Hatch’s retirement lets him leave at the height of his power

Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah said Tuesday he will not seek re-election after serving more than 40 years in the Senate, opening the door for former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney to run for his seat. SALT LAKE CITY - Orrin Hatch's decision to retire from the Senate after four decades lets the Utah Republican walk away at the height of his power after helping to push through an overhaul of the tax code and persuading President Donald Trump to downsize two national monuments.

Hatch to step down, Romney; could run for seat

US Republican Senator Orrin Hatch said on Tuesday he will not seek re-election in November, opening the door to a potential Senate bid by Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential candidate and one of the party's harshest critics of US President Donald Trump. "Every good fighter knows when to hang up the gloves.

Sharyl Attkisson: 10 times the intel community violated the trust of…

In 2002, the NSA reportedly engaged in "blanket surveillance" of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, collecting and storing "virtually all electronic communications going into or out of the Salt Lake City area, including a emails and text messages" to "experiment with and fine tune a new scale of mass surveillance." NSA officials had denied such a program existed.

The Latest: Zinke strikes back at Patagonia on monuments

A coalition of five tribes that spent years pushing for the creation of Bears Ears National Monument said Monday it will wage a legal battle over President Trump's plan to reduce the protected area by 85 percent. SALT LAKE CITY - The Latest on President Donald Trump's decision to shrink two national monuments in Utah : A third lawsuit has been filed challenging President Donald Trump's decision to significantly shrink two national monuments in Utah.

No Matter What Trump Said In Utah, a ‘Sen. Romney’ Looms Large In Its Future

Few - if any - close observers of Utah politics doubted for a moment what President Donald Trump meant in Salt Lake City Monday afternoon when he praised Sen. Orrin Hatch and voiced hope that the seven-term Republican "will serve your state and your country in the Senate for a long time to come." At a time when it is widely assumed that Hatch, 83, will soon announce he is retiring from the Senate next year, the President is clearly hoping the senator will change his mind and thus stop the expected candidacy of the Republican widely considered heir apparent to his seat: Mitt Romney, 2012 Republican presidential hopeful and a sworn enemy of Trump.

The Latest: Protesters block traffic amid Trump’s Utah visit

President Donald Trump stands with Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, left, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, center, after arriving at the Ronald R Wright National Air Guard Base in Salt Lake City on Monday, Dec. 4, 2017. Protesters gather before a visit by President Donald Trump to announce that he is scaling back two sprawling national monuments, Monday Dec. 4, 2017, in Salt Lake City.

Trump arrives in Utah to announce scaling back of monuments

President Donald Trump arrived in Utah on Monday to announce that he is scaling back two sprawling national monuments, a move that is welcomed by the state's top Republican officials but opposed by tribes and environmental groups. Trump traveled west to announce his intention to shrink the Bears Ears and the Grand-Staircase Escalante national monuments.

Donald Trump moves to ‘reverse federal overreach,’ cuts down Bears Ears, Grand Staircase monuments

Saying it was his duty to "reverse federal overreach" by both the Obama and Clinton administrations, President Trump on Monday signed two proclamations to pare down and carve up both the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah. At a speech in Salt Lake City, Mr. Trump said previous presidents have greatly abused their power under the century-old Antiquities Act, and stretched the law past its limits in cordoning off millions of acres of land and placing them under government control.

6politicsHere’s what to expect when President Donald Trump lands in Utah on Monday

Washington a When Air Force One descends into Salt Lake City on Monday morning, planes departing and arriving will be held, causing momentary delays for travelers. And President Donald Trump's motorcade - mixed with pending snow showers - will likely cause some headaches for drivers in Utah's capital city as he zips around to meet with Mormon church leaders and speak at the state Capitol.

Black Lives Matter founder urges Australians to fight racism

The awarding of the Sydney Peace Prize to Black Lives Matter for its work on American race issues is being ha... . FILE - In this May 29, 2009 file photo, locals sit on a street side in downtown Wadeye in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Orrin Hatch Tells Friends He Plans to Retire

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah-Senator Orrin Hatch has privately told allies in Utah that he is planning to retire at the end of his term next year, and if he does, Mitt Romney intends to run for his seat, according to five sources familiar with the situation. "Nothing has changed since The Atlantic published a carbon copy of this same story in April, likely with the same anonymous sources who were no more informed on the Senator's thinking than they seem to be now," said Dave Hansen, a spokesperson for Hatch.

Democrats and the GOP both have a millennial problem

Protesters rally against an appearance by former Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Although more than 4 in 10 millennials identify as independents, according to the Pew Research Center, history has shown that most young adults vote for the Democratic Party.

Key figure in Utah political scandal appeals conviction

This Feb. 17, 2017 file photo shows Jeremy Johnson arrives for court during the trial for former Utah Attorney General John Swallow at the Matheson Courthouse, in Salt Lake City. Johnson a onetime helicopter-flying millionaire businessman who played a key role in touching off a high-profile pay-to-pay scandal in Utah is asking a federal appeals court to reverse his conviction for lying to banks to keep his online business afloat.

APNewsBreak: Investigators say US land agent took evidence

In this Aug. 19, 2009 file photo, Daniel Love, a special agent with the Bureau of Land Management, walks in front of Carl "Vern" Crites' home in Durango Colo., after Crites voluntarily turned over his entire collection of ancient artifacts during a sweeping federal investigation of looting and grave-robbing in the Four Corners region. In a report released Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017, federal investigators released a report that says Love took valuable stones held as evidence and distributed them "like candy" to colleagues and a contractor.

Moderate Utah mayor wins 3-way GOP primary for US House seat

The mayor in the Mormon stronghold of Provo won a three-way Republican primary Tuesday in the race to replace former Rep. Jason Chaffetz, putting him on track to clinch the congressional seat in the general election in the overwhelming GOP district. John Curtis pulled off the win despite being dogged by attack ads from deep-pocketed outside groups in a race whose three candidates were emblematic of the divisions roiling the GOP under President Donald Trump.