By BRUCE SCHREINER

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The scramble to fill Mitch McConnell’s Senate seat in Kentucky began as soon as the long-serving Republican lawmaker revealed he won’t seek reelection in 2026.

Former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron jumped into the campaign Thursday, looking for a political comeback after losing his bid for governor in 2023. Elsewhere in the GOP, U.S. Rep. Andy Barr signaled he would announce his plans soon and said he’s been encouraged by his support as he considers a Senate run. Businessman Nate Morris has signaled his strong interest in the Senate race, too.

Another prominent Kentucky Republican, U.S. Rep. James Comer, will not run for the Senate next year but is “strongly considering” a run for governor in 2027, a Comer spokesman said.

Although the prize is a Senate seat that will be open for the first time in more than 40 years, leading Kentucky Democrats did not rush to embrace the challenge in a state that has turned solidly Republican in recent years. The two Democrats holding statewide office — Gov. Andy Beshear and Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman — signaled Thursday that they won’t enter the Senate race.

McConnell announced to his Senate colleagues on Thursday that he will retire when his current seventh term ends.

The longest-serving Senate party leader in U.S. history, McConnell relinquished his leadership post after the November 2024 election. His departure will mark the loss of a powerful advocate who steered large amounts of federal money to Kentucky. But his popularity with Republicans back home sagged after his relationship with President Donald Trump cratered.

Some Kentuckians worried that his departure would mean a loss of influence for the state.

“Someone will serve in his seat, but they will not step into his shoes in terms of seniority that he has built as the longest-serving senator in Kentucky history,” GOP political consultant T.J. Litafik said.

A top legislative Democrat, state House Minority Floor Leader Pamela Stevenson, recently filed to raise money for the Senate race. She would become the state’s first Black U.S. senator if she were to win.

Whoever wins the Democratic nomination won’t have history on their side. The last Democrat to win a Senate race in the Bluegrass State was Wendell Ford in 1992.

Meanwhile, jockeying on the Republican side after McConnell’s announcement previewed what looks to be a bumpy primary. Sniping began after Cameron signaled his Senate intentions by posting on X: “Kentucky, it’s time for a new generation of leadership in the U.S. Senate. Let’s do this.”

That provoked a bare-knuckled response from Barr’s camp. Barr spokesman Tyler Staker said Cameron had “embarrassed” Trump and the GOP by losing the governor’s race to Beshear. Staker added the party needs “proven winners,” perhaps foreshadowing Barr’s pitch for a coveted Trump endorsement.

Cameron, who also would become the state’s first Black U.S. senator if he won, fired back, saying, “You get outside of his district, nobody knows who Andy Barr is.”

Cameron told The Associated Press that he’s in the race to succeed his one-time mentor, having formerly worked as McConnell’s legal counsel. He has been planning a political comeback since his defeat in 2023. He said his values align with Kentucky voters and touted his support for Trump.

“Serving in the Senate, I’m going to make sure I stand up for the ‘America First’ agenda and the values of Kentucky,” Cameron told the AP in a phone interview Thursday evening.

A presidential endorsement, if it’s forthcoming, could tip the scales in bright red Kentucky.

“If Trump endorses, it would likely — very likely — be determinative,” said Scott Jennings, a Republican political strategist. “His influence in the party is unquestionable and Kentucky Republicans would respond to his judgment for sure.”

Things could change, of course. The party in the White House typically loses ground in midterm elections. A downward shift in the economy or any negative impact of tariffs on bourbon and other Kentucky-made products could diminish the value of Trump’s endorsement with some Kentuckians. Republicans in Washington are weighing potential cuts to Medicaid, a health care lifeline for many people in Kentucky.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said the now-open Kentucky Senate seat in 2026 would create “an additional defensive headache” for national Republicans.

Trump has previous ties with both Cameron and Barr. He endorsed Cameron’s run for governor about 11 months before the 2023 gubernatorial primary. Cameron never looked back in winning the nomination but lost to Beshear, who won a second term. In 2018, Trump gave Barr a boost by campaigning for him when the congressman faced a tough Democratic challenge in a closely watched House race.

Meanwhile, Morris has cast himself as a political outsider. While Cameron and Barr jockeyed behind the scenes while awaiting McConnell’s decision on the 2026 race, Morris bluntly said it was time for McConnell to retire. He ripped into the senator for opposing a trio of Trump nominations, and accused his potential GOP rivals of lacking the backbone to speak out about the McConnell votes.

“Anyone afraid to upset the establishment will undoubtedly be too cowardly to deliver real, conservative results for the American people,” Morris said in a recent Kentucky newspaper op-ed.

BERLIN (AP) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance has criticized Germany’s free speech laws during an appearance at a conservative gathering outside Washington, linking the country’s limits against hate speech to American troops stationed there.

German law sets restrictions on free speech, including the long-standing ban on Holocaust denial and any glorification of the country’s Nazi past.

The limits are an effort to curb extremism and incitement, and have led to authorities policing the internet for hate speech and arresting the people allegedly posting, and reposting, such comments.

“There are thousands upon thousands of American troops in Germany today. Do you think that the American taxpayer is going to stand for that, if you get thrown in jail in Germany for posting a mean tweet? Of course they’re not,” Vance told activists gathered Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

There are nearly 84,000 U.S. service members in the European Theater, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. The figure fluctuates, however, and has increased since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war on Feb. 24, 2022.

The U.S. military is stationed throughout Germany, according to U.S. European Command, including at Ramstein Air Base. A count of U.S. service members in Germany wasn’t immediately available on Friday.

Vance’s remarks followed his speech earlier this month at the Munich Security Conference, where he lectured European leaders about the state of democracy and free speech across the continent. His comments were met with rebukes from multiple European leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

“Obviously we’re going to continue to have important alliances with Europe,” Vance told CPAC moderator Mercedes Schlapp. “But I really do think the strength of those alliances is doing to depend on whether we take our societies in the right direction.”

Vance then claimed that “Germany’s entire defense is subsidized by the American taxpayers.”

By LAURAN NEERGAARD and MICHAEL CASEY

BOSTON (AP) — A court battle resumed Friday over the Trump administration’s drastic cuts in medical research funding that many scientists say will endanger patients and delay new lifesaving discoveries.

A federal judge in Massachusetts temporarily blocked the cuts from taking effect earlier this month in response to separate lawsuits filed by a group of 22 states plus organizations representing universities, hospitals and research institutions nationwide.

The new National Institutes of Health policy would strip research groups of hundreds of millions of dollars to cover so-called indirect expenses of studying Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease and a host of other illnesses — anything from clinical trials of new treatments to basic lab research that is the foundation for discoveries. Now U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, must decide whether to extend the temporary restraining order blocking those cuts.

The states and research groups say such a move is illegal, pointing to bipartisan congressional action during President Donald Trump’s first term to prohibit it.

“Yet here we are again,” attorneys argued in a court motion, saying the NIH is “in open defiance” of what Congress decreed.

Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington state, tried unsuccessfully to block the NIH cut during an overnight Senate budget debate, saying it “violates bipartisan appropriations law. I should know, I helped author that provision. And Republicans should know – they worked with me to pass it.”

In court Friday, Trump administration attorney Brian Lea argued the issue is “broad discretion power of the executive branch” in how to allocate funds.

The administration also claims Kelley’s courtroom isn’t the proper venue to arbitrate claims of breach of contract and that states and researchers haven’t shown the cuts will cause “an irreparable injury.”

The NIH, the main funder of biomedical research, awarded about $35 billion in grants to research groups last year. The total is divided into “direct” costs – covering researchers’ salaries and laboratory supplies – and “indirect” costs, the administrative and facility costs needed to support that work.

The Trump administration had dismissed those expenses as “overhead” but universities and hospitals argue they’re far more critical. They can include such things as electricity to operate sophisticated machinery, hazardous waste disposal, staff who ensure researchers follow safety rules and janitorial workers.

Different projects require different resources. Labs that handle dangerous viruses, for example, require more expensive safety precautions than a simpler experiment. So currently each grant’s amount of indirect costs is negotiated with NIH, some of them small while others reaching 50% or more of the total grant.

If the new policy stands, indirect costs would be capped at 15% immediately, for already awarded grants and new ones. NIH calculated that would save the agency $4 billion a year.

A motion filed earlier this week cited a long list of examples of immediate harm in blue states and red states. They included the possibility of ending some clinical trials of treatments at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, that could leave “a population of patients with no viable alternative.”

Officials at Johns Hopkins University were more blunt, saying the cut would end or require significantly scaling back research projects potentially including some of the 600 NIH-funded studies open to Hopkins patients.

“The care, treatments and medical breakthroughs provided to them and their families are not ‘overhead,’” university president Ron Daniels and Hopkins Medicine CEO Theodore DeWeese wrote to employees.

Attorneys also argued the cuts would harm state economies. The University of Florida would need to cut “critical research staffing” by about 45 people, while construction of a new research facility in Detroit expected to create nearly 500 new jobs could be paused or even abandoned, they wrote.

“Implementing this 15% cap will mean the abrupt loss of hundreds of millions of dollars that are already committed to employing tens of thousands of researchers and other workers, putting a halt to countless lifesaving health research and cutting-edge technology initiatives,” the lawsuit said.

Neergaard reported from Washington.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By MICHAEL CASEY

A federal judge will on Friday consider a request to further block President Donald Trump ’s administration from freezing trillions of dollars of grants and loans that fund everything from clean energy programs to bridge repairs to emergency shelters.

U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island, who already approved a temporary restraining order on the funding freeze, is hearing a request for a permanent injunction from nearly two dozen Democrat states. If approved, it would be the first order since the Trump administration announced a sweeping pause on federal aid, stirring up a wave of confusion and anxiety across the United States.

“The confusion caused by the Federal Funding Freeze itself constitutes immediate harm by impeding planning, wasting resources to mitigate potential impacts, and unnecessarily stopping work,” the states wrote. “Without the timely disbursement of this funding, the Plaintiff States will be unable to provide these essential services for residents, pay public employees, satisfy obligations, and carry on the important business of government.”

A second lawsuit over the funding freeze by groups representing thousands of nonprofits and small businesses is being heard by U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan in Washington, D.C. AliKhan is also considering a request to issue a preliminary injunction.

In their court documents in the Rhode Island case, the states listed a litany of programs that are still waiting for federal funds or some clarity on whether the money is going to be delivered.

The funding impacted includes billions of dollars that would fund rooftop solar power in low-income neighborhoods; billions of dollars that subsidize low- and moderate-income households’ purchase and installation of electric heat pump water heaters; billions of dollars for greenhouse gas reduction programs; and hundreds of millions of dollars for bridge projects, including $220 million in federal grant funding for the replacement of Rhode Island’s Washington Bridge, a critical span that nearly 100,000 vehicles each day.

Last month, the White House said it would temporarily halt federal funding to ensure that the payments complied with Trump’s orders barring diversity programs. The Republican president wants to increase fossil fuel production, remove protections for transgender people and end diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

The administration rescinded the memo outlining its planned funding freeze, but many state governments, universities and nonprofits have argued federal agencies continue to block funding for a range of programs.

Earlier this month, McConnell, who is based in Rhode Island and was nominated by President Barack Obama, ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze federal spending. Federal money remained tied up even after his Jan. 31 order blocking a planned halt on federal spending, he found.

“These pauses in funding violate the plain text of the (temporary restraining order),” McConnell wrote. “The broad categorical and sweeping freeze of federal funds is, as the Court found, likely unconstitutional and has caused and continues to cause irreparable harm to a vast portion of this country.”

The government argues its move to freeze funds is legal and says the request for a preliminary injunction is moot since the memo from the Office of Management and Budget has been rescinded. They also argue the states are exaggerating the impact of the freeze.

“Plaintiffs here seek to portray the Executive Branch’s actions in extreme terms, as imposing an indefinite pause on all federal funding,” the administration wrote. “In reality, this case is about something far more modest — the Executive’s ability to instruct agencies to temporarily pause discrete categories of funding, to the extent doing so is consistent with their underlying statutory authorities, to ensure that such funding aligns with a new Administration’s priorities.”

By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Billionaire Elon Musk appeared at a conservative gathering outside Washington waving a chainsaw in the air, showing openness to auditing the Federal Reserve and accusing Democrats of “treason.”

Musk, the Tesla CEO who has become perhaps President Donald Trump’s most influential adviser, spoke Thursday about his crusade to cut government spending and downsize the federal workforce with the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency.

The entrepreneur was first announced earlier that day as a speaker, drawing huge cheers from activists gathered at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Before his appearance, he met with Argentine President Javier Milei, who has been frequently praised by Musk and popularized the power tool while campaigning in 2023 and proposing slashing public spending.

After Musk appeared onstage, wearing shades and his trademark black “Make America Great Again” hat, he said Milei had a gift for him. The Argentine leader then walked onstage with the red chainsaw and passed it to Musk. The chainsaw was engraved with Milei’s slogan, “Viva la libertad, carajo,” which is Spanish for “Long live liberty, damn it.”

“This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy,” he said.

Musk slammed the previous Biden administration for its immigration policies, specifically naming an app that was used by nearly 1 million people to be allowed into the U.S. on two-year permits with eligibility to work. He accused Biden and Democrats of doing that as an “investment” to get more support in swing states.

“A lot of people don’t quite appreciate that this was an actual real scam at scale to tilt the scales of democracy in America,” Musk said before Newsmax host Rob Schmitt asked him, “Treason?”

Musk responded, “Treason.”

When Schmitt asked him if he would consider auditing the Federal Reserve, Musk responded, “Yeah, sure, while we’re at it.”

“Waste is pretty much everywhere,” Musk said.

The billionaire joked that Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has told him he is worried about his security and said he was open to ideas on how to improve his safety measures.

“President Bukele from El Salvador, who managed to put in prison like a hundred thousand murderous thugs, and he called me. ‘I am worried about your security,’” he said the Central American leader told him. “I’m like, ‘Dude, you are worried about my security?’”

When asked to describe what is like inside his mind, Musk replied: “My mind is a storm. It’s a storm.”

Steve Bannon, a popular Trump ally who once served as his chief strategist, followed Musk’s appearance and acknowledged he was not the evening’s top attraction as he took the stage to a far less enthusiastic reception.

“How did I draw the card to follow Elon Musk?” Bannon asked about a man he has frequently criticized as insufficiently loyal to Trump. “C’mon man! You bring out the world’s wealthiest guy, Superman. I’m supposed to follow it? I’m just a crazy Irishman!”

Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed from New York.

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and PAUL WISEMAN, AP Economics Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) — An idea first proposed on social media has bubbled up to the White House and received President Donald Trump’s enthusiastic endorsement: Take some of the savings from billionaire Elon Musk’s drive to cut government spending and return it to taxpayers.

“I love it,” Trump said late Wednesday on Air Force One, when asked about the proposal.

If Musk’s target of $2 trillion in spending cuts is achieved by next year, supporters of the idea say that about one-fifth of those funds could be distributed to taxpaying households in checks of about $5,000.

But before you start planning for a windfall, budget experts say such huge savings — nearly one-third of the federal government’s annual spending — are highly unlikely. And sending out a round of checks — similar to the stimulus payments distributed by Trump and then President Joe Biden during the pandemic — could fuel inflation, economists warn, though White House officials dismiss that concern.

With the annual budget deficit at $1.8 trillion last year and Trump proposing extensive tax cuts, there will also be significant pressure to use all the savings to reduce that deficit, rather than pass on part of it.

Here’s what to know about the proposal:

Where is this coming from?

James Fishback, founder of investment firm Azoria Partners which he launched at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, promoted the idea Tuesday on X, formerly known as Twitter, prompting Musk to respond that he would “check with the president.” Fishback said there have also been “behind the scenes” conversations about the issue with White House officials.

Musk has estimated that his Department of Government Efficiency has cut $55 billion so far — a tiny fraction of the $6.8 trillion federal budget. But DOGE’s public statements so far haven’t verified the presumed savings, and its claims that tens of millions of dead people are fraudulently receiving Social Security have been disproven.

Fishback supports having the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office determine how much DOGE saved. If DOGE cuts $500 billion by July 2026, he said, then the checks would be $1,250, rather than $5,000.

“We uncovered enormous waste, fraud and abuse,” Fishback said in an interview with The Associated Press. “And we are going to make good and pay restitution and then rewrite the social contract between the taxpayer and the federal government.”

Fishback supports sending out checks, rather than using all the money to reduce the deficit, because it would encourage Americans to seek out wasteful government spending “in their communities, and report it to DOGE.”

When am I going to get my check?

OK, let’s slow down. According to the proposal, DOGE must first complete its work, slated to be done by July 2026. Once that happens, one-fifth of any savings could be distributed later that year to the roughly 79 million households that pay income taxes. About 40% of Americans don’t pay such taxes, so they wouldn’t get a check.

How much can DOGE really save?

Color most economists and budget experts skeptical that its focus on “waste, fraud, and abuse” can actually reduce government spending by much. Budget-cutters from both parties have sought to eliminate “waste” — which doesn’t have much of a political constituency — for decades, with little success in reducing the deficit.

One of the biggest moves by the Trump administration so far has been to fire tens of thousands of government workers, but such changes aren’t likely to produce big savings.

“Only a small share of total spending goes to federal employees,” said Douglas Elmendorf, former director of the Congressional Budget Office. “The big money is in federal benefits and in federal taxes and those are not in DOGE’s purview.”

In November, John DiIulio Jr., a political scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, wrote in an essay for the Brookings Institution that “eliminating the entire federal civilian workforce would leave in place about 95% of all federal spending and the $34 trillion national debt.’’ DiIulio noted that government contractors and nonprofits that receive government funds now employ three times as many people as the federal government’s 2.2 million employees.

It’s also not clear how much in savings can be achieved without Congress codifying it in law.

“Firing someone doesn’t save money until Congress comes back and reduces the appropriation for that employee’s agency,” Elmendorf said. “If you fire somebody but leave the appropriation where it is, then … that money can be spent on something else. So DOGE can’t really achieve savings until there’s legislative change as well.”

Wouldn’t another round of government checks contribute to higher inflation?

Trump and his economists blame Biden’s $1,400 stimulus checks, distributed in the spring of 2021, for fueling the worst spike in inflation in four decades. Yet they maintain that sending checks stemming from reduced government spending wouldn’t boost inflation.

Kevin Hassett, director of the White House’s National Economic Council, said Thursday that since the money would have been spent by the government anyway, having it spent by consumers would be a wash. Biden and Trump’s stimulus checks during the pandemic were deficit-financed, which can be more inflationary.

But Ernie Tedeschi, director of economics at the Yale Budget Lab, and an economist in the Biden White House, said that more government checks are “the last thing we need economically right now.”

The U.S. unemployment rate is now much lower than in 2021, Tedeschi said, which means that businesses could struggle to hire enough workers to meet the additional demand created by a round of checks. Worker shortages can push up prices.

Yet some Democrats agree with Hassett, but for different reasons.

“I can’t imagine they’d be inflationary because I can’t imagine they’d be big enough,’’ said Elaine Kamarck, senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution.

Kamarck, who worked with Vice President Al Gore to cut government waste in the Clinton administration, dismissed the DOGE dividend as “ridiculous.”

“There’s no money there, and certainly not enough money to make a big contribution to taxpayers,” she said. “The guy just says things,” she added, referring to Musk.

Enbridge Energy's plans to build a protective tunnel around an aging pipeline that runs beneath a channel connecting two Great Lakes can continue, a Michigan appeals court ruled.

The state Public Service Commission properly issued permits for the $500 million project, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday in rejecting arguments from environmental groups and Native American tribes that commissioners failed to consider the overall need for the pipeline.

Tunnel would encase pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac

Enbridge wants to build a protective tunnel around a 4-mile (6-kilometer) section of its Line 5 pipeline that runs along the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac, which link Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Enbridge has been using the pipeline since 1953 to transport crude oil and natural gas liquids between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario.

Concerns about a potentially catastrophic spill in the straits have been building since 2017, when Enbridge officials revealed that engineers had known about gaps in the pipeline's coating in the straits since 2014. Fears of a spill escalated in 2018 when a boat anchor damaged the line.

Enbridge officials maintain that the line is structurally sound, but they still reached an agreement with then-Michigan Gov. Rick Snyders administration in 2018 that calls for the company to build the protective tunnel.

Environmental groups, tribes challenge state permits

The Michigan Public Service Commission issued state permits for the project in December 2023. Environmental groups including the Michigan Environmental Council and the National Wildlife Federation, along with the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Bay Mills Indian Community, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, and the Nottawseppi Huron band of the Potawatomi asked the appellate court last year to reverse the commission's decision.

The groups and the tribes alleged that the commission improperly considered only the public need for the tunnel rather than whether the entire pipeline as a whole is still necessary. They also argued the commission failed to adequately consider petroleum products' greenhouse gas impacts.

Court: Commission acted reasonably

The appellate court found that the commission issued a comprehensive opinion and acted reasonably. It said there was no basis for a reversal or to order the commission to revisit its decision.

David Scott, a senior attorney for the Environmental Law & Policy Center and the Michigan Climate Action Network, which are also plaintiffs in the case, said in an email that he was disappointed with the ruling and considering further moves. He didn't elaborate.

Environmental law firm Earthjustice represented the tribes in the case. Adam Ratchenski, an attorney with the firm, said that regardless of the appellate ruling, it was backwards and dangerous for the commission to approve the tunnel without truly considering whether Michigan residents need it.

Nobody wants their water poisoned or their property values torpedoed in order to keep Canadian oil and gas flowing through the Great Lakes, he said.

Enbridge spokesperson Ryan Duffy praised the appellate ruling, saying the tunnel will make a safe pipeline even safer.

The legal fight isn't over

The ruling Wednesday doesn't end the legal battle over the tunnel. Current Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, opposes the continued operation of Line 5 even if it's encased in a tunnel. Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a lawsuit in 2019 seeking to void the easement that allows the line to run beneath the straits. That case is pending in state court in Ingham County. A ruling could come any day.

Enbridge would still need a permit from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy as well as federal construction permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before construction could begin. Environmentalists fear that President Donald Trump's administration will fast-track that process after Trump declared a national energy emergency on his first day in office.

Some believe the Democratic Party's next savior is living here, huddled with family, in the relative obscurity of a small city on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Pete Buttigieg has yet to decide if that's a responsibility he wants.

For now, Buttigieg, the 43-year-old former U.S. transportation secretary, is discussing his future with party officials, labor leaders and top strategists. He must decide soon whether he wants to return to the national spotlight as a candidate in Michigan's U.S. Senate race or step aside to instead seek a much bigger role as his party's next presidential nominee.

Prominent allies believe Buttigieg cannot feasibly do both, even as others raise the comparison to Barack Obama, who was elected president just four years after becoming a U.S. senator.

I dont think you can run for Senate in 2026 and run for president in 2028 ... I would think that would be very, very hard," said Obama's former chief strategist David Axelrod, who met briefly with Buttigieg last week ahead of a joint appearance at the University of Chicago.

The Democratic Party may be hurting more at this moment than it was two decades ago, when voters turned to that first-term senator from Illinois over more established candidates to lead their comeback from the Bush years. Indeed, Democrats, demoralized and afraid, are crying out for strong new leadership with President Donald Trump and his allies, notably Elon Musk, racing to transform Washington while gutting key federal agencies.

Buttigieg has the tools to lead his party on a national scale if he wants. More than four years after the little-known mayor outperformed far more experienced Democrats in the Iowa presidential caucuses, he remains one of the partys best communicators, boasting a massive social media following, a national donor network and a Midwestern charm he displays in Fox News Channel interviews and smaller settings alike.

More than anything, allies say, Buttigiegs decision will be guided by the impact on his young family at a difficult cultural moment in Trumps America. The Republican president has targeted LGBTQ+ initiatives and inclusion programs. Buttigieg is the openly gay father of 3-year-old twins.

Axelrod complimented Buttigieg as one of the most talented people in the party.

He would be a frontline candidate in any race that he ran, Axelrod said.

Life in the Cherry Capital of the World

Buttigieg has lowered his profile since leaving the Biden administration last month.

He hasnt done any media interviews. He declined to speak to The Associated Press for this story. And he has challenged Trump only with a handful of social media posts, notably pushing back on the Republican presidents blaming of diversity hiring for the deadly midair collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

But based on the response, Democrats like what he has to say. His posts on X frequently garner millions of views. And just over a week after joining the newer social media platform Bluesky, he has quickly become one of its most-followed Democrats.

Buttigieg, a former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has been a more visible presence around his new home of Traverse City, a lakeside resort town that calls itself the Cherry Capital of the World. His husband, Chasten Buttigieg, grew up in Traverse City.

Chasten actually was a speaker at our last Obama dinner; he sat at my table, said Lauren Flynn, a local county commissioner. I always get text messages from folks saying, Oh, my gosh, I saw Pete shopping downtown or running by the bay.

Its much the same at the local coffee shop, Higher Grounds Trading Co., which features a pride flag out front and progressive messages on the walls. One barista described the shop as a low-profile spot where most customers dont disturb the towns highest-profile resident.

Hes been coming in more frequently, barista Sydney Hall said recently, noting she'd served Buttigieg and his husband earlier that day.

The coffee shop may be a welcoming environment, but some warn of safety concerns for members of the LGBTQ+ community and other prominent Democrats in the current political environment.

Aaron Wright, president of the Traverse City-based Up North Pride, praised Buttigieg and his family for sacrificing their physical safety for the betterment of their local area, the state and society. He noted Traverse City is just 20 minutes from where members of a local militia plotted to kidnap Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Thats the No. 1 thing that I would imagine theyre considering is the physical safety of being where they are, as the people that they are, because people are drinking out of the firehose of misinformation and disinformation, Wright said. Malignant groups that want to see people like me suffer.

Wrights husband, Trenton Lee, chair of the local Democratic Party, said his political opponents in local campaigns often focus on his sexuality rather than policies.

Pete offers that challenge to the other side, where if you took out his sexual orientation, the way hes able to articulate issues and then actually work on them, hes a shoo-in for whatever he runs for, Lee said. It forces them to be like, The only issue I have is that hes gay.

Buttigieg is already facing allegations from some critics that he moved to the state solely to help his political career.

Its not just that he carpet-bagged to Michigan a few years ago after being the mayor of South Bend. Its that he did it in the most unrelatable enclave in the entire state, said Jason Roe, a Republican strategist and former executive director of the state party.

Traverse City, Roe said, is an elite bubble that only underscores an elitism that was one of the problems in the Democratic Party. Roe added that he'll be surprised if Buttigieg enters the race, because if he runs and loses, he could be done.

A plum opportunity in a key state

There may be no better staging ground for an ambitious Democrat in 2025 than Michigan.

Democratic Sen. Gary Peters' unexpected retirement created a rare Senate vacancy ahead of next year's midterms. A Republican hasn't been elected to the U.S. Senate in Michigan this century, although Mike Rogers came within less than 1 percentage point last fall and is planning to run again.

Michigan also offers a home state advantage to any prospective presidential candidate in 2028. The state is expected to host one of the nation's opening presidential primaries. And in the general election, Michigan will be a premier swing state.

Buttigieg is leaning on powerful allies to help make his decision.

Longtime Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who retired in January and considers Buttigieg a close friend, attended his twins' birthday party and visited him at home recently. She said she doesn't expect to endorse in the Senate primary, but she told him directly he'd be a very strong" candidate.

If he announced now, hed be the front-runner, Stabenow told the AP. Hes a Midwesterner, and he talks like a Midwesterner. Hes somebody I think people really relate to.

Stabenow said she dares Buttigieg's opponents to try to use his limited time in Michigan as a political weapon.

We have thousands of people that marry into Michigan every year, Stabenow said. We have a great (former) governor who was born in Canada. If thats the best theyve got, great.

Buttigieg has recently spoken with labor leaders across Michigan and met with Whitmer and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, a Democrat expected to enter the Senate race soon. Veteran Democratic strategist Lis Smith, a key adviser on Buttigiegs 2020 presidential campaign and a close ally, has also worked with McMorrow in the past.

Exploring his appeal beyond Michigan

But Buttigieg is also looking beyond Michigan.

Former Rep. Annie Kuster, D-N.H., who left Congress in January, said she speaks to Buttigieg semi-regularly and recently encouraged him to run for the Senate. Like other Buttigieg allies, she said his young family remains his chief concern as he navigates his options.

Hes hugely talented," Kuster said. And he has a tremendous ability to communicate and communicate with the very people that were missing: the middle of the country, small towns.

Whether he runs for the Senate or not, Kuster said, there are plenty of New Hampshire Democrats who'd welcome him back to the state's high-profile presidential primary in 2028. Buttigieg finished second in New Hampshire during his underdog 2020 presidential bid.

Kuster pointed to Obama as an example of someone who ran for the Senate and then president a few years later.

These are all of the things he and his team are navigating, Kuster said. He obviously has a ton of choices.

___

Peoples reported from New York.

By LISA MASCARO and KEVIN FREKING

WASHINGTON (AP) — No sooner had Senate Republicans voted to begin work on $340 billion budget bill focused on funding the White House’s mass deportations and border security agenda than President Donald Trump threw it into turmoil.

Trump on Wednesday criticized the approach from the Senate Budget Committee chairman, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and sided with the House GOP’s broader, if politically difficult, plan that includes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and other priorities. Senators wanted to address those later, in a second package.

Vice President JD Vance was on his way to Capitol Hill to confer privately with Republican senators.

“Unlike the Lindsey Graham version of the very important Legislation currently being discussed, the House Resolution implements my FULL America First Agenda, EVERYTHING, not just parts of it!” Trump posted on social media.

Trump wants the House’s version passed as a way to “kickstart” the process and “move all of our priorities to the concept of, ‘ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL.’”

The Senate’s Republican leadership is scrambling after being blindsided by the post.

“As they say, I did not see that one coming,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

Thune had engineered the two-bill approach as a way to deliver an early victory for the White House and had pushed the Senate forward while the House is away on recess this week, saying it was time to act. Thune was meeting privately in his office with Graham.

“We’re planning to proceed, but obviously we are interested in, and hoping to hear with more clarity where the White House is coming from,” Thune said.

The sudden turn of events means more upheaval in the difficult budget process. Republicans have majority control of the House and Senate, but face big hurdles in trying to put the president’s agenda into law as Democrats prepare to counter the onslaught of actions from the White House.

Late Tuesday, Republicans had pushed ahead on the scaled-back budget bill, on a party-line vote, 50-47, in what was supposed to be the first step in unlocking Trump’s campaign promises — tax cuts, energy production and border controls — and dominating the agenda on Capitol Hill.

But it also comes as the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency effort is slashing costs across government departments, leaving a trail of fired federal workers and dismantling programs on which many Americans depend. Democrats, having floundered amid the initial upheaval coming from the White House, have emerged galvanized as they try to warn the public about what is at stake.

“These bills that they have have one purpose — and that is they’re trying to give a tax break to their billionaire buddies and have you, the average American person, pay for it,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York told The Associated Press.

Schumer convened a private call over the weekend with Democratic senators and agreed on a strategy to challenge Republicans for prioritizing tax cuts that primarily flow to the wealthy at the expense of program and service reductions in health care, scientific research, veterans services and elsewhere.

“This is going to be a long, drawn-out fight,” Schumer said.

The Senate’s budget process begins this week, with an initial 50 hours of debate followed by an expected all-night session with lots of attempts to amend the package.

The Republican package would allow $175 billion to be spent on border security, including money for mass deportation operations and building the U.S.-Mexico border wall, in addition to a $150 billion boost to the Pentagon and $20 billion for the Coast Guard.

Republicans are determined to push ahead after Trump border czar Tom Homan and top aide Stephen Miller told senators privately last week that they are running short of cash to accomplish the president’s immigration priorities.

Trump met with Republican senators last month, expressing no preference for one bill or two, but just that Congress “get the result.”

The Senate Budget Committee said its package would cost about $85.5 billion a year, for four years of Trump’s presidency, paid for with new reductions and revenues elsewhere that other committees will draw up.

Eyeing ways to pay for it, Republican senators are considering a rollback of the Biden administration’s methane emissions fee, which was approved by Democrats as part of climate change strategies in the Inflation Reduction Act, and hoping to draw new revenue from energy leases as they aim to spur domestic energy production.

The House GOP bill is multiple times larger, with $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and $1.5 trillion in spending reductions over the decade across Medicaid health care programs, food stamps and other services used by large swaths of the country. The cuts could ultimately grow to $2 trillion to appease hard-right conservatives.

The budget plans are being considered under what’s called the reconciliation process, which allows passage on a simple majority vote without many of the procedural hurdles that stall bills. Once rare, reconciliation is increasingly being used in the House and Senate to pass big packages on party-line votes when one party controls the White House and Congress.

During Trump’s first term, Republicans used the reconciliation process to pass the GOP tax cuts in 2017. Democrats used reconciliation during the Biden presidency era to approve COVID relief and also the Inflation Reduction Act.

By JOSH BOAK

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is moving to give the White House direct control of independent federal regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission.

The executive order that Trump signed Tuesday gives the president more power to shape the oversight of the financial system and lay out criteria for transportation safety, basic consumer protections and wireless, broadcast, satellite and broadband communications.

It is part of a broader push by the Trump administration to assert greater authority over the government, possibly limiting the spending of congressionally approved funds in ways that could set up lawsuits and lead courts to weigh in.

Past administrations saw public benefit in having regulators that could operate in the long-term interests of the country without the daily machinations of politics. Presidents could exercise informal control by whom they appointed to lead the agencies without necessarily requiring those agencies to submit strategic plans to the White House and lose access to funding initiatives as the order lays out.

But the Trump White House maintains that independent regulators could undermine the president’s agenda and the will of the voting public.

“For the Federal Government to be truly accountable to the American people, officials who wield vast executive power must be supervised and controlled by the people’s elected President,” said the order signed by Trump.

Independent agencies go back to 1887 with the creation of the Independent Commerce Commission, which initially existed to deal with railroad monopolies and the rates they charged. Multiple other regulators were built on this format and operated through presidential appointments and congressional oversight.

Roger Nober, a professor at George Washington University and director of the GW Regulator Studies Center, called the order “very significant.” The rule goes beyond existing requirements that regulations with an economic impact of more than $100 million or more go through a review by the White House Office of Management and Budget.

“The intent of this is to significantly scale back the independence of independent regulatory agencies,” said Nober, who was previously chair of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, an independent regulator, during George W. Bush’s presidency.

Nober stressed that he could understand why Trump might wish to bring a stock market regulator such as the SEC under greater White House control. But, he said, “we’ll have to see if this is the right approach in the long run to make independent agencies more politically responsible.”

The executive order covers the regulatory responsibilities of the Federal Reserve, but it would specifically keep its independence on setting short-term interest rates that can influence inflation rates and employment levels.

A Fed spokesperson declined to comment Wednesday on the executive order.

The order may have only a limited practical effect, at least in the short term. The Fed’s vice chair for supervision, Michael Barr, a Biden appointee, said last month that he would step down Feb. 28. The Fed also said it would pause any major rulemaking until Barr’s successor is confirmed.

Ian Katz, an analyst at the policy research firm Capital Alpha, believes a court challenge is one of the goals of the order.

“The White House and conservatives not only expect, but want, legal challenges to the executive order,” Katz wrote in an email. “They would like a Supreme Court ruling that further solidifies executive branch authority over the agencies.”

Under the order, the White House Office of Management and Budget would set performance standards and management objectives for the heads of independent agencies. The OMB could also change the funding apportioned to the agencies based on “activity, function, project, or object” that might be in conflict with the president’s agenda.

The heads of independent agencies would need to have special White House liaisons to coordinate with the president’s aides and advisers.

Associated Press economics writer Christopher Rugaber in Washington contributed to this report.

By MICHELLE GUMEDE

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will skip a two-day meeting of foreign ministers from the leading rich and developing nations that starts on Thursday after criticizing host South Africa’s policies as anti-American.

Instead, Rubio was headed back to the United States on Wednesday from his first trip to the Middle East as America’s chief diplomat after leading a U.S. delegation in talks with Russia in Riyad over the war in Ukraine.

Rubio spoke with the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the European Union’s foreign policy chief to brief them immediately after Tuesday’s meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the State Department said.

Top European diplomats, as well as Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are all expected at the Group of 20 meeting in Johannesburg while the U.S. will be represented by a lower-level delegation.

A G20 meeting would normally be an opportunity for a U.S. secretary of state to push for support on U.S. positions, especially at the start of a new administration.

Analysts say Rubio’s absence reflects the Trump administration’s indifference to organizations promoting international cooperation, but Rubio has also directly rejected South Africa’s priorities for its G20 presidency. The hosts have picked “solidarity, equality, sustainability” as the theme of the G20 this year.

South Africa, the first African nation to hold the group’s presidency, says it will try to advance the interests of poor countries, especially with debt refinancing and helping them mitigate the impacts of climate change, where the developing world is asking rich countries to pay more.

Rubio posted on X this month that he would also not attend the main G20 summit in Johannesburg in November, saying South Africa was using the gathering to promote diversity, equality and inclusion frameworks, “In other words: DEI and climate change.”

“My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism,” Rubio wrote.

Rubio’s decision to skip the G20 meeting also underscores a major deterioration in U.S. relations with South Africa, one of its key trade partners in Africa.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this month stopping U.S. aid and assistance to South Africa over a land law that he says discriminates against some of the country’s white minority. The order also called South Africa’s foreign policy anti-American and criticized its ongoing case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza at the United Nations’ top court, and what it said was the country’s closeness to the Communist Party in China.

South Africa is due to hand over the presidency of the G20 to the U.S. at the end of this year, and the two countries are expected to work together under G20 protocols.

South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said on Wednesday that the U.S. would be represented in Johannesburg this week “in one form or shape or another” and stressed that Rubio’s decision was “not a complete boycott of South Africa’s G20” by the U.S.

Analysts in Africa says they still see a way for the G20 to make progress under South Africa’s presidency, even with limited U.S. interest. The EU, Russia and China have expressed support for South Africa’s G20 leadership.

“No one wants to be on the wrong side of the United States,” said Oscar van Heerden, senior researcher at the University of Johannesburg’s Centre of African Diplomacy and Leadership. “But I think everyone also realizes that what drives the foreign policy of the United States is not necessarily what drives the foreign policy of the European Union or the other members of the G20.”

While European allies have their own concerns over future cooperation with the Trump administration after they were sidelined by its move to hold bilateral talks this week with Russia, the G20 meeting was still an opportunity for the EU to promote inclusivity.

“Multilateralism is under threat right now,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in South Africa, “We also need to use this opportunity to develop the international system further to be more inclusive for all countries in the world.”

Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Mogomotsi Magome in Johannesburg and Gerald Imray in Cape Town, South Africa, contributed to this report.

By JOSHUA GOODMAN, Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) — President Donald Trump’s media company sued a Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Wednesday, accusing him of violating U.S. free speech protections when he imposed a ban on a right-wing supporter of the country’s former President Jair Bolsonaro.

The lawsuit in Tampa federal court was filed just hours after Bolsonaro was charged in Brazil for participating in a would-be coup aimed at allowing him to stay in office after his 2022 election defeat to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The plot, prosecutors allege, included a plan to poison Lula and shoot dead Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the main judicial foe of the former president.

The lawsuit in the U.S. was brought by Sarasota, Florida-based Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates the Truth Social media platform preferred by the president to communicate with his followers. It was joined as a plaintiff by Rumble, a video-sharing platform that partners with Truth Social and fashions itself a safe harbor for free expression.

In their 39-page complaint, the plaintiffs allege that Moraes overstepped his legal authority and international law by seeking to shut down the U.S.-based accounts of a right-wing Brazilian commentator who is seeking asylum in the U.S. The blogger is identified in the complaint only as “Political Dissident A.”

“Justice Moraes cannot dictate the contours of lawful discourse within the United States,” plaintiffs’ attorneys from New York-based Boies Schiller said in the complaint. “The United States has long upheld free speech as a cornerstone of its constitutional framework, enshrined in the First Amendment, and has consistently opposed censorship.”

According to the complaint, Rumble said it faced a fine of $9,000 a day and a shutdown of its service in Brazil if it doesn’t abide by Moraes’ order. The Trump media organization, although not the apparent target of Moraes’ gag order, said Truth Social’s operations would be impacted should Rumble be taken offline.

Moraes has emerged as Brazil’s chief legal powerbroker and would-be defender of the country’s democracy following the far- right Bolsonaro’s shock election in 2018.

What started as a judicial examination of fake news and threats to the high court has since evolved into a sprawling investigation into Bolsonaro himself on allegations of corruption and attempts to destabilize the country by testing the boundaries of free expression. In the run-up to the 2022 election, Bolsonaro used his sizable social media presence to raise unfounded doubts about Brazil’s electronic voting system.

Unlike the U.S., where the First Amendment is an almost sacred text taught in every elementary school, Brazil’s Constitution, drafted in the aftermath of the 1964-1985 military dictatorship, is more unwieldy and offers fewer protections for freedom of speech.

Under Moraes’ orders, police in 2020 raided the homes and froze the social media accounts of several far-right supporters and YouTube supporters of Bolsonaro.

Lawmakers loyal to the former army captain have pushed for Moraes’ impeachment and even some critics of Bolsonaro have questioned the justice’s aggressive tactics.

By BECKY BOHRER, Associated Press

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Since his election, President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed support for a major natural gas pipeline in Alaska — comments that have drawn fresh attention to a project that’s floundered for years despite support from state leaders.

Trump mentioned the pipeline at a news conference with Japan’s prime minister earlier this month, drawing praise from Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy and U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, both Republicans. As proposed, the nearly 810-mile pipeline would funnel gas from Alaska’s vast North Slope to port, with an eye largely on exports to Asian countries.

Critics, however, see this as a repackaged version of a decades-old effort that has struggled to gain traction. Hurdles include the cost — an estimated $44 billion for the pipeline and related infrastructure — competition from other projects and questions about its economic feasibility. One state senator said Alaska has put around $1 billion over the years into trying to get a pipeline built.

What is liquefied natural gas?

It’s natural gas that’s been cooled to a liquid form for shipping and storage. Natural gas, a fossil fuel, is extracted from underground.

The Alaska project calls for a pipeline from the gas fields of the North Slope to south-central Alaska. A liquefaction facility in Nikiski, southwest of Anchorage, would process and export the liquefied natural gas.

What has Trump said?

Trump, following his election, said his administration would ensure the project gets built “to provide affordable energy to Alaska and allies all over the world.” He highlighted it as a priority in an Alaska-specific executive order aimed at spurring resource development he signed on his first day in office. And during a recent news conference with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba of Japan, Trump touted the Alaska project’s relative proximity to that country and said there were talks “about a joint venture of some type.” He did not elaborate.

Japan’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement, said the meeting between the leaders “was carried out in a way that would be beneficial to both sides and confirmed that the two nations will cooperate bilaterally toward strengthening energy security, including increasing LNG exports to Japan.” It did not specifically reference the Alaska project.

Trump was a booster of the project during his first term. In 2017, he was there for the signing in Beijing of an agreement between then-Alaska Gov. Bill Walker and representatives of Chinese companies that called for the parties to work together on elements of the project. That effort ultimately fizzled: Walker, an independent, left office in 2018, and his successor, Dunleavy, took the project in a different direction. The project has a history of new governors taking a different tack than their predecessors; Walker did it, too.

Walker called Trump’s recent actions significant: “What he has done is a tremendous boost to the awareness of the project worldwide.”

What have been some challenges?

Currently, there is no way to bring Alaska’s large gas reserves to market. The focus for decades by major companies on the North Slope has been on producing more profitable oil. The 800-mile trans-Alaska oil pipeline — which began operating in 1977 — is the state’s economic lifeline. Gas that occurs with deposits of oil is reinjected into the fields.

Changing markets and costs have been major obstacles, too.

What’s next?

State leaders are facing the likelihood that Alaska could have to import gas to help meet the needs of its most populous region due to production constraints in the aging Cook Inlet basin in south-central Alaska, hundreds of miles (kilometers) from the North Slope. Cook Inlet is Alaska’s oldest producing oil and gas basin, dating to the 1950s.

Even a year ago, the idea of importing gas was widely seen by lawmakers as a humiliating possibility. But it’s now being met with resignation and hopes by some that it might simply be a short-term solution until a gas line is built.

Alaska House Majority Leader Chuck Kopp, a Republican, said Alaskans “need to be hopeful” and cautioned against negative thinking.

“We need to watch how we talk because it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, and an energy project of this size, if it was successful, would be transformative to the economic security of our state,” he said.

Roger Marks, an oil and gas economist in Alaska, said he can’t see the pipeline project happening and said more energy should be devoted to preparing for possible imports. “Creating these false expectations has just been a big distraction from what needs to be done,” he said.

Associated Press writer Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report.

By CATHY BUSSEWITZ

NEW YORK (AP) — Union leaders have described President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Labor as a friend of organized labor. But as her confirmation hearing began Wednesday, advocates for workers’ rights question whether Lori Chavez-DeRemer will be able to uphold that reputation in an administration that has fired thousands of federal employees.

Chavez-DeRemer, a former Republican member of Congress from Oregon and former mayor of a small city on the edge of liberal-leaning Portland, is appearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions, the first stop in her confirmation process.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana who chairs the committee, opened the hearing by saying the Trump administration had an opportunity to enact a pro-American agenda. He said there were concerns about Chavez-DeRemer’s past support in Congress of the PRO Act, legislation that would allow more workers to conduct union organizing campaigns and penalize companies that violate workers’ rights.

During her opening statement, Chavez-DeRemer described the Biden-era law as “imperfect.” When Cassidy asked her if she still supported it, she declined to give a yes or no answer.

“I do not believe the secretary of labor should write the laws. It would be up to Congress to write the law,” she said.

Vermont independent Bernie Sanders, the committee’s ranking member, asked Chavez-DeRemer if she would be a rubber stamp for the administration or stand with workers.

“If confirmed, my job will be to implement President Trump’s policy vision,” Chavez-DeRemer said. “And my guiding principle will be President Trump’s guiding principle — ensuring a level playing field for businesses, unions, and, most importantly, the American worker.”

During her one term as a congresswoman, Chavez-DeRemer’s voting record earned her strong union support. Some political observers surmised that Trump picked her as his labor secretary as a way to appeal to voters who are members of or affiliated with labor organizations. She is the daughter of a Teamster member.

Before she lost her House reelection bid in November, Chavez-DeRemer backed the PRO Act. The bill, one of former President Joe Biden’s priorities, passed the House in 2021 but didn’t gain traction in the Senate.

If confirmed as secretary, Chavez-DeRemer would be in charge of the Department of Labor’s nearly 16,000 full-time employees and a proposed budget of $13.9 billion in fiscal year 2025. She would set priorities that impact workers’ wages, ability to unionize, and health and safety, as well as employers’ rights to fire employees.

But it’s unclear how much power Chavez-DeRemer will be able to wield as Trump’s Cabinet moves to slash U.S. government spending and the size of the federal workforce. During his first month in office, the president froze trillions of dollars in federal funding and offered buyouts to most federal workers.

His administration last week started laying off nearly all probationary employees who had not yet gained civil service protection. Billionaire Elon Musk, who leads Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, has called for getting rid of entire agencies.

“The Department of Labor is the agency where people in building are supposed to wake up every day thinking about how they can improve the lives of working people,” said Adam Shah, director of national policy at Jobs with Justice, a nonprofit organization that promotes workers’ rights. “It’s quite possible that no matter what the secretary of labor stands for, the billionaire embedded in the Trump administration, who is so keen on destroying the institutions, will be interested in gutting the Department of Labor.”

In January, Trump fired two of three Democratic commissioners serving on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency that enforces civil rights in the workplace. He also fired the acting chair of the National Labor Relations Board, Gwynne Wilcox, the first Black woman to serve as an NLRB member, as well as General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo. Wilcox sued the Trump administration, arguing that federal law protects her from being arbitrarily dismissed.

Republicans have made inroads with working-class voters. Despite decades of labor unions siding with Democrats, and Trump’s apparent support for firing striking workers, his populist appeal gained him votes from rank-and-file union members.

Many major unions, including the AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers, endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris in the presidential race. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters declined to endorse a candidate, and Teamsters leader Sean O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention. The Teamsters have endorsed Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination.

Some observers expect Chavez-DeRemer to receive more votes from Senate Democrats than some of Trump’s other Cabinet selections did. But the same positions that won her support from unions may make her a harder sell with business groups; the American Trucking Associations and the International Franchise Association said they hoped she would disavow her past support for the Pro Act by working to get it overturned.

Emily Twarog, an associate professor in the school of labor and employment relations at the University of Illinois, said a question mark hangs over the labor secretary-designate even if she gets the Senate committee’s approval.

With the ongoing efforts by the current administration to limit or eliminate certain government functions, “how much will she actually be able to do to help workers in the Department of Labor if there’s limited funding and restrictions put on the work that can be done?” Twarog said.

Today is Tuesday, Feb. 18, the 49th day of 2025. There are 316 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Feb. 18, 2001, auto racing star Dale Earnhardt Sr. died in a crash in the final lap of the Daytona 500; he was 49.

Also on this date:

In 1885, Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was published in the U.S. for the first time.

In 1930, the dwarf planet Pluto was discovered by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh.

In 1970, the “Chicago Seven” defendants were found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention; five were convicted of violating the Anti-Riot Act of 1968 (those convictions were later reversed).

In 1983, 13 people were shot to death at a gambling club in Seattle’s Chinatown in what became known as the Wah Mee Massacre. (Two men were convicted of the killings and were sentenced to life in prison; a third was found guilty of robbery and assault.)

In 1994, in the final race of his Olympic career at the Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway, U.S. speedskater Dan Jansen broke the world record in the 1,000 meters, winning the gold medal.

In 2001, veteran FBI agent Robert Philip Hanssen was arrested, accused of spying for Russia. (Hanssen later pleaded guilty to espionage and attempted espionage and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.)

In 2003, an arson attack involving two South Korean subway trains in the city of Daegu claimed nearly 200 lives.

In 2021, the rover Perseverance successfully landed on Mars, where it continues to explore the planet’s surface today.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Artist-singer Yoko Ono is 92.
• Restaurateur-TV host Prue Leith (TV: “The Great British Baking Show”) is 85.
• Singer Irma Thomas is 84.
• Musician Dennis DeYoung is 78.
• Actor Cybill Shepherd is 75.
• Actor John Travolta is 71.
• TV personality Vanna White is 68.
• Actor Matt Dillon is 61.
• Rapper-music executive Dr. Dre is 60.
• Actor Molly Ringwald is 57.
• Actor Ike Barinholtz is 48.
• Football Hall of Famer Dwight Freeney is 45.
• Musician Regina Spektor is 45.

BOSTON (AP) — The first matchup between the United States and Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off left both sides — and most hockey fans, too — wanting more.

And that’s just what they’ll get.

The North Americans played their way into a rematch in the championship game, even with the United States losing 2-1 to Sweden in the round-robin finale on Monday. The U.S. team had already clinched a spot in the title game, and Canada earned its way there by beating Finland 5-3 earlier Monday to finish the group stage.

“It will be a hard fought battle. That’s what I would anticipate,” U.S. coach Mike Sullivan said. “I feel like I get the best seat in the house, being behind the bench and being up close to it. To watch what these guys do on the ice at the pace that they’re able to do it, sometimes we just marvel at what goes on up there.”

Sweden rallied after falling behind just 35 seconds into the game to hand the Americans their first loss in the tournament that brought the game’s greatest players back to the international stage after sitting out the last two Olympics.

Canada watched its four-goal lead cut to one in the final minutes but pulled out a victory over Finland earlier Monday to grab the other spot in the title game. That clinched the rematch of the fight-filled round-robin matchup from Saturday.

“They’re gonna be extremely hungry. They don’t want to lose two to us,” American forward Dylan Larkin said. “I think there’ll be some nerves, but I hope it’s that level that it was in Montreal.”

Chris Kreider gave the Americans the lead in the opening minute on Monday night, but Gustav Nyquist tied it a dozen minutes later and Jesper Bratt gave Sweden the lead with less than a minute remaining in the first period. Samuel Ersson made 31 saves, shutting the U.S. down for the game’s last 59:25.

Officially, the nightcap meant nothing to either the Americans or Swedes: The U.S. had already clinched a spot in Thursday night’s championship game, and Sweden needed the Canadians to falter for a chance in the final.

“I don’t think there was too much of a shock,” U.S. forward Jack Hughes said. “They’re obviously a great team and I know they’re champing at the bit to get us again. We’re really excited that we get them, and that’s kind of what we were looking for.”

With some fans wearing powdered wigs and colonial-era tricorn hats, the Boston crowd bellowed “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the game — a response to the Canadians who booed the U.S. national anthem before the early matchups in Montreal. Chants of “U-S-A!” rang out through the TD Garden in the final minutes, with goalie Jake Oettinger pulled for an extra skater, but the Americans couldn’t beat Ersson to force overtime.

Instead, the Americans will regroup for the tournament final.

