House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., center, joined at left by Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., the Democratic whip, speaks to reporters about

Ukraine, Israel aid advances in rare House vote as Democrats help Republicans push it forward

With rare bipartisan momentum, the House pushed ahead Friday on a foreign aid package of $95 billion for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and humanitarian support as a robust coalition of lawmakers helped it clear a procedural hurdle to reach final votes this weekend.

Jill Biden travels to Minnesota to campaign for Biden-Harris ticket

10:06am
FILE - First lady Jill Biden smiles as she is introduced before speaking during the American Federation of Teachers convention, July 15, 2022, in Bost
The First Lady will speak at Education Minnesota's annual conference in Bloomington.

Former Gov. Jesse Ventura boasts he could beat unpopular Trump or Biden if he ran for president

8:26am
Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, left, told CNN he could beat both Donald Trump and Joe Biden if he ran for the White House this year.
The pro wrestler-turned-politico defended Robert F. Kennedy's Jr.'s decision to run as third-party candidate.
Nation
12 minutes ago

West Virginia will not face $465M COVID education funds clawback after feds OK waiver, governor says

Gov. Jim Justice announced Friday that West Virginia will not face a clawback of $465 million in COVID-19 money from the U.S. Department of Education, alleviating concerns raised by state lawmakers during the final days of the legislative session in March.
Nation
29 minutes ago

Idaho group says it is exploring a ballot initiative for abortion rights and reproductive care

A new Idaho organization says it will ask voters to restore abortion access and other reproductive health care rights in the state after lawmakers let a second legislative session end without modifying strict abortion bans that have been blamed for a recent exodus of health care providers.
Nation
36 minutes ago
Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal  in New York, Friday, April 19, 2024.  (Sarah Yenesel/Pool Photo via AP)

Final jurors seated for Trump's hush money case, with opening statements set for Monday

The final jurors were seated Friday in Donald Trump's hush money trial, and an appellate judge rejected the former president's latest bid to halt the case as a hectic day in court set the stage for opening statements to begin Monday.
Nation
41 minutes ago

Man who won primary election while charged with murder convicted on lesser charge

A central Indiana man who won a primary election for a township board position while charged with killing his estranged wife has been found guilty of the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter.
Nation
56 minutes ago

The Latest | Opening statements in Trump hush money trial set for Monday after latest appeal fails

Opening statements in Donald Trump's hush money case are set to begin next week after a jury of 12 people and six alternates was seated Friday. The seating of the jury sets the stage for weeks of testimony in a case charging Trump with falsifying business records to suppress stories about his sex life emerging in the final days of the 2016 election.
Nation
57 minutes ago

Kansas has a new anti-DEI law, but the governor has vetoed bills on abortion and even police dogs

Kansas' Democratic governor on Friday vetoed proposed tax breaks for anti-abortion counseling centers while allowing restrictions on college diversity initiatives approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature to become law without her signature.
Nation
4:56pm

Attorneys argue that Florida law discriminates against Chinese nationals trying to buy homes

An attorney asked a federal appeals court on Friday to block a controversial Florida law signed last year that restricts Chinese citizens from buying real estate in much of the state, calling it discriminatory and a violation of the federal government's supremacy in deciding foreign affairs.
Nation
4:49pm

Nebraska's governor says he'll call lawmakers back to address tax relief

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen threatened from the beginning of this year's legislative session that he would call lawmakers back for a special session if they failed to pass a bill to significantly ease soaring property taxes. On the last day of the 60-day session Thursday, some lawmakers who helped torpedo an already anemic tax-shifting bill said they would welcome Pillen's special session.
Nation
3:54pm

Prosecutor won't bring charges against Wisconsin lawmaker over fundraising scheme

A Wisconsin prosecutor said Friday that she won't bring charges against a Republican lawmaker accused of trying to evade state campaign finance laws in order to unseat the powerful speaker of the Assembly.
Sports
3:45pm

Biden's new Title IX rules protect LGBTQ+ students, but avoid addressing transgender athletes

The rights of LGBTQ+ students will be protected by federal law and victims of campus sexual assault will gain new safeguards under rules finalized Friday by the Biden administration.
Nation
3:37pm

Seeking 'the right side of history,' Speaker Mike Johnson risks his job to deliver aid to Ukraine

Staring down a decision so consequential it could alter the course of history -- but also end his own career -- House Speaker Mike Johnson prayed for guidance.
Nation
3:30pm

Police to review security outside courthouse hosting Trump's trial after man sets himself on fire

Police officials said they were reviewing whether to restrict access to a public park outside the courthouse where former President Donald Trump is on trial after a man set himself on fire there Friday.
Business
2:58pm
Fish Creek through the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, managed by the Bureau of Land Management on Alaska's North Slope.

Biden administration restricts oil and gas leasing in 13 million acres of Alaska's petroleum reserve

The Biden administration said Friday it will restrict new oil and gas leasing on 13 million acres (5.3 million hectares) of a federal petroleum reserve in Alaska to help protect wildlife such as caribou and polar bears as the Arctic continues to warm.
Business
2:42pm

Finding an apartment may be easier for California pet owners under new legislation

California pet owners struggling to find a rental that accepts their furry, four-legged family members could have an easier time leasing new housing under proposed state legislation that would ban blanket no-pets policies and prohibit landlords from charging additional fees for common companions like cats and dogs.
Business
1:34pm

Biden administration moves to make conservation an equal to industry on US lands

The Biden administration on Thursday finalized a new rule for public land management that's meant to put conservation on more equal footing with oil drilling, grazing and other extractive industries on vast government-owned properties.
Nation
1:29pm

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton can be disciplined for suit to overturn 2020 election, court says

A Texas appeals court has ruled that Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton can face discipline from the state bar association over his failed effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Business
12:50pm
FILE - A TikTok sign is displayed on their building in Culver City, Calif., March 11, 2024.

Bill that could ban TikTok has been attached to the House foreign aid package. What next?

The House has renewed its push on legislation that would ban TikTok if its Beijing-based parent company doesn't divest from the popular social media platform, escalating the fight over the hot-button issue.
Nation
12:28pm

New York closing in on $237B state budget with plans on housing, migrants, bootleg pot shops

New York state lawmakers are on the verge of passing a $237 billion budget that includes sweeping plans to build housing, shutter unlicensed cannabis storefronts and help manage the city's migrant crisis.
Nation
12:06pm

Mississippi legislators won't smooth the path this year to restore voting rights after some felonies

Kenneth Almons says he began a sentence in a Mississippi prison just two weeks after graduating from high school, and one of his felony convictions — for armed robbery — stripped away voting rights that he still has not regained decades later.
Politics
12:01pm

Republican Wisconsin Senate candidate says he doesn't oppose elderly people voting

The Republican candidate in Wisconsin's closely watched U.S. Senate race emphasized this week that he doesn't oppose elderly people voting after initially saying that ''almost nobody in a nursing home" is at a point in life where they are capable of voting.

Minnesota Politics

Latest politics news from the Twin Cities, Minnesota and Washington, D.C., including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Minnesota Legislature, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter.