News - Friday, May 30, 2025

For decades, the accounting industry has operated on a simple model: Licensed professionals founded certified public accountant (CPA) firms, operated them as partnerships and passed them down through internal succession as founding partners retired.

Many years before Trip Farmer became a partner at HHM Certified Public Accountants in Chattanooga, he learned the value not just of a dollar – but of a dollar sensibly invested.

The casual reader might assume the young Farmer followed a timeless entrepreneurial rite of passage, such as saving his allowance to buy a lawnmower, then spending summer vacations tending neighbors’ yards.

HHM CPAs partner Trip Farmer considers reading an essential part of his growth – both personally and professionally. In this list, he shares four books that have shaped his thinking around productivity and self-improvement along with others he recommends simply for the enjoyment they bring.

In recent months, there’s been much public discussion regarding the federal courts, especially the United States Supreme Court. Much of the discussion has been about controversial decisions, ethical rules and judicial temperament. Sometimes underlying these discussions are common misperceptions about the roles and responsibilities of federal chief judges and of the chief justice of the United States.

Every member of our board brings a unique story, skill set and heart for service to Greater Chattanooga Realtors. This week, I’m proud to shine the spotlight on Director Robert Baker, whose diverse career path spanning finance, international marketing, ministry and academia has profoundly shaped how he approaches real estate and leadership.

After nearly three decades of service, Chattanooga Fire Chief Phil Hyman has announced his retirement, effective this July.

Hyman joined the Chattanooga Fire Department in the 1990s and steadily rose through the ranks – first as a lieutenant, then as a captain, battalion chief and training chief. He was appointed fire chief in 2017.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Research Institute’s Center for Urban Informatics and Progress has secured a $500,000 grant to lead two innovative transportation safety projects, further solidifying the city’s role as a national leader in smart mobility and urban innovation.

You should always be able to ask as many questions as you’d like when working with your financial adviser. So, before you have your annual review, think carefully about what you’d like to ask.

Here are a few suggestions:

• Are my goals still realistic? When you first began working with your financial adviser, you may well have articulated several financial goals. For example, you might have said that you wanted to pay for most of your children’s college education, or that you’d like to retire at age 55, or that you hope to travel internationally every year during retirement. In fact, you could have many different goals for which you’re saving and investing.

A bit of trivia here for openers: What is the official state question of New Mexico, as designated by its legislature?

Answer: Red or green? (Explanation to come.)

This is by way of introduction to the Land of Enchantment, which recently became the 36th of these United States that I’ve visited. There’s no plan to hit all 50 – Who needs Idaho or the Dakotas? Why Wyoming? – but for a short, two-and-a-half-hour jump from BNA, New Mexico promised a very un-Tennessee experience.

What seemed a near lock last month became more precarious down the stretch of the regular season. But in the end, the Tennessee baseball team still managed to receive a national seed in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championships.

The Vols are the No. 14 seed and will begin their national title defense at Lindsey Nelson Stadium Friday at 6 p.m. ET against Miami (Ohio) in the double-elimination format. Wake Forest and Cincinnati are the other teams in the Knoxville Regional.

The week of Memorial Day has long been one of the busiest times of year for car dealerships. Many car shoppers decide to pull the trigger on that long-considered purchase because of the major sales promotions and the symbolic start of summer. But things are a little different this year.

Between collections resuming, courts blocking student loan programs and layoffs at the Department of Education, borrowers might be confused about the status of their student loans.

Recently, the Department of Education announced it would start involuntary collections on defaulted loans, meaning the roughly 5.3 million borrowers who are in default could have their wages garnished by the federal government.

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — A new supercomputer named after a winner of the Nobel Prize in chemistry will help power artificial intelligence technology and scientific discoveries from a perch in the hills above the University of California, Berkeley, federal officials said Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Frayed by tariff wars and political battles, the academic ties between the U.S. and China are now facing their greatest threat yet as the Trump administration promises to revoke visas for an unknown number of Chinese students and tighten future visa screening.

More than $14 billion in clean energy investments in the U.S. have been canceled or delayed this year, according to an analysis released Thursday, as President Donald Trump's pending megabill has raised fears over the future of domestic battery, electric vehicle and solar and wind energy development.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court on Thursday allowed President Donald Trump to continue collecting tariffs under an emergency powers law for now, as his administration appeals an order striking down the bulk of his signature set of economic policies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A little-known federal court threw a giant monkey wrench into a foundational part of President Donald Trump's economic agenda by striking down most of the sweeping tariffs he has imposed since taking office.

The Court of International Trade, based in New York, on late Wednesday said that Trump had overstepped his authority by using a 1977 law, the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, to justify tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China, and more than 50 other nations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has audaciously claimed virtually unlimited power to bypass Congress and impose sweeping taxes on foreign products.

Now a federal court has thrown a roadblock in his path.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled Wednesday that Trump overstepped his authority when he invoked the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to declare a national emergency and plaster taxes – tariffs – on imports from almost every country in the world.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department on Thursday notified Congress of an updated reorganization of the massive agency, proposing cuts to programs beyond what had previously been revealed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and a steeper 18% reduction of staff in the U.S.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Ella Parker hit a three-run, walk-off homer to lift Oklahoma to a 4-3 win over Tennessee on Thursday in the Women's College World Series opener for both teams.

NEW YORK (AP) — Taylor Swift has regained control over her entire body of work.

In a lengthy note posted to her official website on Friday, Swift announced: "All of the music I've ever made now belongs to me."

MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The Southeastern Conference is ratcheting up penalties on schools whose fans storm the field or rush the court, doing away with an escalating fine system and now charging $500,000 per incident.

"The motivation was 'field rushing is field rushing, the first time or the 18th time,'" commissioner Greg Sankey said Thursday in announcing the decision. "The random nature of, if you're the one getting rushed, it doesn't feel good. It might be the first time (it happened) there, but it might be your sixth time in a row, literally."

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday again cleared the way for the Trump administration to strip temporary legal protections from hundreds of thousands of immigrants for now, pushing the total number of people who could be newly exposed to deportation to nearly 1 million.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department has formally moved to dismiss a criminal fraud charge against Boeing and has asked a judge to cancel an upcoming trial connected to two plane crashes that killed 346 people off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia, according to court documents filed Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An information technology specialist for the Defense Intelligence Agency was charged Thursday with attempting to transmit classified information to a representative of a foreign government, the Justice Department said.

Prosecutors say Nathan Vilas Laatsch, 28, of Alexandria, Virginia, was arrested at a location where he had arranged to deposit sensitive records to a person he thought was an official of a foreign government, but who was actually an undercover FBI agent. The identity of the country Laatsch thought he was in communication with was not disclosed, but the Justice Department described it as a friendly, or allied, nation.

LONDON (AP) — Actor and comedian Russell Brand pleaded not guilty in a London court Friday to rape and sexual assault charges involving four women dating back more than 25 years.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Homeowners eager to sell may have to wait a while before a buyer comes along.

As of April, the U.S. housing market had nearly 34% more sellers than buyers shopping for a home, according to an analysis by Redfin.

Aside from April 2020, when the pandemic brought the economy and home sales activity to a standstill, there haven't been this few buyers in the market for a home before, based on records that date back to 2013.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House will fix errors in a much-anticipated federal government report spearheaded by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which decried America's food supply, pesticides and prescription drugs.

Scientists say 4 billion people, about half the world's population, experienced at least one extra month of extreme heat because of human-caused climate change from May 2024 to May 2025.

The extreme heat caused illness, death, crop losses, and strained energy and health care systems, according to the analysis from World Weather Attribution, Climate Central and the Red Cross.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A key U.S. inflation gauge slowed last month as President Donald Trump's tariffs have yet to noticeably push up prices. Spending by Americans slowed despite rising incomes, potentially an early reaction to higher prices on some imported goods.

NEW YORK (AP) — Businesses rattled by President Donald Trump's on again, off again tariffs absorbed more jolts on Thursday after a U.S. appeals court temporarily blocked a federal court order that would have halted most of his taxes on foreign imports.

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed determination Thursday to defend rules-based, free and multilateral trade systems and work on expanding the main Asia-Pacific trade group at a time of tension over U.S. tariffs.

"High tariffs will not bring economic prosperity," Ishiba told a global forum in Tokyo. "A prosperity built on sacrifices by someone or another country will not make a strong economy." Japan seeks to work with the U.S. on investment, job creation and manufacturing high quality products for the prosperity of America and the rest of the world, he said.

NEW YORK (AP) — Elon Musk is leaving Washington after a short but turbulent stint in government and getting back to his numerous businesses, each with their own set of issues for the billionaire to address.

Start with his electric car company Tesla. While how much Musk accomplished in his role as President Donald Trump's chief cost-cutter is up for debate, it's clear his association with right-wing politics damaged Tesla's brand and tanked sales.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — President Donald Trump is holding a rally in Pennsylvania on Friday to celebrate a details-to-come deal for Japan-based Nippon Steel to invest in U.S. Steel, which he says will keep the iconic American steelmaker under U.S.-control.

SINGAPORE (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron warned the United States and a large audience of Indo-Pacific nations on Friday night that they risk a dangerous double standard as they concentrate on a potential conflict with China, if that shift comes at the cost of abandoning Ukraine.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is investigating after elected officials, business executives and other prominent figures in recent weeks received messages from someone impersonating Susie Wiles, President Donald Trump's chief of staff.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Once again, President Donald Trump's biggest policy plans were stopped in their tracks.

On Wednesday, an obscure but powerful court in New York rejected the legal foundation of Trump's most sweeping tariffs, finding that Trump could not use a 1977 law to declare a national emergency on trade imbalances and fentanyl smuggling to justify a series of import taxes that have unsettled the world. Reordering the global economy by executive fiat was an unconstitutional end-run around Congress' powers, the three-judge panel of Trump, Obama and Reagan appointees ruled in a scathing rebuke of Trump's action.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Homeland Security is putting more than 500 "sanctuary jurisdictions" across the country on notice that the Trump administration views them as obstructing immigration enforcement as it attempts to increase pressure on communities it believes are standing in the way of the president's mass deportations agenda.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk arrived in the nation's capital with the chain saw-wielding swagger of a tech titan who had never met a problem he couldn't solve with lots of money, long hours or a well-calibrated algorithm.

President Donald Trump was delighted to have the world's richest person — and a top campaign donor — working in his administration, talking about how he was "a smart guy" who "really cares for our country."

WASHINGTON (AP) — The agency tasked with carrying out President Donald Trump's mass deportation campaign is undergoing a major staff reorganization.

In a news release Tuesday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced leadership changes at the department tasked with finding, arresting and removing immigrants who no longer have the right to be in the country as well as at the agency's investigative division.

NEW YORK (AP) — As he crisscrossed the country in 2024, Donald Trump pledged to supporters that voting him back into the presidency would be "our final battle."

"With you at my side, we will demolish the deep state," he said repeatedly on the campaign trail. "We will liberate our country from these tyrants and villains once and for all."

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday again cleared the way for the Trump administration to strip temporary legal protections from hundreds of thousands of immigrants for now, pushing the total number of people who could be newly exposed to deportation to nearly 1 million.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Google returned to federal court Friday to fend off the U.S. Justice Department's attempt to topple its internet empire at the same time it's navigating a pivotal shift to artificial intelligence that could undercut its power.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Since coming from China as a teenager for boarding school, Bob Zeng has imagined building a career in the United States. But as he prepared to graduate Thursday from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, it felt like the last chapter of his life in America.

Nearly four dozen people in 18 states have been sickened in an expanding outbreak of salmonella food poisoning tied to recalled cucumbers sent to restaurants, hospitals, cruise ships and grocery stores, including Target stores, federal health officials said Friday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday that he will no longer be "Mr. NICE GUY" with China on trade, declaring in a social media post that the country had broken an agreement with the United States.

Hours later, Trump said in the Oval Office that he will speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping and "hopefully we'll work that out," while still insisting China had violated the agreement.

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street closed its winning week and month with a quiet Friday following a mixed set of profit reports from Gap, Ulta Beauty and other companies navigating the challenges created by President Donald Trump's on-and-off tariffs.

The S&P 500 finished the day nearly unchanged after edging down by less than 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 54 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.3%.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's pick to lead a federal watchdog agency is a former right-wing podcast host who has praised criminally charged influencer Andrew Tate as a "extraordinary human being" and promoted the false claim that the 2020 election was rigged.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Ethan Eberle had 11 strikeouts, Eddie King Jr. and Alex Alicea had two RBIs apiece on Sunday night to help Louisville beat Wright State 6-0 to sweep the Nashville Regional.

Louisville advanced to the super regionals for the 10th time in program history, including five consecutive trips from 2013-17. The Cardinals had missed the postseason in three of the past four seasons, including each of the last two.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Griffen Paige gave up two runs on one hit across eight-plus innings, Boston Smith and Luke Arnold hit back-to-back homers early, and Wright State held off Vanderbilt in the ninth to knock the No. 1 national seed out of the NCAA Tournament with a 5-4 victory in the Nashville Regional on Sunday.

KNOXVILLE (AP) — Wake Forest won its third straight elimination game at the Knoxville Regional, this time on a bases-loaded walk by Jack Winnay for a 7-6 victory over No. 14 national seed Tennessee on Sunday night.

Wake Forest (39-21) forced a deciding game on Monday against Tennessee, which is looking for its fifth consecutive super regional appearance. The Vols (45-17) had their 14-game win streak in regionals come to an end.

LEBANON (AP) — Ryan Blaney and Team Penske have been fast with his No. 12 Ford Mustang this year only to have races slip away when it mattered most.

Not Sunday night.

Blaney ran away down the stretch for his first Cup Series victory of the year Sunday night at Nashville Superspeedway, then he celebrated with a burnout in front of the roaring fans after what he called a rough year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider reviving a Republican challenge to an Illinois law that allows mail ballots to be counted if they are received up to two weeks after Election Day.

The justices will hear arguments in the fall over whether Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., and two former presidential electors have the legal right, or standing, to sue over the law in federal court. Lower federal courts ruled they lack standing.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A split Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a challenge to a state ban on assault weapons, semiautomatic rifles that are popular among gun owners and that have also been used in multiple mass shootings.

The majority did not explain its reasoning in turning down the case, as is typical. But three conservative justices on the nine-member court publicly noted their disagreement, and a fourth said he is skeptical that such bans are constitutional.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The sequence of events is familiar: A lower court judge blocks a part of President Donald Trump's agenda, an appellate panel refuses to put the order on hold while the case continues and the Justice Department turns to the Supreme Court.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Emery Eversoll and her mother shared a good laugh when Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that some autistic children will never write poems.

The 16-year-old's bedroom is full of notebooks featuring her prose. Sometimes, she quietly recites poetry to get through an outburst of anger. Her mother began suspecting she may have autism, in part, because she had memorized every word from a favorite book by age 2.

PARIS (AP) — Brigitte Bardot lounged barefoot on a Saint-Tropez beach, drawing languorous puffs from her cigarette. Another actor, Jean-Paul Belmondo, swaggered down the Champs-Élysées with smoke curling from his defiant lips, capturing a generation's restless rebellion.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Trump administration is sending three Cabinet members to Alaska this week as it pursues oil drilling in the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and reinvigorating a natural gas project that's languished for years.

The visit by Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin comes after Trump signed an executive order earlier this year aimed at boosting oil and gas drilling, mining and logging in Alaska. It also comes amid tariff talks with Asian countries that are seen as possible leverage for the administration to secure investments in the proposed Alaska liquefied natural gas project.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With predictions for a busy hurricane season beginning Sunday, experts in storms and disasters are worried about something potentially as chaotic as the swirling winds: Massive cuts to the federal system that forecasts, tracks and responds to hurricanes.

JINJA, Uganda (AP) — Simon Tigawalana dreamed for years of doing something about the dirt floors in his small house, blaming them for making his family sick. But in a rural area in one of the world's poorest countries, making them over with concrete was simply out of reach.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump faces the challenge of convincing Republican senators, global investors, voters and even Elon Musk that he won't bury the federal government in debt with his multitrillion-dollar tax breaks package.

The response so far from financial markets has been skeptical as Trump seems unable to trim deficits as promised.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China criticized the U.S. on Monday over moves it alleged harmed Chinese interests, including issuing AI chip export control guidelines, stopping the sale of chip design software to China, and planning to revoke Chinese student visas.

PARIS (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin is stalling at the peace table while preparing a new military offensive in Ukraine, two senior U.S. senators warned Sunday, arguing that the next two weeks could shape the future of a war that has already smashed cities, displaced millions and redrawn Europe's security map.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A widely anticipated list of " sanctuary jurisdictions" no longer appears on the Department of Homeland Security's website after receiving widespread criticism for including localities that have actively supported the Trump administration's hard-line immigration policies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said he is withdrawing the nomination of tech billionaire Jared Isaacman, an associate of Trump adviser Elon Musk, to lead NASA, saying he reached the decision after a "thorough review" of Isaacman's "prior associations."

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Katie Stewart hit a home run, Mac Morgan and Teagan Kavan combined on a 3-hitter and Texas defeated Tennessee 2-0 on Monday to reach the Women's College World Series championship series for the third time in four years.

GATLINBURG (AP) — Seven people, including two pedestrians, were injured in a multivehicle crash in the Tennessee tourist town of Gatlinburg on Sunday.

The accident occurred at about 4:20 p.m., when a minivan travelling through the middle of the pedestrian-heavy downtown area accelerated unexpectedly, striking a person in a crosswalk before colliding with several other vehicles, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol. One of the struck vehicles hit a roadside sign that fell and injured a second pedestrian. Five other people inside two different vehicles were injured as well.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear an appeal from a private prison company facing a lawsuit claiming immigration detainees were forced to work and paid a $1 a day in Colorado.

The GEO Group appealed to the high court after a judge refused to toss out the 2014 lawsuit saying the detainees had to perform both unpaid janitorial work and other jobs for little pay to supplement meager meals.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's administration on Monday renewed its request for the Supreme Court to clear the way for plans to downsize the federal workforce, while a lawsuit filed by labor unions and cities proceeds.

The high court filing came after an appeals court refused to freeze a California-based judge's order halting the cuts, which have been led by the Department of Government Efficiency.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A split Supreme Court on Monday rejected a pair of gun rights cases, though one conservative justice predicted the court would soon consider whether assault weapons bans are constitutional.

The majority did not explain its reasoning in turning down the cases over high-capacity magazines and state bans on guns like the AR-15, popular weapons that have also been used in mass shootings.

The U.S. approved a new COVID-19 vaccine made by Moderna late Friday but with limits on who can use it — not a replacement for the company's existing shot, but a second option.

The new vaccine, mNexspike, is a step toward next-generation coronavirus vaccines. It's made in a way that allows for a lower dose — a fifth of the dose of its current COVID-19 vaccine, Spikevax — by refining its immune target.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The explosive growth of the data centers needed to power America's fast-rising demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing platforms has spurred states to dangle incentives in hopes of landing an economic bonanza, but it's also eliciting pushback from lawmakers and communities.

BEIJING (AP) — China's factory activity contracted in May, according to an official survey released on Saturday, although the decline slowed from April as the country reached a deal with the U.S. to slash President Donald Trump's sky-high tariffs.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Many U.S. corporations this year stopped supporting Pride events that celebrate LGBTQ+ culture and rights, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in budget shortfalls ahead of the summer festivities and raising questions about corporate America's commitment to the cause.

KNOXVILLE (AP) — Manny Marin hit a two-out, three-run home run, and Andrew Fischer followed with a two-run shot in a seven-run fourth inning as No. 14 overall seed and defending champion Tennessee beat Wake Forest 11-5 on Monday night to win the Knoxville Regional.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Meta has cut a 20-year deal to secure nuclear power to help meet surging demand for artificial intelligence and other computing needs at Facebook's parent company.

The investment with Meta will also expand the output of a Constellation Energy Illinois nuclear plant.

LONDON (AP) — People in parts of the U.S. may be able to see Northern lights Monday night — or at least use a smartphone's camera to reveal hints of the aurora not visible to the naked eye.

Space weather forecasters issued a rare, severe solar storm alert on Sunday after the sun let out a huge burst of energy called a coronal mass ejection last week. Another one headed toward Earth on Monday could produce more aurora sightings and with it, more social media posts of the majestic spectacle.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. job openings rose unexpectedly in April, showing that the labor market remains resilient in the face of uncertainty arising from President Donald Trump's trade wars.

The Labor Department reported Tuesday that employers posted 7.4 million job vacancies in April, up from 7.2 million in March. Economists had expected openings to drift down to 7.1 million.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. economic growth will slow to 1.6% this year from 2.8% last year as President Donald Trump's erratic trade wars disrupt global commerce, drive up costs and leave businesses and consumers paralyzed by uncertainty.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development forecast Tuesday that the U.S. economy — the world's largest — will slow further to just 1.5% in 2026. Trump's policies have raised average U.S. tariff rates from around 2.5% when he returned to the White House to 15.4%, highest since 1938, according to the OECD. Tariffs raise costs for consumers and American manufacturers that rely on imported raw materials and components.

Dollar General set a quarterly sales record of $10.44 billion and upgraded its annual profit and sales outlook as Americans tighten their budgets and spend more at bargain stores and off-price retailers amid economic uncertainty.

The U.S. economy shrank at a 0.2% annual pace from January through March, the first drop in three years, as President Donald Trump's trade wars dented spending by businesses. Consumer spending slowed sharply.

NEW YORK (AP) — MrBeast plans to turn the success of his Amazon Prime Video reality competition series into millions of dollars for charity.

YouTube's biggest creator is offering an exclusive weekend on the set of Beast Games Season 2 to the first 40 donors who make $100,000 gifts to his registered nonprofit. The earliest contributors and up to two guests each will spend June 27-29 touring MrBeast's North Carolina studio, hearing from the production team in a private Q&A and visiting Beast Philanthropy's food pantry.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have made it a priority this year to require people to prove citizenship before they can register to vote. Turning that aspiration into reality has proved difficult.

Trump's executive order directing a documentary, proof-of-citizenship requirement for federal elections has been blocked by a judge, while federal legislation to accomplish it doesn't appear to have the votes to pass in the Senate. At the same time, state-level efforts have found little success, even in places where Republicans control the legislature and governor's office.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former Homeland Security official during President Donald Trump's first administration who authored an anonymous op-ed sharply critical of the president is calling on independent government watchdogs to investigate after Trump ordered the department to look into his government service.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday appeared to undercut a proposal that was offered by his special envoy to Iran, saying he will insist that Tehran fully dismantle its nuclear enrichment program as part of any deal to ease crushing sanctions.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Romanian citizen pleaded guilty on Monday to engaging in a plot to use "swatting" calls and bomb threats to intimidate and threaten dozens of people with bogus police emergencies, including a former U.S. president and several members of Congress.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal Bureau of Prisons must continue providing hormone therapy and social accommodations to hundreds of transgender inmates following an executive order signed by President Donald Trump that led to a disruption in medical treatment, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

As federal health officials vow to overhaul the U.S. food supply, they're taking a new look at infant formula.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has directed the Food and Drug Administration to review the nutrients and other ingredients in infant formula, which fills the bottles of millions of American babies. The effort, dubbed "Operation Stork Speed," is the first deep look at the ingredients since 1998.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump wants his "big, beautiful" bill of tax breaks and spending cuts on his desk to be signed into law by the Fourth of July, and he's pushing the slow-rolling Senate to make it happen sooner rather than later.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Trying to fix the offensive line was this offseason's top priority for the Tennessee Titans even before quarterback Cam Ward became the No. 1 overall pick.

Only four NFL teams allowed more sacks in the 2024 season than Tennessee and that was a reason why the Titans won only three games in coach Brian Callahan's debut season.

NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee appeals court on Tuesday upheld the constitutionality of a law passed by the state's Republican-controlled legislature to punish the Democratic-leaning city of Nashville by slashing the size of its council.

The 2023 law aims to cut Nashville's consolidated city-county governing council in half, from 40 members to 20. Although it was written to apply broadly statewide to both city and consolidated city-county governments, Nashville is the only Tennessee city meeting that definition with a council of more than 20 members.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Congressional Republicans are investigating Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell's response to federal immigration arrests during hundreds of traffic stops over several days in May.

Rep. Andy Ogles is leading the charge, pitting the Republican who represents part of the Democratic-leaning city against a progressive mayor who has criticized immigration officials after they arrested nearly 200 people in the greater Nashville area.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is dropping a lawsuit that it filed against White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, a case in which he was accused of using an unofficial email account for government work and wrongfully retaining presidential records during the first Trump administration, according to a Tuesday court filing.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Texas hospital that repeatedly sent a woman who was bleeding and in pain home without ending her nonviable, life-threatening pregnancy violated the law, according to a newly released federal investigation.

The government's findings, which have not been previously reported, were a small victory for 36-year-old Kyleigh Thurman, who ultimately lost part of her reproductive system after being discharged without any help from her hometown emergency room for her dangerous ectopic pregnancy.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it would revoke guidance to the nation's hospitals that directed them to provide emergency abortions for women when they are necessary to stabilize their medical condition.

That guidance was issued to hospitals in 2022, weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court upended national abortion rights in the U.S. It was an effort by the Biden administration to preserve abortion access for extreme cases in which women were experiencing medical emergencies and needed an abortion to prevent organ loss or severe hemorrhaging, among other serious complications.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ford is recalling nearly half a million older Explorer models because part of the door trim can detach while driving and cause a dangerous road hazard, U.S. auto safety regulators said Wednesday.

A notice posted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the recall covers 492,145 Ford Explorers, model years 2016-2017. The vehicles were produced between June 11, 2015 and April 19, 2017.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Top Trump administration officials — fresh off touring one of the country's largest oil fields in the Alaska Arctic — headlined an energy conference led by the state's Republican governor on Tuesday that environmentalists criticized as promoting new oil and gas drilling and turning away from the climate crisis.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Smoke from Canadian wildfires carried another day of poor air quality south of the border to the Midwest, where conditions in parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan were rated "very unhealthy" Tuesday.

The fires have forced more than 27,000 Canadians in three provinces to flee their homes, and the smoke has even reached Europe.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Reserve said Tuesday that Wells Fargo is no longer subject to harsh restraints the Fed placed on the bank in 2018 for having a toxic sales and banking culture.

It's a win for Wells Fargo, which has spent nearly a decade trying to convince the public and policymakers that it had changed its ways.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump hiked nearly all of his tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to a punishing 50% on Wednesday in a move that's set to hammer businesses from automakers to home builders, and likely push up prices for consumers even further.

PARIS (AP) — Europe and the United States say progress has been made but there were no breakthroughs during a meeting in Paris to negotiate a settlement of a tense tariff spat with worldwide economic ramifications between two global economic powerhouses.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany's new government on Wednesday launched a package of tax breaks and eventual tax cuts for companies, moving to encourage investment as it tries to give new momentum to an economy that has shrunk for the past two years and is expected to stagnate this year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's big bill making its way through Congress will cut taxes by $3.75 trillion but also increase deficits by $2.4 trillion over the next decade, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Senior officials from almost 50 nations gathered Wednesday to drum up more weapons and ammunition for Ukraine, with the Pentagon's chief absent for the first time since the group organizing the military aid was set up three years ago.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Tuesday officially asked Congress to claw back $9.4 billion in already approved spending, taking funding away from programs targeted by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.

It's a process known as "rescission," which requires President Donald Trump to get approval from Congress to return money that had previously been appropriated. Trump's aides say the funding cuts target programs that promote liberal ideologies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to rename the USNS Harvey Milk, a highly rare move that will strip the ship of the moniker of a slain gay rights activist who served as a sailor during the Korean War.

U.S. officials say Navy Secretary John Phelan put together a small team to rename the replenishment oiler and that a new name is expected this month. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the next name had not yet been chosen.

Attorneys for two-time Southeastern Conference defensive player of the year Zakai Zeigler accuse the NCAA of trying to dodge facts and law by asking a federal judge to deny the Tennessee point guard's preliminary injunction seeking to play a fifth season in as many years.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to block President Donald Trump's administration from implementing an executive order that Democratic Party officials claim could undermine the independence of the Federal Election Commission.

To attract the brightest minds to America, President Donald Trump proposed a novel idea while campaigning: If elected, he would grant green cards to all foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges.

"It's so sad when we lose people from Harvard, MIT, from the greatest schools," Trump said during a podcast interview last June. "That is going to end on Day One."

Childhood vaccination rates against measles fell in the years after the COVID-19 pandemic in nearly 80% of the more than 2,000 U.S. counties with available data — including in states that are battling outbreaks this year.

A Johns Hopkins University study, published in JAMA this week, illustrates where more vulnerable communities are located. The results mirror trends established at state and national levels: Routine childhood vaccination rates are dropping.

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street's big recent rally lost some momentum on Wednesday following a pair of potentially discouraging reports on the economy.

The S&P 500 finished the day virtually unchanged and remained 2.8% below its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 91 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.3%.

HAMLET, N.C. (AP) — Amazon plans to invest $10 billion toward building a campus in North Carolina to expand its cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure, bringing a massive shot in the arm to a region where many textile and apparel jobs dried up a generation ago.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Labor Department has cut back on the inflation data it collects because of the Trump administration's government hiring freeze, raising concerns among economists about the quality of the inflation figures just as they are being closely watched for the impact of tariffs.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff plan would cut deficits by $2.8 trillion over a 10-year period while shrinking the economy, raising the inflation rate and reducing the purchasing power of households overall, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the Congressional Budget Office.

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump's doubling of tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum could hit Americans in an unexpected place: grocery aisles.

The staggering 50% levies on those imports took effect Wednesday, stoking fear that big-ticket purchases from cars to washing machines to houses could see major price increases. But those metals are so ubiquitous in packaging, they're likely to pack a punch across consumer products from soup to nuts.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's big bill in Congress would unleash trillions in tax cuts and slash spending, but also spike deficits by $2.4 trillion over the decade and leave some 10.9 million more people without health insurance, raising the political stakes for the GOP's signature domestic priority.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A small government office with some 275 employees has found itself caught in the political crossfire as Congress debates President Donald Trump's "one big beautiful bill."

The Congressional Budget Office has projected that the legislation would increase federal deficits by about $2.4 trillion over 10 years. That's a problem for a Republican Congress that has spent much of the past four years criticizing former President Joe Biden and Democrats for the nation's rising debt levels.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin told him "very strongly" in a phone call Wednesday that he will respond to Ukraine's weekend drone attack on Russian airfields as the deadlock over the war drags on and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismisses Russia's ceasefire proposal.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. fell this week for the first time in a month, but borrowing costs for homebuyers remain elevated.

The long-term rate dipped to 6.85% from 6.89% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.99%.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A unanimous Supreme Court made it easier Thursday to bring lawsuits over so-called reverse discrimination, siding with an Ohio woman who claims she didn't get a job and then was demoted because she is straight.

The justices' decision affects lawsuits in 20 states and the District of Columbia where, until now, courts had set a higher bar when members of a majority group, including those who are white and heterosexual, sue for discrimination under federal law.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a $10 billion lawsuit Mexico filed against top firearm manufacturers in the U.S. alleging the companies' business practices have fueled tremendous cartel violence and bloodshed.

The unanimous ruling tossed out the case under U.S. laws that largely shield gunmakers from liability when their firearms are used in crime.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court decided Thursday that a Catholic charity doesn't have to pay Wisconsin unemployment taxes, one of a set of religious-rights cases the justices are considering this term.

The unanimous ruling comes in a case filed by the Catholic Charities Bureau, which says the state violated the First Amendment's religious freedom guarantee when it required the organization to pay the tax while exempting other faith groups.

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A judge on Wednesday barred a major U.S. private prison operator from housing immigrants facing possible deportation in a shuttered Kansas City area detention center unless it can get a permit from frustrated city officials.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that the Trump administration must give more than 100 migrants sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador a chance to challenge their deportations.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg said that people who were sent to the prison in March under an 18th-century wartime law haven't been able to formally contest the removals or allegations that they are members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. He ordered the administration to work toward giving them a way to file those challenges.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The efforts by President Donald Trump's administration to prevent Harvard University from enrolling international students have struck at the core of the Ivy League school's identity and unsettled current and prospect students around the world.

