National Politics

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

The US Army initially considered denying a request from Washington, DC’s government for a National Guard deployment ahead of the January 6 rally that led to riots at the US Capitol, according to a Washington Post report published Tuesday. An internal draft memo obtained by the Post argued the US military shouldn’t be required to

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has now opened a grand jury investigation of former President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election result in Georgia. This is a major step forward; the grand jury holds the power, by way of subpoenas, to compel witnesses to testify and to turn over other evidence, whether

President Joe Biden launches a sales effort Tuesday that he says is critical to convincing Americans that government can make their lives better. The “Help is Here” road show, which spans the country from coast to coast and includes travel by the first lady, vice president, second gentleman and Cabinet members, is partly designed to

California Gov. Gavin Newsom launched a new campaign Monday denouncing a recall effort against him and blasting the calls for his ouster as a Republican-backed movement supported by “anti-vaxxers, Q-Anon conspiracy theorists and anti-immigrant Trump supporters.” A new website launched by Newsom, a Democrat, to combat the recall effort seeks donations and support and is

Army Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, whose brother Alex was a star witness in the House impeachment inquiry, has been selected for promotion to colonel after overcoming alleged retaliation efforts by the Trump White House. Vindman, an Army JAG attorney who served as the ethics counsel on the National Security Council during the Trump administration, said

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized China’s threats to regional stability during bilateral talks in Tokyo on Tuesday, warning that the United States and Japan would push back if necessary. Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with their counterparts in Tokyo for a series of bilateral talks and a joint “2+2”

Texas Republicans are targeting Houston’s efforts to expand voting access during the 2020 election with a series of measures that would limit early voting, make it harder to get and return absentee ballots, and more. GOP lawmakers introduced two dozen bills that would make it harder to vote in Texas ahead of Friday’s filing deadline.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, the chamber’s second-ranking Democrat, said Monday that he doesn’t believe there’s enough support in this Congress to pass a full-blown immigration bill with a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants, a key pillar of President Joe Biden’s immigration plan. “I don’t see a means for reaching that,”

A 16-year-old testified against her father in court on Monday, as prosecutors used against him what they had learned from his children about his resolve to take part in the US Capitol riot. “My heart is broken. I see people in your family suffering. I see an American family suffering,” Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui said

A review of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Covid-19 guidance has found that some of the agency’s guidance during the Trump administration was not grounded in science or free from undue influence, according to a statement from a CDC spokesperson. The review found that some guidance “used less direct language than available

White House staff working in-person are no longer tested for Covid-19 every day as those on campus have been increasingly vaccinated, a recent change to testing protocol, according to an administration official familiar with the process. White House spokesperson Kevin Munoz said in a statement to CNN that the White House “maintains strong Covid-19-related protocols