A large number of senior career diplomats who served in politically appointed leadership positions at the State Department have left their posts at the demand of the incoming Trump administration, which plans to install its own people in those positions.

Donald Trump has promised sweeping actions in his second administration.

As he prepares to become the nation’s first millennial vice president, JD Vance is already a budding kingmaker in Republican politics and the presumptive heir to the “Make America Great Again” movement.

Attorney General Merrick Garland came in with a mission to calm the waters at the Justice Department and restore its reputation for independence after four turbulent years during Donald Trump's presidency.

The Democratic Party's left wing is responding to President Joe Biden's strong words about the possibility of an American oligarchy with a combination of appreciation, bemusement and frustration.

Kamala Harris has hinted that she wants to stay involved in politics and foreign affairs after leaving the vice president's office, but she hasn't disclosed any plans so far.

After forging unexpectedly fond ties with President Biden, Italy’s right-wing Premier Giorgia Meloni is poised to leverage a more natural alliance with incoming President Trump that positions her as a key interlocutor between the U.S. and Europe.

Senior officials from President-elect Donald Trump’s administration have participated in a transition exercise hosted by President Joe Biden's team on responding to potential terror attacks and avian flu, among other challenges.

President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump are both claiming credit for Israel and Hamas agreeing to a ceasefire deal in Gaza after the White House brought Trump’s Middle East envoy into negotiations that have dragged on for months.

If confirmed to lead the Justice Department, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi would become one of the most closely scrutinized members of Donald Trump’s cabinet.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg cohosting a reception with billionaire Republican donors next week for Donald Trump’s inauguration.

A growing number of Israeli soldiers are speaking out against the Israel-Hamas war.

An increasing number of Democrats are questioning whether their party’s commitment to diverse candidates, especially women, may lead to more political struggles in the Trump era.

President Joe Biden says he is still considering whether to give pardons to people who have been criticized or threatened by President-elect Donald Trump.

Outgoing FBI Director Christopher Wray says the bureau must remain independent, above the partisan fray and “committed to upholding the rule of law."

President Joe Biden will deliver a farewell address to the nation Wednesday from the Oval Office, five days before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in.

The Service Employees International Union is rejoining the AFL-CIO after 20 years.

Edmundo González has become a beacon of hope for millions of Venezuelans.

North Carolina’s Supreme Court has blocked the certification of a November election result for one of the seats on its court so it can review legal arguments by a trailing candidate.

Vice President Kamala Harris plans to close out her term with an around-the-world trip.

President-elect Donald Trump says he won't rule out the use of military force to seize control of the Panama Canal and Greenland as he declared U.S. control of both to be vital to American national security.

Israel and Hamas are once again struggling to reach a ceasefire that could wind down the 15-month war in Gaza and bring home dozens of Israelis held hostage.

President Joe Biden is decrying efforts to downplay a mob of Donald Trump supporters overrunning the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to block certification of the election in 2020.

President Joe Biden is calling on incoming Democratic lawmakers to always be mindful of other people's perspectives — even when they may be wrong.

Four years ago, then-President Donald Trump rallied his supporters to march to the U.S. Capitol and urged his vice president to stop the congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden's victory.

The congressional joint session to count electoral votes is expected to be much less eventful than the certification four years ago.

A new poll finds that Republican voters are more confident in the accuracy of U.S. elections now that Donald Trump has won.

The U.S. has imposed sanctions on two groups linked to Russian and Iranian disinformation campaigns targeting this year's election.

President Joe Biden says the United States will send nearly $2.5 billion more in weapons to Ukraine.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has died at his home in Plains, Georgia.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says her agency will need to start taking “extraordinary measures,” or special accounting maneuvers intended to prevent the nation from hitting the debt ceiling, as early as January 14th, in a letter sent to congressional leaders Friday afternoon.

A lot of Americans, after an intense presidential election campaign, are looking for a break in political news.

