By The Associated Press

Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift will be among the familiar faces at the Super Bowl when the Kansas City Chiefs go for an unprecedented three-peat against the Philadelphia Eagles on Feb. 9 in New Orleans.

Mahomes and the Chiefs are back in the NFL title game after beating the Buffalo Bills 32-29 in a thrilling AFC championship game on Sunday. They’ll face Philadelphia and star running back Saquon Barkley, who ran for three touchdowns as the Eagles beat the Washington Commanders 55-23 in the NFC title game.

This year’s Super Bowl is a rematch of two years ago, when the Chiefs edged the Eagles 38-35 in Glendale, Arizona. Last year, Kansas City beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime in Las Vegas.

No team has ever won three straight Super Bowls.

Here are a few more things to know as the Super Bowl approaches:

What channel is the Super Bowl on?

The game will be aired on Fox. Kevin Burkhardt will be the play-by-play announcer with former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as the analyst. This is Brady’s first Super Bowl as an announcer. He won seven titles as a player. Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi are also part of the broadcast team.

What time is the Super Bowl?

It will start at roughly 6:30 p.m. EST on Feb. 9.

Who is the Super Bowl favorite?

The Chiefs are favored by 1 1/2 points, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

What are the streaming options for the Super Bowl?

Some of the options include Fubo, NFL+ and Tubi.

When is the NFL Honors awards show?

Josh Allen, Barkley, Joe Burrow, Jared Goff and Lamar Jackson are finalists for The Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player award.

The winner will be announced at the NFL Honors on Feb. 6 at 9 p.m. EST, a show that will air on Fox and NFL Network. Snoop Dogg is the host. A nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league completed voting before the playoffs began.

Who is performing at the Super Bowl halftime show?

Kendrick Lamar will be the headliner for the halftime show.

The rap megastar, who has won 17 Grammys, said he’s looking forward to bringing hip-hop to the NFL’s championship game, where he performed as a guest artist with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent and Eminem in 2022.

Lamar will be joined on stage by Grammy winner SZA — his former Top Dawg Entertainment labelmate. The singer appeared on Lamar’s recent album “GNX” and was featured on a couple of songs including “Gloria” and “Luther,” which also features sampled vocals from Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn.

The duo’s previous hits include the Oscar-nominated “All the Stars” and “Doves in the Wind.” Jay-Z’s Roc Nation company and Emmy-winning producer Jesse Collins will serve as co-executive producers of the halftime show.

Who is singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl?

The Super Bowl pregame will have some Louisiana flavor: Jon Batiste will hit the stage to sing the national anthem, while Trombone Shorty and Lauren Daigle are slated to perform “America the Beautiful.”

Ledisi will perform “ Lift Every Voice and Sing ” as part of the pregame performances.

The national anthem and “America the Beautiful” will be performed by actor Stephanie Nogueras in American sign language. Otis Jones IV will sign “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” and the halftime show will be signed by Matt Maxey.

The pregame performers are all Louisiana natives.

Which teams do celebrities like?

Swift will be rooting for her beau Kelce and the Chiefs, but she’s far from the only star with a rooting interest.

The Chiefs’ famous fans include Paul Rudd, Rob Riggle, Heidi Gardner, Jason Sudeikis, Henry Cavill, Henry Winkler and David Koechner. Musicians Melissa Etheridge and Tech N9ne have each created songs for their team.

Meanwhile, the Eagles boast a starry roster of superfans such as Bradley Cooper, Will Smith, Kevin Hart, Miles Teller, Pink, Questlove and Meek Mill.

AP Sports Writer David Brandt and AP Entertainment Writer Jonathan Landrum Jr. contributed to this report.

By MARCIA DUNN

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Asteroid samples fetched by NASA hold not only the pristine building blocks for life but also the salty remains of an ancient water world, scientists reported Wednesday.

The findings provide the strongest evidence yet that asteroids may have planted the seeds of life on Earth and that these ingredients were mingling with water almost right from the start.

“That’s the kind of environment that could have been essential to the steps that lead from elements to life,” said the Smithsonian Institution’s Tim McCoy, one of the lead study authors.

NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft returned 122 grams of dust and pebbles from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, delivering the sample canister to the Utah desert in 2023 before swooping off after another space rock. It remains the biggest cosmic haul from beyond the moon. The two previous asteroid sample missions, by Japan, yielded considerably less material.

Small amounts of Bennu’s precious black grains — leftovers from the solar system’s formation 4.5 billion years ago — were doled out to the two separate research teams whose studies appeared in the journals Nature and Nature Astronomy. But it was more than enough to tease out the sodium-rich minerals and confirm the presence of amino acids, nitrogen in the form of ammonia and even parts of the genetic code.

Some if not all of the delicate salts found at Bennu — similar to what’s in the dry lakebeds of California’s Mojave Desert and Africa’s Sahara — would be stripped away if present in falling meteorites.

“This discovery was only possible by analyzing samples that were collected directly from the asteroid then carefully preserved back on Earth,” the Institute of Science Tokyo’s Yasuhito Sekine, who was not involved in the studies, said in an accompanying editorial.

Combining the ingredients of life with an environment of sodium-rich salt water, or brines, “that’s really the pathway to life,” said McCoy, the National Museum of Natural History’s curator of meteorites. “These processes probably occurred much earlier and were much more widespread than we had thought before.”

NASA’s Daniel Glavin said one of the biggest surprises was the relatively high abundance of nitrogen, including ammonia. While all of the organic molecules found in the Bennu samples have been identified before in meteorites, Glavin said the ones from Bennu are valid — “real extraterrestrial organic material formed in space and not a result of contamination from Earth.”

Bennu — a rubble pile just one-third of a mile across — was originally part of a much larger asteroid that got clobbered by other space rocks. The latest results suggest this parent body had an extensive underground network of lakes or even oceans, and that the water evaporated away, leaving behind the salty clues.

Sixty labs around the world are analyzing bits of Bennu as part of initial studies, said the University of Arizona’s Dante Lauretta, the mission’s chief scientist who took part in both studies.

Most of the $1 billion mission’s cache has been set aside for future analysis. Scientists stress more testing is needed to better understand the Bennu samples, as well as more asteroid and comet sample returns. China plans to launch an asteroid sample return mission this year.

Many are pushing for a mission to collect rocks and dirt from the potentially waterlogged dwarf planet Ceres in the main asteroid belt. Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus also beckon as enticing water worlds. Meanwhile, NASA has core samples awaiting pickup at Mars, but their delivery is on hold while the space agency studies the quickest and cheapest way to get them here.

“Are we alone?” McCoy said. “That’s one of the questions we’re trying to answer.”

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.

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Today is Saturday, Jan. 25, the 25th day of 2025. There are 340 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 25, 2004, NASA’s Opportunity rover landed on Mars and sent its first pictures of the planet to Earth; originally planned as a 90-day mission, the rover remained operational for over 15 years, travelling a total of 28 miles across the planet’s surface.

Also on this date:

In 1924, the first Winter Olympic Games opened in Chamonix (shah-moh-NEE’), France.

In 1945, the World War II Battle of the Bulge ended as the German army concluded its final offensive on the Western Front; approximately 19,000 US soldiers were killed during the five-week campaign.

In 1945, Grand Rapids, Michigan, became the first city to add fluoride to its public water supply.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy held the first live televised presidential news conference.

In 1971, Charles Manson and three of his followers were convicted in Los Angeles of murder and conspiracy in the 1969 slayings of seven people, including actor Sharon Tate.

In 2011, Egyptians began a nationwide uprising that forced longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak to step down amid the Arab Spring uprisings that swept the Middle East and North Africa.

In 2021, President Joe Biden signed an order reversing a Pentagon policy that largely barred transgender people from military service.

In 2022, the Navy said it had discharged 23 active-duty sailors for refusing the coronavirus vaccine; it marked the first time the Navy had thrown currently-serving sailors out of the military over the mandatory shots.

Today’s birthdays:

• Football Hall of Famer Carl Eller is 83.
• Actor Leigh Taylor-Young is 80.
• Actor Jenifer Lewis is 68.
• Hockey Hall of Famer Chris Chelios is 63.
• Actor Ana Ortiz is 54.
• Actor Mia Kirshner is 50.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is 47.
• Soccer manager and former player Xavi is 45.
• Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys is 44.
• Football Hall of Famer Patrick Willis is 40.
• Actor-singer Ariana DeBose is 34.

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By LISA MASCARO and MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is muscling Pete Hegseth’s nomination as defense secretary toward confirmation Friday, prioritizing his vow to create a “warrior culture” at the Pentagon over allegations of heavy drinking and aggressive behavior toward women.

With votes expected late in the evening, the Republican-led Senate is determined to install Hegseth, a former Fox News host and combat veteran, and round out President Donald Trump’s top national security Cabinet officials. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe won confirmation within days of Trump’s return to the White House.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune opened Friday’s session saying that Hegseth, as a veteran of the Army National Guard who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, “will bring a warrior’s perspective” to the top military job.

“Gone will be the days of woke distractions,” Thune said, referring to the diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives being slashed across the federal government. “The Pentagon’s focus will be on war fighting.”

The Senate’s ability to confirm Hegseth despite a grave series of allegations against him will provide a measure of Trump’s political power and ability to get what he wants from the GOP-led Congress, and use the potency of the culture wars to fuel his agenda at the White House.

Next week senators will be facing Trump’s other outside Cabinet choices including particularly Kash Patel, a Trump ally who has published an enemies list, as the FBI director; Tulsi Gabbard as director of the office of national intelligence; and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, the anti-vaccine advocate at Health and Human Services.

So far, Trump’s nominees are largely on track.

Democrats, as the minority party, have little power to stop Hegesth, and instead have resorted to dragging out the process.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said during the debate there are few Trump nominees as “dangerously and woefully unqualified as Hegesth.”

Hegseth faces allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman at a Republican conference in California, though he has denied the claims and said the encounter was consensual. He later paid $50,000 to the woman.

More recently, Hegseth’s former sister-in-law said in an affidavit that he was abusive to his second wife to the point that she feared for her safety. Hegseth has denied the allegation, and in divorce proceedings, neither Hegseth nor the woman claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse.

But Republican senators have stood by Hegseth, echoing his claims of a “smear” campaign against him.

A Princeton and Harvard graduate, Hegseth represents a newer generation of veterans who came of age in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He went on to a career at Fox News as the host of a weekend show, and was unknown to many on Capitol Hill until Trump tapped him for the top Defense job.

Hegseth’s comments that women should have no role in military combat drew particular concern on Capitol Hill, including from lawmakers who themselves served. He has since tempered those views as he met with senators during the confirmation process.

All but two Republicans, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, have stood by Hegseth amid an avalanche of pressure from Trump’s allies — and their own fellow GOP senators — to back Trump’s nominees or face recrimination.

Murkowski said in a lengthy statement ahead of a test vote on Hegseth that his behaviors “starkly contrast” with what is expected of the military.

“I remain concerned about the message that confirming Mr. Hegseth sends to women currently serving and those aspiring to join,” Murkowski wrote on social media.

Collins said that after a lengthy discussion with Hegseth, “I am not convinced that his position on women serving in combat roles has changed.”

But one prominent Republican, Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, herself a combat veteran and sexual assault survivor, came under harsh criticism for her skepticism toward Hegseth and eventually announced she would back him.

“It’d sure be helpful if Republicans stood together to confirm Trump’s cabinet,” fellow GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah posted online ahead of Friday’s voting.

Hegseth would lead an organization with nearly 2.1 million service members, about 780,000 civilians and a budget of $850 billion.

During a fiery confirmation hearing, Hegseth dismissed allegations of wrongdoing one by one, and vowed to bring “warrior culture” to the top Pentagon post.

Hegseth has promised not to drink on the job if confirmed.

In exercising its advise and consent role over Trump’s nominees, the Senate is also trying to stave off his suggestion that the GOP leaders simply do away with the confirmation process altogether, and allow him to appoint his Cabinet choices when the Congress is on recess.

Trump raised the idea of so-called “recess appointments” during a private White House meeting with Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson. But that is an extreme, and potentially difficult, step that some GOP senators want but several other senators on both sides of the aisle are trying to avoid.

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and CHRISTINE FERNANDO, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s new Justice Department leadership issued an order Friday to curtail prosecutions against people accused of blocking reproductive rights facilities, calling the cases an example of the “weaponization” of law enforcement.

Justice Department chief of staff Chad Mizelle said in a memo obtained by The Associated Press that prosecutions and civil actions under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act or “FACE Act” will now be permitted only in “extraordinary circumstances” or in cases presenting ”significant aggravating factors.”

Mizelle also ordered the immediate dismissal of three FACE Act cases related to 2021 blockades of clinics in Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Ohio. One man was accused of obtaining “illegal access to a secure patient space at a Planned Parenthood facility in Philadelphia without staff permission or knowledge” and barricading himself in a restroom, according to court papers.

The news comes after Trump pardoned several anti-abortion activists convicted of blockading abortion clinic entrances in violation of the FACE Act, which is designed to protect abortion clinics from obstruction and threats.

By CATHY BUSSEWITZ

NEW YORK (AP) — The trouble started every day at around 3 p.m., after Cathy Higgins had spent five or six hours staring at an array of computer screens at her desk. Her university job overseeing research projects involved peering closely at numbers and details on contracts, applications and budgets.

“My vision was so blurry, I couldn’t even see what was on the screen, and I was squinting so much that I could not function,” Higgins said.

When her eyesight got bad, Higgins walked around and spoke with members of her staff. She began planning in-person meetings for afternoons. But she would resume the computer work late at night after her children went to bed.

“If I had to continue working through the blurry vision, that’s when the migraines would happen,” Higgins said.

Digital screens are pervasive, not only at work but in our homes, schools and shops. An estimated 104 million Americans of working age spend more than seven hours a day in front of screens, according to the American Optometric Association. All that screen time can take a toll.

Too much exposure to screens can lead to dry or watery eyes, fuzzy vision and headaches. It can also lead to myopia, or nearsightedness, in some people, especially children. Some technology workers even describe short bouts of vertigo when they look at screens for too long.

Overworked eyes

One reason for the discomfort is that staring closely at screens for prolonged periods causes the muscle that helps eye focus to tighten up.

“That muscle’s not supposed to stay tight all day long. And if it does, it’s like picking up a light weight and trying to hold it over your head for hours,” American Optometric Association President Steven Reed said. “It’s not hard to pick it up. But after a while, even though it’s not a heavy lift, your body just gets tired.”

Fortunately, exposure to blue light from computer screens and devices has not been shown to cause permanent eye damage, according to the American Academy of Opthalmology.

Nevertheless, symptoms can disrupt work, family time and rest. As an optometrist in Mississippi, Reed sees patients who complain of frequent eye pain, headaches and blurry vision associated with computer use. He advises getting an eye exam and taking frequent breaks.

For Higgins, trying to catch up on the work she couldn’t do when her eyes were too fatigued on weekdays cut into time she spent with her daughters on weekends. “They’d be playing together, and I couldn’t be as engaged as I would have liked to have been in what they were doing,” she said.

Here are some tips from eye health professionals to reduce eye strain caused by devices.

Follow the 20-20-20 rule

Take a break every 20 minutes from sitting at a computer. During the break, focus your eyes on something that’s about 20 feet away for 20 seconds. Pausing close-up work and looking at something in the distance gives tired, tight muscles time to relax.

“Luckily, eye strain is temporary,” said Raj Maturi, an ophthalmologist at Midwest Eye Institute in Indianapolis who serves as spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology. “The best way to avoid these symptoms is by taking breaks from our screens or near work activities and using lubricating eye drops, if needed.”

People usually blink about 18 to 22 times per minute. But when looking at a screen, the rate drops to three to seven times per minute, according to the Cleveland Clinic. That’s where eye drops come in.

It’s good to move around and go outside, but when you don’t have time for an outdoor walk, frequent 20-second breaks can help.

Change your desk setup

Some people find that using a larger computer monitor helps reduce eye fatigue. You can also increase the font size on your laptop, monitor or smartphone screen.

Higgins did all of the above after she started a new job as senior vice president at Stand Up to Cancer. Since she works remotely from home in Midlothian, Virginia, she got a 29-inch monitor and sits about three feet away from it, about a foot farther than in most office setups.

The changes helped. She still has occasional issues with blurriness, but not as frequently. “When I have an extended day, like a 12-hour day, that’s when I start to have vision issues again,” she said.

Sitting an arm’s length away from your screen and adjusting it so you’re looking slightly downward also can help reduce eye strain, according to the American Academy of Opthalmology.

Be wary of product claims

Some products, such as blue light glasses, are marketed with claims that they will reduce digital eye strain, improve sleep and prevent eye disease. But several studies have found the glasses are not very effective, according to the American Academy of Opthalmology. It’s really our behavior with digital devices that causes symptoms, not the small amount of blue light coming from screens, the group said.

Extracurricular optics

After stepping away from computers at work, many people find themselves reading or scrolling on smartphone screens. It’s not just workers: children are using laptops, tablets and smart screens in school settings throughout the day.

Too much screen time or focusing on nearby objects can accelerate the onset and progression of nearsightedness, especially in children, said Ayesha Malik, pediatric optometrist in the division of ophthalmology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Anyone streaming shows should do so on a television, instead of a tablet, to help relieve eye strain, she said.

Children should follow the 20-20-20-2 rule, which includes an extra “2” at the end to encourage playing outdoors for 2 hours a day, which helps with eye development, she said.

“The reality is that most children are engaging with screens throughout the day at school and home. It becomes difficult to track the total number of hours,” Malik said. “Aim for not more than 20 minutes during any one session.”

Sleeping soundly

The blue light that digital screens emit can increase alertness, so watching Netflix on an iPad or scrolling through social media feeds in bed may make it hard to get restful sleep.

To give your eyes and brain the rest they need, doctors recommend turning off screens one to two hours before going to sleep. You can also set devices to “dark mode” in the evening to reduce the impact of bright light. If you’re used to streaming videos at night, try listening to an audiobook or podcast instead.

Have you overcome an obstacle or made a profound change in your work? Send your questions and story ideas to cbussewitz@ap.org. Follow AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health at https://apnews.com/hub/be-well.

By CORA LEWIS

NEW YORK (AP) — If you live in a part of the world prone to wildfires, floods, blizzards, tornadoes, or earthquakes, there are ways you can make sure you’re financially prepared for disaster, beyond insurance.

The Federal Emergency Management Association and the Red Cross advise that households gather important documents and contacts in a safe place, take photographs or record a video of the rooms in your home and any valuable belongings, and to have cash on hand, in case ATMs and electronic or online banking resources aren’t available, among other guidance.

Lisa Berdie, director of policy and research for the Financial Health Network, an organization that focuses on underserved consumers, refers to these steps as “preparedness,” but stresses the need for “investments in efforts to lessen the severity of climate impacts, reduce risks, and minimize financial harm.”

“Key here is recognizing that it is not just the headline-grabbing events, but smaller-scale events and chronic stressors (for example, heat) that have dramatic financial consequences for households,” Berdie said. “Some of the action steps that households can consider (there)… include weatherizing homes and addressing health hazards that are worsened by climate hazards, like mold and air quality.”

Here’s what you can do to be more financially prepared and organized in case of disaster:

First, compile and assess

According to FEMA, the first thing to do is compile important documents. These include: birth and marriage certificates, social security cards, military service records and your pet’s ID tags, microchip and vaccination records.

Other documents to have organized include: housing payments, utility bills, credit/debit card information, receipts from child support, checking, savings, and retirement account numbers, insurance policies, paystubs, tax statements, and wills, according to FEMA.

Medical information to have on hand includes: health insurance and pharmacy cards, records of immunizations and allergies, copies of prescriptions, and records of medical devices or equipment for disabilities.

Also make records of important contacts, such as:

1. Landlord or mortgage representatives

2. Doctors, dentists, or other health care providers

3. Insurance agents

4. Representatives in charge of military benefits and social and disability services

5. Assistive technology or medical equipment providers

6. Lawyers

7. Financial advisors

8. Banking institutions

9. Neighborhood, civic, and house of worship contacts

“Make sure you store important phone numbers somewhere besides just your cell phone,” FEMA advises.

Why is this information necessary?

When you apply for disaster assistance, you may need to show proof of ID or income. You may also need to re-establish financial accounts if checks are destroyed or if online access is down.

Other records can help you prove the identity of household members, maintain or re-establish contact with family and friends, maintain contact with employers, and apply for other forms of assistance.

How else can I organize my financial life to prepare for disaster?

If you don’t have an original version of a document listed above, contact the appropriate company or agency to request a copy. If you receive paper checks for any federal benefits, consider enrolling in automatic benefits, and if you receive paper checks from an employer, consider requesting direct deposit or prepaid debit cards.

FEMA also advises printing or downloading statements of any bills paid automatically, such as rent or mortgage payments, utilities, loan payments, and membership fees. Downloading banking and bill payment apps for your phone can also help you stay mobile in times of emergency.

Photographing or recording a video of the rooms in your home and any valuable belongings is also advisable as a form of record keeping.

Store cash along with important documents

FEMA and the Red Cross advise individuals to keep cash in the same safe location as one’s important documents to pay for emergency purchases in the event that ATMs aren’t functioning or banks are closed. The amount of cash should be based on the basic needs of your family, including gas, food, and medications.

Make sure your information is up-to-date

Review insurance policies and financial paperwork to be sure they’re accurate and current — that includes homeowners, auto, and renters insurance.

Store documents securely

Store paper and electronic copies of all files in safe locations. Consider keeping paper copies in a fireproof and waterproof box or safe, a bank safe deposit box, or with a trusted friend or relative.

If you’re already using a safe deposit box, check state laws to confirm who can and can’t access the safe if the owner dies or can’t access it themselves due to injury or illness, FEMA advises.

To store electronic copies of important documents, use a password-protected format on a flash or external hard drive, which you can also keep in the fireproof, waterproof box.

Finally, update consistently

Revisit and update your documents regularly.

Updates are especially important when significant changes in your life occur, such as: when your insurance changes, when you move, open or close bank accounts, become married or divorced, when you have a child, when your child changes schools, during retirement planning, and if there’s a death in the household.

The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.

By JOSH BOAK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Like most presidents, Donald Trump faces an economy that seldom bends to political ambitions.

The Republican has promised strong growth, high tariffs, income tax cuts and booming oilfields. But despite the solid job market and low 4.1% unemployment rate, he has to contend with headwinds like inflation, a budget deficit, increased tensions over trade, the fallout from his plans to curtail immigration and a persistent wealth gap.

Each of these issues could help to shape how voters feel about a president they returned to the White House with the specific goal of fixing the economy.

For his part, Trump wants to blame all the challenges before him on his predecessor, Joe Biden, who in turn blamed Trump in 2021 for the problems his own administration had to tackle.

“This begins with confronting the economic chaos caused by the failed policies of the last administration,” Trump told the World Economic Forum on Thursday.

Here are five economic forces that could shape the first year of Trump’s presidency:

For voters, the price still isn’t right

Whipping inflation is easier said than done.

In AP VoteCast, an extensive survey of last year’s electorate, 4 in 10 voters called inflation the “single most important factor” in their choice for president. About two-thirds of this group voted for Trump — a sign he owes his victory in large part to the high cost of groceries, gasoline, housing, autos and other goods.

Going forward, monthly reports on the consumer price index will be a clear measure of whether Trump can deliver. But inflation has actually increased in recent months. Consumer prices were increasing at a healthy 2.4% annual rate in September, compared with 2.9% in December. Economists say inflation could worsen if Trump imposes tariffs and uses deficit-funded income tax cuts.

Republicans often hit Biden hard on egg prices. But Democrats could use similar attacks on Trump. Over the past year, coffee costs have risen just 1% for U.S. consumers, but the International Monetary Fund has the price of the actual beans climbing 55% in a sign that lattes, espressos and plain old cups of joe could soon cost more.

Then there’s housing. Voters are still frustrated by high mortgage rates and prices staying elevated due to a shortage of properties. Shelter is 37% of the consumer price index. Price increases for housing have eased, but shelter costs are still rising at 4.6% a year, compared with annual increases averaging 3.3% before the pandemic.

Trump is betting that more energy production can cut into inflation rates, but domestic production is already near record levels, according to the government.

Which tariffs are really coming

Trump says 25% tariffs are coming for Mexican and Canadian imports as soon as Feb. 1. He’s also talked about additional tariffs of 10% on Chinese goods. His stated goal is to stop illegal border crossings and the flow of chemicals used to make drugs such as fentanyl.

For Trump, tariffs are a diplomatic tool for his policy goals. But they’re also a threat possibly meant to jumpstart trade talks. They’re also a revenue raiser that he claims could bring trillions of dollars into the treasury.

Trump did increase tariffs during his first term, with revenue collection more than doubling to an annual rate of $85.4 billion, which might sound like a lot but was equal to just 0.4% of the gross domestic product. Multiple analyses by the Budget Lab at Yale and the Peterson Institute for International Economics, among others, say the threatened tariffs would increase costs for a typical family in a way that effectively raises taxes.

What really matters is whether Trump delivers on his threats. That is why Ben Harris, a former Biden adviser who is now director of economic studies at the Brookings Institution, says voters should focus on average tariff rates.

“Trade is really tricky” Harris said. “But in broad terms, look at what he does and not what he says.”

What happens with the national debt

Trump likes to blame inflation on the national debt, saying Biden’s policies flooded the U.S. economy with more money than it could absorb. But about 22% of the $36 trillion outstanding total debt originated from the policies of Trump’s first term, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a fiscal watchdog.

Paul Winfree, a former Trump staffer who is now president and CEO of the Economic Policy Innovation Center, warned in a recent analysis that the U.S. is getting too close for comfort to its fiscal limits. His analysis suggests that if Trump can preserve 3% growth he could extend his expiring 2017 tax cuts while keeping the debt sufficiently stable by cutting spending $100 billion to $140 billion a year.

The risk is that higher borrowing costs and debt can limit what Trump does while keeping borrowing costs high for consumers. Lawmakers who once viewed the debt as problem years away increasingly see it as something to address now.

“One of the biggest vibe shifts I’m picking up on now among policymakers is they’re beginning to realize the long-term is today,” Winfree said.

Winfree said the key number to watch is the interest rates charged on U.S. debt — which will tell the public if investors think the amount of borrowing is problematic. Interest on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note is at roughly 4.6%, up a full percentage point since September.

Immigrants are still needed to fill jobs

Trump’s executive orders are a clear crackdown on immigration — and that could be a drag on economic growth and cause monthly job gains to slow. Trump often frames immigration as a criminal and national security issue by focusing on people crossing the border illegally.

But economies that can’t add enough workers are at risk of stagnating — and the U.S. labor market at this stage needs immigrants as part of the jobs mix. About 84% of America’s net population growth last year came from immigrants, according to the Census Bureau. That’s 2.8 million immigrants.

“They not only work in the economy, but they spend in the economy,” said Satyam Panday, chief U.S. economist at S&P Global Ratings. “Their spending is somebody else’s income in the economy.”

If Trump were simply to put immigration back at his 2017 and 2019 averages of 750,000 immigrants annually, growth could slow from an estimated 2.7% last year to 2% going forward, Panday’s analysis found. The construction, agriculture and leisure and hospitality industries would probably struggle to find employees.

In other words, it’s worth monitoring the monthly jobs report and immigration flows.

Mind the wealth gap

Trump is going to have to figure out how to balance the interests of billionaires with those of his blue- collar voters. His inaugural events included several of the world’s wealthiest men: Tesla’s Elon Musk, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and LVMH’s Bernard Arnault. Each is worth roughly $200 billion or more, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index.

Scott Ellis, a member of the group Patriotic Millionaires, said it’s worth monitoring just how much their wealth increases under Trump. This year, as of Friday, Arnault’s net worth has risen $23 billion, Bezos is up by $15 billion, Zuckerberg is up by $18 billion and Musk’s wealth has risen by $6 billion. Those are all monthly increases.

By contrast, the most recent available Census Bureau data show that the median U.S. household wealth rose $9,600 in 2021-2022, to $176,500.

By JAMIE STENGLE, Associated Press

DALLAS (AP) — President Donald Trump has ordered the release of thousands of classified governmental documents about the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which has fueled conspiracy theories for decades.

The executive order Trump signed Thursday also aims to declassify the remaining federal records relating to the assassinations of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The order is among a flurry of executive actions Trump has quickly taken the first week of his second term.

Speaking to reporters, Trump said, “everything will be revealed.”

Trump had promised during his reelection campaign to make public the last batches of still-classified documents surrounding President Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas, which has transfixed people for decades. He made a similar pledge during his first term, but ultimately bended to appeals from the CIA and FBI to keep some documents withheld.

Trump has nominated Kennedy’s nephew, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to be the health secretary in his new administration. Kennedy, whose father, Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated in 1968 while running for president and has said he isn’t convinced that a lone gunman was solely responsible for the assassination of his uncle, President Kennedy, in 1963.

The order directs the director of national intelligence and the attorney general to develop a plan within 15 days to declassify the remaining John F. Kennedy records, and within 45 days for the other two cases. It was not clear when the records would actually be released.

Trump handed the pen used to sign the order to an aide and directed it to be given to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Only a few thousand of the millions of governmental records related to the assassination of President Kennedy have yet to be fully declassified. And while many who have studied what’s been released so far say the public shouldn’t anticipate any earth-shattering revelations, there is still an intense interest in details related to the assassination and the events surrounding it.

“There’s always the possibility that something would slip through that would be the tiny tip of a much larger iceberg that would be revealing,” said Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics and author of “The Kennedy Half-Century.” “That’s what researchers look for. Now, odds are you won’t find that but it is possible that it’s there.”

Kennedy was fatally shot in downtown Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, as his motorcade passed in front of the Texas School Book Depository building, where 24-year-old assassin Lee Harvey Oswald had positioned himself from a sniper’s perch on the sixth floor. Two days after Kennedy was killed, nightclub owner Jack Ruby fatally shot Oswald during a jail transfer.

In the early 1990s, the federal government mandated that all assassination-related documents be housed in a single collection in the National Archives and Records Administration. The collection of over 5 million records was required to be opened by 2017, barring any exemptions designated by the president.

During his first term, Trump boasted that he’d allow the release of all of the remaining records on the president’s assassination but ended up holding some back because of what he called the potential harm to national security. And while files have continued to be released under President Joe Biden, some still remain unseen.

Sabato, who trains student researchers to comb through the documents, said that most researchers agree that “roughly” 3,000 records have not yet been released, either in whole or in part, and many of those originated with the CIA.

The documents released over the last several years offer details on the way intelligence services operated at the time, and include CIA cables and memos discussing visits by Oswald to the Soviet and Cuban embassies during a trip to Mexico City just weeks before the assassination. The former Marine had previously defected to the Soviet Union before returning home to Texas.

There are still some documents in the collection though that researchers don’t believe the president would be able to release. Around 500 documents, including tax returns, weren’t subject to the 2017 disclosure requirement. And, researchers note, documents have also been destroyed over the decades.

By TARA COPP

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, paid $50,000 to the woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017, according to answers he provided to a senator during his confirmation process that The Associated Press has obtained.

The answers were provided to Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren in response to additional questions she had for Hegseth as part of the vetting process.

Hegseth attorney Timothy Parlatore declined to comment on the dollar figure Thursday. Hegseth told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and denied any wrongdoing. He told senators during his confirmation hearing last week that he was “falsely accused” in the 2017 incident and completely cleared.

The news of the payment amount comes the same day the Senate advanced Hegseth’s nomination along a party-line vote. Two Republicans, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, broke with Trump and voted Thursday against Hegseth, who also has faced allegations of excessive drinking and being abusive to his second wife, which he denies.

The most serious accusation came from the woman who told police she was sexually assaulted by Hegseth in a California hotel room in 2017 after he took her phone, blocked the door and refused to let her leave, according to an investigative report released in November.

The report does not say that police found the allegations were false. Police recommended the case report be forwarded to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office for review.

Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni said her office declined to file charges in January 2018 because it didn’t have “proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”

AP reporter Eric Tucker contributed from Washington.

By CHRISTINE FERNANDO, Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Thursday he would pardon anti-abortion activists convicted of blockading abortion clinic entrances.

Trump called it “a great honor to sign this.”

“They should not have been prosecuted,” he said as he signed pardons for “peaceful pro-life protesters.”

The people pardoned were involved in the October 2020 invasion and blockade of a Washington clinic.

Lauren Handy was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for leading the blockade by directing blockaders to link themselves together with locks and chains to block the clinic’s doors. A nurse sprained her ankle when one person pushed her while entering the clinic, and a woman was accosted by another blockader while having labor pains, prosecutors said. Police found five fetuses in Handy’s home after she was indicted.

Trump pardoned Handy and her nine co-defendants: Jonathan Darnel of Virginia; Jay Smith, John Hinshaw and William Goodman, all of New York; Joan Bell of New Jersey; Paulette Harlow and Jean Marshall, both of Massachusetts; Heather Idoni of Michigan; and Herb Geraghty of Pennsylvania.

In the first week of Trump’s presidency, anti-abortion advocates have ramped up calls for Trump to pardon protesters charged with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which is designed to protect abortion clinics from obstruction and threats. The 1994 law was passed during a time where clinic protests and blockades were on the rise, as was violence against abortion providers, such as the murder of Dr. David Gunn in 1993.

Trump specifically mentioned Harlow in a June speech criticizing former President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice for pursuing charges against protesters involved in blockades.

“Many people are in jail over this,” he said in June, adding, ”We’re going to get that taken care of immediately.”

Abortion rights advocates slammed Trump’s pardons as evidence of his opposition to abortion access, despite his vague, contradictory statements on the issue as he attempted to find a middle ground on the campaign trail between anti-abortion allies and the majority of Americans who support abortion rights.

“Donald Trump on the campaign trail tried to have it both ways — bragging about his role in overturning Roe v. Wade while saying he wasn’t going to take action on abortion,” said Ryan Stitzlein, vice president of political and government relations for the national abortion rights organization Reproductive Freedom for All. “We never believed that that was true, and this shows us that we were right.”

SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser thanked Trump for “immediately delivering on his promise” to pardon the protesters, arguing their prosecutions were political.

The legal group Thomas More Society argued the FACE Act defendants they represent had been “unjustly imprisoned” in a January letter to Trump. The group had assured the defendants that Trump would review their cases and pardon them when he took office, according to the letter.

“Today, freedom rings in our great nation,” Steve Crampton, senior counsel for the Thomas More Society, said Thursday, adding, ”What happened to them can never be erased, but today’s pardons are a huge step towards restoring justice.”

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, among Trump’s most loyal supporters, called the prosecution of anti-abortion protesters “a grotesque assault on the principles of this country” and urged Trump to pardon them while reading the stories of such anti-abortion protesters on the Senate floor Thursday. He highlighted Eva Edl, who was involved in a 2021 Tennessee clinic blockade and whose story has garnered attention from the largest national anti-abortion groups.

Hawley said he “had a great conversation” Thursday morning with Trump about the protesters.

The news of the pardons comes ahead of Friday’s annual anti-abortion protest March for Life in Washington, where the president is expected to address the crowd in a video.

By SCOTT McFETRIDGE

Efforts by the U.S. Forest Service to fight wildfires in California shouldn’t be influenced by politics, President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday at her Senate confirmation hearing.

Responding to questions from a Senate panel, nominee Brooke Rollins also acknowledged that Trump’s plans for mass deportations and tariffs could create hardships for the agriculture industry, but she said his election demonstrated that the public supports such actions.

Trump nominated Rollins, who also served in his first administration, to lead a sprawling agency that oversees farming, forestry, ranching, food quality and nutrition. If confirmed as agriculture secretary, Rollins would take charge of the agency at a time when many farmers have seen their profits plunge and when the Forest Service is joining efforts to fight a wave of wildfires in Southern California.

Given that Trump has threatened to withhold federal disaster aid from Los Angeles unless California officials change how the state manages its water resources, California Sen. Adam Schiff asked Rollins if she would commit to equal treatment from the Forest Service.

“Are you committed to employing the same emergency resources to fight wildfires in blue states as would be deployed to fight wildfires in red states?” Schiff asked.

Rollins responded that she would not support discrimination against any state.

“Obviously, but it bears saying since you asked, 100% yes,” Rollins said. “To watch the devastation in your beautiful state has been heartbreaking for all of us, no matter if we’re from red states or blue states.”

Rollins, 52, is a lawyer from Texas who served as domestic policy chief during Trump’s first term and is now the president and CEO of the American First Policy Institute, which has helped map out plans for the second Trump administration. She graduated from Texas A&M with an undergraduate degree in agricultural development and then earned her law degree at the University of Texas.

Schiff and other Democrats on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee also asked Rollins about Trump’s plans for mass deportations of people in the country illegally. They noted that a high percentage of those who harvest produce and work at dairies could be abruptly deported, causing a giant labor shortage.

Rollins said she supported Trump’s agenda but acknowledged it could be difficult for U.S. farmers.

“The president’s vision of a secure border and a mass deportation at a scale that matters is something I support,” Rollins said.

Even as she supported the president’s planned actions, Rollins said she would support efforts to recruit more workers, such as making temporary immigrant farm worker programs more effective.

“That is my commitment, is to help President Trump deploy his agenda in an effective way while at the same time defending, if confirmed as secretary of agriculture, our farmers and ranchers across this country,” she said.

Republicans as well as Democrats raised the issue of tariffs, which Trump says he will impose to encourage foreign investors to bring manufacturing to the U.S. and to force other countries to make policy changes.

Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat, said farmers and ranchers see little prospect for improving their economic condition other than expanding exports. Bennet implored Rollins to make the case to Trump that higher tariffs would devastate efforts to increase exports.

Rollins said she would always speak up for the needs of farmers and ranchers.

“My role is to defend, to honor, to elevate our entire agriculture community in the Oval Office around the table, through the interagency process and to ensure that every decision that is made in the coming four years has that front of mind as those decisions are being made,” Rollins said.

By MORGAN LEE and STEPHEN GROVES, Associated Press

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s inauguration-day executive orders and promises of mass deportations of “millions and millions” of people will hinge on securing money for detention centers.

The Trump administration has not publicly said how many immigration detention beds it needs to achieve its goals, or what the cost will be. However, an estimated 11.7 million people are living in the U.S. illegally, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement currently has the budget to detain only about 41,000 people.

The government would need additional space to hold people while they are processed and arrangements are made to remove them, sometimes by plane. The Department of Homeland Security estimates the daily cost for a bed for one adult is about $165.

Just one piece of Trump’s plan, a bill known as the Laken Riley Act that Congress has passed, would require at least $26.9 billion to ramp up capacity at immigrant detention facilities to add 110,000 beds, according to a recent memo from DHS.

That bill — named after a Georgia nursing student whose murder by a Venezuelan man last year became a rallying cry for Trump’s White House campaign — expands requirements for immigration authorities to detain anyone in the country illegally who is accused of theft and violent crimes.

Trump also is deploying troops to try and stop all illegal entry at the southern U.S. border. He triggered the Alien Enemies Act to combat cartels. The rarely used 1798 law allows the president to deport anyone who is not a U.S. citizen and is from a country with which there is a “declared war” or a threatened or attempted “invasion or predatory incursion.”

Detention infrastructure also will be stretched by Trump’s ban of a practice known as “catch and release” that allows some migrants to live in the U.S. while awaiting immigration court proceedings, in favor of detention and deportation.

ICE uses facilities around the U.S. to hold immigrants

ICE currently detains immigrants at its processing centers and at privately operated detention facilities, along with local prisons and jails under contracts that can involve state and city governments. It has zero facilities geared toward detention of immigrant families, who account for roughly one-third of arrivals on the southern U.S. border.

“There’s a limitation on the number of beds available to ICE,” said John Sandweg, who was acting director of ICE under President Barack Obama. “There are only so many local jails you contract with, private vendors who have available beds. And if the administration wants to make a major uptick in detention capacity, that’s going to require the construction of some new facilities.”

Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the U.S. border with Mexico leverages the U.S. military to shore up mass deportations and provide “appropriate detention space.” The Pentagon also might provide air transportation support to DHS.

Private investors are betting on a building boom, driving up stock prices at the top two immigration detention providers — Florida-based GEO Group and Tennessee-based CoreCivic.

A fast-track budgeting maneuver in Congress called “reconciliation” could provide more detention funding as soon as April. At the same time, the Texas state land commissioner has offered the federal government a parcel of rural ranchland along the U.S.-Mexico border for deportation facilities.

Where could ICE add detention space?

The American Civil Liberties Union estimates that ICE is considering an expansion of immigrant detention space across at least eight states, in locations ranging from Leavenworth, Kansas, to the outskirts of major immigrant populations in New York City and San Francisco, said Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney for the group and its National Prison Project.

The ACLU sued for access to correspondence from private detention providers after ICE solicited feedback last year on a potential expansion. Related emails from detention providers suggest the possible redeployment of a tent facility at Carrizo Springs, Texas, previously used to detain immigrant children, and the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas — one of two major immigrant family detention centers that the Biden administration phased out in 2021.

“Under the Trump administration, Homeland Security will be working to try to detain everyone that it possibly can and also expand its detention capacity footprint well beyond what is currently available in the United States at this point,” Cho said.

Cho added that Congress ultimately holds the purse strings for immigrant detention infrastructure — and that the Pentagon’s involvement under Trump’s emergency edict — warrants a debate.

“How does this detract from our own military’s readiness?” she said. “Does the military actually have the capacity to provide appropriate facilities for detention of immigrants?”

Using the military

Advocates for immigrant rights are warning against a hyper-militarized police state that could vastly expand the world’s largest detention system for migrants. Immigrant detention facilities overseen by ICE have struggled broadly to comply with some federal standards for care, hindering safety for staff and detainees, a Homeland Security Department inspector general found during 17 unannounced inspections from 2020-2023.

During Trump’s first administration, he authorized the use of military bases to detain immigrant children — including Army installations at Fort Bliss, Texas, and Goodfellow Air Force Base. In 2014, Obama temporarily relied on military bases to detain immigrant children while ramping up privately operated family detention centers to hold many of the tens of thousands of Central American families caught crossing the border illegally.

U.S. military bases have been used repeatedly since the 1970s to accommodate the resettlement of waves of immigrants fleeing Vietnam, Cuba, Haiti, Kosovo and Afghanistan.

Groves reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed.

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD and KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California Republicans are pushing back against suggestions by President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans that federal disaster aid for victims of wildfires that ravaged Southern California should come with strings attached, possibly jeopardizing the president’s policy agenda in a deeply divided Congress at the outset of his second term.

With Trump planning to visit the fire-ravaged state this week, resistance from even a few House members to his efforts to put conditions on disaster aid could further complicate an already fraught relationship between reliably liberal California and the second Trump administration.

Several Republicans who narrowly won California House seats in November have expressed dismay that the state relief could be hitched to demands in exchange for helping the thousands of Californians in their districts still reeling from this month’s disaster.

