WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order Friday to rebrand the Department of Defense as the Department of War, his latest effort to project an image of toughness for America’s military.

The Republican president can’t formally change the name without legislation, which his administration would request from Congress. In the meantime, Trump will authorize the Pentagon to use “secondary titles” so the department can go by its original name.

The plans were disclosed by a White House official, who requested anonymity ahead of the public announcement, and detailed in a White House fact sheet.

The Department of War was created in 1789, the same year that the U.S. Constitution took effect. It was renamed by law in 1947, two years after the end of World War II.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth posted “DEPARTMENT OF WAR” on social media after the executive order was initially reported by Fox News.

Trump and Hegseth have long talked about changing the name, and Hegseth even created a social media poll on the topic in March.

Since then, he has hinted that his title as defense secretary may not be permanent at multiple public events, including a speech at Fort Benning, Georgia, on Thursday. He told an auditorium full of soldiers that it “may be a slightly different title tomorrow.”

In August, Trump told reporters that “everybody likes that we had an unbelievable history of victory when it was Department of War. Then we changed it to Department of Defense.”

When confronted with the possibility that making the name change would require an act of Congress, Trump told reporters that “we’re just going to do it.”

“I’m sure Congress will go along if we need that,” he added.

The move is just the latest in a long line of cultural changes Hegseth has made to the Pentagon since taking office at the beginning of the year.

Early in his tenure, Hegseth pushed hard to eliminate what he saw as the impacts of “woke culture” on the military by not only ridding the department of diversity programs but scrubbing libraries and websites of material deemed to be divisive.

The result was the removal and review of hundreds of books in the military academies, which ended up including titles on the Holocaust and a Maya Angelou memoir. It also resulted in the removal off thousands of websites honoring contributions by women and minority groups.

“I think the president and the secretary have been very clear on this — that anybody that says in the Department of Defense that diversity is our strength is, is frankly, incorrect,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told reporters in March.

Hegseth has also presided over the removal of all transgender troops from the military following an executive order from Trump through a process that some have described as “dehumanizing” or “open cruelty.”

Konstantin Toropin And Chris Megerian, The Associated Press

The Trump administration sued the city of Boston and its leaders Thursday in its latest attempt to invalidate policies seen as interfering with immigration enforcement.

The suit alleges that Boston’s sanctuary city policies are illegal under federal law and the city’s refusal to cooperate with immigration authorities has resulted in the release of dangerous criminals who should be deported.

“The City of Boston and its Mayor have been among the worst sanctuary offenders in America — they explicitly enforce policies designed to undermine law enforcement and protect illegal aliens from justice,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “If Boston won’t protect its citizens from illegal alien crime, this Department of Justice will.”

The administration has filed a series of similar lawsuits against other cities, including Los Angeles, New York City, Denver and Rochester, New York. It sued four New Jersey cities in May.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, who was named as a plaintiff in the latest lawsuit, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a letter to Bondi last month, she called Boston the safest major city in America and defended its law prohibiting local police from engaging with immigration enforcement absent a criminal warrant as a valid exercise of local authority.

“On behalf of the people of Boston, and in solidarity with the cities and communities targeted by this federal administration for our refusal to bow down to unconstitutional threats and unlawful coercion, we affirm our support for each other and for our democracy,” she wrote. “Boston will never back down from being a beacon of freedom, and a home for everyone.”

There is no strict definition for sanctuary cities, but the terms generally describes places that limit cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE enforces immigration laws nationwide but seeks help from state and local authorities to identify immigrants wanted for deportation and hold them for federal officers.

Holly Ramer, The Associated Press

HARLINGEN, Texas (AP) — Laura Peña knew she had two hours to stop the children she represents from being deported home to Guatemala. She and other lawyers and advocates around the country were just starting to get word that Saturday night of Labor Day weekend that migrant children had just been woken up and were heading to the airport.

Hours of confusion ensued, including a frantic phone call to a judge at 2:36 a.m. It was remarkably similar to a chaotic March weekend when the Trump administration deported hundreds of Venezuelans to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador despite frantic attempts by attorneys and an intervention by a judge who came to court on a Saturday night in civilian dress.

This time, the attorneys managed to block the flights, at least for two weeks, but the episode has raised questions about how truthful the administration was in its initial accounts.

A Guatemalan government report obtained by The Associated Press from a U.S.-based human rights group says 50 of 115 families contacted by investigators said they wanted their children to stay in the U.S., undermining a key Trump administration claim that they wanted their children back in Guatemala. Another 59 families wouldn’t allow government teams in their homes, believing that refusing to cooperate would make it more likely their children could remain in the U.S., according to the report.

