By LISA MASCARO, MATTHEW DALY and ZEKE MILLER , Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing a midnight deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown, President Donald Trump said Friday a closure would drag on “for a very long time” and he tried to lay blame on congressional Democrats if there’s no deal over his demand…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has announced that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will retire at the end of February. Trump says on Twitter that a new secretary of defense will be named soon. Trump’s announcement comes a day after he surprised U.S. allies and members of Congress by announcing the withdrawal of U.S. troops…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has passed an extensive criminal justice bill that will reduce some of the harshest sentences for federal drug offenders and boost prison rehabilitation programs, handing President Donald Trump a legislative victory amid the turmoil over how to avoid a partial government shutdown. The bill addresses concerns that the nation’s war…
LONDON (AP) — The Latest on London airport closure because of drones (all times local): 3:20 p.m. A body that represents British air traffic controllers says regulators have repeatedly ignored its calls for tougher measures against drones near aircraft. The Guild of Air Traffic Control Officers says it has urged geofencing — the use of…
BEIRUT (AP) — Thousands of Syrians have gathered outside the headquarters for the U.S.-led coalition in northern Syria to protest Turkish threats of an imminent offensive. The protesters congregating in Jalabiya southeast of Kobani city are demanding a clear stance from the coalition on threats by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to strike at U.S.-backed…
By LOLITA C. BALDOR, SUSANNAH GEORGE and CATHERINE LUCEY , Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration will soon withdraw all of the approximately 2,000 American troops from Syria, a U.S. official said Wednesday as President Donald Trump declared victory in the mission to defeat Islamic State militants there. Planning for the pullout has…
By ALAN FRAM , Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Outgoing House Speaker Paul Ryan is bemoaning America’s “broken politics” in a farewell speech in which he calls Washington’s failure to overhaul costly federal benefit programs “our greatest unfinished business.” “Our complex problems are solvable,” Ryan says in excerpts of remarks he plans to deliver Wednesday at…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he’ll be introducing a stopgap measure to continue funding the government until Feb. 8 to avert a government shutdown. McConnell says the Senate will vote on the bill Wednesday. He calls it “a simple measure” to show that Republicans are governing. Congress faces a Friday deadline…
By NICHOLAS RICCARDI and TERRY TANG , Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona’s governor on Tuesday appointed U.S. Rep. Martha McSally to replace Sen. Jon Kyl in the seat that belonged to the late John McCain, sending the GOP congresswoman back to Washington just a month after she lost a tight race for the state’s…
By ERIC TUCKER and CHAD DAY , Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge Tuesday abruptly postponed the sentencing of President Donald Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, declaring himself disgusted and disdainful of Flynn’s crime of lying to the FBI and raising the unexpected prospect of sending the retired Army lieutenant general…