Nation
April 23

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
April 23

Richmond Mayor Stoney drops Virginia governor bid, will run for lieutenant governor

Democratic Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney announced Tuesday he is dropping his bid for Virginia governor in 2025, avoiding a nomination contest with U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, and will instead run for lieutenant governor.
Nation
April 23

As Blinken heads to China, these are the major divides he will try to bridge

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is starting three days of talks with senior Chinese officials in Shanghai and Beijing this week with U.S.-China ties at a critical point over numerous global disputes.
Nation
April 23

Trump could avoid trial this year on 2020 election charges. Is the hush money case a worthy proxy?

Former President Donald Trump faces serious charges in two cases over whether he attempted to subvert the Constitution by overturning the results of a fair election and illegally remain in power.
Nation
April 22

Mississippi lawmakers move toward restoring voting rights to 32 felons as broader suffrage bill dies

Mississippi legislators advanced bills Monday to give voting rights back to 32 people convicted of felonies, weeks after a Senate leader killed a broader bill that would have restored suffrage to many more people with criminal records.
Business
April 22

Trump called this visa 'very bad' for Americans. Truth Social applied for one

The social media company founded by former President Donald Trump applied for a business visa program that he sought to restrict during his administration and which many of his allies want him to curtail in a potential second term.
Business
April 22

California reject bill to crackdown on how utilities spend customers' money

California lawmakers on Monday rejected a proposal aimed at cracking down on how some of the nation's largest utilities spend customers' money.
Nation
April 22

Seattle hospital won't turn over gender-affirming care records in lawsuit settlement with Texas

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is dropping a request for a Seattle hospital to hand over records regarding gender-affirming treatment potentially given to children from Texas as part of a lawsuit settlement announced Monday.
Nation
April 22
Former President Donald Trump sits in court on the first day of opening arguments in his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Monday, April

Trump tried to 'corrupt' the 2016 election, prosecutor alleges as hush money trial gets underway

Donald Trump tried to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election by preventing damaging stories about his personal life from becoming public, a prosecutor told jurors Monday at the start of the former president's historic hush money trial.
Nation
April 22

Key takeaways from the opening statements in Donald Trump's hush money trial

Monday's opening statements in the first criminal trial of a former American president provided a clear roadmap of how prosecutors will try to make the case that Donald Trump broke the law, and how the defense plans to fight the charges on multiple fronts.
Business
April 22

Biden marks Earth Day by going after GOP, announcing $7 billion in federal solar power grants

President Joe Biden marked Earth Day by announcing $7 billion in federal grants for residential solar projects serving 900,000-plus households in low- and middle-income communities — while criticizing Republicans who want to gut his policies to address climate change.
Nation
April 22

Prosecutors cancel warrant for lawmaker on primary eve, saying protective order hadn't been in place

A warrant for charges that a Democratic state representative from Philadelphia violated a protective order was withdrawn Monday — a day before he faces a contested primary — because police and prosecutors said they determined no such active protective order had been in place.
Business
April 22

Without cameras to go live, the Trump trial is proving the potency of live blogs as news tools

They watched from the courtroom or via closed-circuit television in an overflow room — roughly 140 reporters, most with laptops or other silenced electronic devices, serving up news at its most elemental and in rapid-fire fashion.
Election
April 22

GOP battle for nomination in Minnesota's Second District could head to August primary

The race has bitterly divided Republicans over who is best to take on DFL incumbent Rep. Angie Craig this fall.
Politics
April 22
Justices Sarah Hennesy, left, and Theodora Gaïtas were appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court at the State Capitol on Monday.

Two new female Minnesota Supreme Court justices come with strong public defense backgrounds

Gov. Tim Walz elevates Court of Appeals Judge Theodora Gaïtas and Stearns County Judge Sarah Hennesy.
Politics
April 22
Sen. Nicole Mitchell, a first-term Democrat from Woodbury, was arrested in Detroit Lakes early Monday morning on suspicion of burglary.

Woodbury state senator arrested in suspected burglary

Sen. Nicole Mitchell, a DFL lawmaker from Woodbury, was arrested Monday morning in Detroit Lakes and booked into the Becker County Jail.
Nation
April 22

The Latest | Lawyers in Trump hush money case paint competing portraits of him in opening statements

In opening statements in Donald Trump's historic hush money trial, prosecutors said Monday that the former president ''orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt'' the 2016 presidential election.
Nation
April 22

Trump's $175 million bond in New York civil fraud judgment case is settled with cash promise

New York state lawyers and an attorney for former President Donald Trump settled their differences Monday over a $175 million bond that Trump posted to block a large civil fraud judgment while he pursues appeals.
Nation
April 22

Tennessee Gov. Lee admits defeat in school voucher push

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee conceded defeat Monday in his push to enact universal school vouchers this year, acknowledging there was not a "path forward'' after months of Republican infighting.
Nation
April 22

Supreme Court denies request by Arizona candidates seeking to ban electronic vote tabulators

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider a request by Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake to ban the use of electronic vote-counting machines in Arizona.

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.