Many questions remain, including a full rundown of how old the children were and how many the administration planned to remove that night.

While some answers may emerge in court, a reconstruction of the rapid-fire events, based on interviews and government documents, illuminates the latest clash between the administration’s desire for mass deportations and longstanding legal protections for migrants.

Children told to pack a bag

Weeks of quiet planning led to at least 76 children boarding planes at Texas airports in Harlingen and El Paso.

Peña, who represents migrant children at the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project, kissed her 3-month-old goodbye and raced to a shelter. While driving, she got calls about children in other shelters being loaded onto buses.

Children were in the lobby with packed bags when she arrived, including one boy who was “almost catatonic,” terrified he would be murdered like a relative back home if he was returned, Peña said.

Three teens living with foster families in the Dallas area got a four-hour notice, said Jennifer Anzardo Valdes, director of children’s legal services at the International Rescue Committee, which represents them. “They all spoke about how they were woken up in the middle of the night and told to pack a bag,” she said.

A judge is jolted awake in the middle of the night

U.S. District Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan of Washington was jolted awake at 2:36 a.m. with an emergency request to stop the flights. The judge said in court Sunday that she left a voicemail for a Justice Department lawyer at 3:33 a.m. She ordered a halt to the deportations at 4:22 a.m.

“I have the government attempting to remove unaccompanied minors from the country in the wee hours of the morning on a holiday weekend, which is surprising,” said Sooknanan, who was appointed during the final weeks of Joe Biden’s presidency. “Absent action by the courts all of those children would have been returned to Guatemala, potentially to very dangerous situations.”

Drew Ensign, a Justice Department attorney, said it was possible that one plane had taken off but returned before the children were deported.

The Trump administration argued that it acted at Guatemala’s behest. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller accused the judge of “effectively kidnapping these migrant children and refusing to let them return home to their parents in their home country.”

The Guatemalan government report about the children’s families raises serious questions about the administration’s version of events.

One family said if their daughter was returned to Guatemala they would do everything to get her out because her life was threatened, according to the report.

Lucrecia Prera, Guatemala’s child advocate who prepared the report that raises questions about the Trump administration’s claims, told the AP that many families suspected her office was pushing for their children to be returned.

“We want to clarify that we are respectful of and unconnected to the process happening in the United States,” she said. “They are Guatemalan children and our obligation is to protect them.”

The children were led off the planes after hours on the tarmac and returned to their shelters.

A 2008 law requires children appear before an immigration judge

Children began crossing the border alone in large numbers in 2014, peaking at 152,060 in the 2022 fiscal year. July’s arrest tally translates to an annual clip of 5,712 arrests, reflecting how illegal crossings have dropped to their lowest levels in six decades.

Guatemalans accounted for 32% of residents at government-run holding facilities last year, followed by Hondurans, Mexicans and El Salvadorans. A 2008 law requires children to appear before an immigration judge with an opportunity to pursue asylum, unless they are from Canada and Mexico. The vast majority are released from shelters to parents, legal guardians or immediate family while their cases wind through court.

It is unclear how many children who boarded at Texas airports in Harlingen and El Paso over Labor Day weekend — as well as any who were on the way — were allowed their day in court as required by the 2008 law. Lawyers for many of the Guatemalan children in the shelter system have said they still have active cases they want to pursue so they can stay in the U.S.

The Labor Day weekend drama can be traced to July, when Guatemala’s immigration chief said the government planned to bring back 341 children from shelters overseen by the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. They were nearing 18 and Guatemala didn’t want them transferred to immigration detention centers for adults.

But attorneys representing Guatemalan clients said the administration targeted kids young enough to be in elementary school on Sunday and either woke them up from shelters or placed them on a bus heading to the airport, countering the claim that only those close to aging out were targeted.

Valdes, of the International Rescue Committee, said some girls, all teenagers, were on a bus for hours, never actually making it to an airport and eventually being returned to a south Texas shelter.

Lawyers sensed something was afoot heading into the holiday weekend

“We started hearing from legal service providers about strange calls they’d received from some Guatemalan children’s parents or relatives in Guatemala who were told by Guatemalan officials that their children were going to be deported from the U.S.,” said Shaina Aber, executive director of the Acacia Center for Justice.

The children were still in immigration court proceedings, said Aber, whose group runs a network of legal services providers. Guatemalan consulates told lawyers for their children that they made the calls at the request of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, she said.

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said Friday that as many as 700 Guatemalan children could be sent home. Lawyers who checked electronic court dockets found that future court dates had disappeared.

At the Guatemalan airport Sunday, families prepared for their children’s return. Leslie Lima, from San Marcos in western Guatemala, came to see her 17-year-old son Gabriel four months after he left home and was detained after crossing the border near El Paso. Since the imminent return of the minors was publicized last week, Lima had been worried about Gabriel.

“We will receive him here, but I hope that he can stay (in the U.S.) and accomplish his dreams,” she said.

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo has said his administration told the U.S. that they’re willing to receive “all unaccompanied minors, who wanted to return to Guatemala voluntarily” and would welcome anyone who is ordered to leave the U.S.

The judge’s order blocking deportation of any Guatemalan children who don’t have final orders of removal expires in 14 days.

Children’s advocates and lawyers believe the chaos isn’t over.

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Santana reported from Washington and Perez reported from Guatemala City. Elliot Spagat contributed from San Diego.

Rebecca Santana, Valerie Gonzalez And Sonia Pérez D., The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden recently underwent surgery to remove skin cancer lesions, a spokesperson said Thursday, the latest health challenge for the former president.

His spokesperson Kelly Scully confirmed the surgery after Inside Edition published video of Biden leaving church in Delaware with a fresh scar on his forehead.

She said Biden received Mohs surgery, a procedure used to cut away skin until no evidence of cancer remains.

Two years ago, while Biden was in office, he had a lesion removed from his chest. The lesion was basal cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer.

In March, Biden’s office announced that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.

“Cancer touches us all,” Biden wrote on social media at the time. “Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places.”

The Biden family has faced cancer repeatedly over the years. Biden’s son Beau died of a brain tumor, and his wife, Jill, had two cancerous lesions removed.

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Chris Megerian, The Associated Press

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Ten Alaska residents faced arraignment Thursday on voter misconduct or other charges in cases that have renewed attention on the complex citizenship status of people born in the U.S. territory of American Samoa.

Those facing charges — most of them related to one another — were born in American Samoa but live in the isolated Alaska community of Whittier, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) south of Anchorage. The state contends they falsely claimed U.S. citizenship when registering or attempting to vote.

American Samoa is the only U.S. territory where residents are not automatically granted citizenship by being born on American soil, as the 14th Amendment to the Constitution dictates. Instead, they are considered U.S. nationals. American Samoans can serve in the military, obtain U.S. passports and vote in elections in American Samoa. But they cannot hold public office in the U.S. or participate in most U.S. elections.

A grand jury on Tuesday returned indictments with felony and misdemeanor counts, almost a year after Alaska State Troopers descended on Whittier to deliver court summonses. Some of the defendants were expected in court Thursday afternoon while others planned to attend virtually.

The case is related to that of Tupe Smith, who was arrested shortly after winning election to a regional school board in 2023 and who has been charged separately. Smith, born in American Samoa, has asserted she marked a box claiming to be a U.S. citizen at the instruction of election workers because there was no way to identify herself as a U.S. national, according to court records.

The state has said she falsely and deliberately claimed citizenship. Prosecutors pointed to the language on the voter application forms she filled out in 2020 and 2022, which explicitly said that if the applicant was not at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen, “do not complete this form, as you are not eligible to vote.”

Smith’s case is before the state Court of Appeals. Attorneys for the state have argued that the question of citizenship for American Samoans “is not before this court and the voter misconduct statute at issue here is not and cannot be the solution to this difficult problem.”

The 10 defendants in the separate case include Smith’s husband, Michael Pese; his mother, who has cancer; seven other relatives; and one man who grew up in the same village in American Samoa as Michael Pese.

Matt DiTullio, an assistant public defender, said more than half the defendants are in fact U.S. citizens.

Neil Weare, an attorney for Smith, noted her appeal is pending as the other cases proceed. Weare is the co-founder of the Right to Democracy Project, an advocacy group for people from U.S. territories.

The Pacific Community of Alaska has urged Alaska’s attorney general not to pursue the matter, saying even officials in Whittier and at the state level have been confused about whether American Samoans are eligible to vote and have provided people with at times incorrect information.

The group also said the state did not perform its due diligence in determining citizenship status before pursuing charges.

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Associated Press writer Becky Bohrer contributed from Juneau.

Mark Thiessen, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A contentious three-hour hearing between U.S. senators and Robert Kennedy Jr. devolved into multiple screaming matches on Thursday as the nation’s health secretary fended off accusations about sweeping changes he’s made to vaccines, health care policy and leadership.

The oversight hearing in the Senate Finance Committee was a chance for senators to seek answers from Kennedy on recent high-profile departures at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the appointment of vaccine critics to an influential federal advisory committee and changes to COVID-19 vaccine recommendations that will make it harder for many Americans to get the shots.

Both Democrats and Republicans came out swinging. They questioned whether he would keep his earlier promise that he wouldn’t block vaccines for Americans who wanted them. A frustrated Kennedy dismissed those arguments but also sowed doubt on vaccine safety and effectiveness from the prominent perch on Capitol Hill.

Here are some key takeaways from the hearing:

Kennedy tried to discredit ousted CDC director

Kennedy repeatedly disputed the account of fired CDC director Susan Monarez, who was abruptly removed from her post last week after less than a month on the job. Monarez was nominated by President Donald Trump, endorsed for the job by Kennedy and confirmed by a Senate vote in July.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Thursday, Monarez reiterated that she was told to “preapprove” recommendations by Kennedy’s handpicked vaccine advisers, many of whom have records of questioning basic vaccine science.

“I asked her: ‘Are you a trustworthy person?’ and she said ‘No,’” Kennedy stated, explaining his change of opinion on Monarez. “If you had an employee who told you they weren’t trustworthy, would you ask them to resign?”

An attorney representing Monarez called Kennedy’s statements “false” and “patently ridiculous,” in a written statement.

Later in the hearing, Kennedy acknowledged that he’d told Monarez to fire several senior CDC officials. Throughout the hearing, Kennedy accused the agency’s scientists of failing to combat chronic disease and making unsound recommendations during the pandemic.

“The people who at CDC who oversaw that process, who put masks on our children, who closed our schools, are the people who will be leaving,” Kennedy said.

‘You’re just making stuff up:’ A combative Kennedy lobbed attacks

For Kennedy, tough questions from angry senators were an opportunity to fight back.

Throughout the hearing, a resolute Kennedy accused senators of lying, misrepresenting his agency and making little sense. As a result, questioning from Democratic senators repeatedly turned into yelling matches.

“You’re just making stuff up,” Kennedy told Sen. Tina Smith, a Democrat from Minnesota, after she accused him of “blaming school shootings on antidepressants.” The health secretary said on Fox News after the recent Minnesota shooting that antidepressants could potentially contribute to violence, and said his agency was investigating. While critics of antidepressants have long alleged they may increase homicidal behavior, the link is not supported by multiple, large clinical trials of the drugs.

When Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia questioned Kennedy about his disparaging rhetoric about CDC employees before a recent deadly shooting at the agency, Kennedy retorted: “Are you complicit in the assassination attempts on President Trump?”

Kennedy said Sen. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico was “talking gibberish” when the Democrat asked him about the details of his agency’s autism research.

“Mr. Secretary, let me speak slowly and clearly so that you can understand me through my New Mexico accent,” Luján responded.

Senators challenged claim that ‘anybody can get the booster’ for COVID

Democratic senators pressed Kennedy on recent changes narrowing the approval of annual COVID-19 shots. He repeatedly disputed or denied their accusations.

Last month, the Food and Drug Administration approved updated shots but only for seniors or younger people with underlying health risks. That’s sparked confusion and frustration from many Americans, including parents interested in vaccinating healthy children against the virus.

“Why have you acted behind closed doors to overrule scientists and limit the freedom of parents to choose the COVID vaccine for their children?” Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire asked.

“This is crazy talk,” Kennedy responded. Later, he acknowledged that access to vaccines at pharmacies “depends on the state.”

In many states, pharmacists are legally barred from administering vaccines outside the uses endorsed by the CDC’s advisory panel, prompting CVS and other pharmacy chains to turn away people seeking shots in certain states.

“You promised that you would not take away vaccines from anyone who wanted them,” said Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

“I’m not taking them away from people,” Kennedy said, noting that healthy Americans who want a shot should still be able to get one if a doctor prescribes one. Typically, Americans do not need to see a doctor for annual vaccine updates.

Until this year, the FDA and CDC had recommended yearly COVID vaccinations for everyone ages 6 months and up.

COVID statistics remain a flashpoint

Kennedy could not be pinned down on basic facts and statistics, particularly when it came to vaccines and COVID-19.

In an exchange with Sen. Mark Warner, Kennedy claimed nobody knows how many Americans have died from COVID-19 because of a lack of government data.

Both the CDC and the World Health Organization have concluded that approximately 1.2 million Americans have died from the virus.

“The secretary of Health and Human Services doesn’t know how many Americans died from COVID,” said Warner, a Virginia Democrat. “How can you be that ignorant?”

Republicans also pressed Kennedy on his assessment of Operation Warp Speed, the Trump-led initiative that rapidly developed COVID vaccines in the first year of the pandemic. Trump has long claimed success for the effort, while acknowledging unsubstantiated theories that mass vaccinations may have caused more harm than good.

Kennedy has said it’s unclear how many lives were saved by the vaccines because of imperfect data collected by the CDC and vaccine makers.

Nevertheless, when questioned by Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana — a physician whose vote was key in Kennedy’s nomination — about Operation Warp Speed, Kennedy agreed that Trump “absolutely” deserved a Nobel Prize.

Vaccine concerns were bipartisan

Senate Republicans were more aggressive with Kennedy than they have been with most of Trump’s top officials, with several asking pointed questions about his efforts to limit access to vaccines.

Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, also a doctor and the No. 2 Senate Republican, said he had grown “deeply concerned” that some vaccines could be in jeopardy after Kennedy had cut research funding and fired the CDC director.

“Americans don’t know who to rely on,” Barrasso said.

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis read off a list of questions for Kennedy that he said he wanted answered after the hearing, including where the health secretary stands on the COVID-19 vaccine.

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AP writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this story. Swenson reported from New York.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Matthew Perrone And Ali Swenson, The Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri residents denounced a plan to redraw the state’s congressional districts on Thursday as Republican lawmakers pressed ahead with President Donald Trump’s strategy to bolster Republicans in next year’s congressional elections.

Dozens of people turned out for the first public hearing on a plan that would split up a Kansas City congressional district to give Republicans a shot at winning seven of Missouri’s eight U.S. House seats. Republicans already hold six of those seats.

“Kansas City does not want to be divided. We deserve representation and a voice,” said Kristen Ellis Johnson, an attorney from Kansas City who came to the Capitol with her husband and daughter. “You are dividing the urban-dwelling, liberal-leaning population to purposely change those votes.”

Missouri is the third state to join an emerging national battle between Republicans and Democrats seeking advantage in the way U.S. House districts are drawn.

At Trump’s prodding, Texas redrew its U.S. House districts last month to give Republicans a chance at winning five additional seats. California countered with its own revised map aimed at giving Democrats a shot at winning five more U.S. House seats. The California plan still needs voter approval in November.

The stakes are high because, nationally, Democrats need to gain just three seats in the 2026 elections to take control of the House. And, historically, the party of the president usually loses congressional seats in midterm elections, as happened during Trump’s first term in office.

Missouri’s revised congressional map, as proposed by Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe, would target a seat held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver by stretching it from Kansas City eastward to encompass rural Republican-leaning areas.

Some rural residents said Thursday that they didn’t want to be combined into the same district as Kansas City.

“If they do that, people in Kansas City will not get their needs met in Congress. It totally dilutes their vote,” Glenda Bainbridge, a resident from rural Odessa, told The Associated Press as she waited her turn to testify against the bill.

State Rep. Dirk Deaton, who’s sponsoring the redistricting legislation, described the proposed map as an improvement that splits fewer counties and cities among multiple districts than the current congressional districts.

Deaton didn’t publicly disclose demographic data showing the racial makeup of the newly proposed districts. The Republican said he didn’t have data on the estimated partisan composition of voters.

State Rep. Mark Sharp, of Kansas City, the ranking Democrat on the redistricting committee, denounced the plan as a “morally corrupt” attempt to push Cleaver “into an early retirement.”

Cleaver has said he would challenge the new map in court if it passes.

The Missouri NAACP has already filed a lawsuit in state court seeking to halt the special session. It argues that Kehoe’s call for a special session is unconstitutional because no extraordinary circumstance exists to justify it. It also asserts that the Missouri Constitution prohibits redrawing congressional districts without new census data or a ruling invalidating the current districts.

Under Missouri’s current map, only one district has been even moderately competitive. Republican U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner won her suburban St. Louis seat with about 55% of the vote in each of the past two elections. Cleaver won reelection in both 2024 and 2022 with over 60% of the vote, and most of Missouri’s other districts had even larger victory margins.

David A. Lieb, The Associated Press