After a resounding election victory, President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans say they have a mandate to govern.

Officials are blaming illegal firearms for an increase or a record number of killings in a growing number of Caribbean islands this year.

President Joe Biden has offered some terse words for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he doesn't know whether the Israeli leader is holding up a peace deal in order to influence the outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

Lawmakers are scrambling to ensure that the U.S. Secret Service has enough money and resources to keep the nation’s presidential candidates safe amid repeated threats of violence.

The Biden administration is sending Egypt its full $1.3 billion allocation of military aid.

Matt Corey, a Connecticut entrepreneur who unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. House and Senate in the past, has won the Republican nomination to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy again.

Connecticut Republicans will pick nominees in state primaries on Tuesday to challenge two longtime Democratic lawmakers, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and U.S. Rep. Jim Himes.

Connecticut Democrats have unanimously endorsed U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy for a third term.

Former President Donald Trump met in New York with Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Republicans are dismissing an immigration-related bill pushed by Democratic senators and allied independents as an election year ploy.

Veterans whom the government declares incapable of managing their own affairs would have easier access to firearms under spending legislation expected to be signed by President Joe Biden in the coming days.

A former youth minister in the Baptist church, Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford is known as one of the most sincere and well-liked members of the Senate.

Senate negotiators have reached a deal on a proposal to overhaul the asylum system at the U.S. border with Mexico.

A bipartisan Senate deal to pair border enforcement measures and Ukraine aid faces potential collapse.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has led about 60 fellow Republicans in Congress on a visit to the Mexican border.

President Joe Biden’s push to have Congress replenish wartime aid for Ukraine as part of a deal on border and immigration policy changes will almost certainly drag into next year.

U.S. Coast Guard officials are promising reforms after an internal review found a “permissive environment” for sexual assault and harassment in the service.

NCAA President Charlie Baker is expected to testify in front of a Senate committee next week during the 10th hearing on Capitol Hill over the last three years on college sports.

The Biden administration will withhold less military aid from Egypt over its human rights abuses this year.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is rolling out endorsements from 15 South Carolina lawmakers.

A U.S. senator says he hopes Serbia adopts Western sanctions against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, telling the Balkan country that “there is no future” in an alliance with Moscow.

Most Democrats and Republicans agree that the federal government should better regulate the biggest technology companies, particularly social media platforms.

Legislation introduced by four senators aims to prohibit all children under the age of 13 from using social media and would give parents more control over what teenagers under the age of 18 can access.

A new gun law has already prevented some potentially dangerous people from owning guns.

Ten years after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, victims' families and survivors say grief and trauma remain but hope continues to grow.

When President Joe Biden speaks about the “scourge” of gun violence, his go-to answer is to zero in on so-called assault weapons.

The midterm elections were a vindication for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who has racked up a series of unexpected legislative victories this year as he has navigated Democrats’ slim 50-50 majority.

President Joe Biden’s request for $47 billion in emergency funding is getting a thumbs down from Republicans in Congress.

Victims of abuse and their families saw a quiet breakthrough this summer when a new bipartisan gun safety law made it more difficult for intimate partners convicted of domestic abuse to obtain firearms.

Over five decades in Washington, Joe Biden knew that the way to influence was to be in the room where it happens.

One month into his presidency, Joe Biden made clear his distaste for even naming the man he'd ousted from the Oval Office.

The House has sent President Joe Biden the most wide-ranging gun violence bill Congress has passed in decades.

The Senate has approved a bipartisan gun violence bill.

Last month's mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, have produced a groundswell for change in Congress.

Senate bargainers have reached agreement on a bipartisan gun violence bill.

Democratic and Republican senators are at odds over how to keep firearms from dangerous people.

Eleven years after her own life was massively altered by gun violence, former congresswoman Gabby Giffords stood in front of the Washington monument and once again lobbied for stricter gun laws after yet another string of mass shootings in America.

The son of an 86-year-old woman killed in the racist Buffalo mass shooting is calling on Congress to act against domestic terrorism.

Less than 48 hours after a gunman stormed an elementary school and killed 19 children and two teachers in his home state of Texas, Sen. John Cornyn was tapped to lead gun policy negotiations in the Senate.

The U.S. energy secretary and Danish wind developer Orsted say they want American union workers to build offshore wind farms to dot the U.S. coastlines — the building trades workers who could otherwise be left out of a transition to renewable resources.

A bipartisan group of senators is considering how Congress should respond to the horrific shooting of 19 schoolchildren and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas.

A bipartisan group of senators is trying to find a compromise on gun legislation.

Democrats in Congress are trying, again, to pass legislation to expand background checks for gun buyers in the wake of the shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

The United States’ top negotiator for Iran nuclear talks has made the case to lawmakers for sticking with Iran nuclear talks.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has quickly set in motion a pair of firearms background check bills in response to the school massacre in Texas.

Connecticut U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy came to Congress representing Sandy Hook.

Abortion legislation that was rejected in a Senate test vote Wednesday would enshrine into federal law the landmark 1973 Roe v.

Democrats have spent years pledging to address the gun violence that plagues communities across the U.S. But a surge of mass shootings over the weekend served as a reminder of how little has been accomplished.

As members of the Ukrainian parliament visited Capitol Hill, pleading for wartime aid, an air raid siren suddenly blared.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ trip to Warsaw to thank Poland for taking in Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion is taking an unexpected turn.

A leading Democratic senator is calling out President Joe Biden to show “more urgency” to address gun violence by executive action, as the prospects of legislation on Capitol Hill to pass gun control reforms remain slim.

Congressional Democrats and Republicans are showing signs of support for providing $6.4 billion or more in aid to Ukraine and its European neighbors.

The U.S. Senate is considering a resolution in support of Ukraine’s independence while stopping short of legislation to impose sanctions on Russia.

U.S. Senate leaders from both parties have issued a joint statement signaling solidarity with an independent Ukraine.

The Biden administration says it has cancelled $130 million in military aid to Egypt over human rights concerns just three days after greenlighting a massive $2.5 billion arms sale to the country.

Two U.S. senators say they were denied access to parts of a federal prison in Connecticut while trying to examine conditions there.

The Biden administration has approved a massive $2.5 billion arms sale to Egypt despite ongoing concerns over human rights.

President Joe Biden has rallied European allies to pledge as one that they will take tough measures against Russia if it rolls troops into Ukraine.

Senate Democrats have defeated a bill by Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz that would have slammed sanctions on a Russian natural-gas pipeline to Germany.

Democrats are hoping that Congress is nearing the finish line in its seven-month trek on President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion social and environment package.

The Senate has dodged a U.S. debt disaster by approving legislation to lift the federal limit on new borrowing by nearly a half-trillion dollars.

Republican and Democratic senators have edged back from a perilous standoff over lifting the nation’s borrowing cap.

The Biden administration is releasing nearly $200 million in military aid to Egypt but will hold back millions more over human rights concerns.

U.S. officials say the evacuation of the American Embassy in Kabul has been completed and the U.S. flag lowered at the facility in Afghanistan's capital.

President Joe Biden says he stands “squarely behind” his decision for the U.S. to leave Afghanistan.

America’s top general says the United States could now face a rise in terrorist threats from a Taliban-run Afghanistan.

The Biden administration is encouraging Senate lawmakers to finally repeal an Iraq war authorization crafted when Saddam Hussein was still alive.

A Missouri hospital that had no people hospitalized with COVID-19 just two months ago is now dealing with an onslaught of patients.

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s scathing rebuke of the NCAA and its rules this week included suggestions on how college sports can be reformed to avoid being sued into oblivion.

The Senate will take a key vote next week on a sweeping rewrite of voting and election law, setting up a dramatic test of Democratic unity on a top priority that Republicans are vowing to block.

The Biden administration is laying the groundwork for a renewed push to encourage more Arab countries to sign accords with Israel, and working to strengthen existing deals.

The Biden administration is laying the groundwork for a renewed push to encourage more Arab countries to sign accords with Israel, and working to strengthen existing deals.

The National Rifle Association has been embroiled in a legal and financial battle that liberals have cheered as the potential downfall of the powerful gun rights lobby, opening up a wide path for reform.

Ukraine’s president is claiming that Russia has maintained a massive military presence near his country’s borders.

College athletes would have the right to organize and collectively bargain with schools and conferences under a bill introduced Thursday by Democrats in the House and Senate.

Surges in violence and scenes of civilian suffering are testing President Joe Biden’s resolve to wrench America’s foreign policy focus and troops away from the hotspots of the Middle East and Afghanistan.

President Joe Biden spoke with Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu six times over nine days as the U.S. pressed a flurry of diplomatic efforts to try to quell the furious fighting between Israel and Hamas.

The White House says President Joe Biden has expressed support for a cease-fire in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

President Joe Biden is calling for action as the nation struggles with yet another mass shooting and faces a reckoning over the deaths of Black men at the hands of police.

President Joe Biden is calling for action as the nation struggles with yet another mass shooting and faces a reckoning over the deaths of Black men at the hands of police.

Ten liberal senators are urging President Joe Biden to back India and South Africa’s appeal to the World Trade Organization to temporarily relax intellectual property rules so coronavirus vaccines can be manufactured by nations that are struggling to inoculate their populations.

Democrats in Congress are trying to pass the first major gun control legislation in more than two decades with the support of President Joe Biden.

President Joe Biden is ordering a half-dozen executive actions aimed at addressing what he calls an “epidemic and an international embarrassment” of gun violence in America.

NCAA basketball administrators apologized to the womens basketball players and coaches after inequities between the mens and womens tournament went viral on social media. “How does that even work?” Boston College athletic director Patrick Kraft said. Permitting college athletes to earn money off their name, image and likeness once seemed like a radical idea, but that will soon be a reality. The NCAA is already looking for help from federal lawmakers to set national standards for NIL compensation for college athletes. ___More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball and https://apnews.com/hub/College-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

They are not even united themselves, as Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., told reporters Tuesday that he opposes the House legislation on background checks. The gun debate also highlights a larger difficulty for Senate Democrats as they try to move forward on gun legislation and other policy priorities of the Biden White House. Schumer has not said when he will bring the House legislation up for a vote. Democrats say they feel the environment around gun legislation has evolved, especially since that last major push in 2013. Many in the GOP base are still strongly opposed to gun control of any kind.

They are not even united themselves, as Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., told reporters Tuesday that he opposes the House legislation on background checks. The gun debate also highlights a larger difficulty for Senate Democrats as they try to move forward on gun legislation and other policy priorities of the Biden White House. Schumer has not said when he will bring the House legislation up for a vote. Democrats say they feel the environment around gun legislation has evolved, especially since that last major push in 2013. Many in the GOP base are still strongly opposed to gun control of any kind.

The photos were released by Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat from the border city of Laredo. The photos from Donna show some of the same detention areas as in the images released by Cuellar. The following year, hundreds of families and children detained at one West Texas border station went days without adequate food, water or soap. The AP has also petitioned Psaki to open border facilities. The newly published photos released by Cuellar’s office show groups of children crowded together inside the partitions.

President Joe Biden's administration faces mounting criticism for refusing to allow outside observers into facilities where it is detaining thousands of immigrant children. Cuellar said he released the photos in part because the administration has refused media access to the Donna tent. The following year, hundreds of families and children detained at one West Texas border station went days without adequate food, water, or soap. The AP has also petitioned Psaki to open border facilities. But lawyers who have interviewed children detained at Donna say some can go days without being allowed outside.

The House recently passed legislation that would require background checks for gun purchases, a signature Democratic issue for decades. The two bills that passed the House last week would expand background checks on gun purchases, the first significant movement on gun control since Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress and the White House. That leaves gun-control advocates hoping that the politics of gun control have shifted enough that more Republicans may be open to legislation that advocates argue is widely popular with the American public. Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a moderate, have worked together for years to find compromise on background checks. John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, pointed in particular to Democratic wins in the 2018 midterms while running openly for gun control as evidence the politics are changing.

Despite the current gridlock, Emmert said he is still hopeful the NCAA will have uniform national NIL rules in place before the start of next football season. The ruling did not include NIL compensation. Meanwhile, the NCAA is facing pressure from dozens of states that have bills in the works related to NIL compensation for college athletes. But lawmakers in Washington have other priorities right now and aren't likely to move on any of those bills until the Supreme Court weighs in. Currently, NCAA rules require Division I football, basketball, baseball and hockey players to sit out a season after transferring to another DI school.

Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – Tough as it was for Democrats, passing President Joe Biden’s sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID-19 rescue package into law was the easy part. Biden’s signing of the American Rescue Plan on Thursday marks a milestone for his administration and for Democrats who have command of the House, Senate and White House for the first time in a decade. If Senate Republicans start blocking the legislation, Democrats are prepared to force them into long days and nights of dramatic floor filibusters, like the movie version in “Mr. The filibuster gives the minority enormous ability to halt action, and Senate Democrats used it plenty of times when they were out of power. Still, Biden's infrastructure package may be one bill that could win over Republican support.

Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – Tough as it was for Democrats, passing President Joe Biden’s sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID-19 rescue package into law was the easy part. If Senate Republicans start blocking the legislation, Democrats are prepared to force them into long days and nights of dramatic floor filibusters, like the movie version in “Mr. The filibuster gives the minority enormous ability to halt action, and Senate Democrats used it plenty of times when they were out of power. Still, Biden's infrastructure package may be one bill that could win over Republican support. Doubting bipartisanship will emerge, there is growing support among Democratic senators to do away with the filibuster if Republicans use it to block Biden's bills.

The House passed two bills Thursday to require background checks on all firearms sales and transfers and to allow an expanded 10-day review for gun purchases. While enhanced background checks are generally popular with the American public, even with some conservatives, Congress has so far not been able to find compromise on the issue. “These solutions will save lives.”President Joe Biden has called for Congress to strengthen gun laws, including requiring the background checks on all gun sales and banning assault weapons. AdThe second bill, which passed 219-210, would extend the review period for background checks from three to 10 days. While the House bills have Republican cosponsors and won a handful of GOP votes, most Republicans voted against them.

Two Senate committees have summoned top security officials to testify, the beginning of a comprehensive look at what went wrong. In her letter to Democratic colleagues, Pelosi said the House will also put forth supplemental spending to boost security at the Capitol. The hearing will begin a broad examination of the security failures that led to the breach. The security breakdown on Jan. 6, as the House and Senate met for a joint session to count electoral votes, was severe. With the diminished security presence, the rioters not only breached the Capitol but entered the Senate chamber minutes after senators had fled.

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden's administration is moving to revoke the designation of Yemen's Houthis as a terrorist group, citing the need to mitigate one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters. The official, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the removal changed nothing about the Biden administration's views of the Houthis, who have targeted civilians and kidnapped Americans. AdThe move comes a day after Biden announced an end to offensive support to Saudi Arabia's campaign against the Houthis. The U.S. says the Saudi-led campaign has entrenched Iran’s role in the conflict, on the side of the Houthis. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut praised the Biden administration's move, saying, “The designation did not impact the Houthis in any practical way, but it stopped food and other critical aid from being delivered inside Yemen and would have prevented effective political negotiation."

(AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)As a presidential candidate, Joe Biden laid out a tougher line on Saudi Arabia than any U.S. president in decades. He said he would make the kingdom “pay the price” for human rights abuses and “make them in fact the pariah that they are.”But if Biden is making Saudi Arabia a pariah now, it's a pariah with benefits. U.S. leaders also see Saudi Arabia as a regional counterweight to Iran. The administration already had said it was pausing the Trump administration's sale of precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia. AdInternational criticism of Saudi Arabia has mounted since 2015, under King Salman and his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The College Athlete Economic Freedom Act is the third piece of legislation related to name, image and likeness compensation for college athletes introduced in Congress since December and second sponsored by Democrats. Iowa became the latest state to get in the game, with lawmakers introducing a bill Wednesday they hope will go into effect July 1. The bill would give college athletes unfettered access to the free market, allow them to organize and make group licensing deals, and hand oversight to the Federal Trade Commission. ), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, put forth an NIL bill that is narrowly focused like Murphy's, but with numerous restrictions that critics consider too NCAA-friendly. Wicker's bill would provide antitrust protections to the NCAA, shielding the association from legal challenges to its NIL rules, and allow the association to limit the types of financial agreements for athletes.

Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, said in a statement that he agreed to participate because it's important to understand how vulnerable even verified accounts are. “We’ve seen how easy it is for foreign adversaries to use social media as a tool to manipulate election campaigns and stoke political unrest," Murphy said. “It’s clear that social media companies are not doing enough to combat misinformation and paid manipulation on their own platforms and more needs to be done to prevent abuse.”In an age when much public debate has moved online, widespread social media manipulation not only distorts commercial markets, it is also a threat to national security, NATO StratCom director Janis Sarts told The Associated Press. “These kinds of inauthentic accounts are being hired to trick the algorithm into thinking this is very popular information and thus make divisive things seem more popular and get them to more people. “It means you are unequally protected across social media platforms.

But on Wednesday the effort to turn back the arms sales failed to reach the 51-vote majority needed for passage. The Senate will take up the broader defense bill soon. Israeli officials have previously expressed some concern about an F-35 sale. Even after Wednesday's setback, Congress is poised to approve the sweeping annual defense bill despite Trump's objections. Trump has warned he would veto the bill over a provision to study stripping the names of Confederate leaders from U.S. military bases.

"That’s a mandate to flip the switch.”The idea of a Biden mandate, though, is relative, certainly embraced by Democrats who want to push ahead with his agenda. California Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the House's Republican leader, said the election “was a mandate against socialism," stepping up the relentless GOP attacks, even though Biden is a centrist Democrat. Biden comes to the presidency like few in recent history, with a rare mix of experience but also a potentially divided Congress. Whether McConnell emerges in the new Congress as majority or minority leader with a narrowly divided Senate, the longest serving Republican leader in history will have great leverage over legislation that arrives on Biden's desk. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York and even McCarthy will have oversize roles because of the changed makeup of the new Congress.