MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The next chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court will come from the liberal majority of justices, as the court announced Thursday that the conservative who currently holds the mostly honorary position will be replaced.
The change in leadership comes two days after voters elected Democratic-backed Susan Crawford to the court for a 10-year term that begins in August. Her victory over an opponent endorsed by President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk keeps the current 4-3 liberal majority on the court.
The seven justices vote on a chief justice every two years. The current chief justice, conservative Annette Ziegler, was elected to the post in 2021 and reelected in 2023 just before the court flipped to liberal control that August. Her current term as chief justice runs through the end of April.
She will be replaced first by Justice Ann Walsh Bradley for two months and then Justice Jill Karofsky for the remainder of the two-year term.
“I wish my colleagues all the best,” Ziegler said in a brief statement. “It has been my honor to serve as chief justice for the last four years.”
She will be replaced on May 1 by Bradley, a liberal who is retiring after 30 years on the bench. Her retirement created the open seat that Crawford won.
Bradley called it a “tremendous honor” to be able to serve as chief justice before retiring.
Bradley, whose retirement was recognized by Ziegler in open court on Thursday before oral arguments, will only hold the position for two months before being replaced by Karofsky. She will serve the remainder of the two-year term.
Karofsky, who was elected in 2020, promised to “work respectfully” with all members of the court. Justices have gotten into private arguments and vented at one another in sometimes heated written rulings.
“The people of Wisconsin have great faith in this Court, and I intend to be a Chief that increases the people’s confidence even further," Karofsky said in a statement.
The chief justice has no additional voting power on the Supreme Court. However, the person who holds the title is the administrative head of the state’s judicial system and has administrative authority over to procedures adopted by the Supreme Court.
Justices were given the power to choose their own chief justice under a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2015. Before the amendment, the longest-serving justice was automatically the chief.
Bradley is currently the longest-serving justice on the court and Ziegler, elected in 2007, is the second most senior.
FILE - Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Annette Ziegler listens to arguments at the Supreme Court, Nov. 11, 2013, in Madison, Wis. (M.P. King/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, Pool, File)
FILE - Dane County Circuit Court Judge Jill Karofsky speaks in Madison, Wis., on Nov. 19, 2019. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.
The U.S. Coast Guard boarded the tanker, named Veronica, early Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media. The ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean,” she said.
U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”
Several U.S. government social media accounts posted brief videos that appeared to show various parts of the ship’s capture. Black-and-white footage showed at least four helicopters approaching the ship before hovering over the deck while armed troops dropped down by rope. At least nine people could be seen on the deck of the ship.
The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.
The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, it was partially filled with crude.
The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.
According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for moving cargoes of illicit Russian oil.
As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”
Speaking to reporters at the White House later Thursday, Noem declined to say how many sanctioned oil tankers the U.S. is tracking or whether the government is keeping tabs on freighters beyond the Caribbean Sea.
“I can’t speak to the specifics of the operation, although we are watching the entire shadow fleet and how they’re moving,” she told reporters.
However, other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear that they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.
Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.
This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro’s capture and the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, not the Galileo.
Associated Press writer Ben Finley contributed to this report.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)
