Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., joined from left by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., talks to reporters about his push for a House-Senate compromise budget resolution to advance President Donald Trump's agenda, even with opposition from hard-line conservative Republicans, at the Capitol in Washington, April 8, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)2025-05-10T14:19:38Z WASHINGTON (AP) What, exactly, the Republican Party stands for in terms of economic policy in the second Trump administration is a question reaching an inflection point.Is it the party that promotes free-market prosperity or a 21st-century populism?Does it stick with the No new taxes pledge that has been GOP political orthodoxy for decades or do Republicans tax the rich, as President Donald Trump suggests?Roll back the Obama-eras health care expansion and the President Joe Bidens green energy investments or protect the federal flow of investment dollars generating jobs in the states?Slash deficit spending or spike the nations now $36 trillion debt load?Free trade or Trumps tariffs?As House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Republicans race to draft Trumps big, beautiful bill of $4.5 trillion in tax breaks and $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, the final product will set the party on a defining path. Its still a work in progress.This idea of the American dream where we are the best country in the world which I believe we are will be gone and itll be our fault, so we have to do something right now to address it, said Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga. And everybody wants to say, Oh, yeah, we should do something, but nobodys willing to say what that hard choice is.The GOP is shape-shifting its economic policy priorities in real time, transforming from a party that once put a premium on lower taxes and smaller government into something more reflective of the interests of the working-class coalition that depends on the federal safety net and put Trump in the White House. On the one side, theres the old-school Republican stalwarts who have guided policy thinking for years. Among them are former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist, who says tax increases would be stupid, destructive and the influential Club for Growth, which pours millions into political campaigns. But a rising neo-populist power center with proximity to Trump carries clout, with Steve Banon and others who reject the traditional trickle-down economic policies and propose a new direction that more benefits Americans.Divisions run strong within the Republican Party, which holds the majority on Capitol Hill, and is bulldozing past Democratic objections to push its package forward on its own. GOP lawmakers are under mounting pressure to set aside their differences by Johnsons Memorial Day deadline, especially as Trumps tariffs stoke unease, and they are eager to signal that the economy is under control on their watch.This is a once in a generation bill, said Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a large group of House conservatives. He said not only would the emerging package extend the tax breaks and cut spending, it also gives us a mentality just to settle the markets, to give some predictability, to give everybody in our country the ability to go, hey, our economy is going to be strong.This weekend, Republican leaders are working to finish the 11 separate sections that will make up that big package before potential public hearings in the coming week. But the final three on tax policy, Medicaid and green energy programs, and food stamp assistance have proved to be the most difficult, posing the biggest political risks.Moderate conservative Republicans in the House have signed on to letters opposing steep cuts to Medicaid, which provides health care to more than 70 million Americans.The Medicaid program has expanded in the 15 years since the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, became law, as more states signed up for federal cost-sharing allotments, and people benefited from enhanced federal credits to pay their insurance premiums. Republicans who pledged to repeal and replace the health law during Trumps first term are now insisting they only want to target what they say is waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid, as many fight to save its more popular parts.Many of those same moderate GOP lawmakers also oppose rolling back the green energy tax breaks that Democrats approved under Biden as companies invest in wind, solar and other renewable energy development. At the same time, the more conservative Republicans are roaring back, insisting on deep cuts.Some 30 Republicans said the party must hold to the original GOP budget framework of up to $2 trillion in spending cuts, which they argue are needed to prevent the tax cuts from piling on annual deficits that are fueling the nations debt load. The cost of the tax cuts, first approved by Republicans in 2017, during Trumps first term, is expected to grow if Republicans add other priorities, including no taxes on tipped wages or Social Security income. Estimates put the final costs beyond $7 trillion. We must hold that line on fiscal discipline to put the country back on a sustainable path, wrote Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., and colleagues. Meanwhile, Johnson is negotiating with a core group of five Republicans from the highest tax regions in New York, New Jersey and California who claim they will not vote for any plan unless it reinstates a bigger state and local tax deduction, called SALT, for their constituents.They called the latest proposal to triple the cap on state and local tax deductions, which is now $10,000 a year, to $30,000 insulting.Trump himself has waded into the debate in uneven ways. The president told Johnson this past week that he wanted to see a higher tax rate on incomes of $2.5 million for single filers, or $5 million for couples, only to sort of back off the idea Friday.Republicans should probably not do it, but Im OK if they do!!! Trump wrote on social media.With Republicans going it alone, over the objections of Democrats in the House and Senate critical of the tax package as a giveaway to the rich that will hurt Americans who depend on federal services, leaders will need almost every Republican on board.One Republican, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, implored his colleagues not to worry about the politics of the next midterm election and to stick to party principles. How about we do the job we got elected 5 months ago to do and see where the chips fall, he posted on social media. Cut Spending. Shrink the Deficit. Cut Taxes. Lead.__Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Leah Askarinam contributed to this report.

