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Tag: Collections: US

  • US Drops Appeal of Order Blocking Trump Plan to Tie State Transportation Funds to Immigration Enforcement

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    WASHINGTON, Jan ‌13 (Reuters) – ​The U.S. ‌Justice Department on ​Tuesday asked a federal ‍appeals court to ​dismiss ​its ⁠appeal of a lower court order blocking President Donald Trump’s administration from forcing 20 ‌Democratic-led states to cooperate ​with immigration ‌enforcement to ‍receive billions ⁠of dollars in transportation grant funding.

    In July, a U.S. judge in Rhode Island ruled the ​U.S. Department of Transportation lacked authority to require the states to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to obtain transportation funding and that ​the condition violated the U.S. Constitution.

    (Reporting by David Shepardson in ​Washington; Editing by Tom Hogue)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • In New York, Hochul Moves to Thread Needle Between Democratic Divides Ahead of a Contested Election

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    ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Ahead of a tough reelection fight, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled an agenda aimed at bridging the divides in the Democratic Party — moving to fight President Donald Trump and capture progressive excitement surrounding Mayor Zohran Mamdani, while also tending to anxiety among moderates about public safety and protests outside synagogues.

    In most states, governors use their annual State of the State addresses to detail their upcoming legislative plans for the year, boosting their own records while charting a path ahead.

    For Hochul, however, her speech this year carried additional significance, as the centrist from Buffalo faces challenges from both her political left and right in a heavily contested election cycle.

    Her own second-in-command, Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, has assailed her for months and launched an unusual primary challenge against his boss, casting Hochul as a reactive executive unable to meet the political moment during Trump’s second term. Republican Bruce Blakeman, a Trump-aligned county official in New York’s City’s suburbs, has also announced a run for governor, bashing Hochul over the state’s high taxes and cost of living.

    At the same time, the governor is under mounting pressure from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party to help steward Mamdani’s ambitious agenda at the state Capitol and raise taxes on the state’s richest residents.

    Hochul appeared aware of the rocky political terrain during her State of the State, announcing a slate of affordability proposals, pledging additional public safety programs as well as a raft of proposals meant to counter the Republican president’s agenda.

    “If there’s one thing I know, it’s that when New Yorkers move forward with strength and compassion side by side there is no challenge we cannot meet, no tyrant we cannot beat and no future we cannot build,” she told a packed crowd at The Egg, a striking domed theater near the state’s ornate Capitol building.

    Child care — a signature priority for Mamdani — was also at the top of Hochul’s list, with the governor reiterating plans to set up a child care program for 2-year-olds in New York City, along with a wider plan to establish a universal pre-K program throughout the state by 2028.

    Mamdani, who was seated near the stage, rose to applaud Hochul’s child care plan. The rest of the room followed, delivering her a standing ovation. Amid the clapping, she added: “Republicans have kids, too, you can stand.”

    Hochul then turned to crime, promising to continue enhanced police patrols on the city’s subways and expand the use of mental health teams throughout the transit system.

    She also proposed a ban on protests within 25 feet of a house of worship, referencing a recent protest outside a synagogue in Queens where people chanted pro-Hamas remarks, with Hochul saying “That’s not free expression. That’s harassment. And targeting a Jewish community in this way is antisemitism.”

    Hochul wove heavy criticism for the federal government and Trump into her speech, at one point saying that she would ensure New York’s immunization standards “are set by trusted medical experts, not conspiracy theorists.”

    The governor debuted two proposals centered on the president’s immigration crackdown — one that would allow people to sue federal officers “when they act outside the scope of their duties,” and another to ensure sensitive locations such as schools, hospitals and houses of worship can be “protected from civil immigration enforcement without a judicial warrant.”

    “Public safety will always come first, but it must be pursued lawfully and with humanity,” Hochul said.

    Her plans will be subject to negotiations with the state Legislature, which is controlled by Democrats, over the coming months.

    While Hochul was in Albany, Delgado, who the governor picked to be her No.2 in 2022, was running some counter programming, making stops along what he has called the “State of the People Tour.”

    “This moment demands urgency, honesty, and the courage to act. New Yorkers can’t afford Governor Hochul’s half-measures,” he said in a statement.

    After Hochul’s address, Blakeman fired off his own criticism, saying: “If speeches fixed problems, New York would be thriving. Instead, families are struggling and businesses are leaving.”

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • EPA Says It Will Stop Calculating the Economic Savings to Health in Key Air Pollution Rules

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency says it will stop calculating how much money is saved in health care costs and preventable deaths avoided from air pollution rules that curb two deadly pollutants.

    The change means the EPA will focus rules for fine particulate matter and ozone only on the cost to industry, part of a broader realignment under President Donald Trump toward a business-friendly approach that has included the rollback of multiple policies meant to safeguard human health and the environment and slow climate change.

    The agency said in a statement late Monday that it “absolutely remains committed to our core mission of protecting human health and the environment” but “will not be monetizing the impacts at this time.” The EPA will continue to estimate costs to businesses to comply with the rules and will continue “ongoing work to refine its economic methodologies” of pollution rules, spokeswoman Brigit Hirsch said.

    Environmental and public health advocates called the agency’s action a dangerous abdication of one of its core missions.

    “The EPA’s mandate is to protect public health, not to ignore the science in order to eliminate clean air safeguards that save lives,” said John Walke, a senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

    He called the change in how public health benefits are calculated “reckless, dangerous, and illegal,” adding: “By pretending real health benefits do not count, EPA wants to open the door for industry to foul the air, while communities and families pay the price in asthma attacks, heart disease and premature deaths.”

    The change in how the EPA calculates health benefits was first reported by The New York Times.


