By GLENN GAMBOA

Michael R. Bloomberg has believed mayors have plenty to teach each other since he was mayor of New York City and supported the effort to share good municipal ideas through his nonprofit Bloomberg Philanthropies since he left office in 2013.

However, as more nations get bogged down in what the media entrepreneur and philanthropist calls “ideological battles and finger-pointing,” Bloomberg says mayors can do even more. He is expanding his support for them internationally, with the Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative, a collaboration with the London School of Economics and Political Science and the Hertie School in Berlin. And other philanthropists are investing in building stronger municipal governments to strengthen urban communities.

“Mayors are more important than ever because cities are more important than ever,” Bloomberg told The Associated Press in a statement. “For the first time in the history of the world, a growing majority of the world’s people live in cities – and cities lie at the heart of many of the biggest challenges facing countries, including expanding economic opportunity.”

The new international initiative, established by a $50 million investment from Bloomberg Philanthropies, brings together 30 mayors and 60 senior officials from 17 countries, representing over 21 million residents.

After one meeting in October, some already see the potential.

Oliver Coppard, mayor of South Yorkshire, England, jumped at the chance to work with Bloomberg Philanthropies again. Coppard learned much at the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, which focuses on training American mayors, but offers 25% of its seats to international mayors. And even he was surprised by how much he had in common with the first international class of mayors. They all look for ways to get their organizations to move faster, deal with social media, and communicate better with their communities.

“It was actually really surprising,” Coppard said. “There are a bunch of areas where, we all felt, despite the very different context that we work in, we were facing very similar challenges.”

A ‘show me, not trust me’ moment for mayors

Despite the varying political ideologies and viewpoints from a wide range of countries, Coppard said what united the mayors was a desire to serve their communities better through health care, transportation, and communication.

It’s exactly what James Anderson, head of Government Innovation programs at Bloomberg Philanthropies, hoped they would find. But he says tackling those issues has broader implications that require more philanthropic involvement.

“All of these mayors are recognizing that local governments have become the bulwark for democratic legitimacy,” Anderson said. “They feel the burden of that. And they want new and better ways to rebuild trust and a sense amongst their citizenry that government — local government, in particular — sees them and can respond to their needs in impactful ways.”

Anderson said the mayors also understand they have to show how government works for its community. Public safety, trash pickup and snow plowing have taken on new significance.

“We are in a moment where trust in institutions is very low,” he said. “This is a ‘Show me, not trust me’ moment. And mayors recognize that means they need to govern differently.”

Joseph Deitch, founder of the Elevate Prize Foundation, believes that philanthropy also has to support mayors and their cities differently.

“These days, there’s so much polarization,” he said. “Everyone is defending their corner. So where can we have common ground? I think one of those places is love of our cities.”

Launching Elevate Cities in Miami

To cultivate a stronger bond to those places, Deitch has launched Elevate Cities, a new initiative that both celebrates what makes cities special and convenes community leaders to make them better. The initiative will start in Deitch’s current home with Elevate Miami, though he hopes to expand it quickly to other cities.

In November, Elevate Miami awarded $25,000 unrestricted grants to three different Miami nonprofits to increase their impact on the city. Later this month, there will be a citywide scavenger hunt to introduce Miami residents to nonprofits in the area. And in January, Elevate Miami will launch a contest to write a love song to the city.

Kim Coupounas, Elevate Cities CEO, says that getting people to recognize all the positive things happening around them in their city makes it easier to cultivate civic pride. It also makes it easier for municipal leaders to get support from the community.

“We’re really trying to engage all of the city,” she said. “There’s so much potential and possibility that can come to life because we join hands and recognize what a good place we live in and what more can happen here.”

Bloomberg said he hopes the new Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative and other programs supporting municipal leaders will help spread good ideas and the diversity of viewpoints needed to try new strategies for their cities.

“If mayors want to do big things, they can’t afford to play it safe,” he said.

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

By MARK SHERMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration’s push to expand control over independent federal agencies comes before a sympathetic Supreme Court that could overturn a 90-year-old decision limiting when presidents can fire board members.

Lawyers for the administration are defending President Donald Trump’s decision to fire Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter without cause and calling on the court to jettison the unanimous 1935 decision in Humphrey’s Executor.

Arguments are taking place Monday.

The court’s six conservative justices already have signaled strong support for the administration’s position, over the objection of their three liberal colleagues, by allowing Slaughter and the board members of other agencies to be removed from their jobs even as their legal challenges continue.

Members of the National Labor Relations Board, the Merit Systems Protection Board and the Consumer Product Safety Commission also have been fired by Trump.

The only officials who have so far survived efforts to remove them are Lisa Cook, a Federal Reserve governor, and Shira Perlmutter, a copyright official with the Library of Congress. The court has suggested that it will view the Fed differently from other independent agencies, and Trump has said he wants her out because of allegations of mortgage fraud. Cook says she did nothing wrong.

A second question in the Slaughter case could affect Cook. Even if a firing turns out to be illegal, the court wants to decide whether judges have the power to reinstate someone.

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote earlier this year that fired employees who win in court can likely get back pay, but not reinstatement.

That might affect Cook’s ability to remain in her job. The justices have seemed wary about the economic uncertainty that might result if Trump can fire the leaders of the central bank. The court will hear separate arguments in January about whether Cook can remain in her job as her court challenge proceeds.

Chief Justice John Roberts has written a series of opinions dating back to 2010 that have steadily whittled away at laws restricting the president’s ability to fire people.

In 2020, Roberts wrote for the court that “the President’s removal power is the rule, not the exception” in a decision upholding Trump’s firing of the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau despite job protections similar to those upheld in Humphrey’s case.

In the 2024 immunity decision that spared Trump from being prosecuted for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, Roberts included the power to fire among the president’s “conclusive and preclusive” powers that Congress lacks the authority to restrict.

The court also was dealing with an FTC member who was fired, by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1935, who preferred his own choice at an agency that would have a lot to say about the New Deal.

William Humphrey refused Roosevelt’s request for his resignation. After Humphrey died the next year, the person charged with administering his estate, Humphrey’s executor, sued for back pay.

The justices unanimously upheld the law establishing the FTC and limiting the president to removing a commissioner only for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”

ZURICH (AP) — FIFA says it will include three-minute hydration breaks in each half of every game at next year’s World Cup, not just those played in hot weather.

The referee will stop the game 22 minutes into each half for players to take drinks, regardless of the temperature, the host country — the United States, Canada or Mexico — or whether the stadium has a roof and air conditioning.

The change may also be a hit with broadcasters, since it makes the game schedule more predictable. FIFA said it was first announced when the governing body’s chief tournament officer for the 2026 World Cup, Manolo Zubiria, attended a meeting with broadcasters.

He indicated that referees may have some flexibility if there’s a stoppage shortly before the 22-minute mark for an injury.

“This will be addressed on the spot with the referee,” Zubiria said.

FIFA said the move is a “streamlined and simplified version” of an earlier practice of having breaks after 30 minutes over a certain temperature threshold, once set at 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 Fahrenheit) on the wet bulb global temperature system.

The change comes after heat and humidity affected players during some games at this year’s Club World Cup in the U.S.

At that tournament, FIFA reacted by lowering the threshold for cooling or water breaks and also placing more water and towels around the edge of the field.

Heat has long been an issue at major soccer tournaments. Amid concerns ahead of the 2014 World Cup, a Brazilian court ordered FIFA to make its recommended breaks mandatory or face fines.

By SEUNG MIN KIM, JOSH FUNK AND DIDI TANG, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is planning a $12 billion farm aid package, according to a White House official — a boost to farmers who have struggled to sell their crops while getting hit by rising costs after the president raised tariffs on China as part of a broader trade war.

According to the official, who was granted anonymity to speak ahead of a planned announcement, Trump will unveil the plan Monday afternoon at a White House roundtable with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, lawmakers and farmers who grow corn, cotton, sorghum, soybeans, rice, cattle, wheat, and potatoes.

Farmers have backed Trump politically, but his aggressive trade policies and frequently changing tariff rates have come under increasing scrutiny because of the impact on the agricultural sector and because of broader consumer worries.

The aid is the administration’s latest effort to defend Trump’s economic stewardship and answer voter angst about rising costs — even as the president has dismissed concerns about affordability as a Democratic “hoax.”

Upwards of $11 billion is set aside for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmer Bridge Assistance program, which the White House says will offer one-time payments to farmers for row crops.

Soybeans and sorghum were hit the hardest by the trade dispute with China because more than half of those crops are exported each year with most of the harvest going to China.

The aid is meant to help farmers who have suffered from trade wars with other nations, inflation, and other market disruptions.

The rest of the money will be for farmers who grow crops not covered under the bridge assistance program, according to the White House official. The money is intended to offer certainty to farmers as they market the current harvest, as well as plan for next year’s harvest.

China purchases have been slow

In October, after Trump met Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea, the White House said Beijing had promised to buy at least 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans by the end of the calendar year, plus 25 million metric tons a year in each of the next three years. Soybean farmers have been hit especially hard by Trump’s trade war with China, which is the world’s largest buyer of soybeans.

China has purchased more than 2.8 million metric tons of soybeans since Trump announced the agreement at the end of October. That’s only about one quarter of what administration officials said China had promised, but Bessent has said China is on track to meet its goal by the end of February.

“These prices haven’t come in, because the Chinese actually used our soybean farmers as pawns in the trade negotiations,” Bessent said on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” explaining why a “bridge payment” to farmers was needed.

During his first presidency, Trump also provided aid to farmers amid his trade wars. He gave them more than $22 billion in 2019 and nearly $46 billion in 2020, though that year also included aid related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trump has also been under pressure to address soaring beef prices, which have hit records for a number of reasons. Demand for beef has been strong at a time when drought has cut U.S. herds and imports from Mexico are down due to a resurgence in a parasite. Trump has said he would allow for more imports of Argentine beef.

He also had asked the Department of Justice to investigate foreign-owned meat packers he accused of driving up the price of beef, although he has not provided evidence to back his claims.

On Saturday, Trump signed an executive order directing the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission to look at “anti-competitive behavior” in food supply chains — including seed, fertilizer and equipment — and consider taking enforcement actions or developing new regulations.

---

An earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed the connection to tariffs to a White House official.

Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price in Washington, Bill Barrow in Atlanta and Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota contributed to this report.

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Sunday that a deal struck by Netflix to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share.

“There’s no question about it,” Trump said, answering questions about the deal and various other topics as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors.

The Republican president said he will be involved in the decision about whether the federal government should approve the $72 billion deal. If approved by regulators, the merger would put two of the world’s biggest streaming services under the same ownership and join Warner’s television and motion picture division, including DC Studios, with Netflix’s vast library and its production arm.

The deal, which could reshape the entertainment industry, has to “go through a process and we’ll see what happens,” Trump said.

“Netflix is a great company. They’ve done a phenomenal job. Ted is a fantastic man,” he said of Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, noting that they met in the Oval Office last week before the deal was announced Dec. 5. “I have a lot of respect for him but it’s a lot of market share, so we’ll have to see what happens.”

Asked if Netflix should be allowed to buy the Hollywood giant behind “Harry Potter” and HBO Max, the president said, “Well that’s the question.”

“They have a very big market share and when they have Warner Bros., you know, that share goes up a lot so, I don’t know,” he said. “I’ll be involved in that decision, too. But they have a very big market share”

Sarandos made no guarantees at their meeting about the merger if it is approved, Trump said, adding that the CEO is a “great person” who has “done one of the greatest jobs in the history of movies and other things.”

He repeated that a merger would create a “big market share” for the company.

“There’s no question about it. It could be a problem,” Trump said.

Associated Press writer John Carucci contributed to this report.

By ISABELLA VOLMERT, Associated Press

A proposal to redraw Indiana’s congressional boundaries faces its first public test in the state Senate on Monday, with no clarity on whether it can pass a final vote later in the week despite months of pressure from President Donald Trump.

Senators will take action on a bill designed to favor GOP candidates in the upcoming midterm elections. However, many Republicans, who control the chamber, have been hesitant or even outright opposed to the idea of mid-decade redistricting. Several have also been threatened over their opposition or unwillingness to immediately declare support.

Their deciding votes could test Trump’s typically iron grip on the Republican Party. Monday’s expected committee hearing could give a first glimpse at how many senators plan to go on record against the bid to consolidate power in the staunchly conservative state.

The map introduced just last Monday and passed by the Republican super majority in the state House on Friday splits the city of Indianapolis into four districts, distributed across other Republican-leaning areas. It also groups the cities of East Chicago and Gary with a wide swath of rural counties in northern Indiana.

