WASHINGTON (AP) — Hopes for a quick end to the government shutdown are fading. Democrats have refused to budge in a Senate vote. President Donald Trump is readying plans to unleash layoffs and cuts across the federal government. On the third day of the shutdown, another Senate vote to advance a Republican bill that would…… MORE
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s Democratic governor has signed into law a criminal justice measure pushed by the Republican-controlled legislature in response to the stabbing death of a Ukrainian refugee on a Charlotte train. While Gov. Josh Stein criticized portions of the bill on Friday, his signature still affirms in law the actions of…… MORE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says he ordered another strike on a small boat he accused of carrying drugs off Venezuela. It expands what the Trump administration has declared is an “armed conflict” with cartels. In a social media post Friday, Hegseth asserted that the “vessel was trafficking narcotics” and those aboard were…… MORE
BROADVIEW, Ill. (AP) — Federal agents have detained several people near an immigration facility outside Chicago. This facility has been a frequent target for protesters since President Donald Trump’s administration’s surge on immigration enforcement this fall. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited the Broadview processing center on Friday as demonstrators gathered for a weekly show…… MORE
CHICAGO (AP) — White House budget director Russ Vought says the Trump administration will withhold $2.1 billion for Chicago infrastructure projects, expanding funding fights that have targeted Democratic areas during the government shutdown. The pause affects a long-awaited plan to extend the city’s Red Line train. Vought wrote on social media Friday the money was…… MORE