National Politics

A group of three judges on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that a lower court judge was wrong when he vacated an execution date for Lisa Montgomery, the only woman on federal death row, reinstating her execution date later this month. She’s now scheduled to be executed just before the inauguration of

The US and Iran charged each other with ratcheting up tensions in the Persian Gulf as concerns about potential conflict build days before Iran marks one year since the US assassinated its most powerful military figure and less than three weeks before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. Iran appealed to the UN Security Council on

Richard “Dick” Thornburgh, a former Republican governor of Pennsylvania who went on to serve as US attorney general under two presidents, has died at age 88, according to an announcement from the Pennsylvania governor’s office. In honor of Thornburgh, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday ordered the US and Pennsylvania flags on all commonwealth facilities,

Senate Democrats and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont pushed, without success, for a Senate vote on $2,000 stimulus checks Friday as the clock winds down on the 116th Congress. Efforts by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, and Sanders to secure a vote on increasing the direct payment amounts that Americans

The Senate voted on Friday to override President Donald Trump’s veto of the sweeping defense bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act, delivering a bipartisan rebuke to the President in his final days in office. Trump’s veto forced Republicans to decide whether to defy the President in support of legislation that sets defense policy

Guests who paid four-figures for tickets to President Donald Trump’s annual New Year’s Eve party were left to party with his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, his two adult sons and various figures from the conservative media — none of whom wore masks — after the President made a last-minute decision to ditch the event and

Vice President Mike Pence’s lawyers asked a federal judge Thursday to reject a request from Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas that attempts to force Pence to ignore electoral votes of several key states when Congress meets to certify the 2020 presidential election next week. Pence argues that the legal issues raised by Gohmert, along with

Republican Sen. Mitt Romney on Friday warned the process of distributing vaccines is “falling behind” in a statement blasting the plan for getting Americans vaccinated, as the critical vaccination roll out process lags. “That comprehensive vaccination plans have not been developed at the federal level and sent to the states as models is as incomprehensible

The Trump administration enters 2021 well short of its goal to vaccinate 20 million people by January 1, leaving state health officials across the country scrambling to ramp up a massive vaccine distribution effort that is crucial to defeating the pandemic and yet faces critical delays. So far, just over 12.4 million doses have been

It is officially, finally 2021. But while everyone on Earth has had enough of the year that was, Americans need to gird themselves for a bit more 2020, at least to start, as a large portion of Republican lawmakers put their names next to President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the election. There will be

The US flew nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to the Middle East Wednesday in the latest show of force meant to deter Iran, as defense officials remain divided over the risk posed by the regime and the Iraq-based militias it supports. Pentagon officials say the military muscle-flexing is meant to warn Tehran off attacking American interests or

The US military flew nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to the Middle East Wednesday “to underscore the US military’s commitment to regional security and demonstrate a unique ability to rapidly deploy overwhelming combat power on short notice,” according to a statement from US Central Command, which oversees military operations in the region. The bombers were sent from

Distilleries that helped out in the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic by making alcohol-based hand sanitizer won’t have to pay a hefty fee the government charged them this week by mistake. When hand sanitizer was in short supply in March, hundreds of distilleries jumped in and made it themselves. In order to do so, they

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday held a conference call with the Senate GOP conference in which he pressed Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley to explain the rationale behind his plans to object to the Electoral College vote, according to a source directly familiar with the call. Hawley did not respond to multiple questions from

President Donald Trump’s budget director is accusing President-elect Joe Biden’s team of issuing “false statements” regarding his office’s cooperation during the ongoing transition, insisting the office has been fully transparent over the course of 45 meetings. Still, in a letter to Biden’s transition chief dated Thursday, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought said