President Trump’s administration intentionally made a mess of Social Security operations in Maine as part of an unrelated feud with the state’s governor, according to emails released Wednesday.

Trump’s pick to lead the Social Security Administration, Leland Dudek, briefly canceled longstanding contracts in the state in March. The ...Read more

Americans are falling behind Europeans in lifespan, even among older and wealthier groups, a Brown University study found.

The study compared age groups and income across the United States and 16 European countries, ultimately including 73,838 participants between the ages of 50 and 85, and was published April 2 in the New England Journal of ...Read more

A push to legalize medical aid in dying in Nevada is in the Legislature is once again, despite several failed efforts that included a veto from Gov. Joe Lombardo two years ago.

Assembly Bill 346 would allow terminally ill patients to self-administer medication to end their lives if they meet the bill’s eligibility criteria. It includes rules ...Read more

ALPENA, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Thursday she is worried about the effects of the tariff hikes President Donald Trump announced Wednesday and the damper they could have on economic growth and state tax revenues.

Trump announced 25% tariffs last week on imported vehicles and certain major auto parts would begin to be collected ...Read more

In the latest sign that wolves are continuing to make a comeback across California after being hunted out of existence for nearly a century, state wildlife officials have announced that population numbers have increased enough that they plan to relax rules that have set strict protections on the high-profile species.

The state Department of ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Clergy from across Philadelphia erected an altar in front of ICE headquarters on Thursday, decorating it with fruit, flowers and crosses in a prayerful protest against the Trump administration’s decision to let agents make immigration arrests in churches.

The demonstration spilled off the sidewalk and onto Eighth Street in ...Read more

ATLANTA — State legislators and the police could shield more of their work from the public under a surprise last-minute proposal which emerged in the General Assembly.

Under Senate Bill 12, legislators could keep secret their communications with state agencies.

The bill also could make it harder to get basic information from police incident ...Read more

Citing “deep frustration” and a lack of cooperation by officials in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration, House budget leaders are issuing demand letters to some state agencies amid a probe into possibly wasteful government spending.

The House’s inquiry into agencies’ finances, ordered by Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, is part of a ...Read more

LANSING, Mich. — A months-long review by the Michigan Secretary of State's office has identified 15 individuals who allegedly are not U.S. citizens but still cast ballots in the November presidential election in Michigan.

The findings, released Thursday to The Detroit News, indicated the potentially illegal votes represented less than 0.0003%...Read more

Health clinics throughout the state, including dozens in Western Pennsylvania, are among those impacted by federal funding cuts to a program that directs millions of dollars to help low-income people access family planning services.

Pennsylvania is the third-highest recipient of Title X funding nationally, having received $13.5 million last ...Read more

Rep. Tom Emmer, the No. 3 Republican in the U.S. House, held his first town hall of the year Wednesday night.

The town hall came as activists across the state and in his district have been urging Emmer and Minnesota’s three other Republicans in Congress to hold an in-person town hall to discuss President Donald Trump’s agenda and tech ...Read more

OAKLAND, Calif. — Long before the FBI raids last summer that sent Mayor Sheng Thao’s career into a nightmarish spiral, an army of staffers appeared hard at work getting her governing plans for Oakland off the ground.

Across scores of emails and paperwork, the officials who helped steer the early days of Thao’s administration in 2023 ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s inspector general will conduct an investigation of the Signal group chat where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other Trump administration officials discussed details of an impending attack on Houthi militants in Yemen.

“We are initiating the subject evaluation” in response to a request from lawmakers for �...Read more

Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted that Donald Trump’s administration has no intention of leaving NATO even as the U.S. envoy demanded members of the military alliance ratchet up spending.

The comments offer a measure of reassurance to European allies reeling from the prospect of American withdrawal and the U.S. president’s punishing ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday confirmed President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 53-45, on a party-line vote.

The confirmation of Mehmet Oz, known best for his time as a TV personality and host of the daytime talk show “The Dr. Oz Show,” will put him in charge of the federal agency ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — Attorneys for Moscow murder suspect Bryan Kohberger, in their latest attempt to avoid capital punishment for their client if he is convicted, have asked the judge to consider setting a new legal precedent in Idaho regarding how autism is classified in death penalty cases.

The 30-year-old’s public defense team asked 4th ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The White House doubled down Thursday on President Donald Trump’s sweeping worldwide tariffs, as he slapped stiff duties on unexpected allies and threatened an economic upheaval that could put Republicans’ House and Senate majorities at risk next year.

As Marine One lifted the president skyward from the White House South Lawn...Read more

BOSTON — The case to free a Tufts Ph.D. student and vocally pro-Palestine Turkish national after she was detained last week took a step forward in court Thursday, with both defense lawyers and the Justice Department clashing on jurisdiction of the case.

Rumeysa Ozturk, a 30-year-old Tufts University Ph.D. student and Fulbright Scholar from ...Read more