Palestinian children scrape a pot for leftover food after all meals were distributed at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Friday, May 9, 2025.2025-05-10T14:07:05Z DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza City (AP) Israeli airstrikes overnight and into Saturday killed at least 23 Palestinians in Gaza, including three children and their parents whose tent was bombed in Gaza City, health officials said.The bombardment continued as international warnings grow over Israeli plans to control aid distribution in Gaza as Israels blockade on the territory of over 2 million people is in its third month.The U.N. and aid groups have rejected Israels aid distribution moves, including a plan from a group of American security contractors, ex-military officers and humanitarian aid officials calling itself the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Among the 23 bodies brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours were those of the family of five whose tent was struck in Gaza Citys Sabra district, Gazas Health Ministry said.Another Israeli strike late Friday hit a warehouse belonging to UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, in the northern area of Jabaliya. Four people were killed, according to the Indonesian Hospital, where bodies were taken. AP video showed fires burning in the shattered building. The warehouse was empty after being hit and raided multiple times during Israeli ground offensives against Hamas fighters over the past year, said residents including Hamza Mohamed. Israels military said nine soldiers were lightly wounded Friday night by an explosive device while searching Gaza Citys Shijaiyah neighborhood. It said they were evacuated to a hospital in Israel. Israel resumed its bombardment in Gaza on March 18, shattering a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. Ground troops have seized more than half the territory and have been conducting raids and searching parts of northern Gaza and the southernmost city of Rafah. Large parts of both areas have been flattened by months of Israeli operations.Under Israels blockade, charity kitchens are virtually the only source of food left in Gaza, but dozens have shut down in recent days as food supplies run out. Aid groups say more closures are imminent. Israel has said the blockade is meant to pressure Hamas to release remaining hostages and disarm. Rights groups have called the blockade a starvation tactic and a potential war crime. Israel accuses Hamas and other militants of siphoning off aid in Gaza, though it hasnt presented evidence for its claims. The U.N. denies significant diversion takes place, saying it monitors distribution.The 19-month-old war in Gaza is the most devastating ever fought between Israel and Hamas. It has killed more than 52,800 people there, more than half of them women and children, and wounded more than 119,000, according to the Health Ministry. The ministrys count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed thousands of militants, without giving evidence.Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped over 250 others. Hamas still holds about 59 hostages, with around a third believed to still be alive.___Follow APs war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

2025-05-10T13:54:33Z ATLANTA (AP) An earthquake of 4.1 preliminary magnitude was reported Saturday morning in Tennessee and was felt in Atlanta, Georgia, and western North Carolina, according to the U.S. Geological Survey and local news reports.The website for USGS said the earthquake originated shortly after 9 a.m. EDT about 12 miles (20 kilometers) from Greenback, Tennessee, which is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Knoxville.Meteorologists at television news stations serving Georgia and North Carolina reported feeling the tremors as well.

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New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr (4) looks to pass the ball during an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Dec. 8, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger, File)2025-05-10T15:12:27Z NEW ORLEANS (AP) New Orleans Saints veteran starting quarterback Derek Carr has decided to retire because of a labral tear in his right shoulder and significant degenerative changes to his rotator cuff, the team announced Saturday.Carr, 34, has played for 11 pro seasons since being selected out of Fresno State by the then-Oakland Raiders in the second round of the 2014 NFL draft.He was acquired by the Saints as a free agent in 2023 but had mixed results in New Orleans, going 14-13 as a starter while struggling through oblique, hand and head injuries that caused him to miss seven games last season.Carr, who was entering the third year of a four-year, $150 million contract, experienced unexpected pain in his throwing shoulder when he began to ramp up training this offseason, which led to his diagnosis that now has cut short his career. Surgery was an option, jeopardizing the entire 2025 season, yet there was no guarantee Derek would return to the level of strength, function and performance of play to which he was accustomed, the Saints said in a written announcement.The Saints did not acknowledge Carrs injury until the day before the draft. Carr did not speak publicly about the injury until a few days later, when he delivered a guest sermon at a Las Vegas church. In that sermon, Carr said his critics were lying about him when they questioned the unusual timing of the injury, as well as both the teams and Carrs initial reticence to address it openly or answer questions about it. Carr has career passing totals of 41,245 yards, 257 touchdowns and 112 interceptions. He retires with a 77-92 regular-season record as a starter and without having won a playoff game. Carr said he made the decision in consultation with his wife, Heather, and upon reflection of prayer.For more than 11 years, we have been incredibly blessed, and we are forever grateful and humbled by this experience, Carr said. Its difficult to find the right words to express our thanks to all the teammates, coaches, management, ownership, team officials and especially the fans who made this journey so special. The decision also comes after New Orleans used a high second-round draft choice to select Louisvilles Tyler Shough as a potential future starting quarterback although it remains to be seen how quickly he can be ready for that role.Other QBs on the Saints roster include second-year pro Spencer Rattler and third-year player Jake Haener, who did post a victory between them in seven games last season, six of which Rattler started.___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