A private lunar lander from Japan is closing in on the moon, aiming for a touchdown in the unexplored far north with a mini rover.

The moon landing attempt by Tokyo-based company ispace on Friday Japan time is the latest entry in the rapidly expanding commercial lunar rush.

When the head of the Environmental Protection Agency announced a wide-ranging rollback of environmental regulations, he said it would put a "dagger through the heart of climate-change religion" and introduce a "Golden Age" for the American economy.

The Environmental Protection Agency under President Donald Trump has served notice it wants to back away from at least 30 major rules that seek to protect air and water and reduce emissions that cause climate change. The agency's administrator, Lee Zeldin, says doing so would mean a new "golden age" for America.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is tapping an Air Force fighter pilot with extensive experience as a senior commander in the Middle East to be the next head of U.S. European Command.

Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, currently the director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, would also take over as the supreme allied commander, Europe, if his nomination is confirmed by the Senate. NATO's North Atlantic Council in a statement Thursday said it approved Grynkewich's nomination as SACEUR.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Army leaders on Wednesday defended spending as much as $45 million to add a parade to the service's 250th birthday celebration on June 14 in Washington, saying it will help boost recruitment, as Congress members argued that the money could be better spent on troops' barracks or other priorities.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Filings for U.S. unemployment benefits rose to their highest level in eight months last week but remain historically low despite growing uncertainty about how tariffs could impact the broader economy.

New applications for jobless benefits rose by 8,000 to 247,000 for the week ending May 31, the Labor Department said Thursday. That's the most since early October. Analysts had forecast 237,000 new applications.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank cut its benchmark interest rate for an eighth time, aiming to support businesses and consumers with more affordable borrowing as U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war threatens to slow already tepid growth.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia "fight for a while" before pulling them apart and pursuing peace.

In an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump likened the war in Ukraine — which Russia invaded in early 2022 — to a fight between two young children who hated each other.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The breakup between the president of the United States and the world's richest man is unfurling much like their relationship started — rapidly, intensely and very publicly.

As President Donald Trump sat in the Oval Office on Thursday with Germany's leader at his side, he lamented his soured relationship with Elon Musk, his adviser-turned-social media antagonist. Trump said he was "very disappointed" with Musk after the billionaire former backer lambasted the president's signature bill of tax cuts and spending plans.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The staff was already jittery.

The raiders from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency had disposed of the U.S. Institute of Peace board, its acting president and its longtime outside counsel. But until 9:30 p.m. on March 28, there was hope the damage might be limited.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Governments of 12 countries whose citizens will be banned from visiting the United States beginning next week scrambled Thursday to understand President Donald Trump's latest move to resurrect a hallmark policy of his first term.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that his first call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping since returning to office was "very positive," announcing that the two countries will hold trade talks in hopes of breaking an impasse over tariffs and global supplies of rare earth minerals.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Germany's new leader is meeting President Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday as he works to keep the U.S. on board with Western support for Ukraine, help defuse trade tensions that pose a risk to Europe's biggest economy and further bolster his country's long-criticized military spending.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Only six months into the job, Senate Majority Leader John Thune faces a massive challenge as he tries to quickly push President Donald Trump's sprawling tax and spending cuts package to passage with the support of a divided GOP conference.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday directed his administration to investigate Joe Biden's actions as president, alleging aides masked his predecessor's "cognitive decline" and casting doubts on the legitimacy of his use of the autopen to sign pardons and other documents.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday resurrected a hallmark policy of his first term, announcing that citizens of 12 countries would be banned from visiting the United States and those from seven others would face restrictions.

The ban takes effect Monday at 12:01 a.m., a cushion that may avoid the chaos that unfolded at airports nationwide when a similar measure took effect with virtually no notice in 2017. Trump, who signaled plans for a new ban upon taking office in January, appears to be on firmer ground this time after the Supreme Court sided with him.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is moving to block nearly all foreign students from entering the country to attend Harvard University, his latest attempt to choke the Ivy League school from an international pipeline that accounts for a quarter of the student body.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration appointee overseeing the Voice of America has outlined job cuts that would reduce employment at the state-run news organization from over 1,000 people to 81.

The Voice of America, which has delivered news to countries all over the world for the better part of a century, has been largely silent for two months following an executive order by President Donald Trump. He believes Voice of America, and similar organizations like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, have reported with a liberal bias.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge is weighing a request from the Trump administration to unseal records of the FBI's surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr. — files that the civil rights leader's relatives want to keep under wraps in the national archives.