    The move is part of the EPA’s broader change in approach

    The move comes as the Trump administration is seeking to abandon a rule that sets tough standards for deadly soot pollution, arguing that the Biden administration did not have authority to set the tighter standard on pollution from tailpipes, smokestacks and other industrial sources.

    In a court filing in November, the EPA said the Biden-era rule was done “without the rigorous, stepwise process that Congress required” and was therefore unlawful.

    The EPA said it continues to recognize the “clear and well-documented benefits” of reducing fine particulate matter, also known as PM2.5, and ozone.

    “Not monetizing DOES NOT equal not considering or not valuing the human health impact,” Hirsch said in an emailed statement, saying the agency remains committee to human health.

    Since the EPA’s creation more than 50 years ago, Republican and Democratic administrations have used different estimates to assign monetary value to a human life in cost-benefit analyses.

    Under former President Joe Biden, the EPA estimated that its proposed rule on PM2.5 would prevent up to 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays by 2032. For every $1 spent on reducing PM2.5, the agency said, there could be as much as $77 in health benefits.

    But the Trump administration contends that these estimates are misleading. By failing to include ranges or other qualifying statements, EPA’s use of specific estimate “leads the public to believe the Agency has a better understanding of the monetized impacts of exposure to PM2.5 and ozone than in reality,” the agency said in an economic impact analysis for the new NOx rule.

    “Therefore, to rectify this error, the EPA is no longer monetizing benefits from PM2.5 and ozone but will continue to quantify the emissions until the Agency is confident enough in the modeling to properly monetize those impacts.”

    The United States has made substantial progress in reducing PM2.5 and ozone concentrations since 2000, the agency said.


    Critics warn the change poses risks to human health

    But critics said a new EPA rule that revises emission limits for dangerous nitrogen oxide pollution from new gas-burning turbines used in power plants demonstrates the risks of the new approach.

    Emissions of nitrogen oxide, also known as NOx, form smog and soot that is harmful to human health and linked to serious heart and lung diseases. EPA’s final NOx rule, issued Monday, is substantially less restrictive than a proposal under the Biden administration. For some gas plants, the rule weakens protections in place for two decades.

    The new rule does not estimate the economic value of health benefits from reducing NOx and other types of air pollution under the Clean Air Act. Critics said the change means EPA will ignore the economic value of lives saved, hospital visits avoided and lost work and school days prevented.

    Under Trump, the EPA “recklessly refuses to place any value on protecting the health of millions of Americans from nitrogen oxides pollution in the face of mountains of medical science finding that this pollution contributes to asthma attacks, heart disease and other serious health problems.” said Noha Haggag, a lawyer for the Environmental Defense Fund, another environmental group.

    “EPA is leaving millions of people in harm’s way when common sense solutions are at hand for modern national limits on nitrogen oxides pollution,” Haggag said.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • NYC Nurses Strike Enters Second Day as Hospitals Move to Fill Labor Gaps

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of New York City nurses were set to return to the picket lines Tuesday as their strike targeting some of the city’s leading hospital systems entered its second day.

    The walkout, which comes during a severe flu season, involved roughly 15,000 nurses spread out across multiple private hospitals, including NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia, Montefiore Medical Center and Mount Sinai hospital.

    The affected hospitals have hired droves of temporary nurses to try to fill the labor gap. Both nurses and hospital administrators have urged patients not to avoid getting care during the strike.

    The labor action comes three years after a similar strike forced medical facilities to transfer some patients and divert ambulances.

    As with the 2023 labor action, nurses have pointed to staffing issues as a major flashpoint, accusing the big-budget medical centers of refusing to commit to provisions for manageable, safe workloads.

    The private, nonprofit hospitals involved in the current negotiations say they’ve made strides in staffing in recent years, and have cast the union’s demands as prohibitively expensive.

    On Monday, the city’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, stood beside nurses on a picket line outside NewYork-Presbyterian, praising the union’s members for seeking “dignity, respect and the fair pay and treatment that they deserve.”

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Zohran Mamdani and His Wife Move Into NYC Mayoral Mansion, Leaving Behind 1-Bedroom Apartment

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    NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his wife Rama Duwaji began moving into the official mayoral residence on Monday, leaving behind their leaky, one-bedroom apartment in Queens for a fully staffed mansion in Manhattan.

    As workers unloaded cardboard boxes stuffed with houseplants and rolled up carpets, Mamdani marked the latest inaugural rite of passage with a press conference on his new riverfront lawn.

    “Today, Rama and I feel lucky to participate in a ritual that so many New Yorkers have experienced at various meaningful moments in their lives: Beginning a new chapter, by moving to a different part of the city that we call home,” Mamdani said.

    Nearly all of the city’s mayors have slept — at least sometimes — in the stately, custard-colored 18th century home, known as Gracie Mansion, since its 1942 designation as the official mayoral residence.

    For Mamdani, the historic house stands in particularly sharp contrast to his previous living quarters: a $2,300 per month one bedroom apartment that lacked a washer and dryer, and was prone to flooding from a busted pipe.

    The couple’s new digs, meanwhile, boast 11,000 square feet (1,021 square meters) of space, a private chef, ornate ballroom and a veranda overlooking the East River. The home also features the original fireplace upon which Alexander Hamilton died following his duel with Aaron Burr and, according to the city’s last mayor, Eric Adams, at least one ghost.

    In his remarks Monday, Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist, appeared aware that the relocation might seem at odds with his pledge to lead a “government that looks and lives like the people it represents.”

    The decision was made in part to account for new security requirements, he said.

    Once settled at Gracie Mansion, he said he plans on “opening it up to New Yorkers who are not often the ones who get to visit such a place as this.” As for any cosmetic changes, he described an “aspirational hope” of installing bidets in the bathrooms.

    Mamdani spent most of his childhood on the other side of Central Park, in a Manhattan apartment subsidized by Columbia University, where his father works as a professor.

    While serving in New York’s state Legislature, Mamdani lived in Astoria, a diverse and affordable section of Queens, sometimes referred to as “the People’s Republic of Astoria” for its recent record of electing left-wing representatives, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

    Before leaving the neighborhood, Mamdani released a statement saying he would miss the “endless Adeni chai, the spirited conversations in Spanish, Arabic and every language in between, the aromas of seafood and shawarma drifting down the block.”

    He will likely find less multicultural crosstalk in his new Upper East Side neighborhood, which is among the city’s richest and nearly three-quarters white. And while Mamdani won his former neighborhood of Astoria overwhelmingly, his opponent, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, won the Upper East Side by double digits.

    As she walked her cockapoo in a park abutting the mansion, Zoe Cuddy, a neuropsychologist and longtime Upper East Sider, said she hoped the new mayor would come to appreciate the quiet charms of the area, which she likened to “the suburbs of Manhattan.”

    And she predicted that her fellow Upper East Siders would, in turn, embrace their newest neighbor.

    “I think we’ll grow to be happy to have him here,” she said.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • FBI Says It Has Found No Video of Border Patrol Agent Shooting 2 People in Oregon

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    PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The FBI said in a court document made public Monday that it had found no surveillance or other video of a Border Patrol agent shooting and wounding two people in a pickup truck during an immigration enforcement operation in Portland, Oregon, last week.

    Agents told investigators that one of their colleagues opened fire Thursday after the driver put the truck in reverse and repeatedly slammed into an unoccupied car the agents had rented, smashing its headlights and knocking off its front bumper. The agents said they feared for their own safety and that of the public, the document said.

    The FBI has interviewed four of the six agents on the scene, the document said. It did not identify the agent who fired the shots.

    None of the six agents was recording body camera footage, and investigators have uncovered no surveillance or other video footage of the shooting, FBI Special Agent Daniel Jeffreys wrote in an affidavit supporting aggravated assault and property damage charges against the driver, Luis David Nino-Moncada.

    The truck drove away after the shooting, which occurred in the parking lot of a medical office building. Nino-Moncada called 911 after arriving at an apartment complex several minutes away. He was placed in FBI custody after being treated for a gunshot wound to the arm and abdomen.

    During an initial appearance Monday afternoon in federal court in Portland, he wore a white sweatshirt and sweatpants and appeared to hold out his left arm gingerly at an angle. An interpreter translated the judge’s comments for him. The judge ordered that he remain in detention and scheduled a preliminary hearing for Wednesday.

    The agent’s affidavit said that after being read his rights, Nino-Moncada “admitted to intentionally ramming the Border Patrol vehicle in an attempt to flee, and he stated that he knew they were immigration enforcement vehicles.”

    His passenger, Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, was hospitalized after being shot in the chest and on Monday was being held at a private immigration detention facility in Tacoma, Washington, according to an online detainee locator system maintained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

    Nino-Moncada and Zambrano-Contreras are Venezuela nationals and entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and 2023, respectively, the Department of Homeland Security said. It identified Nino-Moncada as an associate of Tren de Aragua and Zambrano-Contreras as involved in a prostitution ring run by the gang.

    “Anyone who crosses the red line of assaulting law enforcement will be met with the full force of this Justice Department,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said Monday in a news release announcing charges against Nino-Moncada. “This man — an illegal alien with ties to a foreign terrorist organization — should NEVER have been in our country to begin with, and we will ensure he NEVER walks free in America again.”

    Oregon Federal Public Defender Fidel Cassino-DuCloux, whose office represents Nino-Moncada, did not immediately return messages from The Associated Press seeking comment. He told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the federal shooting of and the subsequent accusations against Nino-Moncada and his passenger follow “a well-worn playbook that the government has developed to justify the dangerous and unprofessional conduct of its agents.”

    Portland Police Chief Bob Day confirmed last week that the pair had “some nexus” to the gang. Day said the two came to the attention of police during an investigation of a July shooting believed to have been carried out by gang members, but they were not identified as suspects.

    Zambrano-Contreras was previously arrested for prostitution, Day said, and Nino-Moncada was present when a search warrant was served in that case.

    Johnson reported from Seattle.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Fire That Killed 10 at an Assisted Living Facility Prompts Massachusetts to Enact Safety Reforms

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    BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts is enacting a series of safety reforms at assisted living facilities including increased inspections and better access to records following a fire last year that killed 10 residents, the governor announced Monday.

    The recommendations, detailed in a report from the Assisted Living Residents or ARL commission tasked with reviewing the sector, call for annual inspection signed off by the local fire department, board of health and building inspector. It also calls for annual update and review of emergency plans and quarterly emergency exercises with all staff and annual evacuation drills.

    Other recommendations include a task force to study affordability of assisted living facilities, over concerns they are out of reach for many low-income residents. The report also calls for creating a statewide online database to provide families with better access to compliance records, ownership information, and corrective action plans. It also calls for standardizing information on services, costs, staffing, and resident rights so families can easier compare different facilities.

    “Every older adult deserves a safe home and peace of mind, and every family deserves transparency and accountability,” Democratic Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement. “The heartbreaking tragedy at Gabriel House showed us that we cannot wait to strengthen protections for assisted living residents. We are taking immediate action on these recommendations so we can better protect residents, support families and ensure our assisted living system continues to serve people well into the future.”

    Aging & Independence Secretary and ALR Commission Chair Robin Lipson said the the state has a responsibility to protect residents living at these facilities.

    “These changes will strengthen fire safety, clarify standards and practices that impact resident well-being, and make critical information more accessible so families can make informed decisions,” Lipson said. “We have already begun putting stronger protections in place and will work to ensure that residents across the Commonwealth are safer, better supported, and treated with the dignity they deserve.”

    Brian Doherty, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Assisted Living Association, said his nonprofit association welcome the report, especially the recommendations to develop a standardized resident assessment, integrate Certified Medication Aides into assisted living, and establish an affordability task force.

    “Assisted living blends social activity with personal care, and we will continue to champion a model of diverse community options over restrictive, institutionalized settings to ensure residents maintain their independence and dignity,” Doherty said in a statement.

    The commission was already studying the sector when a fire broke out last summer at Gabriel House in Fall River. It was the state’s deadliest in more than 40 years and raised questions about a lack of regulations around the sector in Massachusetts.

    Investigators said that the Gabriel House fire began unintentionally by either someone smoking or an electrical issue with an oxygen machine. The blaze left some residents of the three-story building hanging out of windows and screaming for help.

    Documents from the state Executive Office of Aging & Independence showed Gabriel House had lost its certification nearly a decade ago due to resident mistreatment. The facility in Fall River was barred from accepting new residents until it took corrective action.

    The documents add to a list of issues raised with the Gabriel House facility over the years. A resident filed a lawsuit alleging the facility was not properly managed, staffed or maintained and that “emergency response procedures were not put in place.” The son of another resident said an elevator had been out for as long as nine months at one point.

    State records include about two dozen complaints about the facility during the last decade, including several related to “abuse, neglect or financial exploitation” but details are redacted. Other complaints involved a resident getting stuck for hours in an elevator that was then out of service for months, and staff members who threatened residents and withheld medication.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • New US Ambassador to India Pushes for Deeper Trade Ties Despite Tension Over Russian Oil

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    NEW DELHI (AP) — The U.S. and India are actively engaged on a bilateral trade agreement to deepen economic and strategic partnership, the U.S. ambassador-designate to New Delhi said Monday.

    Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, India has emerged as the second biggest buyer of Russian crude after China, upsetting the Trump administration, which criticized the purchases as helping fuel Moscow’s war machine.

    A close aide of Trump, the new ambassador-designate, Sergio Gor, said the next call between the two sides on trade-related matters was scheduled Tuesday.

    “Real friends can disagree, but always resolve their differences in the end,” Gor said in an address on his first day in office at the U.S. Embassy. “Remember India is the world’s largest nation so it’s not an easy task to get this across the finish line, but we are determined to get there.”

    Gor, who is also the U.S. special envoy to South and Central Asia, announced that India will be formally invited next month to join a U.S.-led strategic initiative called Pax Silica as part of a broader partnership.

    The initiative aims to build a secure silicon supply chain, from critical minerals and energy inputs to advanced manufacturing, semiconductors and artificial intelligence. Nations that joined it last month include Japan, South Korea, U.K. and Israel.

    Gor’s comments on bolstering trade and economic ties with India highlights a renewed push to anchor the partnership at a time the relationship has strained following Washington’s mounting pressure on New Delhi to stop buying discounted Russian crude oil.

    India and the U.S. have been negotiating a bilateral trade agreement since early last year. They hoped to conclude the first tranche by the fall of 2025, but it hasn’t come through mainly due to differences over sourcing of Russian oil, and Indian negotiators facing pressure to protect small farmers and domestic industries.

    Gor said trade was an important aspect of the relationship, but the countries will also continue to work closely in areas such as security, counter terrorism, energy, technology, education and health.

    In the face of steep U.S. tariffs, India has in recent months accelerated a push to finalize several free trade agreements. It signed one with Oman last month and concluded talks with New Zealand.

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  • Trump’s Motorcade in Florida Rerouted Due to ‘Suspicious Object’

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s motorcade took a different route than usual to the airport as he was departing Florida on Sunday due to a “suspicious object,” according to the White House.

    The object, which the White House did not describe, was discovered during security sweeps in advance of Trump’s arrival at Palm Beach International Airport.

    “A further investigation was warranted and the presidential motorcade route was adjusted accordingly,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Sunday.

    Trump left his Palm Beach, Florida, club, Mar-a-Lago, around 6:20 p.m. for the roughly 10-minute drive to the airport.

    During the drive, police officers on motorcycles created a moving blockade for the motorcade, at one point almost colliding with the vans that accompanied Trump.

    Anthony Guglielmi, the spokesman for U.S. Secret Service, said the secondary route was taken just as a precaution and that “that is standard protocol.”

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  • New Jersey’s Longest Serving State Legislator and Former Governor Richard Codey Dies

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    TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Richard “Dick” Codey, a former acting governor of New Jersey and the longest serving legislator in the state’s history, died Sunday. He was 79.

    Codey’s wife, Mary Jo Codey, confirmed her husband’s death to The Associated Press.

    “Gov. Richard J. Codey passed away peacefully this morning at home, surrounded by family, after a brief illness,” Codey’s family wrote in a Facebook post on Codey’s official page.

    “Our family has lost a beloved husband, father and grandfather — and New Jersey lost a remarkable public servant who touched the lives of all who knew him,” the family said.

    Known for his feisty, regular-guy persona, Codey was a staunch advocate of mental health awareness and care issues. The Democrat also championed legislation to ban smoking from indoor areas and sought more money for stem cell research.

    Codey, the son of a northern New Jersey funeral home owner, entered the state Assembly in 1974 and served there until he was elected to the state Senate in 1982. He served as Senate president from 2002 to 2010.

    Codey first served as acting governor for a brief time in 2002, after Christine Todd Whitman’s resignation to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He held the post again for 14 months after Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.

    At that time, New Jersey law mandated that the Senate president assume the governor’s role if a vacancy occurred, and that person would serve until the next election.

    Codey routinely drew strong praise from residents in polls, and he gave serious consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005. But he ultimately chose not to run when party leaders opted to back wealthy Wall Street executive Jon Corzine, who went on to win the office.

    Codey would again become acting governor after Corzine was incapacitated in April 2007 due to serious injuries he suffered in a car accident. He held the post for nearly a month before Corzine resumed his duties.

    After leaving the governor’s office, Codey returned to the Senate and also published a memoir that detailed his decades of public service, along with stories about his personal and family life.

    “He lived his life with humility, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility to others,” his family wrote. “He made friends as easily with Presidents as he did with strangers in all-night diners.”

    Codey and his wife often spoke candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression, and that led to controversy in early 2005, when a talk radio host jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air.

    Codey, who was at the radio station for something else, confronted the host and said he told him that he wished he could “take him outside.” But the host claimed Codey actually threatened to “take him out,” which Codey denied.

    His wife told The Associated Press that Codey was willing to support her speaking out about postpartum depression, even if it cost him elected office.

    “He was a really, really good guy,” Mary Jo Codey said. “He said, ‘If you want to do it, I don’t care if I get elected again.’”

    Jack Brook contributed reporting from New Orleans.

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  • With Cuban Ally Maduro Ousted, Trump Warns Havana to Make a ‘Deal’ Before It’s Too Late

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    Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”

    “THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO!” Trump said in the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.

    The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.

    “Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”

    Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.

    Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela. Long before Maduro’s capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

    Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.

    “It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”

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  • Husband Charged in Double Homicide After Having Affair With Au Pair Is Going on Trial in Virginia

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    FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A Virginia man who had a relationship with a Brazilian au pair is going to trial Monday in what prosecutors say was an elaborate double-murder scheme to frame another man in the stabbing of his wife.

    Brendan Banfield is charged with aggravated murder in the February 2023 killings of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan at the Banfields’ home in northern Virginia. He has pleaded not guilty in the case.

    Banfield and Juliana Peres Magalhães, the family’s au pair, were with the wife and Ryan on the morning the victims were killed in the primary bedroom of the Banfield home, court records say. Authorities have said on that day, Banfield and Magalhães told officials they saw Ryan, a stranger, stabbing the wife after he entered the house. Then they each shot the intruder, Banfield and Magalhães said at the time.

    Prosecutors have painted a different picture, arguing that Brendan Banfield and Magalhães lured Ryan to the house and staged it to look like he and the au pair shot a predator in defense. Officials have said Banfield and Magalhães had a romantic affair beginning the year before the killings.

    Both the au pair and husband were arrested between 2023 and 2024 and initially handed murder charges in the case. In 2024, Magalhães pleaded guilty to a downgraded manslaughter charge after giving a statement to officials confirming parts of their theory.

    In that statement, Magalhães said she and Brendan Banfield created an account in his wife’s name on a social media platform for people interested in sexual fetishes. There, Ryan connected with the account in Christine Banfield’s name, and the users made plans to meet on the morning of Feb. 24, 2023, for a sexual encounter that would involve a knife, authorities said based on the statement from Magalhães.

    Prosecutor Eric Clingan said last year that the au pair’s statement helped the state solidify its theory ahead of trial.

    “With 12 different homicide detectives, there were 24 different theories,” Clingan said. “Now, one theory.”

    Not all officials investigating the case have believed Banfield and Magalhães catfished Ryan.

    Brendan Miller, a former digital forensic examiner with the Fairfax County Police Department, testified last year that he analyzed dozens of devices and concluded Christine Banfield had connected with Ryan herself through the social networking platform.

    An evidence analysis team at the University of Alabama peer-reviewed and affirmed Miller’s digital forensic findings, according to evidence submitted to the court.

    Miller was transferred out of the department’s digital forensics unit in late 2024, though a former Fairfax County commander testified the reassignment was not punitive or disciplinary.

    John Carroll, Banfield’s attorney, argued that Millers’ transfer was directly tethered to the case. He also said in court that Fairfax County police reassigned the case’s lead detective after that man had pushed back on the top brass’ catfishing theory.

    “It is a theory in search of facts rather than a series of facts supporting a theory,” Carroll said.

    Banfield, whose daughter was at the house on the morning of the killings, is also charged with child abuse and felony child cruelty in connection with the case. He will also face those charges during the aggravated murder trial.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • US Launches New Retaliatory Strikes Against ISIS in Syria After Deadly Ambush

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has launched another round of retaliatory strikes against the Islamic State in Syria following last month’s ambush that killed two U.S. soldiers and one American civilian interpreter in the country.

    The large-scale strikes, conducted by the U.S. alongside partner forces, occurred around 12:30 p.m. ET, according to U.S. Central Command. The strikes hit multiple Islamic State targets across Syria.

    Saturday’s strikes are part of a broader operation that is part of President Donald Trump’s response to the deadly ISIS attack that killed Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, and Ayad Mansoor Sakat, the civilian interpreter, in Palmyra last month.

    “Our message remains strong: if you harm our warfighters, we will find you and kill you anywhere in the world, no matter how hard you try to evade justice,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement Saturday.

    The administration is calling the response to the Palmyra attacks Operation Hawkeye Strike. Both Torres-Tovar and Howard were members of the Iowa National Guard.

    It launched Dec. 19 with another large-scale strike that hit 70 targets across central Syria that had IS infrastructure and weapons.

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  • New York Attorney General Sues Trump Administration Over Offshore Wind Project Freeze

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    NEW YORK (AP) — New York‘s attorney general sued the Trump administration on Friday over its decision to halt two major offshore wind projects expected to power more than 1 million homes in the state.

    State Attorney General Letitia James said in legal challenges filed in federal court in Washington that the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Dec. 22 order suspending construction on the projects off Long Island, citing national security concerns, was arbitrary and unwarranted.

    The Democrat said Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind projects had already cleared more than a decade of security and safety reviews by federal, state and local authorities. She said pausing them now threatens New York’s economy and energy grid, and she asked the court to intervene.

    “New Yorkers deserve clean, reliable energy, good-paying jobs, and a government that follows the law,” James said in a statement. “This reckless decision puts workers, families, and our climate goals at risk.”

    Spokespersons for the Interior Department and its Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which are both named in the litigation, declined to comment Friday, citing the pending litigation.

    The Interior Department’s order last month suspended Sunrise Wind, Empire Wind and three other offshore wind projects under construction along the East Coast. The department maintains that the movement of massive turbine blades can cause radar interference called “clutter” that can obscure legitimate moving targets and generate false ones.

    Empire Wind is located about 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) southeast of Long Island and is projected to power more than 500,000 homes. Equinor, the Norwegian company developing the project, has said it’s about 60% complete.

    Sunrise Wind is located about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Montauk and is expected to power about 600,000 homes. Orsted, the Danish energy company developing the project, has said it’s roughly 45% complete.

    James previously led a coalition of attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C., in challenging Trump’s executive order pausing approvals, permits and loans for all wind energy projects, both onshore and offshore.

    Last month, a federal judge in Massachusetts sided with the attorneys general and vacated the Jan. 20, 2025, order. Days later, the Trump administration issued the stop-work order on the East Coast projects.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • ICE Officer Who Shot Renee Good in Minneapolis Has Served Decades in Military and Law Enforcement

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    The federal agent who shot and killed a driver in Minneapolis is an Iraq War veteran who has served for nearly two decades in the Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to records obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

    Jonathan Ross, who shot and killed Renee Good on Wednesday, has served as a deportation officer with ICE since 2015, records show. He was seriously injured last summer when he was dragged by the vehicle of a fleeing suspect whom he shot with a stun gun.

    Federal officials have not named the officer who shot Good, a 37-year-old mother who was shot as she tried to drive away from federal agents. But Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem said the agent who shot Good had been dragged by a vehicle last June, and a department spokesperson confirmed Noem was referring to the Bloomington, Minnesota, case in which documents identified the injured officer as Ross.

    Attempts to reach Ross, 43, at phone numbers and email addresses associated with him were not immediately successful.

    Here are some things to know about him:


    Experienced military and law enforcement officer

    In courtroom testimony last month, Ross said he deployed to Iraq from 2004 to 2005 with the Indiana National Guard. Ross said he served as a machine gunner on a gun truck as part of a combat patrol team.

    He said he returned from Iraq in 2005, went to college and joined the Border Patrol in 2007 near El Paso, Texas. He worked there until 2015, serving as a field intelligence agent gathering and analyzing information on cartels and drug and human smuggling.

    Ross said he has served as a deportation officer based in Minnesota since he joined ICE in 2015. He is assigned to fugitive operations, seeking to arrest “higher value targets” in the ICE region that includes Minneapolis, he testified last month. He said that he was also a team leader with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.

    “So I develop the targets, create a target package, surveillance, and then develop a plan to execute the arrest warrant,” he said.

    Ross said that he was also a firearms instructor, an active shooter instructor, a field intelligence officer and member of the SWAT team. He said that he attended the Border Patrol’s academy in New Mexico, where he learned to speak Spanish.


    Seriously injured last June

    Ross was a leader of a team of agents who went to arrest a man who was in the U.S. illegally in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington on June 17. Agents had gathered outside the home of the man, Roberto Munoz-Guatemala, who left in his car, according to court records.

    FBI agents activated emergency sirens and lights instructing him to pull over but he did not. Ross pulled his vehicle diagonally in front of Munoz-Guatemala to force him to stop.

    Ross and an FBI agent identified themselves as police and pointed guns at Munoz-Guatemala, who raised his hands. Ross then approached Munoz-Guatemala’s vehicle and ordered him to put it in park.

    Ross told the driver to lower his window all the way down and warned that he would break it if he did not. Ross used a device known as a “spring-loaded window punch” to break the rear driver’s side window and reached inside the car to unlock the driver’s door.

    Munoz-Guatemela drove off while Ross’ arm was caught in the vehicle and accelerated, dragging Ross down the street. Ross fired his Taser, striking Munoz-Guatemala with prongs in the head, face and shoulder.

    Munoz-Guatemela was not incapacitated by the Taser, prosecutors said, and kept driving, taking Ross the length of a football field in 12 seconds. Ross was knocked free from the vehicle by force after Munoz-Guatemala drove onto a curb for a second time and back to the street.

    Ross’ right arm was bleeding, and an FBI agent applied a tourniquet. Eventually, he received dozens of stitches at a hospital. Prosecutors said he had “suffered multiple large cuts, and abrasions to his knee, elbow, and face.”

    “It was pretty excruciating pain,” Ross testified.

    Munoz-Guatemela was bleeding from his injuries and had a woman call 911, saying that he was assaulted and didn’t know whether the person trying to stop him was an officer. He was arrested and charged with assault on a federal officer with a dangerous or deadly weapon.

    A jury found Munoz-Guatemala guilty at a trial last month, finding he “should reasonably have known that Jonathan Ross was a law enforcement officer and not a private citizen attempting to assault him.”


    Federal officials defend the agent without identifying him

    Vice President J.D. Vance praised the agent’s service to the country Thursday without naming him, saying the ICE officer “deserves a debt of gratitude.”

    “This is a guy who’s actually done a very, very important job for the United States of America,” Vance said. “He’s been assaulted. He’s been attacked. He’s been injured because of it.”

    DHS assistant Tricia McLaughlin declined to confirm the agent’s identity Thursday, saying doing so would be dangerous for the safety of him and his family. But she noted that he had been selected for ICE’s special response team, which includes a 30-hour tryout and additional training on specialized skills such as breaching techniques, perimeter control, hostage rescue and firearms.

    “He acted according to his training,” she said. “This officer is a longtime ICE officer who has been serving his country his entire life.”

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Vance Calls Killing of Minneapolis Woman by an ICE Officer ‘A Tragedy of Her Own Making’

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President JD Vance on Thursday blamed a federal immigration officer’s fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman on “a left-wing network,” Democrats, the news media and the woman who was killed as protests related to her death expanded to cities across the country.

    The vice president, who made his critiques in a rare appearance in the White House briefing room and on social media, was the most prominent example yet of the Trump administration quickly assigning culpability for the death of 37-year-old Renee Good while the investigation is still underway. Good was shot and killed by an ICE officer while she tried to drive away on a snowy residential street as officers were carrying out an operation related to the administration’s immigration crackdown.

    Vance said at the White House that he wasn’t worried about prejudging the investigation into Good’s killing, saying of the videos he’d seen of the Wednesday incident, “What you see is what you get in this case.”

    Vance said he was certain that Good accelerated her car into the officer and hit him. It isn’t clear from the videos if the vehicle makes contact with the officer. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said Wednesday that video of the shooting shows arguments that the officer was acting in self-defense were “garbage.”

    The vice president also said part of him felt “very, very sad” for Good. He called her “brainwashed” and “a victim of left-wing ideology.”

    “I can believe that her death is a tragedy, while also recognizing that it’s a tragedy of her own making and a tragedy of the far left who has marshaled an entire movement — a lunatic fringe — against our law enforcement officers,” Vance said.

    His defense of the officer, at times fiery, came as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and President Donald Trump likewise said the officer’s actions were a justified act of self-defense. Trump said Good “viciously ran over” the ICE officer, though video footage of the event contradicts that claim.

    Trump has made a wide-ranging crackdown on crime and immigration in Democratic cities a centerpiece of his second term in office. He has deployed federal law enforcement officials and National Guard troops to support the operations and has floated the idea of invoking the Insurrection Act to try to stop his opponents from blocking his plans through the courts.

    Trump officials made it clear that they were rejecting claims by Democrats and officials in Minnesota that the president’s move to deploy immigration officers in American cities had been inflammatory and needed to end.

    “The Trump administration will redouble our efforts to get the worst of the worst criminal, illegal alien killers, rapists and pedophiles off of American streets,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday before Vance spoke.

    She called Good’s killing “a result of a large, sinister left-wing movement.”

    Vance was selected as Trump’s running mate last year partly for his ability to verbally spar, especially with the media. He opened his remarks by condemning headlines he saw about the shooting, at times raising his voice and decrying the “corporate media.”

    “This was an attack on law and order. This was an attack on the American people,” Vance said.

    He accused journalists of falsely portraying Good as “innocent” and said: “You should be ashamed of yourselves. Every single one of you.”

    “The way that the media, by and large, has reported this story has been an absolute disgrace,” he added. “And it puts our law enforcement officers at risk every single day.”

    When asked what responsibility he and Trump bore to defuse tension in the country over the incident, Vance said their responsibility was to “protect the people who are enforcing law and protect the country writ large.”

    “The best way to turn down the temperature is to tell people to take their concerns about immigration policy to the ballot box,” he said.

    Vance also announced that the administration was deputizing a new assistant attorney general to prosecute the abuse of government assistance programs in response to growing attention to fraud in childcare programs in Minnesota. The position “will be run out of the White House under the supervision of me and the president,” Vance said. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to questions about the new role.

    Vance said the prosecutor will focus primarily on Minnesota, and will be nominated in coming days. Vance added that Senate Majority Leader John Thune told him he’d seek a prompt confirmation.

    Associated Press writers Konstantin Toropin, Will Weissert, Jonathan J. Cooper and Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • House Easily Passes Spending Package as Lawmakers Work to Avoid Another Shutdown

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — The House passed a bipartisan package of three spending bills on Thursday that would fund parts of the federal government through September, demonstrating the eagerness of lawmakers to avoid another government shutdown near the end of the month.

    Congress has so far passed only three of the 12 annual spending bills that fund federal agencies for the current fiscal year. Failure to pass the remainder before a Jan. 30th deadline risks another shutdown just weeks after the record-setting, 43-day shutdown that occurred late last year.

    Leaders from both parties endorsed the latest measure, signaling that passage is likely in the Senate as well, belatedly getting Congress halfway home in completing their work on this year’s spending bills. The White House also has endorsed the measure, calling it a “fiscally responsible bill.”

    The package covers such agencies as the Interior Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Departments of Commerce and Justice. It passed by an overwhelming vote of 397-28, an unusual display of unity when it comes to government spending.


    Both parties claim victories

    The price tag of the bills, which Republicans put at roughly $175 billion, comes in below current levels, generating savings for taxpayers, GOP lawmakers said. Democrats countered that they were able to negotiate spending levels far above what the Trump administration had requested and removed scores of policy riders that they say would have weakened gun safety regulations, expanded oil and gas leasing on federal lands and took aim at LGBTQ and racial equity policies.

    Importantly, Democrats said, the measure also includes legally binding spending requirements that restrain the White House’s ability to withhold or delay funds for programs Trump opposes. Trump’s first year in office was met with scores of lawsuits from states, cities and nonprofits who accused the administration of undertaking unlawful power grabs.

    “This legislation is a forceful rejection of draconian cuts to public services proposed by the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.

    The Senate would also have to pass the measure before President Donald Trump could sign it into law. But the bill has bipartisan backing in that chamber, too.

    “Republicans are strongest when we stay focused, Democrats are more effective when they negotiate in good faith, and the country is better off when Republicans and Democrats work together,” Rep. Tom Cole, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said in urging colleagues to vote for the bill.


    Funding work is well behind schedule

    In recent years, Congress has generally lumped all the spending bills into one or two measures, often voted on before lawmakers left Washington for the holidays. Lawmakers say such a process makes it easier to include provisions that couldn’t pass muster on their own.

    Johnson has called for returning to a time when Congress takes up the 12 spending bills separately, though he’s finding it easier said than done. The fiscal year began Oct. 1 and Congress is still debating full-year funding for most federal agencies.

    Democrats listed various priorities they were able to maintain or increase funding for, despite the administration’s opposition. For example, a program to make homes more energy efficient for low-income Americans got a $3 million boost, instead of being eliminated as proposed by Trump. The EPA, a frequent Trump target, gets $8.8 billion. That’s more than double what Trump sought.

    Republicans had voiced concerns about some earmarks in the bill, now called community funding projects. To ease those concerns, a nearly $1.5 million earmark obtained by Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was removed from the bill. It would have funded a Somali-led organization’s efforts to provide job training and peer support services for those struggling with addiction.

    Republicans have been intensely focused on allegations of fraud by day care centers run by Somali residents. Those allegations are still being investigated. Omar has urged people not to blame an entire community for the actions of a relative few.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Winning Numbers Drawn in Wednesday’s Powerball

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    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The winning numbers in Wednesday evening’s drawing of the “Powerball” game were:

    15-28-57-58-63, Powerball: 23, Power Play: 2

    (fifteen, twenty-eight, fifty-seven, fifty-eight, sixty-three, Powerball: twenty-three, Power Play: two)

    Estimated jackpot: $104 million

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Trump Invites Colombian President to White House Days After Threatening It With Military Strike

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump abruptly changed his tone Wednesday about his Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, saying the two had exchanged a friendly phone call and that he’d invited the leader of the South American country to the White House.

    “It was a Great Honor to speak with the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who called to explain the situation of drugs and other disagreements that we have had,” Trump posted on his social media site Wednesday night. “I appreciated his call and tone, and look forward to meeting him in the near future.” He said that meeting would take place at the White House.

    That came mere days after Trump said in the wake of the U.S. operation in Venezuela over the weekend that “Colombia is very sick too” and accused Petro of ”making cocaine and selling it to the United States” before adding: “He’s not going to be doing it very long, let me tell you.” Asked whether U.S intervention was possible, Trump responded, ”Sounds good to me.”

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  • House Takes Step Toward Extending Affordable Care Act Subsidies, Overpowering GOP Leadership

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — Overpowering Speaker Mike Johnson, a bipartisan coalition in the House voted Wednesday to push forward a measure that would revive an enhanced pandemic-era subsidy that lowered health insurance costs for roughly 22 million people, but that had expired last month.

    The tally of 221-205 was a key test before passage of the bill, which is expected Thursday. And it came about because four GOP centrist lawmakers joined with Democrats in signing a so-called discharge petition to force the vote. After last year’s government shutdown failed to resolve the issue, they said doing nothing was not an option as many of their constituents faced soaring health insurance premiums beginning this month.

    Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, one of the Republicans who crossed party lines to back the Democratic proposal, portrayed it as a vehicle senators could use to reach a compromise.

    “No matter the issue, if the House puts forward relatively strong, bipartisan support, it makes it easier for the senators to get there,” Lawler said.


    Republicans go around their leaders

    If ultimately successful in the House this week, the voting would show there is bipartisan support for a proposed three-year extension of the tax credits that are available for those who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The action forcing a vote has been an affront to Johnson and GOP leaders who essentially lost control of their House majority as the renegade lawmakers joined Democrats for the workaround.

    But the Senate is under no requirement to take up the bill.

    Instead, a small group of members from both parties are working on an alternative plan that could find support in both chambers and become law. One proposal would be to shorten the extension of the subsidy to two years and make changes to the program.

    Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said any plan passing muster in the Senate will need to have income limits to ensure that it’s focused on those who most need the help and that beneficiaries would have to at least pay a nominal amount for their coverage.

    That way, he said, “insurance companies can’t game the system and auto-enroll people.” Finally, Thune said there would need to be some expansion of health savings accounts, which allow people to save money and withdraw it tax-free as long as the money is spent on qualified medical expenses.


    Democrats are pressing the issue

    It’s unclear the negotiations will yield a bill that the Senate will take up. Democrats are making clear that the higher health insurance costs many Americans are facing will be a political centerpiece of their efforts to retake the majority in the House and Senate in the fall elections.

    Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who led his party’s effort to push the health care issue forward, particularly challenged Republicans in competitive congressional districts to join if they really wanted to prevent steep premium increases for their constituents. Before Wednesday’s vote, he called on colleagues to “address the health care crisis in this country and make sure that tens of millions of people have the ability to go see a doctor when they need one.”

    Republican Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Robert Bresnahan and Ryan Mackenzie, all from Pennsylvania, and Lawler signed the Democrats’ petition, pushing it to the magic number of 218 needed to force a House vote. All four represent key swing districts whose races will help determine which party takes charge of the House next year.

    Johnson, R-La., had discussed allowing more politically vulnerable GOP lawmakers a chance to vote on bills that would temporarily extend the subsidies while also adding changes such as income caps for beneficiaries. But after days of discussions, the leadership sided with the more conservative wing of the party’s conference, which has assailed the subsidies as propping up a failed program.

    Lawmakers turn to discharge petitions to show support for an action and potentially force a vote on the House floor, but they are rarely successful. This session of Congress has proven an exception.

    A vote requiring the Department of Justice to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, for instance, occurred after Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., introduced a petition on the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The signature effort was backed by all House Democrats and four Republicans.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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