“Playing politics with people’s livelihoods is unacceptable and a slap in the face to the Southern California wildfire victims and to our brave first responders,” Republican Rep. Young Kim, whose closely divided district is anchored in fire-prone Orange County, southeast of Los Angeles, said in a statement.

In an interview aired Wednesday night, Trump said he may withhold aid to California until the state adjusts how it manages its scarce water resources. He falsely claimed that California’s fish conservation efforts in the northern part of the state are responsible for fire hydrants running dry in urban areas.

“I don’t think we should give California anything until they let the water run down,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity.

Local officials have said the conservation efforts for the delta smelt had nothing to do with the hydrants running dry as firefighters tried to contain blazes around Los Angeles. They said intense demand on a municipal system not designed to battle such blazes was to blame.

The wind-driven firestorms wiped out whole neighborhoods of Los Angeles County, left thousands homeless and killed more than two dozen people.

Trump said earlier this week that discussions are underway in the White House to bring more water to perennially parched Los Angeles, alluding to rainfall runoff lost to the Pacific and the state’s vast water storage and delivery system.

“Los Angeles has massive amounts of water available to it. All they have to do is turn the valve,” the president said.

California has long been a favorite target of Trump, who also referred to the fires in his inaugural address Monday. In LA, he said, “we are watching fires still tragically burn from weeks ago without even a token of defense.”

“That’s going to change.”

Trump has made no mention of the multinational firefighting force deployed to contend with multiple blazes. Firefighters were gaining ground on the two major fires Wednesday when a third blaze broke out north of Los Angeles and quickly burned through hundreds of acres of dry brush.

Johnson, a Louisiana Republican echoing Trump’s complaints, has said there are “serious” problems in how the state is managed. Those include insufficient funding for forestry programs and water storage. He also noted the public dispute between the LA fire chief and City Hall over budget cuts.

Johnson said Wednesday that Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass did not prepare the state or the city for what was to come. He particularly cited a 117-million-gallon reservoir left unfilled for nearly a year. Newsom has called for an independent investigation of the reservoir.

Bass didn’t directly respond to a question about possible conditions on disaster aid, saying in a statement: “Our work with our federal partners will be based on direct conversations with them about how we can work together.”

Some Republicans have suggested that the congressional relief package could become entangled with efforts to raise the nation’s debt limit — and with the House so closely divided, even a few breakaway votes from either party could alter the outcome.

That leaves GOP lawmakers from California in a political quandary: whether to forcefully stand up for their home state, often pilloried by the GOP as representing all that is wrong with America, while Republicans in Congress are eager to show a unified front and parlay their November election wins into what Trump has called a new “golden age” for the nation.

Several California representatives agreed that the federal government must guard against the misuse of funds but argued that the money should not be held up or saddled with restrictions not placed on other states after tornadoes and hurricanes.

The dilemma played out in social media posts by Republican Rep. Ken Calvert, who narrowly prevailed in November in his swing district east of Los Angeles.

“Californians are entitled to receive federal disaster assistance in the same manner as all Americans,” he wrote on X. But, he quickly added, “Some federal policy changes may be needed to expedite rebuilding as well as improve future wildfire prevention. Those kind of policies are not conditions.”

Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley, whose sprawling district runs from east of Sacramento south to Death Valley, told KCRA-TV in Sacramento last week that Johnson’s use of the word conditions was not “especially helpful.” Speaking at the Capitol Wednesday, he said there is a lot of ambiguity about what constitutes conditions for disaster aid.

He said his focus is to make sure the money doesn’t get wasted through government inefficiency.

“We want to make sure the money actually gets to the victims and they can use it to rebuild their homes and to recover,” Kiley said.

Politicians in Washington have feuded for years over how to restrain the growing wildfire threat across the West. Republicans have long complained that inadequate land management practices have exacerbated damage from wildfires, while Democrats have emphasized the role of climate change and the failure of the federal government to address it.

About the only thing they agree on is that the problem persists.

Some lawmakers have noted that disaster aid over the years for Johnson’s home state of Louisiana did not come with conditions. Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries called the idea a “non-starter.”

Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa, whose largely rural district runs from the Sacramento area north to the Oregon border, said he wasn’t too concerned about talk of conditions.

“Everything has conditions, especially the way California wastes money,” LaMalfa said. “We want to help people and we want to help with that, like we’ve helped with others. But California is very, very irresponsible.”

Trump plans to visit the state to see the damage firsthand on Friday. Newsom hasn’t said publicly if he’ll accompany him on his tour.

With the fragile GOP majority in the House — there are 219 Republicans, 214 Democrats and one vacancy — Johnson cannot afford defections on any vote. And it could be several weeks before a fuller accounting of the state’s recovery needs is ready and a formal request submitted to the White House.

Following major natural disasters, the president typically makes supplemental spending requests, as happened after hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Congress also could provide more disaster aid to California through legislation. Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Republican chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said he would work to include disaster aid in a filibuster-proof bill Republicans hope to craft this year that would pay for some of Trump’s top policy priorities.

Newsom urged Johnson and other congressional leaders to quickly approve assistance for the state, where fires are still burning and strong winds continue to threaten new ones. In an email to supporters from his campaign committee, he warned that “Republicans are holding federal aid hostage” and said Democrats might be able to peel off a handful of GOP votes to push through an aid package.

“In times of natural disaster — from Hurricane Katrina to Hurricane Helene — Americans have always stood together, setting aside politics to extend a helping hand to those in need,” the governor wrote. “Historically, federal disaster aid has been provided without conditions.”

Freking reported from Washington.

By JAKE COYLE, AP Film Writer

In the wake of devastating wildfires in Los Angeles that struck at the heart of the movie industry, an embattled Hollywood lined up behind the Netflix narco-musical about trans identity “Emilia Pérez” in Oscar nominations Thursday.

Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Pérez,” a Spanish language, French-made film, dominated the nominations with a leading 13 nominations, including best picture and best actress for Karla Sofía Gascón, making her the first openly trans actor ever nominated for an Oscar. The film also landed nominations for directing, original screenplay, two of its songs and for Zoe Saldaña.

Netflix, despite its starring role in Hollywood, has never won best picture. Many of its top contenders have previously racked up large numbers of nominations (including “Mank,” “The Irishman” and “Roma”) but gone home with only a handful of trophies.

“Emilia Pérez,” though, may be its best chance yet. It became the most nominated non-English language film ever, surpassing Netflix’s own “Roma,” which landed 10 nominations. Only three films — “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Land” — have scored more nominations in Academy Awards history.

Another musical — “Wicked,” the smash Broadway adaptation — came away with nearly as many nominations. Jon M. Chu’s lavish “Wizard of Oz” riff collected 10 nominations, including best picture and acting nods for its stars, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.

“The Brutalist,” Brady Corbet’s postwar epic filmed in VistaVision and released by A24, also came away with a commanding 10 nominations, including best picture, best director and nominations for actor Adrien Brody, Guy Pearce and Felicity Jones.

The 10 nominees for best picture are: “Anora”; “The Brutalist”; “A Complete Unknown”; “Conclave”; “Dune: Part Two”; “Emilia Pérez”; “I’m Still Here.”; “Nickel Boys”; “The Substance”; “Wicked.”