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Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., votes aye at the final moment as the Senate Finance Committee holds a roll call vote to approve the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Health and Human Services Department, at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)2025-05-10T15:57:30Z President Donald Trump and Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry have discussed U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow challenging U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy in next years Republican primary, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.The Republican governors promotion of a new challenger to Cassidy reflects unease within Trumps base about the two-term senator. Cassidy voted to convict Trump in Trumps 2021 impeachment trial over the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. And Cassidy, who is a medical doctor, expressed doubts about Trumps pick of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the nations health secretary before voting to confirm Kennedy. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate and have a favorable electoral map in the 2026 midterms to help them keep control. But Cassidy is among several GOP senators up for reelection next year who are facing challenging primaries over past moves to distance themselves from Trump. For the senator, the biggest hurdle is going to be the impeachment vote. Thats what he has to overcome. And I dont think he has the mindset to say, I made a mistake, said Eddie Rispone, the Republican nominee for Louisiana governor in 2019 and a Cassidy supporter. And Louisiana is a big Trump state. Landry, a close Trump ally, spoke last month with the president about Letlow as a potential Senate candidate, according to two people with knowledge of the conversation. They were granted anonymity to share contents of a conversation they were not authorized to discuss publicly. A spokesperson for Letlow declined to comment on a potential campaign for Senate or the discussion between Landry and Trump. Landrys office declined to comment.Landry, elected in 2023, has been advocating for Letlow to consider a run, according to the people who confirmed their April conversation about Letlow. A Senate seat would be a safe bet for a Republican given that Trump received 60% of the vote in carrying Louisiana last year. Republican insiders describe Landry and Cassidy not as close, but as having a cordial working relationship despite a difference in their feelings of loyalty to Trump, which creates some distance between Cassidy and segments of the party base in the state.Senator Cassidy delivers conservative results for the people of Louisiana, Cassidy spokesperson Ashley Bosch said in a statement. Hes worked hard to support the Presidents agenda and were confident voters will re-elect him next year. Letlow is a three-term Republican representative from northeast Louisiana. She won the seat in a special election in March 2021 after her husband, Luke, had been elected but died of complications from COVID-19. Letlow sits on the influential House Appropriations Committee. Her district was a mostly rural swath of northeast Louisiana when she arrived in Congress. It has shifted as a result of a redistricting map ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2024 and now also include parts of metropolitan Baton Rouge, where Cassidy lives.Cassidy already faces one major challenger, Louisiana State Treasurer John Fleming, a former congressman. Some Republican activists in the state condemned Cassidy for his 2021 vote to convict Trump, a vote Cassidy said afterward he was at peace casting.The state Republican executive committee voted unanimously to censure Cassidy. The Republican committee in Bossier Parish, which includes the city of Shreveport in northwest Louisiana, adopted a censure measure describing Cassidy as an object of extreme shame and called for his resignation.Trump revived his public contempt for Cassidy a year ago after the senator spoke out when the then-former president promised to pardon those convicted in connection with the Capitol riot; Trump did that after taking office in January. In an April 2024 post on Truth Social, Trump called Cassidy one of the worst Senators in the United States Senate and a disloyal lightweight.Louisianas new congressional primary election system also could be a wrinkle for Cassidy.Until the new system was adopted this year, congressional candidates from all parties seeking the same office ran on the same ballot regardless of party affiliation. In these so-called jungle primaries, only a candidate who received 50% of the vote would win the office outright. If no one reached the threshold, the top two finishers would face each other in a runoff. Next year, only voters who note Republican affiliation on their voter registration and those who affiliate with no party will be able to participate in the GOP Senate primary. The effect is seen as a potential challenge for Cassidy, who had benefited from the less-partisan nature of the old system.It does tighten it a little bit for him, because you do have the far-right Republicans for them, its going to be hard to forgive him for that impeachment vote, Rispone said. Still, Cassidy has a clear fundraising advantage, with more than $7.4 million in his campaign account at the end of the first quarter. Cassidy has also begun laying the campaign groundwork in Louisiana and is expected to announce his candidacy formally in the coming weeks. And in a sign things might not be as bad with Trump as they were, Cassidy received different sort of recognition from the president at an economic event at the White House this month.We have some great people, great senators, here, Trump said. Bill Cassidy, thank you, Bill. THOMAS BEAUMONT Beaumont covers national politics for The Associated Press. He is based in Des Moines, Iowa. twitter mailto

