The U.S. is often described as “the land of the free,” but a large number of Americans — and women in particular — aren’t happy with the freedom they have, according to new polling.

In the latest Gallup survey, 72% of respondents said they were satisfied “with their freedom to choose what they do with their lives.” This is just 1 ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s special sitting for oral arguments Thursday exemplifies a balancing act the justices face in the second Trump administration, as the president and his allies in Congress criticize the courts that have stood in the way of his push to reshape the government.

Since the start of his second term, the federal ...Read more

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. admitted making a “mistake” in slashing the health program that serves Sept. 11 first responders, but dodged questions about whether he would return it to full staffing.

RFK Jr. told Sen. Andy Kim, D-NJ, that firing many staffers at the World Trade Center Health Program was an error ...Read more

BOSTON — Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah Foley has warned that her office will investigate anyone who tries to interfere with ICE operations across the Bay State, and that includes elected officials.

The notice comes a week after a chaotic altercation in Worcester that featured activists, including a city councilor, attempting to block ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., testifying on Capitol Hill for the first time since he was confirmed as Health and Human Services secretary in February, on Wednesday shot down attempts by lawmakers to probe a wholesale reorganization and slashing of staff at the department, citing a court’s gag order issued just the day before.

Kennedy ...Read more

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri voters will decide whether to reimpose an abortion ban next year, after a landmark statewide vote last year that enshrined the right to the procedure in the state constitution and overturned a previous ban.

The Republican-controlled Senate on Wednesday approved a proposed constitutional amendment that, if ...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina’s abortion restrictions apply when electrical impulses are first detected by diagnostic medical equipment — generally around six weeks, the state Supreme Court ruled, handing a loss for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic.

Planned Parenthood sued saying the state’s 2023 law that bans abortions after a fetal...Read more

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — President Trump met Wednesday with Syria’s new leader, praising him as a “young, attractive guy” and urging him to rid his country of “Palestinian terrorists.”

Trump also urged Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa to sign onto the historic Abraham Accords brokered during Trump’s first term.

The meeting...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — A grassroots campaign to memorialize African American history in Clearwater — and thwart the Church of Scientology from purchasing another piece of downtown land — has picked up backers and detractors ahead of a key vote.

Dubbed #SaveTheGarden, local residents organized in recent weeks to create an alternative to the ...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Following years of controversy surrounding Becky Hill ⏤ the former Colleton County Clerk of Court who oversaw Alex Murdaugh’s double homicide trial ⏤ Murdaugh’s lawyers reacted to the clerk’s arrest on Wednesday, May 14.

Hill was charged Wednesday by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division with two counts of ...Read more

WASHINGTON — During a week honoring police nationwide, House Democrats called on Republicans to install a memorial closer to home — a long-delayed plaque for officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The plaque was authorized as part of the fiscal 2022 omnibus spending law and was supposed to be placed on the West Front of the...Read more

WASHINGTON — House Democratic leaders told rank-and-file members privately Wednesday that they will vote to table U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar's resolution aiming to impeach President Donald Trump ― an announcement that was met by applause by other members of the Democratic caucus, according to a lawmaker in the room.

A vote to table the measure...Read more

MIAMI — Police were called to Diddy’s Star Island mansions more than 30 times — with callers complaining about prostitution, drugs and illicit weapons inside the sprawling homes since 2021, according to police reports obtained by the Miami Herald.

The revelation came almost a year after Diddy’s enclaves in Miami Beach and Las Angeles ...Read more

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey said she plans to freeze hiring across executive branch agencies and departments later this month in response to “widespread economic uncertainty” at the national level and a “tightening budget outlook” for the next fiscal year.

Healey’s decision to restrict most state hiring starting May 27 came as she ...Read more

LANSING, Mich. — The Democratic-controlled Michigan Senate approved Wednesday a $84.6-billion budget plan that was marked by higher spending on public schools and economic relief than what Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer proposed in February.

The Senate's budget axed Whitmer's ideas to impose new accountability measures for schools, to ...Read more

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing to accelerate his administration’s plan to build a $20 billion water tunnel beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta by short-cutting permitting for the project and limiting avenues for legal challenges.

Newsom urged the Legislature on Wednesday to adopt his plan to “fast-track” the tunnel, ...Read more

DETROIT — A former member of the Michigan Army National Guard was charged Wednesday after prosecutors say he tried to attack a military base in Warren on behalf of the Islamic State.

Federal prosecutors described how investigators thwarted an alleged attack by Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said, 19, of Melvindale in the latest terrorism case ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Trump administration’s refocusing of federal resources on immigration has landed at the Chicago office of the IRS’s criminal investigation bureau, where agents accustomed to working complex financial cases are now being prepared for unprecedented special assignments to help track down undocumented immigrants, a memo obtained ...Read more

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis and the first lady lashed out at critics of their Hope Florida program on Wednesday and defended the state’s decision to steer money from a Medicaid settlement to a related charity.

During a roundtable in Brandon, Casey DeSantis vowed to continue Hope Florida despite intense scrutiny from news outlets ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday morning that California is facing a shortfall of $12 billion for the upcoming budget year.

Newsom’s office blamed the deficit on economic uncertainty caused by President Donald Trump’s policies and likely cuts to Medicaid. The overall budget, if passed by the Legislature by June 15, ...Read more