The contours would eliminate the districts of the state’s two Democratic congressional representatives: longtime Rep. André Carson, representing Indianapolis, and Rep. Frank Mrvan, representing northwest Indiana near Chicago. Carson is the state’s only Black member of Congress.

Republicans currently hold seven of the state’s nine districts.

Democrats are hoping to flip control of the U.S. House in the 2026 elections and like their odds, since midterms tend to favor the party opposite the one in power.

Redistricting is typically done once a decade following the census. But Trump has pushed Republican-led states to squeeze out more districts winnable for Republicans as a result. Texas, Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina have followed suit, while Democrats in California and Virginia have moved to draw their own favorable districts in response.

But the idea of redrawing a congressional map last approved in 2021 has made many Republicans in Indiana uneasy, particularly in the Senate. The leader of the state Senate previously said there were not enough votes in support of redistricting. But where the vote count stands going into Monday is unknown.

Senators are scheduled to meet on the floor at 12:30 p.m., and the Senate elections committee is scheduled to meet at 1:30 p.m.

The White House has upped the pressure on Indiana. Vice President JD Vance visited Indianapolis twice since August, and legislative leaders met with Trump in the Oval Office earlier this year.

After the leader of the state Senate, Republican Rodric Bray, said the chamber would reject the governor’s call for a special session on redistricting, Trump repeatedly lashed out at Bray and other state Senators on social media. Trump promised to endorse primary challengers to any state lawmaker who opposes redistricting.

In the weeks following, about a dozen state lawmakers were the victims of threats and swatting, in which a hoax call is made to police to elicit a law enforcement response, typically to someone’s home.

In the 50-person Senate chamber, redistricting proponents need at least 25 “yes” votes to give final passage to the map. That would trigger a tiebreaking vote from Republican Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, who is in favor of redistricting.

If the Senate were to vote against the new map, it would be extremely difficult for proponents to try again. The deadline to file to run for Congress in Indiana is in early February, and primary elections are held in early May.

Volmert reported from Lansing, Michigan.

By SUSIE BLANN, Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday claimed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “hasn’t read” a U.S-authored peace proposal aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war.

Trump was critical of Zelenskyy after U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators completed three days of talks on Saturday aimed at trying to narrow differences on the U.S. administration’s proposal. But in an exchange with reporters on Sunday night, Trump suggested that the Ukrainian leader is holding up the talks from moving forward.

“I’m a little bit disappointed that President Zelenskyy hasn’t yet read the proposal, that was as of a few hours ago. His people love it. But he hasn’t — Russia’s fine with it,” Trump told reporters on the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. “Russia is, I believe, fine with it, but I’m not sure that Zelenskyy’s fine with it. His people love it, but he hasn’t read it.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin also hasn’t publicly expressed approval for the White House plan. In fact, Putin last week had said that aspects of Trump’s proposal were unworkable, even though the original draft heavily favored Moscow.

Trump has had a hot-and-cold relationship with Zelenskyy since riding into a second White House term insisting that the war was a waste of U.S. taxpayer money. Trump has also repeatedly urged the Ukrainians to cede land to Russia to bring an end to a now nearly four-year conflict he says has cost far too many lives.

Zelenskyy said Saturday he had a “substantive phone call” with the American officials engaged in the talks with a Ukrainian delegation in Florida. He said he had been given an update over the phone by U.S. and Ukrainian officials at the talks.

“Ukraine is determined to keep working in good faith with the American side to genuinely achieve peace,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media.

Trump’s criticism of Zelenskyy came as Russia on Sunday welcomed the Trump administration’s new national security strategy in comments by the Kremlin spokesman published by Russia’s Tass news agency.

Dmitry Peskov said the updated strategic document, which spells out the administration’s core foreign policy interests, was largely in line with Moscow’s vision.

“There are statements there against confrontation and in favor of dialogue and building good relations,” he said, adding that Russia hopes this would lead to “further constructive cooperation with Washington on the Ukrainian settlement.”

The document released Friday by the White House said the U.S. wants to improve its relationship with Russia after years of Moscow being treated as a global pariah and that ending the war is a core U.S. interest to “reestablish strategic stability with Russia.”

Speaking on Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum, Trump’s outgoing Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, said efforts to end the war were in “the last 10 meters.”

He said a deal depended on the two outstanding issues of “terrain, primarily the Donbas,” and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

Russia controls most of Donbas, its name for the Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk regions, which, along with two southern regions, it illegally annexed three years ago. The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is in an area that has been under Russian control since early in Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and is not in service. It needs reliable power to cool its six shutdown reactors and spent fuel, to avoid any catastrophic nuclear incidents.

Kellogg, who is due to leave his post in January, was not present at the talks in Florida.

Separately, officials said the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Germany would participate in a meeting with Zelenskyy in London on Monday.

As the three days of talks wrapped up, Russian missile, drone and shelling attacks overnight and Sunday killed at least four people in Ukraine.

A man was killed in a drone attack on Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region Saturday night, local officials said, while a combined missile and drone attack on infrastructure in the central city of Kremenchuk caused power and water outages. Kremenchuk is home to one of Ukraine’s biggest oil refineries and is an industrial hub.

Kyiv and its Western allies say Russia is trying to cripple the Ukrainian power grid and deny civilians access to heat, light and running water for a fourth consecutive winter, in what Ukrainian officials call “weaponizing” the cold.

Three people were killed and 10 others wounded Sunday in shelling by Russian troops in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, according to the regional prosecutor’s office.

AP writers Darlene Superville and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed reporting.

NUUK, Greenland (AP) — Greenland is hosting meetings with American officials at the end of a year in which U.S. President Donald Trump ramped up talk of a U.S. takeover of the mineral-rich island, which is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark.

The meetings Monday and Tuesday include those of a “joint committee” between Greenland and American officials, and a “permanent committee” that involves the Danish government, Greenland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Science said. Similar meetings were held last year in the United States.

Vivian Motzfeldt, who heads the ministry, said in a statement before the meetings that Greenland was “pleased” to host the talks as a way to ensure that the interests of Greenlanders and Americans were respected.

In a brief statement to reporters before the meeting, according to a translation of a report by Greenlandic publication Sermistiaq, she said that she wanted to emphasize that it was up to Greenlanders to choose their own future.

