WASHINGTON — Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat who scaled the leadership ladder to become the first female speaker of the House, will not seek a 21st term next year, she announced in a video message Thursday.

“I want you, my fellow San Franciscans, to be the first to know: I will not be seeking reelection to Congress. With a grateful ...Read more

WASHINGTON — To call Nancy Pelosi’s retirement the “end of an era” is an understatement. Few in modern history have had the impact on the Democratic Party, and the legislative branch as a whole, that the California lawmaker has had over her four-decade career in the House.

She secured her place in history in 2007, when she became the ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat who scaled the leadership ladder to become the first female speaker of the House, will not seek a 21st term next year, she announced in a video message Thursday.

“I want you, my fellow San Franciscans, to be the first to know: I will not be seeking re-election to Congress. With a grateful ...Read more

The U.S. will cut flight capacity by 10% at 40 high-volume markets across the country, though international routes will be spared, to alleviate pressure on air traffic controllers and the aviation system during what is now the longest government shutdown in history.

The changes will start Friday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said during ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a trailblazing San Francisco Democrat who leveraged decades of power in the U.S. House to become one of the most influential political leaders of her generation, will not run for reelection in 2026, she said Thursday.

The former House speaker, 85, who has been in Congress since 1987 and oversaw both of ...Read more

The 19th century “doctrine of maternal impression” held that a woman’s thoughts and experiences could physically mark her child. Someone born with a strawberry shaped birthmark must have had a mother who craved strawberries during birth. The family of Joseph Merrick, known as the Elephant Man, said publicly that his disability was caused ...Read more

President Donald Trump’s penchant for impulsively making sweeping policy decisions on the fly is one of his most unsettling personality traits. Whether it’s ever-shifting tariffs seemingly based on little but his moods, or demolishing part of the White House to construct a vulgar monstrosity of a ballroom without a word to Congress, or the ...Read more

Recently, Matthew and Maria Raine testified before Congress, describing how their 16-year-old son confided suicidal thoughts to AI chatbots, only to be met with validation, encouragement, and even help drafting a suicide note.

The Raines are among multiple families who have recently filed lawsuits alleging that AI chatbots were responsible for...Read more

A chorus of voices from across the political spectrum demands that members of Congress forfeit their pay during the current government shutdown, which enters its sixth week. This makes eminent sense as a means of disincentivizing political dysfunction. But perhaps the punishment should go further.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, Republican from South ...Read more

A Navy pilot in New Jersey. A democratic socialist in New York City. Three Pennsylvania jurists who never wanted to hit the campaign trail in the first place.

The Democrats who scored big wins in Tuesday's elections came from across the political spectrum and succeeded in disparate campaign environments.

The results were momentous for a party ...Read more

WASHINGTON — As the federal shutdown has dragged on to become the longest in American history, President Trump has shown little interest in talks to reopen the government. But Republican losses on election day could change that.

Trump told Republican senators at the White House on Wednesday that he believed the government shutdown “was a ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Despite their party’s lopsided victories in Tuesday’s elections, Senate Democrats remain torn over an exit strategy for what has become the longest partial government shutdown in history.

As the shutdown reached its 36th day Wednesday, breaking a record set in President Donald Trump’s first term, hopes for a resolution this...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Democratic brand, badly bruised in 2024 when voters handed Republicans a governing trifecta in Washington, snapped to life Tuesday as the party collected victories up and down the ballot across the country.

Democrats won governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey while bolstering their legislative majorities in both states...Read more

SEATTLE — At 8 p.m. every election night, candidates, consultants and other politics watchers obsessively click on the Secretary of State's website, waiting for the first vote tallies to roll in.

But in some recent elections — including on Tuesday — those initial vote counts have shown wildly inaccurate percentages in some closely watched...Read more

WASHINGTON — Reps. Kevin Kiley and Ami Bera slugging it out to win the 3rd District congressional seat? Maybe not.

Kiley, R-Roseville, told The Sacramento Bee on Wednesday in an interview in his Capitol Hill office that while he plans to seek reelection, he’s not sure where he’ll run.

His current district, which stretches from the ...Read more

CHICAGO — Democratic state Sen. Willie Preston is pitching himself as a fighter for working-class families and a product of South Side struggles, hoping that message will stand out in a crowded field vying for Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District seat.

But as Preston campaigns on authenticity and lived experience in the race to represent ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The passage of California’s Proposition 50 redistricting measure Tuesday turned Republican Rep. Ken Calvert’s GOP-leaning district a deep shade of blue, but on Wednesday, he said he would seek reelection next year in an adjoining GOP-held district that the referendum made even redder.

The only problem for the powerful House ...Read more

WASHINGTON — A Democratic romp in Tuesday’s off-year elections is raising new questions about President Donald Trump’s coattails heading into a key midterm election year.

“On Nov. 5, 2024, the American people reclaimed our government. We restored our sovereignty. We lost a little bit of sovereignty last night in New York. But we’ll ...Read more

Key races in New Jersey, Virginia and Georgia made it clear that energy affordability was on the ballot this Election Day as Democrats who campaigned on the issue swept the field.

Candidates in the three states campaigned on tackling rising energy costs through renewables, such as wind and solar, or by supporting the Trump administration in ...Read more