Politics

A group of Democratic lawmakers is proposing a substantial increase in the international affairs budget for the next fiscal year, with specific focuses on countering China, curbing climate change and investing in global health. Sens. Chris Murphy and Chris Van Hollen and Reps. David Cicilline and Ami Bera are pitching an additional $12 billion overall

Children are alternating schedules to make space for one another in confined facilities, some kids haven’t seen sunlight in days, and others are taking turns showering, often going days without one. That’s the reality for the thousands of unaccompanied migrant children held up in US Border Patrol custody for days on end, according to case

The latest round of stimulus payments that started going out over the weekend are open to being seized by private debt collectors — a problem lawmakers are rushing to fix. Recipients with unpaid credit card or medical bills for which a company has obtained a judgment against the debtor could see the fresh infusion taken

Visiting the warehouse of a flooring company here Tuesday to begin selling his $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief law, President Joe Biden seemed ready to sign something else. “Anything else we can be doing?” he asked the business owners, who seemed grateful to chat up the visiting president. If the primary goal of Biden’s “Help is

Kamala Harris declared “the status of women is the status of democracy” on Tuesday, in her first speech before the United Nations as the first female vice president of the United States. “Eleanor Roosevelt, who shaped the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, once said, ‘Without equality, there can be no democracy.’ In other words, the

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the 87-year-old veteran Democrat, insisted on Tuesday that she is committed to serving out her full term in office even after California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he had a list of “multiple” potential replacements and would appoint a Black woman to replace her should she retire. “There’s nothing to it,” Feinstein told

The fastest way to get back to a safe, mask-free life is for everyone to get a Covid-19 vaccine. But just because you’ve gotten a shot of protection doesn’t mean you should rip off your mask immediately. That could actually set you back and put your friends and family at risk. Here’s why you should

President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that he currently has no plans to visit the southern border, even as his administration scrambles to respond to a surge of migrant children coming into the US. “Not at the moment,” Biden told reporters on the south lawn of the White House when he was asked whether he

The US intelligence community has assessed that Russia attempted to interfere in the 2020 election by conducting influence operations aimed at “denigrating President Biden’s candidacy and the Democratic Party, supporting former President Trump, undermining public confidence in the electoral process, and exacerbating sociopolitical divisions in the US,” according to a new report released by the

The House has passed the Equality Act, which would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to protect people from being discriminated based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and other services as well as access to public accommodations such as restaurants. The final vote was 224-206. Three Republicans joined Democrats in voting

The argument for impeaching New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is increasingly compelling. There have now been several seemingly credible allegations of sexual harassment against Cuomo indicating a pattern of behavior that should disqualify him from a position of leadership and influence. Additionally, reports that the Cuomo administration deliberately undercounted deaths in nursing homes in the

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell gave a stark warning Tuesday about how Republicans would grind the chamber to a halt if Democrats changed the filibuster rules, leading to a “completely scorched earth Senate.” The Kentucky Republican defended the 60-vote threshold on the legislative filibuster in a floor speech, cautioning Democrats that if they moved to

Count Dick Durbin among the growing chorus of voices on the liberal left who believe the time has come to jettison the Senate’s legislative filibuster. The Illinois Democrat, who also serves as the Senate Majority Whip — the No. 2 leadership position in the party — went very public with his issues with the way

Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam announced Tuesday that he’s taking executive action to restore voting and other civil rights to former felons as soon as they complete their prison terms — a move that will immediately apply to more than 69,000 formerly incarcerated Virginians. Northam’s action, shared first with CNN, is the latest push to