Kenneth Howery, the U.S. ambassador in Copenhagen, said that the “joint committee” relationship dates back more than a generation — but the friendship is far older, according to an email of his comments from the embassy.

“The United States values our friendship with Greenland, which goes back more than 80 years,” said Howery, who was joined by Brendan Hanrahan, a senior U.S. State Department official. “We respect the people of Greenland’s right to determine their future.”

The Danish Foreign Ministry and the Greenland Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Science didn’t immediately respond to emails from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Trump stirred concerns earlier this year in Greenland, Denmark and the European Union, which counts Denmark among its 27 member countries, by reviving talk of a U.S. takeover of Greenland after returning to office for his second term.

The issue had drifted off headlines in recent months, but in August, Danish officials summoned the U.S. ambassador following a report that at least three people with connections to Trump had carried out covert influence operations in Greenland.

Earlier this year, U.S. Vice President JD Vance visited a remote U.S. military base on the island and accused Denmark of underinvesting there.

Trump has said that Greenland is crucial for U.S. security and hasn’t ruled out taking the island by military force, even though Denmark is a NATO ally of the U.S.

By MARC LEVY and KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Republicans in key battleground U.S. House districts are working to contain the political fallout that may come when thousands of their constituents face higher bills for health insurance coverage obtained through the Affordable Care Act.

For a critical sliver of the Republican majority, the impending expiration of what are called enhanced premium tax credits after Dec. 31 is a pressing concern as they potentially face headwinds in a 2026 midterm election that will be critical to President Donald Trump’s agenda.

One of those is first-term U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa., whose victory for the Allentown-area seat last year was among the narrowest in the nation.

Mackenzie is part of a bipartisan group that has been pressing for an eleventh-hour compromise, advocating for an extension of the tax credits that tries to fix perceived flaws and bring down health care costs. But the push is a long shot due to entrenched GOP opposition to the health overhaul known as “Obamacare.”

“I think that we need to deal with the reality of where we are now and even if you have a broken system, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t provide or offer relief to individuals who are dealing with those high costs right now,” Mackenzie said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Democrats have been laying the groundwork, starting with this fall’s shutdown fight, to make the health care issue a focus of next year’s campaigns.

The party’s strategy for capturing the House majority centers on pinning higher bills for groceries, health insurance and utilities on the policies of Trump and Republicans.

Republicans torn over an extension

In Washington, Republicans from competitive House districts have authored or signed onto bills that would temporarily extend the tax credits. A new bipartisan proposal unveiled Thursday has drawn support from roughly 15 Republicans and 20 Democrats so far.

“I have 40,000 people in my district who rely on this health care and doing nothing to prevent a spike in their premiums is wrong,” said U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., a sponsor of the plan.

Thirteen Republicans — including Mackenzie — signed a letter in late October to the House speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., encouraging the temporary extension of the tax credits, saying letting them “lapse without a clear path forward would risk real harm to those we represent.”

Johnson hasn’t committed to a short-term extension vote before Jan. 1 and has dismissed the looming premium increases as affecting a small percentage of Americans.

More than 24 million people have ACA health insurance, including farmers, business owners and other self-employed people who don’t have other health insurance options through their work.

Many benefit from subsidies that lower their out-of-pocket cost. Those subsidies include the enhanced premium tax credits, which were added and then extended under Democratic President Joe Biden when his party was the majority in Congress.

Some Republicans — including Mackenzie — couch their support for an extension with the caveat that changes must be made. One is rooting out insurance broker fraud. Another is backing off subsidies for higher earners.

Time is running out

U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley, one of the California Republicans whose districts have been redrawn to favor a Democrat, sponsored a bill to extend the tax credits for two years. His bill would also impose an income eligibility cap to exclude higher earners.

Kiley said the current system isn’t working, but there’s not enough time to make systematic reforms before millions of Americans “just suddenly pay double on their premiums.”

U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., also has a bill to temporarily extend the credit, and said letting the subsidy lapse will make it harder for Republicans to retain the majority next year.

“People say, ‘well, it’s not that many people,’” Van Drew said. “The kind of election we’re going to have in the midterms in multiple districts is going to be decided by one or two points. It’s going to be close. It’s going to be tight, and it does matter. It absolutely matters politically.”

U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, chair of the House Republicans’ campaign arm, said the tax credits won’t be “decisive” in next year’s election when other things are likely to be on voters’ minds.

Democrats will run on affordability

But U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington state, who chairs the House Democrats’ campaign arm, said swing-district Republicans won’t be able to distance themselves from the expiration of the tax credits.

“The number one issue across the country is affordability and health care is a key part of that,” DelBene said.

The Congressional Budget Office projects that 3.8 million more people will be uninsured in 2035 if the tax credits aren’t extended. But the tax credits also come with a cost: Extending them would increase the deficit by $350 billion over the next decade.

The expiration of the tax credits means enrollees will see annual premiums more than double — from an average of $888 in 2025 to $1,904 in 2026, according to health care research nonprofit KFF. That’s an increase of 114%.

The size of the increases varies by state, age and income and will be more extreme in Mackenzie’s district, according to state data, which puts the average premium increase at 178%.

A primary field of Democrats is shaping up for the nomination to challenge Mackenzie. They say they’re hearing from people who are struggling to afford rising premiums.

One of those Democrats, Ryan Crosswell, said rising insurance costs are a “breaking of promises” by Trump, Republicans and Mackenzie. Another Democrat, Carol Obando-Derstine, called the impending expiration a “crisis of (Mackenzie’s) own making.”

Mackenzie says he’s made it clear repeatedly that he supports an extension, but that “I am not the speaker, I don’t set the calendar or the agenda. I’m not the leader, I can’t call up bills.”

Enrollees facing hard choices

In Mackenzie’s district, more than 20,000 people received the enhanced tax credits in 2025, according to state data. He won his race last year by 1 percentage point, or about 4,000 votes.

One of those 20,000 people in Mackenzie’s district is Patrick Visconti, who switched to a low-premium, high-deductible plan because he couldn’t afford to keep his plan with a premium that is more than doubling from under $200 to over $500 a month.

Visconti, 59, who works as a self-employed landscaper and a bus driver, said the plan he picked is “crappy coverage.”

“I’d rather pay the $200 a month. But I can’t get anything for $200,” Visconti said.