President-elect Donald Trump says he'll “vigorously pursue” capital punishment after President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of most people on federal death row partly to stop Trump from pushing forward their executions.

President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row.

Elon Musk’s role in taking down a bipartisan budget deal shows his ascendance as a political force.

During the transition period between President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump, there has been at least some coordination on West Wing affairs.

The Iranian rial has fallen to its lowest level in history, losing more than 10% of value since Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election in November.

Jill Biden says she has closed the book on teaching at Northern Virginia Community College.

President-elect Donald Trump says he might reverse President Joe Biden’s decision to permit Ukrainian forces to use American long-range weapons to strike deeper into Russian territory.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris thanked deep-pocketed Democratic donors who raised record sums in last month’s election loss to President-elect Donald Trump.

A pair of conservative groups are challenging a new Maine law that limits donations to political action committees that spend independently in candidate elections.

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Defense Department said he had a “wonderful conversation” with Maine Sen. Susan Collins on Wednesday as he still pushing to win enough votes for confirmation and said he will not back down after allegations of excessive drinking and sexual misconduct.

Democratic senators are urging President Joe Biden to extend temporary protections for migrants in the U.S. before he leaves office.

FBI Director Christopher Wray says he plans to resign at the end of President Joe Biden’s term in January.

President-elect Donald Trump doesn’t think much of Joe Biden’s foreign policy record.

President Joe Biden says he was “stupid” not to put his own name on pandemic relief checks in 2021, like Donald Trump had done in 2020.

President-elect Donald Trump’s recent dinner with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his visit to Paris for the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral were not just exercises in policy and diplomacy.

Lara Trump will step down as co-chair of the Republican National Committee.

Bill and Hillary Clinton say voters disappointed with the presidential election need to remain involved in public service and find ways to give back.

Elon Musk was the sole funder of a super PAC that focused on advertising likening Donald Trump’s stance on abortion to that of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The signs at Nippon Steel read: “The world through steel,” underlining why Japan’s top steelmaker is pursuing its $15 billion bid to acquire U.S. Steel.

President Joe Biden is weighing whether to issue sweeping pardons for officials and allies who the White House fears could be unjustly targeted by President-elect Donald Trump’s administration.

In 2024, U.S. photographers captured glimpses of humanity, ranging from a deeply divisive presidential election, to hurricanes and fires that ravaged communities, to campus protests over the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Democrats and Republicans agreed on at least one thing before November's election: California would play a central role in determining which party controls the U.S. House.

Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s Pentagon pick, is fighting to hold on to his Cabinet nomination amid growing questions about his personal conduct as the president-elect’s team considers alternatives, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Louisiana voters will decide the fates of four proposed amendments to the state constitution, in what will be the final statewide election of 2024.

Democrat Adam Gray has won election to a U.S. House seat representing California’s Central Valley, defeating Republican Rep. John Duarte in the final House contest to be determined this year.

Pop superstar Taylor Swift tops a list of 2024's most notable quotations compiled by Yale University, with her declaration that she's a “childless cat lady" while endorsing Kamala Harris for president.

Associated Press photographers captured voters with raw emotions of joy, excitement, contemplation or sorrow.

The U.S. Postal Service says nearly 100% of completed mail ballots were returned to election offices within a week during this year’s presidential contest.

Minnesota Republicans are suing to try to force a rerun of a state House race where the incumbent Democrat won by 14 votes but investigators concluded that election workers probably destroyed 20 valid absentee ballots after failing to count them.

Donald Trump says Massad Boulos, a Lebanese American businessman who is the father-in-law of Trump’s daughter Tiffany, will be a senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs.

Young men shifted toward Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election in a change from recent years, when most young male voters backed the Democratic candidate.

An emboldened fringe of right-wing “manosphere” influencers has seized on Donald Trump’s presidential win to justify and amplify misogynistic derision and threats online.

Donald Trump is creating a National Energy Council that he says will establish U.S. “energy dominance” around the world.

Democrat Derek Tran has defeated two-term Republican U.S. Rep. Michelle Steel in a Southern California House district that was specifically drawn to give Asian Americans a stronger voice on Capitol Hill.

For one conservative Catholic family in Ohio, activism begins at home.

The drubbing Democrats took in Pennsylvania has prompted vows to rebound.

Special counsel Jack Smith move to abandon two federal cases accusing Trump of endangering American democracy and national security does away with the most serious legal threats Trump was facing as he returns to the White House.

President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a required agreement with President Joe Biden’s White House to allow his transition team to coordinate with the existing federal workforce ahead of taking office on Jan. 20.

Tim Walz has accepted the symbolic presentation of a turkey as he eases back into his duties as Minnesota’s governor following the Harris-Walz ticket’s defeat in the presidential election.

The leaders of Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign say they simply didn’t have enough time to execute a winning strategy against Donald Trump.

Republican Donald Trump’s support has grown broadly since he last sought the presidency.

Top officials in Arizona have certified the state’s election results.

Democrats’ crushing loss in Montana’s nationally important U.S. Senate race settled a fierce political debate over whether a surge of newcomers in the past decade favored Republicans.

Election reform advocates had hoped for a big year at the ballot box.

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen money manager Scott Bessent, an advocate for deficit reduction and deregulation, to serve as his next treasury secretary.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s Trump-endorsed rival said he called the veteran Ohio congresswoman to concede defeat in the 2024 election.

Donald Trump’s lock on the white evangelical vote is legendary, but he didn't focus exclusively on large religious voter blocs.

Voters in central Mississippi and the Delta and Gulf Coast areas will return to the polls Tuesday for a runoff election to resolve two state judicial races in which no candidate received the required vote majority in the Nov. 5 general election.

Losing a Cabinet nominee to the confirmation process isn’t unheard of for incoming presidents — including for Donald Trump when he was elected the first time.

Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania is conceding his reelection bid to Republican David McCormick.

Did stand-up comedians help reelect Donald Trump.

The total number of women who are state lawmakers has once again reached new heights, following a trend up in recent years.

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to repeal President Joe Biden’s signature artificial intelligence policy when he returns to the White House for a second term.

President-elect Donald Trump is clearly prizing experience on television as he chooses people to serve in his new administration.

California voters have rejected a measure on the November ballot that would have raised the minimum wage for most workers to $18 an hour.

President-elect Donald Trump is interviewing candidates for the role of FBI director in the clearest indication yet that the incoming administration is looking to replace Christopher Wray in the position.

The recount underway in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race marks the end of a chaotic post-election period that has become the latest example of how disputed election rules can expose weak points in a core function of American democracy.

For two weeks, Donald Trump has welcomed Elon Musk into his world.

Pennsylvania’s state Supreme Court is weighing in on a flashpoint amid ongoing vote counting in the U.S. Senate election between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican David McCormick.

Wisconsin Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde has conceded defeat in the race narrowly won by Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, saying he will not pursue a recount.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has renewed his call for a “limitless” expansion of his military nuclear program to counter what he characterizes as U.S.-led threats.

Democrats fell short again in wresting away swing-state prize North Carolina from Republicans in the presidential election.

The 2024 presidential election featured sky-high turnout, approaching the historic levels of the 2020 contest.

The U.S. antitrust watchdogs that pounced on Big Tech and deterred dealmaking throughout corporate America during President Joe Biden’s administration may be tamer and kept on a shorter leash by President-elect Donald Trump after he returns to the White House next year.

Some have called it the “super year” for elections.

Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party’s prodigious fundraising operation raised more than $1 billion in her loss to Donald Trump, but the vice president is still pushing donors for more money after the election.

Donald Trump made inroads in surprising places this election year in his path to the White House.

After one of the most chaotic and least productive U.S. House sessions in modern history, voters made a surprising choice in elections — they overwhelmingly stuck with the status quo.