The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments in a Mississippi case that could have a major effect on Illinois’ efforts to promote voting by mail, as the high court is expected to decide whether such ballots, cast and postmarked on or before Election Day in a general election, can be counted afterward.

The combined suit — brought by ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Days before U.S. government-mandated flight cuts went into effect across domestic carriers, some airline executives privately pressed for more information on whether the safety data justified the Trump administration’s measures.

On a Nov. 5 call with Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Bryan Bedford, some airline ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Aides to President Donald Trump have spent the days following Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York City mayoral race reviewing federal funds that benefit the city to potentially suspend or cancel, a White House official said Tuesday, highlighting the threat of retribution over the democratic socialist’s win.

The ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The federal government shutdown, which begins its seventh week Tuesday, appears close to being over. But when will things get back to normal?

There’s no easy way to answer the question. The Senate passed a plan Monday to reopen the government and fund most agencies until Jan. 30. Funds for agriculture, veterans, military ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers took a victory lap on Tuesday after securing bipartisan support to reopen the government, ending the longest shutdown in U.S. history without ceding ground to any core Democratic demands.

House members were converging on Washington for a final vote expected as early as Wednesday, ...Read more

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives was set to vote as soon as Wednesday afternoon on a measure to end the government shutdown.

The GOP-led rules committee was expected to meet late Tuesday to tee up consideration of a stopgap government funding bill that was passed by the Senate with crucial support from a handful of Democrats ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Republican Rep. Jodey C. Arrington announced Tuesday that he won’t seek reelection next year, closing out a tumultuous run as House Budget chairman as he prepares to vacate his deep-red seat in rural West Texas.

In a video he posted on Veterans Day, Arrington ticked off a list of accomplishments for his constituents during his ...Read more

ATLANTA — Fulton County officials are approaching a deadline to comply with a request for a slew of records related to the 2020 election requested by President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice, with resistance.

Fulton County Commission Chair Robb Pitts said the county has complied with the law regarding the 2020 election, and there’s ...Read more

WASHINGTON — When Rep. Chrissy Houlahan sits down to question witnesses at a House Armed Services Committee hearing, it can feel like a time machine back to her own military service.

For one thing, the officers seated across from her are often mostly male.

“When you’re sitting across from a row of general officers, and the vast majority ...Read more

Recently, in our roles with nonprofit groups devoted to protecting human rights and reproductive justice, we interviewed an advocate who supported a pregnant high school senior through the difficult process of getting judicial permission to have an abortion without involving her parents, known as judicial bypass.

The teenage student knew that ...Read more

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, one of eight members of the chamber to cross party lines and endorse a GOP plan to end the nation’s longest government shutdown, defended his vote on the Senate floor Monday amid intense party criticism of the deal.

“Many of my friends are unhappy. They think we should have kept our government closed indefinitely to ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump defended allowing foreign students to study in the United States as a “good” practice and pushed back on a call to reduce their numbers, saying it would be financially destructive to the nation’s higher education system.

“You don’t want to cut half of the people, half of the students from all over...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Senate gave final approval Monday night to a deal that could end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, sending it to the House, where Democrats are launching a last-ditch effort to block the measure because it does not address health care costs.

Senators approved the shutdown deal on a 60-40 vote, a day after ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Senate passed a major funding package Monday night that is likely to bring to an end the longest partial government shutdown in history.

On a 60-40 vote, the Senate sent to the House a measure that would fund the government through Jan. 30 and provide full-year appropriations for the Departments of Agriculture and Veterans ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Democrats from across the political spectrum expressed opposition to a Senate deal to end the longest partial government shutdown, less than a week after the party was celebrating major election victories.

A handful of candidates also criticized Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, even though he opposed the agreement, with...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The passage of Proposition 50 divided the Southern California district Rep. Linda Sánchez represents — which made her reelection decision more a question about where rather than if.

But Sánchez, a Democrat, says she has made up her mind: She is running in the new California’s 41st Congressional District, which snakes ...Read more

WASHINGTON — A deal that could end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history is poised to head to the House, where Democrats are launching a last-ditch effort to block a spending agreement reached in the Senate that does not address health care costs.

The push comes as Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., urged House members on Monday to start...Read more

WASHINGTON — A deal that could end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history is poised to head to the House, where Democrats are launching a last-ditch effort to block a spending agreement reached in the Senate that does not address health care costs.

The push comes as Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., urged House members on Monday to start...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s idea of mailing $2,000 “dividend” payments from tariffs to U.S. citizens marks a throwback to the stimulus checks distributed during the COVID crisis, with similar economic risks.

After floating the idea of tariff dividend payouts for months, Trump on Sunday offered the specific amount of “at ...Read more

California Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized the Trump administration Monday for “doing everything to put America in reverse” and trying “to vandalize California’s leadership” on climate, warning that the country risks losing its competitive edge in the clean energy economy.

The remarks came during his trip to Brazil, where Newsom joined ...Read more