Lynn Weidner, a home care worker in Mackenzie’s district who works nearly 80 hours a week, said her $400 premium will increase to $680. But, she said, she’s leaning toward selecting the plan because she has various conditions — including an iron deficiency — that require regular medical care.

“So I’m trying to find places where I can cut money so that I can afford my insurance come January, which is stressful,” Weidner said.

Freking reported from Washington. 

Patrick Kane scored the tiebreaking goal with 2:29 remaining in the third period and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Seattle Kraken 4-3 on Saturday night.

Emmitt Finnie, Andrew Copp and James van Riemsdyk also scored for the Red Wings. Simon Edvinsson added two assists and John Gibson made 24 saves completed a sweep of the two-game season series.

Kane, now three goals shy of 500 for his career, helped the Red Wings extend their point streak to four games (2-0-2). Alex DeBrincat found Kane in the slot for his second consecutive game with a goal.

Brandon Montour, Adam Larsson, and Chandler Stephenson scored for the Kraken, who have lost five straight (0-4-1). Joey Daccord stopped 21 shots.

Larsson tied it 22 at 6:44 of the second period with his second goal of the season. Vince Dunn assisted on the play for his 300th career point.

The Kraken then took their first lead of the game 3-2 on Stephensons deflection goal with 7:16 left in the period.

Van Riemsdyk tied it at 3 with 28 seconds remaining in the second. He has a goal in three consecutive games and five of his last six.

UP NEXT

Red Wings: At Vancouver on Monday night.

Kraken: Host Minnesota on Monday night.

___

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

Cade Cunningham had 23 points and 12 assists and the Detroit Pistons beat Milwaukee 124-112 on Saturday night to end the Bucks 15-game winning streak in Detroit.

Milwaukee came into the season with a 13-game winning streak against the Pistons, but Detroit has won two of three this season.

Jalen Duren had 16 points and 16 rebounds for Detroit, which has won four of five to improve to 19-5, with the only loss coming on Wednesday night in Milwaukee. Isaiah Stewart added 19 points.

Kevin Porter Jr. had a season-high 32 points for the Bucks, who have lost 10 of 12. Kyle Kuzma added 15 points.

Detroit shot 57.1% (20-35) from the floor in the first half, including 50% (7-14) on 3-pointers, but only built a 61-56 lead thanks to 13 turnovers that led to 20 Milwaukee points. Cunningham had 15 points and eight assists while Porter scored 19 on 7-8 shooting.

The Pistons started the third quarter with a 13-3 run to take a 74-59 lead, and Milwaukee was still down by 10 going into the fourth.

The Bucks never threatened in the fourth, trailing by 25 when both teams started emptying the benches. Pistons guard Marcus Sasser made his season debut, having missed the first 23 games with a hip injury.

Up next

Bucks: Host Boston on Thursday night.

Pistons: Host Atlanta on Friday night.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Today is Sunday, Dec. 7, the 341st day of 2025. There are 24 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Dec. 7,1972, America’s last crewed moon mission to date was launched as Apollo 17 blasted off from Cape Canaveral.

Also on this date:

In 1787, Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

In 1941, the Empire of Japan launched an air raid on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, killing more than 2,300 Americans. The United States declared war against Japan the following day.

In 1982, convicted murderer Charlie Brooks Jr. became the first U.S. prisoner to be executed by lethal injection, at a prison in Huntsville, Texas.

In 1988, a major earthquake in the Soviet Union devastated northern Armenia, killing at least 25,000 people.

In 1993, six people were killed and 19 wounded in a mass shooting aboard a Long Island Rail Road train in New York.

In 2004, Hamid Karzai (HAH’-mihd KAHR’-zeye) was sworn in as Afghanistan’s first popularly elected president.

In 2018, James Alex Fields Jr., who drove his car into a crowd of counterdemonstrators at a 2017 white nationalist rally in Virginia, was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Heather Heyer, an anti-racism activist. He was later sentenced on that and other convictions to life in prison plus 419 years.

In 2024, the newly-restored Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was reopened to the public after a devastating blaze nearly destroyed the beloved Gothic masterpiece in 2019. World leaders attended the reopening ceremony amid great fanfare and celebration.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Linguist and political philosopher Noam Chomsky is 97.
• Actor Ellen Burstyn is 93.
• Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Bench is 78.
• Singer-songwriter Tom Waits is 76.
• Republican Sen. Susan M. Collins of Maine is 73.
• Basketball Hall of Famer Larry Bird is 69.
• Actor Jeffrey Wright is 60.
• Actor C. Thomas Howell is 59.
• Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens is 52.
• Football Hall of Famer Alan Faneca is 49.
• Actor Shiri Appleby is 47.
• Singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles (bah-REHL’-es) is 46.
• Actor Nicholas Hoult is 36.
• MLB All-Star Pete Alonso is 31.
• Olympic swimming gold medalist Torri Huske is 23.

DETROIT (AP) — Cade Cunningham had 23 points and 12 assists and the Detroit Pistons beat Milwaukee 124-112 on Saturday night to end the Bucks’ 15-game winning streak in Detroit.

Milwaukee came into the season with a 13-game winning streak against the Pistons, but Detroit has won two of three this season.

Jalen Duren had 16 points and 16 rebounds for Detroit, which has won four of five to improve to 19-5, with the only loss coming on Wednesday night in Milwaukee. Isaiah Stewart added 19 points.

Kevin Porter Jr. had a season-high 32 points for the Bucks, who have lost 10 of 12. Kyle Kuzma added 15 points.

Detroit shot 57.1% (20-35) from the floor in the first half, including 50% (7-14) on 3-pointers, but only built a 61-56 lead thanks to 13 turnovers that led to 20 Milwaukee points. Cunningham had 15 points and eight assists while Porter scored 19 on 7-8 shooting.

The Pistons started the third quarter with a 13-3 run to take a 74-59 lead, and Milwaukee was still down by 10 going into the fourth.

The Bucks never threatened in the fourth, trailing by 25 when both teams started emptying the benches. Pistons guard Marcus Sasser made his season debut, having missed the first 23 games with a hip injury.

Up next

Bucks: Host Boston on Thursday night.

Pistons: Host Atlanta on Friday night.

AUBURN HILLS (AP) — Ziare Wells led Oakland with 21 points, including the game-winning jump shot with 10 seconds remaining, and the Golden Grizzlies knocked off Toledo 98-97 on Saturday.

