In The News

WASHINGTON - Anyone who doubts how difficult it will be to reopen the nation's public schools in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak need only spend a few moments speaking to leaders of the National School Boards Association. Public schools... Read More

WASHINGTON - Despite the rancor one hears consistently on cable news and in the Twittersphere, bipartisanship is alive and well among rank and file members of Congress, according to a new survey conducted by The Lugar Center and the McCourt... Read More

WASHINGTON - Nearly 3 million laid-off Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, bringing the total job losses since the coronavirus pandemic took hold in mid-February to roughly 36 million, the Labor Department said Thursday. An additional 842,000 people applied... Read More

With the Iowa primaries less than three weeks away, an unprecedented number of voters have applied to vote by mail in the state’s June 2 election. As of Tuesday, 356,315 voters had requested an absentee ballot, with 96,311 ballots already... Read More

WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court ruled against President Donald Trump on Thursday in a lawsuit alleging he's violated the Constitution's emoluments clause by profiting from foreign and state government patrons at his hotel in downtown Washington. A divided 4th... Read More

WASHINGTON — It’s difficult to glean broader trends from a couple of special elections, but that didn’t stop both parties from drawing polar opposite lessons from Tuesday’s contests in California and Wisconsin. In California’s competitive 25th District, Republican Mike Garcia,... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Wednesday was asked to sort out rules for the Electoral College system of selecting a president, and to decide whether those rules allow "faithless" electors to vote as they please or instead gives states... Read More

There is no question that the United States is in crisis. A global pandemic and economic crisis have upended American life, costing lives and leaving millions of families without a way to make ends meet. In the face of this... Read More

WASHINGTON - Industry and legal experts told the U.S. Senate Tuesday that the coronavirus pandemic is creating liabilities that are not adequately addressed by existing laws and regulations. As a result, business owners are running up against hundreds of lawsuits... Read More

WASHINGTON - The National League of Cities is calling on the Senate and White House to embrace a new coronavirus relief bill introduced in the House on Tuesday that allocates $375 billion for the nation's smaller cities, towns, counties and... Read More

WASHINGTON - A bipartisan group of House lawmakers on Tuesday urged Congress to provide funding for the U.S. automobile industry in future coronavirus stimulus packages. “America’s motor vehicle industry must remain the heart of our nation’s manufacturing capability,” wrote the... Read More

The arrival of COVID-19 has provided a nuclear-level stress test to the American health care system, and our grade isn’t pretty: at least 80,000 dead, 1.3 million infected and 30 million unemployed; nursing homes, prisons and meatpacking plants that have... Read More

RIO DE JANEIRO — It seemed like Silvanah Lima was finally getting ahead. Born and raised in Brazil’s drought-ridden northeast, she moved with her partner to Rio de Janeiro in 2018, in search of work. He was hired as a... Read More

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Could the political conventions this summer turn into a weird test of courage vs. caution in this unprecedented era of the coronavirus? The day after Democrats announced their Milwaukee convention may be scaled back or even conducted... Read More

WASHINGTON — Residents of lower-income states that voted for President Donald Trump got bigger stimulus checks in general than those in wealthier coastal enclaves that tend to back Democrats, according to data from the Internal Revenue Service. The demographics of... Read More

WASHINGTON - Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America called on Congress and the Inspector General of Veteran Affairs to look into VA oversight of state-run veterans homes in the wake of a ProPublica investigation casting light on the grave consequences... Read More

WASHINGTON - Attorneys for President Donald Trump on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to toss congressional and state subpoenas seeking financial records from his bankers and accountants. In the first of the related cases heard Tuesday, the justices were asked... Read More

WASHINGTON - Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, told a Senate panel on Tuesday there could be "really serious" consequences to states and cities across the United States reopening their economies too quickly. He told the Senate... Read More

WASHINGTON - House Democrats rolled out their latest package of legislation intended to provide economic relief during the coronavirus pandemic while focusing on areas that were either missed or in need of revision in other aid packages. In a briefing... Read More

A pair of congressional primaries on Tuesday could prove to be the first indicators of a brewing second blue wave come the November general election. The most high-profile of the contests is taking place in California's 25th Congressional District, in... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court justices sounded split Monday on whether to broadly deny civil rights protections to hundreds of thousands of teachers in religious schools, as they heard cases involving two who were fired from Catholic schools in Los... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Trump administration on Monday told all employees working in the White House that they will now be required to wear masks whenever they are in the West Wing. The internal memo, which was distributed to staff members... Read More

WASHINGTON - In recent years most arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court regarding political divisions have involved racial and partisan gerrymandering. On Monday, the justices considered a case that asks, at its heart, whether a large swath of eastern Oklahoma... Read More

WASHINGTON - The New Democrat Coalition Action Fund endorsed Vice President Joe Biden for president on Monday, with Rep. Ami Bera of California, chair of the group, declaring "we know a winner when we see one." “Our coalition is comprised... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — A majority of Americans disapprove of protests against restrictions aimed at preventing the spread the coronavirus, according to a new poll that also finds the still-expansive support for such limits — including restaurant closures and stay-at-home orders... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate’s top Democrat on Sunday called on the Department of Veterans Affairs to explain why it allowed the use of an unproven drug on veterans for the coronavirus, saying patients may have been put at unnecessary risk. Sen. Charles... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Donald Trump tries to move on from the coronavirus, Congress is rushing to fill the void and prepare the country for the long fight ahead. Compelled by the lack of comprehensive federal planning as states begin to reopen,... Read More

Universities nationwide are being sued by parents and students who say the schools are falling short of their duties during the coronavirus shutdown. The universities have switched to online education until the national emergency subsides. The students and their parents... Read More

The National Defense Authorization Act of 2020 approved a new, independent Space Force within the Department of the Air Force. As this new military branch takes shape, Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett and Chief of Space Operations General... Read More

The NewDem Action Fund, the political arm of the New Democrat Coalition, endorsed two new candidates as part of their effort to flip Republican-held seats in the House of Representatives in 2020. The fund announced on Friday that it would... Read More