
Ashley Lopez
Ashley Lopez is a political correspondent for NPR based in Austin, Texas. She joined NPR in May 2022. Prior to NPR, Lopez spent more than six years as a health care and politics reporter for KUT, Austin's public radio station. Before that, she was a political reporter for NPR Member stations in Florida and Kentucky. Lopez is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and grew up in Miami, Florida. [Copyright 2025 NPR]
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But legal experts say he lacks the constitutional authority to do so.
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Latino voters helped deliver the White House to President Trump in the last election. Many of them already say they won't vote for Republicans next year, but they aren't yet turning to Democrats.
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The Social Security Administration has conceded an issue with phone service, after denying it to NPR, and has announced a fix.
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The Social Security Administration reassigned some field office employees in an effort to bring down lengthy phone wait times. But workers say these reassignments have been disruptive for staff.
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After his split with President Trump, Elon Musk says he's forming a new political party, perhaps to compete for key congressional contests. It likely wouldn't be easy.
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A new federal survey — taken after every major election — shows in 2024, mail-in voting was down but early, in-person voting was up. And, a shortage of poll workers is a looming problem.
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Two dozen states allow citizens to propose ballot measures. But Republican lawmakers in many of those states are now adding hurdles to those efforts, saying they want to combat fraud.
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Tech CEO Frank Bisignano will be leading the federal agency that runs programs providing retirement, survivor and disability benefits, as well as supplemental income for the very poor.
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Social Security employees are feeling "overwhelmed" and wait times for phone services are up as workforce cuts from the Trump administration are being felt throughout the agency.
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After announcing Social Security recipients would be required to appear in-person at office locations, the Trump administration is now backtracking.