Oakland (5-5, 1-0 Horizon League) has won four straight since a 1-5 start.

Wells added five rebounds for the Golden Grizzlies. Brody Robinson scored 19 points while shooting 8 for 14, including 3 for 7 from beyond the arc and added six assists. Tuburu Niavalurua had 18 points and went 9 of 16 from the field.

“If you walk away from this basketball game thinking ‘Oh, my gosh, I don’t ever want to watch basketball’, something’s wrong with you,” OU coach Greg Kampe said. “That was an unbelievable basketball game played by 13-14 players that can really play basketball. Two great programs who let their players play. We beat a really well coached team today. We beat a really good team today.”

Saturday’s win was the 900th in Oakland’s program history.

Leroy Blyden Jr. led the Rockets (5-4) in scoring, finishing with 20 points. Jaylan Ouwinga added 16 points and seven rebounds for Toledo. Sonny Wilson also had 16 points and six assists.

Wells scored 10 points in the first half and Oakland went into the break trailing 48-45. Michael Houge scored 13 second-half points. Oakland outscored Toledo by four points over the final half.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

ANN ARBOR (AP) — Morez Johnson Jr. scored 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting, and No. 3 Michigan won its fifth consecutive game by 25 or more points, beating Rutgers 101-60 on Saturday.

The Wolverines scored more than 100 points for the third consecutive game, a feat last accomplished during their 1989 national championship season.

Yaxel Lendenborg had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Wolverines (8-0, 1-0) in their Big Ten opener. Trey McKenney added 13 points, and Elliot Cadeau had 11 points and nine assists.

Michigan shot 60% from the field while making its case for the No. 1 spot in the AP poll after No. 1 Purdue lost earlier in the day. The Maize Rage student section did its lobbying with several “No. 1” chants late in the game.

Freshmen Harun Zrno and Kaden Powers led Rutgers (5-5, 0-2) with 13 points apiece. Zrno, a 21-year-old from Bosnia and Herzegovina, made his first career start.

EAST LANSING (AP) — Cameron Boozer scored 18 points, including 16 in the second half, and Caleb Foster added 12 points Saturday to help No. 4 Duke hold on for a 66-60 victory over No. 7 Michigan State in a game that had the intensity of an NCAA Regional Final.

Boozer, who entered averaging nearly 27 points a game, also had 15 rebounds for the Blue Devils (10-0). Duke’s start is its best open to a season since winning the first 11 games in 2017-18.

A combination of missed open shots and tight defense kept the game close. The teams traded the lead nine times and were tied four times in the second half.

Isaiah Evans gave the Blue Devils a 55-53 lead with 3:59 remaining, but Jeremy Fears tied it at 55 with a pair of free throws with 1:59 left. Boozer then hit two free throws with 1:35 to go to put Duke up for good. Evans then was fouled by Fears on a 3-point shot and made all three free throws to give Duke a 60-55 advantage.

Carson Cooper had a layup with 46 seconds left to cut the margin to 60-57 but that was as close as Michigan State could get.

Cooper led Michigan State (8-1) with 16 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Jaxon Kohler had 14 points and seven rebounds for the Spartans.

Neither team could get into an offensive rhythm in the first half. Duke led through the first 12 minutes, up by as many as six points. Michigan State grabbed the lead on a 3-pointer by Jesse McCulloch with 5:02 left and held on for a 34-31 halftime advantage.

Both teams struggled with their shooting from the field in the first half, combining for 22 of 63.

Up next

Duke: Hosts Lipscomb on Dec. 16.

Michigan State: Visits Penn State on Dec. 13.

— By BOB TRIPI, Associated Press

By NOAH TRISTER, AP Sports Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The World Cup final will kick off at 3 p.m. EDT next July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

FIFA announced the start times for the tournament’s 104 matches on Saturday, a day after the draw for the expanded 48-nation tournament. The kickoff time allows for prime-time viewing in Europe, where it will be 9 p.m., and Britain, where it will be 8 p.m.

The average 3 p.m. temperature over the past 30 years in East Rutherford on July 19 is 83 degrees (28 Celsius) with a RealFeel index of 89 (32), according to AccuWeather.

Nine of the 10 World Cup finals from 1978 through 2014 started in the 2-3:30 p.m. EDT range, the exception 2002 in Japan, which began at 7 a.m. EDT. The 2018 final started at 11 a.m. EDT and the 2022 championship of a tournament shifted to winter in Qatar at 10 a.m. EST.

The 1994 final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, kicked off at 12:30 p.m. local time (3:30 p.m. EDT).

FIFA announced the schedule and sites after factoring in travel and broadcast.

“Let’s just say it’s been a long night — or a short night,” chief tournament officer Manolo Zubiria said. “As I explained earlier to some of the coaches, we’ve tried to basically strike the right balance looking at the preparation, the recovery that the teams have to do in this very large footprint, the biggest World Cup ever, 16 cities, three countries, different climatic conditions, time zones.”

Zubira said goals included “trying to minimize travel for the teams and the fans to try to see their teams play, and obviously trying to see how to best expose this competition to the world, trying to find the right times for the kickoff times in specific cities, taking into consideration some restrictions.”

The opener at Mexico City on June 11 between El Tri and South Africa will start at 1 p.m. local (3 p.m. EDT).

Semifinals will start at 2 p.m. (3 p.m. EDT) on July 14 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and 3 p.m. the following day at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, both of which have retractable roofs.

Quarterfinals will begin at 4 p.m. on July 9 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, and noon (3 p.m. EDT) the following day at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. The last two quarterfinals are on July 11, starting at 5 p.m. at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, and 8 p.m. (9 p.m. EDT) at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Of the quarterfinal venues, SoFi has a roof but air from the outside can flow in, and the other three are open air.

FIFA announced on Feb. 4 last year that the final was scheduled for New Jersey and that June 12 revealed site-specific matchups for games in the new round of 32, round of 16, quarterfinals and semifinals.

Seventy-eight games will be in the U.S., including all from the quarterfinals on, and 13 apiece in Canada and Mexico.

During an event at the Capital Hilton, FIFA also announced sites of the 54 group stage games not finalized with Friday’s draw, which fixed venues for only Groups A, B and D — which include co-hosts Mexico, Canada and the United States.

South Korea is the only team other than Canada and Mexico with no games in the U.S., playing its opener in Guadalajara against the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland or North Macedonia, then facing El Tri at the same venue and finishing the round against South Africa in Monterrey.

The U.S. first-round games will be a 6 p.m. local start (9 p.m. EDT) against Paraguay at Inglewood on June 12, a noon kickoff (3 p.m. EDT) vs. Australia at Seattle seven days later and a 7 p.m. start on June 25 at SoFi against Turkey, Romania, Slovakia or Kosovo.

Japan’s Group F game against Tunisia at Monterrey, Mexico, on June 20 will be the 1,000th World Cup match.

Germany’s June 14 Group E opener against Curaçao will kick off at noon local (1 p.m. EDT) at NRG Stadium. Curaçao has the smallest population of a country to reach the World Cup at about 150,000.

“It will be played in Houston, which is a closed venue, indoor, so nobody can complain about heat or weather or wind or whatever,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said.

AP Sports Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report.

2026 World Cup Schedule

United States, Mexico, Canada

FIRST ROUND

GROUP A

Thursday, June 11

Mexico City

Mexico vs. South Africa 2000 GMT

Guadalajara

South Korea vs. Denmark/North Macedonia/Czech Republic/Ireland, 0300 GMT Friday

Thursday, June 18

Atlanta

Denmark/North Macedonia/Czech Republic/Ireland vs. South Africa, 1700 GMT

Guadalajara

Mexico vs. South Korea, 0200 GMT Friday

Wednesday, June 24

Mexico City

Denmark/North Macedonia/Czech Republic/Ireland vs. Mexico, 0200 GMT Thursday

Monterrey

South Africa vs. South Korea, 0200 GMT Thursday

GROUP B

Friday, June 12

Toronto

Canada vs. Italy/Northern Ireland/Wales/Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2000 GMT

Saturday, June 13

Santa Clara, California

Qatar vs. Switzerland, 2000 GMT

Thursday, June 18

Los Angeles

Switzerland vs. Italy/Northern Ireland/Wales/Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2000 GMT

Vancouver

Canada vs. Qatar, 2300 GMT

Wednesday, June 24

Vancouver

Switzerland vs. Canada, 2000 GMT

Seattle

Italy/Northern Ireland/Wales/Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Qatar, 2000 GMT