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White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller speaks to reporters outside the White House, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)2025-05-10T17:12:46Z WASHINGTON (AP) White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller says President Donald Trump is looking for ways to expand its legal power to deport migrants who are in the United States illegally. To achieve that, he says the administration is actively looking at suspending habeas corpus, the constitutional right for people to legally challenge their detention by the government.Such a move would be aimed at migrants as part of the Republican presidents broader crackdown at the U.S.-Mexico border. The Constitution is clear, and that of course is the supreme law of the land, that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion, Miller told reporters outside the White House on Friday. So, I would say thats an option were actively looking at, Miller said. Look, a lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not. What is habeas corpus? The Latin term means that you have the body. Federal courts use a writ of habeas corpus to bring a prisoner before a neutral judge to determine if imprisonment is legal. Habeas corpus was included in the Constitution as an import from English common law. Parliament enacted the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679, which was meant to ensure that the king released prisoners when the law did not justify confining them.The Constitutions Suspension Clause, the second clause of Section 9 of Article I, states that habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it. Has it been suspended previously? Yes. The United States has suspended habeas corpus under four distinct circumstances during its history. Those usually involved authorization from Congress, something that would be nearly impossible today even at Trumps urging given the narrow Republican majorities in the House and Senate.President Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus multiple times amid the Civil War, beginning in 1861 to detain suspected spies and Confederate sympathizers. He ignored a ruling from Roger Taney, who was the Supreme Court chief justice but was acting in the case as a circuit judge. Congress then authorized suspending it in 1863, which allowed Lincoln to do so again. Congress acted similarly under President Ulysses S. Grant, suspending habeas corpus in parts of South Carolina under the Civil Rights Act of 1871. Also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, it was meant to counter violence and intimidation of groups opposing Reconstruction in the South. Habeas corpus was suspended in two provinces of the Philippines in 1905, when it was a U.S. territory and authorities were worried about the threat of an insurrection, and in Hawaii after the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor, but before it became a state in 1959. Writing before becoming a Supreme Court justice, Amy Coney Barrett co-authored a piece stating that the Suspension Clause does not specify which branch of government has the authority to suspend the privilege of the writ, but most agree that only Congress can do it. Could the Trump administration do it? It can try. Miller suggested that the U.S. is facing an invasion of migrants. That term was used deliberately, though any effort to suspend habeas corpus would spark legal challenges questioning whether the country was facing an invasion, let alone presenting extraordinary threats to public safety. Federal judges have so far been skeptical of the Trump administrations past efforts to use extraordinary powers to make deportations easier, and that could make suspending habeas corpus even tougher. Trump argued in March that the U.S. was facing an invasion of Venezuelan gang members and evoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a wartime authority he has tried to use to speed up mass deportations. His administration acted to swiftly deport alleged members of Tren de Aragua to a notorious prison in El Salvador, leading to a series of legal fights. Federal courts around the country, including in New York, Colorado, Texas and Pennsylvania, have since blocked the administrations uses of the Alien Enemies Act for many reasons, including amid questions about whether the country is truly facing an invasion. If courts are already skeptical, how could habeas corpus be suspended? Miller, who has been fiercely critical of judges ruling against the administration, advanced the argument that the judicial branch may not get to decide. Congress passed a body of law known as the Immigration Nationality Act which stripped Article III courts, thats the judicial branch, of jurisdiction over immigration cases, he said Friday. That statute was approved by Congress in 1952 and there were important amendments in 1996 and 2005. Legal scholars note that it does contain language that could funnel certain cases to immigration courts, which are overseen by the executive branch. Still, most appeals in those cases would largely be handled by the judicial branch, and they could run into the same issues as Trumps attempts to use the Alien Enemies Act. Have other administrations tried this? Technically not since Pearl Harbor, though habeas corpus has been at the center of some major legal challenges more recently than that. Republican President George W. Bush did not move to suspend habeas corpus after the Sept. 11 attacks, but his administration subsequently sent detainees to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, drawing lawsuits from advocates who argued the administration was violating it and other legal constitutional protections. The Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that Guantanamo detainees had a constitutional right to habeas corpus, allowing them to challenge their detention before a judge. That led to some detainees being released from U.S. custody. ___Associated Press writer Mark Sherman contributed to this report. WILL WEISSERT Weissert covers the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto

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