Last year, ‘Oppenheimer rolled. This year is different

In a wide-open Oscar race, the six most honored films — “Emilia Pérez,” “Wicked,” “The Brutalist,” “Anora” (six nominations) “Conclave” (eight nominations) and “A Complete Unknown” (eight nominations) — all fared as expected. The biggest surprises were the Brazilian film “I’m Still Here,” a portrait of political resistance under Brazil’s military dictatorship that also landed Fernanda Torres a best actress nomination, and RaMell Ross’ “Nickel Boys,” a daringly crafted first-person POV-shot drama that had been overlooked by many guilds in earlier voting.

Those nominees likely displaced a few best-picture possibilities in the prison drama “Sing Sing,” the journalism thriller “September 5” and the tender comedy “A Real Pain,” though those films all landed nominations elsewhere.

One of 2024’s most audacious films, “The Apprentice ″ landed a surprising pair of nominations, for Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong. The film dramatizes the formative years of President Donald Trump’ s emergence in New York real estate under the tutelage of attorney Roy Cohn. Trump has called those involved with the film “human scum.”

In the best actor category, where Stan and Brody were nominated, the other nominees were Timothée Chalamet (“A Complete Unknown”), Colman Domingo (“Sing Sing”) and Ralph Fiennes (“Conclave”). Most notably left out was Daniel Craig, acclaimed for his very un-James Bond performance in “Queer.”

Best actress, a category that Demi Moore has appeared to have locked up for her full-bodied performance in “The Substance,” saw nominations for Moore, Gascón, Torres, Erivo and the star of “Anora,” Mikey Madison. Arguably the year’s most competitive category, that left out Marianne Jean-Baptiste (“Hard Truths”), Pamela Anderson, “The Last Showgirl”), Nicole Kidman (“Babygirl”) and Angelina Jolie (“Maria”).

“I’m a Los Angeles native and so there’s been so much devastation these past few weeks and my heart breaks for L.A. but it’s really beautiful to see everyone coming together,” Madison said Thursday. “Hollywood coming together and celebrating film right now is really beautiful.”

In the directing category, “The Substance” filmmaker Coralie Fargeat managed to crack into the otherwise all-male group of Sean Baker (“Anora”), Corbet, Audiard and James Mangold (“A Complete Unknown”). Most had expected Edward Berger to be nominated for directing the papal thriller “Conclave.”

Supporting actor was led by Kieran Culkin, the favorite for the award, for his performance in “A Real Pain.” The other nominees were: Yura Borisov (“Anora”), Guy Pearce (“The Brutalist”), Edward Norton (“A Complete Unknown”) and Strong. Supporting actress nominations went to Grande, Saldaña, Jones, Monica Barbaro (“A Complete Unknown”) and Isabella Rossellini (“Conclave”).

Oscars push ahead, despite fires

The nominations had originally been planned for Jan. 17. But after wildfires on Jan. 7 began burning through the Pacific Palisades, Altadena and other areas around Los Angeles, leaving behind historic levels of destruction, the academy extended its voting window and twice postponed the nominations announcement. Fresh fires outside Los Angeles continued Thursday during the nominations, announced by Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott.

With so many in the film industry reeling from the fires, some called on the academy to cancel the Oscars altogether. Academy leaders have argued the March 2 ceremony must go ahead, for their economic impact on Los Angeles and as a symbol of resilience for the industry. Organizers have vowed this year’s awards will “celebrate the work that unites us as a global film community and acknowledge those who fought so bravely against the wildfires.”

“We will reflect on the recent events while highlighting the strength, creativity, and optimism that defines Los Angeles and our industry,” Bill Kramer, academy chief executive, and Janet Yang, president, said in an email to members Wednesday.

But much of the usual frothiness Hollywood’s award season has been severely curtailed due to the fires. The film academy canceled its annual nominees luncheon. Other events have been postponed or downsized. On Wednesday, Kramer and Yang said original song nominees won’t be performed this year. Conan O’Brien, whose Pacific Palisades home was spared by the fires, is hosting.

Blockbusters (mostly) sit it out

The Oscar nominations followed a up-and-down year for Hollywood that saw expansive post-strike delays, wide swaths of unemployed workers due to an industry-wide production slowdown and the tragedy of the California fires in January. Most humbling, perhaps, was the presidential election that returned Trump to office in a race where podcaster Joe Rogan seemed to hold more sway than all A-listers combined.

At the same time, even amidst a downturn for the superhero film, the industry rallied behind some galvanizing hits, including Universal Pictures’ “Wicked,” and three Walt Disney Co. $1 billion grossers in “Inside Out 2,” “Deadpool and Wolverine” and “Moana 2,” a film originally developed as a series for Disney+.

Those films missed nominations Thursday except for “Inside Out 2,” which joined the best animated nominees of “The Wild Robot,” “Flow,” “Memoir of a Snail” and “Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.” Otherwise, the biggest hits to join the Oscar mix were “Wicked” ($710.3 million worldwide) and “Dune: Part Two” ($714.6 million). Netflix doesn’t report box office, so “Emilia Pérez” has no tallied ticket sales, and hasn’t been among the streamer’s top watches, either.

That uncertain state of the movies seemed to be reflected in the nominations, which were spread across films both widely seen and little noticed, theatrically released and predominantly streaming.

But unlike last year, when Hollywood rallied around the success of “Oppenheimer,” the 2024 movie year offered up no clear frontrunner for the industry’s top honor. With five weeks to go until the Oscar ceremony, at least four or five movies – including “The Brutalist,” “Emilia Pérez,” “Anora,” “Conclave” and “Wicked” – are seen having a shot at best picture.

AP National Writer Jocelyn Noveck contributed to this report.

 

LANSING, Mich. (AP) State police in Michigan will be required to destroy guns collected during community buybacks, under legislation signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

State police in 2024 acknowledged that a previous disposal method destroyed only the frame or receiver of the firearm. A private company was recycling and selling the other parts, The New York Times reported.

Previous coverage: Southfield pastor wants guns recovered in buybacks fully destroyed following NYT investigation Southfield pastor wants guns recovered in buybacks fully destroyed after NYT investigation

State police last March announced that they would destroy entire guns. Now that policy has been written into law.

"Our current practice of destroying all parts of the firearm will remain the standard now and for the future, said Col. James Grady II, director of the state police.

Previous coverage: MSP announces guns from buyback programs will now be destroyed MSP announces guns from buyback programs will now be completely destroyed

State police handled more than 11,000 guns in 2023, spokesperson Shanon Banner said.

The Rev. Chris Yaw of St. Davids Episcopal Church in Southfield said gun destruction through buybacks is what Michiganders want and expect.

Yaw's church in suburban Detroit has collected hundreds of guns in exchange for gift cards to area stores. He said the line of cars was 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) long during an event in 2022.

LANSING (AP) — State police in Michigan will be required to destroy guns collected during community buybacks, under legislation signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

State police in 2024 acknowledged that a previous disposal method destroyed only the frame or receiver of the firearm. A private company was recycling and selling the other parts, The New York Times reported.

State police last March announced that they would destroy entire guns. Now that policy has been written into law.

“Our current practice of destroying all parts of the firearm will remain the standard now and for the future,” said Col. James Grady II, director of the state police.

The Rev. Chris Yaw of St. David’s Episcopal Church in Southfield said gun destruction through buybacks is what “Michiganders want and expect.”

Yaw’s church in suburban Detroit has collected hundreds of guns in exchange for gift cards to area stores. He said the line of cars was 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) long during an event in 2022.

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