GROUP C

Saturday, June 13

East Rutherford, New Jersey

Brazil vs. Morocco, 2300 GMT

Boston

Haiti vs. Scotland, 0200 GMT Sunday

Friday, June 19

Boston

Scotland vs. Morocco, 2300 GMT

Philadelphia

Brazil vs. Haiti, 0200 GMT Saturday

Wednesday, June 24

Miami

Scotland vs. Brazil, 2300 GMT

Atlanta

Morocco vs. Haiti, 2300 GMT

GROUP D

Friday, June 12

Los Angeles

United States vs. Paraguay, 0200 GMT Saturday

Saturday, June 13

Vancouver

Australia vs. Turkey/Romania/Slovakia/Kosovo, 0500 GMT Sunday

Friday, June 19

Santa Clara, California

Turkey/Romania/Slovakia/Kosovo vs. Paraguay, 0500 GMT Saturday

Seattle

United States vs. Australia, 2000 GMT

Thursday, June 25

Los Angeles

Turkey/Romania/Slovakia/Kosovo vs. United States, 0300 GMT Friday

Santa Clara, California

Paraguay vs. Australia, 0300 GMT Friday

GROUP E

Sunday, June 14

Houston

Germany vs. Curacao, 1800 GMT

Philadelphia

Ivory Coast vs. Ecuador, 0000 GMT Monday

Saturday, June 20

Toronto

Germany vs. Ivory Coast, 2100 GMT

Kansas City

Ecuador vs. Curacao, 0100 GMT Sunday

Thursday, June 25

East Rutherford, New Jersey

Ecuador vs. Germany, 2100 GMT

Philadelphia

Curacao vs. Ivory Coast, 2100 GMT

GROUP F

Sunday, June 14

Dallas

Netherlands vs. Japan, 2100 GMT

Monterrey

Ukraine/Sweden/Poland/Albania vs. Tunisia, 0300 GMT Monday

Saturday, June 20

Houston

Netherlands vs. Ukraine/Sweden/Poland/Albania, 1800 GMT

Monterrey

Tunisia vs. Japan, 0500 GMT Sunday

Thursday, June 25

Dallas

Japan vs. Ukraine/Sweden/Poland/Albania, 0000 GMT Friday

Kansas City

Tunisia vs. Netherlands, 0000 GMT Friday

GROUP G

Monday, June 15

Seattle

Belgium vs. Egypt, 2000 GMT

Los Angeles

Iran vs. New Zealand, 0200 GMT Tuesday

Sunday, June 21

Los Angeles

Belgium vs. Iran, 2000 GMT

Vancouver

New Zealand vs. Egypt, 0200 GMT Monday

Friday, June 26

Seattle

Egypt vs. Iran, 0400 GMT Saturday

Vancouver

New Zealand vs. Belgium, 0400 GMT Saturday

GROUP H

Monday, June 15

Atlanta

Spain vs. Cape Verde, 1700 GMT

Miami

Saudi Arabia vs. Uruguay, 2300 GMT

Sunday, June 21

Atlanta

Spain vs. Saudi Arabia, 1700 GMT

Miami

Uruguay vs, Cape Verde, 2300 GMT

Friday, June 26

Houston

Cape Verde vs. Saudi Arabia, 0100 GMT Saturday

Guadalajara

Uruguay vs. Spain, 0100 GMT Saturday

GROUP I

Tuesday, June 16

East Rutherford, New Jersey

France vs. Senegal, 2000 GMT

Boston

Iraq/Bolivia/Suriname vs. Norway, 2300 GMT

Monday, June 22

Philadelphia

France vs. Iraq/Bolivia/Suriname, 2200 GMT

East Rutherford, New Jersey

Norway vs. Senegal, 0100 GMT Tuesday

Friday, June 26

Boston

Norway vs. France, 2000 GMT

Toronto

Senegal vs. Iraq/Bolivia/Suriname, 2000 GMT

GROUP J

Tuesday, June 16

Kansas City

Argentina vs. Algeria, 0200 GMT Wednesday

Santa Clara, California

Austria vs. Jordan, 0500 GMT Wednesday

Monday, June 22

Dallas

Argentina vs. Austria, 1800 GMT

Santa Clara, California

Jordan vs. Algeria, 0400 GMT Tuesday

Saturday, June 27

Kansas City

Algeria vs. Austria, 0300 GMT Sunday

Dallas

Jordan vs. Argentina, 0300 GMT Sunday

GROUP K

Wednesday, June 17

Houston

Portugal vs. DR Congo/Jamaica/New Caledonia, 1800 GMT

Mexico City

Uzbekistan vs. Colombia, 0300 GMT Thursday

Tuesday, June 23

Houston

Portugal vs. Uzbekistan, 1800 GMT

Guadalajara

Colombia vs. DR Congo/Jamaica/New Caledonia, 0300 GMT Wednesday

Saturday, June 27

Miami

Colombia vs. Portugal, 0030 Sunday

Atlanta

DR Congo/Jamaica/New Caledonia vs. Uzbekistan, 0030 GMT Sunday

GROUP L

Wednesday, June 17

Dallas

England vs. Croatia, 2100 GMT

Toronto

Ghana vs. Panama, 0000 GMT Thursday

Tuesday, June 23

Boston

England vs. Ghana, 2100 GMT

Toronto

Panama vs. Croatia, 0000 GMT Wednesday

Saturday, June 27

East Rutherford, New Jersey

Panama vs. England, 2200 GMT

Philadelphia

Croatia vs. Ghana, 2200 GMT

By RONALD BLUM, AP Sports Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tyler Adams has set a bold goal for the U.S. soccer team, aiming to reach the World Cup semifinals for the first time since the inaugural tournament in 1930.

“Everyone’s going to want us to say winning it is obviously the goal,” the American midfielder said Friday after the World Cup draw, “but I think setting the benchmark of the furthest the U.S. team has gone is also realistic.”

The 14th-ranked U.S. will start Group D against No. 39 Paraguay on June 12 in Inglewood, California, and then play 26th-ranked Australia six days later at Seattle. The Americans conclude the group stage on June 25 back at SoFi Stadium against the winner of playoffs among Turkey (25), Slovakia (45), Romania (47) and Kosovo (80).

“Getting three points right off right off the bat like that would be would be an amazing start for us and just put us in a great position in the group,” star Christian Pulisic said.

It appears to be among the less difficult of the 12 groups. The top two in each advance to the new round of 32 along with the best four third-place teams.

“Listen, we all want to win a World Cup,” defender Tim Ream said. “You don’t play a tournament just to be there and so we’ve had conversations, Chris and I have had conversations about, yeah, we wan to win. I think people can laugh and say whatever they want.”

In recent friendlies, the U.S. lost 2-1 to Turkey in June, beat Australia 2-1 in October and defeated Paraguay 2-1 last month.

“Potentially we played all three of these teams in the last six months but that can be a little bit of a false kind of sense of security,” defender Ream said.

In nearly a century of World Cup play, the U.S. is 1-7 in knockout games, getting outscored 22-7. The Americans’ only win was 2-0 over Mexico in 2002’s round of 16, which was followed by a 1-0 quarterfinal loss to Germany. The Americans are winless in their last 12 World Cup matches against European teams, outscored 20-10.

“There’s no easy game in a World Cup. In fact, I think some of our hardest games in the previous World Cup were against the lesser opponents,” Adams said.

At the 2022 tournament in Qatar, the U.S. tied Wales 1-1 and England 0-0 before beating Iran 1-0 on a Pulisic goal to advance.

“It’s fair to say that the last World Cup we couldn’t set a bar or standard for anything. We didn’t know what to expect,” Adams said. “Now looking back on it, I think we have more experience. We’re a lot more mature. We’ve grown a lot as individuals and as a team.”

Coach Mauricio Pochettino has scheduled friendlies against Belgium and Portugal in March and vs. a team to be determined and Germany just before the tournament.

As he mulls his roster, Pochettino thinks about “Miracle,” a 2004 movie he watched last month about the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team of young players that upset the heavily favored Soviet Union and went on to win the gold medal. Coach Herb Brooks’ decisions made an impression on Pochettino.

“We don’t need the best players, we need the right players to make a team a strong team,” Pochettino said. “The right players to build a powerful team with the possibility to fight with any team in the in the world. Good and right are completely different.”

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

By COLLIN BINKLEY

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is bringing back dozens of Education Department staffers who were slated to be laid off, saying their help is needed to tackle a mounting backlog of discrimination complaints from students and families.

The staffers had been on administrative leave while the department faced lawsuits challenging layoffs in the agency’s Office for Civil Rights, which investigates possible discrimination in the nation’s schools and colleges. But in a Friday letter, department officials ordered the workers back to duty starting Dec. 15 to help clear civil rights cases.

A department spokesperson confirmed the move, saying the government still hoped to lay off the staffers to shrink the size of the department.

“The Department will continue to appeal the persistent and unceasing litigation disputes concerning the Reductions in Force, but in the meantime, it will utilize all employees currently being compensated by American taxpayers,” Julie Hartman said in a statement.

In the letter to employees, obtained by The Associated Press, officials said the department needs “all OCR staff to prioritize OCR’s existing complaint caseload.” The office handles everything from complaints about possible violations of disability rights to racial discrimination.

More than 200 workers from the Office for Civil Rights were targeted in mass layoffs at the department, but the firings have been tied up in legal battles since March. An appeals court cleared the way for the cuts in September, but they’re again on hold because of a separate lawsuit. In all, the Education Department workforce has shrunk from 4,100 when President Donald Trump took office to roughly half that size now, as the president vows to wind down the agency.

The department did not say how many workers are returning to duty. Some who have been on administrative leave for months have since left.

The Office for Civil Rights had a backlog of about 20,000 discrimination cases when Trump took office in January. Since then, with a significantly reduced workforce, the backlog has grown to more than 25,000, AP reporting has shown using department data.

Trump officials have defended the layoffs even as complaints pile up, saying the office wasn’t operating efficiently, even at full staff.

The Office for Civil Rights enforces many of the nation’s laws about civil rights in education, including those barring discrimination based on disability, sex, race and religion. It investigates complaints from students across the country and has the power to cut funding to schools and colleges that violate the law, though most cases are resolved in voluntary agreements.

Some former staffers have said there’s no way the office can address the current backlog under the staffing levels left after the layoffs. Families who have filed discrimination complaints against their schools say they have noticed the department’s staffing shortages, with some waiting months and hearing nothing.

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.