Politics

SANTA CRUZ, Calif.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the two weeks since Donald Trump won the presidency, he's tried to demonstrate his dominance by naming loyalists for top administration positions, even though many lack expertise and some face sexual misconduct accusations.

EDMONTON — Alberta is forecasting a $4.6-billion surplus for this fiscal year, but Finance Minister Nate Horner says "mounting pressures" threaten to soon put the province in the red.

MONTREAL — Quebec's auditor general says the province's Education Department has done little in the past two decades to help Indigenous students in Quebec, whose graduation rates lag behind those of Indigenous students in other provinces.

OTTAWA — A Liberal MP says his committee colleagues are wasting time by launching a third inquiry into the former employment minister instead of focusing on important legislation for Indigenous Peoples.

TORONTO — The federal government's "meaty" move to pause federal sales tax on a long list of items and send cheques to millions of Canadians this spring could factor into an improving outlook for growth in 2025, economists say.

Women will for the first time make up a majority of state legislators in Colorado and New Mexico next year, but at least 13 states saw losses in female representation after the November election, according to a count released Thursday by the Rutgers

Former Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who took over the office to become the second female governor in state history after her predecessor resigned amid a corruption scandal, has died. She was 78.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s allies on Capitol Hill rallied around Pete Hegseth , Trump’s Pentagon pick, on Thursday even as new details surfaced about allegations that he had sexually assaulted a woman in 2017.

Former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz has withdrawn as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general following scrutiny over a federal sex trafficking investigation.