“The first game was such a great hockey game. And I think it’s great for hockey that there’s an opportunity for these two teams to meet again,” Sullivan said. “Obviously, both teams have star power all around the lineup. It was a very competitive hockey game, the first game. I would anticipate the next one will be every bit as competitive, if not more.”

The Americans faced Sweden a player down with Auston Matthews out, and then Brady Tkachuk left in the second period after colliding with Ersson in the crease. More disappointing for the Boston fans was Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy being scratched from the lineup.

Sullivan said the team had not moved to bring in roster reinforcements.

“We’re hoping to get some of these guys back,” he said.

— By JIMMY GOLEN, Associated Press

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Sarah Te-Biasu had 21 points, Shyanne Sellers scored 18 on a milestone night before limping off the court in the closing seconds and Maryland held off Michigan 85-77 on Monday.

Te-Biasu made 8 of 15 shots with three 3-pointers for the Terrapins (20-6, 10-5 Big Ten Conference), who snapped a three-game skid at home. Sellers added six rebounds and five assists. With her fourth assist, Sellers became the first Terrapin to total 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists in a career. The senior, who wears a heavy brace on her right knee, was helped off the court with 25 seconds remaining after a hard fall.

Saylor Poffenbarger totaled 12 points and six rebounds for Maryland.

Freshman Olivia Olson had 26 points and seven rebounds before fouling out for the Wolverines (18-8, 9-6), who saw a four-game win streak end. Freshman Syla Swords added 19 points and six rebounds. Jordan Hobbs had 13 points and Yulia Grabovskaia scored 11 off the bench.

Olson scored 11 to guide Michigan to a 22-15 lead after one quarter.

Sellers had eight points and four assists by halftime and Maryland scored the final seven points of the second quarter to get within 40-38. Mila Holloway hit a 3-pointer to put Michigan up 30-20, but the Wolverines went scoreless over the final 3:53.

Maryland took a 44-41 lead in the first minute of the third on a layup by Christina Dalce and Te-Biasu’s 3-pointer and played with a lead over the final 19:06. Michigan trailed 60-59 heading to the final period.

Maryland plays at Northwestern on Thursday. Michigan will host Penn State on Saturday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Monday questioned the authority of billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency but was skeptical of a request to block DOGE from accessing sensitive data and firing employees at half a dozen federal agencies.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan held a hearing on a request from 14 states for a temporary restraining order seeking to curtail Musk’s power in President Donald Trump’s quest to downsize the federal government. Chutkan said she would rule within 24 hours.

Trump appointed Musk to lead DOGE in a push to slash the federal workforce and reduce or end disfavored programs. The administration dismissed probationary employees and Trump in an executive order told agency leaders to plan for “large-scale reductions.”

Democratic attorneys general from 14 states had filed a lawsuit challenging what they called Musk’s “unchecked power.” The states are seeking to block DOGE from firing employees and accessing data at the federal Office of Personnel Management along with six federal agencies that oversee health and human services, education, energy, transportation, labor, and commerce.

During the hourlong hearing held over Zoom, Chutkan said she didn’t think the states had shown necessary evidence of imminent harm to merit court intervention at this stage.

The attorneys general argued that Musk’s actions at the helm of DOGE can only be taken by a nominated and Senate-confirmed official under the Constitution. They also said citizens have concerns about the secure handling of sensitive information. The federal government countered that DOGE is acting in an advisory role, they don’t need Senate confirmation to access data, and that the states hadn’t shown Musk’s hunt for waste and fraud had harmed them.

“Nowhere have my friends offered a shred of anything, nor could they, to show that Elon Musk has any formal or actual authority to make any government decision himself,” Justice Department lawyer Harry Graver said.

The judge appeared to question that assertion.

“I think you stretch too far. I disagree with you there,” Chutkan replied but added that was what the merits of the case were about.

While Chutkan seemed skeptical if a temporary restraining order was merited, she seemed sympathetic to some of the states’ claims

“One of the challenges in plaintiff’s motion is that this is essentially a private citizen directing an organization that’s not a federal agency to have access to the entire workings of the federal government, fire, hire, slash, contract, terminate programs all without apparently any congressional oversight,” the judge said in describing the states’ claim.

She noted that DOGE doesn’t seem to be moving in any kind of orderly or predictable fashion, making it difficult for states to know what is coming next. Chutkan asked for the Justice Department to submit information about past and upcoming employment terminations.

“DOGE’s actions in this arena have been very unpredictable and scattershot, and I have no idea whether that is by design or simply by virtue of the scope of their remit,” Chutkan said.

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ and MICHAEL R. SISAK

NEW YORK (AP) — Four top deputies to New York City Mayor Eric Adams are resigning in the latest fallout from the Justice Department’s push to end a corruption case against Adams and ensure his cooperation in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown — a bargain that has raised questions about the mayor’s political independence and ability to lead the city.

In a statement Monday, Adams confirmed the departures of First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Chauncey Parker.

“I am disappointed to see them go, but given the current challenges, I understand their decision and wish them nothing but success in the future,” said Adams, who faces several challengers in June’s Democratic primary. “But let me be crystal clear: New York City will keep moving forward, just as it does every day.”

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams became the latest Democrat to call on the mayor to resign, saying that with the deputy mayor resignations it’s clear he “has now lost the confidence and trust of his own staff, his colleagues in government, and New Yorkers.”

Speaker Adams is not related to the mayor.

Torres-Springer, Joshi and Williams-Isom told agency heads and staff in a memo that they were exiting because of “the extraordinary events of the last few weeks.”

They did not give a date for their departures, but Adams said they and Parker will remain “for the time being to ensure a seamless transition.”

Adams has faced increasing scrutiny since the Justice Department’s second-in-command ordered federal prosecutors in Manhattan last week to drop the mayor’s corruption case. Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove wrote that the case had “unduly restricted Mayor Adams’ ability to devote full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime.”

That directive touched off firestorms within the Justice Department and New York political circles, with seven federal prosecutors quitting in protest — including the interim U.S. attorney for Manhattan — and fellow Democrats calling on Adams to resign.

On Friday, after a week of recriminations and resignations, Bove and a pair of Justice Department officials from Washington stepped in and filed paperwork asking Manhattan federal Judge Dale E. Ho to dismiss the case. Ho has yet to take action on the request.

Adams, a former police captain, pleaded not guilty last September to charges that he accepted more than $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions and lavish travel perks from foreign nationals looking to buy his influence while he was Brooklyn borough president campaigning to be mayor.

The Justice Department said in its filing Friday that it was seeking to dismiss Adams’ charges with the option of refiling them later, which critics see as a carrot to ensure his compliance on the Republican president’s objectives. In his memo ordering prosecutors to ditch the case, Bove said the new, permanent U.S. attorney would review the matter after the November election.

“It certainly sounds like President Trump is holding the mayor hostage,” Rev. Al Sharpton, an Adams ally, said Tuesday. “I have supported the mayor, but he has been put in an unfair position — even for him — of essentially political blackmail.”

Political leaders, including Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Nydia Velázquez, and Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, have called on Adams to step down. But Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul has said she’s taking a more deliberative approach.

“The allegations are extremely concerning and serious, but I cannot as the governor of this state have a knee-jerk, politically motivated reaction like a lot of other people are saying right now,” she told MSNBC on Thursday. “I’ve got to do it smart, what’s right and I’m consulting with other leaders in government right now.”

The drama over Adams’ legal case played out as the mayor met with Trump’s border czar in New York on Thursday and announced increased cooperation on the Trump administration’s efforts to remove immigrants, including reestablishing an office for immigration authorities at the city’s notorious Rikers Island jail.

In their memo to staff announcing their exits, Torres-Springer, Joshi and Williams-Isom wrote: “Due to the extraordinary events of the last few weeks and to stay faithful to the oaths we swore to New Yorkers and our families, we have come to the difficult decision to step down from our roles.”