more heavily protected armored vehicles. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday that the U.S. is providing Ukraine land mines that are safer because they lose the ability to detonate over time. The move was condemned by rights groups like Amnesty International.
President-elect Donald Trump is clearly prizing experience on television as he chooses people to serve in his new administration. Trump likes what he calls that “central casting” look. His choices for defense secretary and transportation chief — Pete Hegseth and Sean Duffy — have both had shows on Trump's favorite network, Fox News. Duffy is a former lawmaker and also was a cast member on MTV’s “The Real World.” Trump has tapped Dr. Mehmet Oz, a former syndicated talk show host and heart surgeon, to head the agency that oversees health insurance programs for millions of older, poor and disabled Americans.
Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur won reelection to a U.S. House seat representing Ohio on Wednesday. Kaptur, who was first sworn in to the House in 1983, is the longest-serving woman in congressional history. The Ohio Legislature under Republican control redrew the Toledo-based district’s boundaries in decennial redistricting to include more rural communities, turning it from a comfortable Democratic district to a district that sided with former President Donald Trump by about 3 percentage points in 2020. Kaptur defeated Republican Derek Merrin, a member of the Ohio House of Representatives. The Associated Press declared Kaptur the winner at 1:02 p.m. EST.
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