Politics

House Republicans are doing their best to steer clear of embattled Rep. Matt Gaetz amid an FBI investigation into whether he broke sex trafficking laws and had sex with a 17-year-old girl. The Republican efforts to keep their distance from Gaetz also offer him a lifeline within the GOP conference, as he appears safe at

US intelligence agencies still do not know “exactly where, when or how Covid-19 virus was transmitted initially” in China but remain focused on two primary theories, that “it emerged naturally from human contact with infected animals or it was a laboratory accident,” the nation’s top spy told Senate lawmakers on Wednesday. That admission from Director

President Joe Biden said at a CNN town hall on Tuesday that he remains opposed to calls for “defunding the police” — a rallying cry for activists seeking reforms in law enforcement. In response to a question about how to avoid overly constraining police while addressing racial disparities, Biden replied, “By number one, not defunding

Former President Barack Obama on Wednesday praised President Joe Biden’s “bold leadership” for his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan by September 11, saying that “it is time to recognize that we have accomplished all that we can militarily” in America’s longest war. “President Biden has made the right decision in completing the withdrawal

The Biden administration intends to move forward with $23 billion in proposed arms sales to the United Arab Emirates even as it continues its review of pending weapons transfers, a State Department spokesperson told CNN Wednesday. The Trump administration last year pushed forward the controversial sale, which includes F-35 aircraft and armed drones, despite bipartisan

The House Oversight and Reform Committee voted on Wednesday to approve a bill that would grant statehood to Washington, DC, a Democratic priority that faces obstacles for final passage even when the party controls both chambers on Capitol Hill and the White House. The tally was 25-19. “Today is an historic day for our country

Kristen Clarke, President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, defended her record against some skeptical senators during her confirmation hearing on Wednesday as a groundswell of supporters says there’s an urgency for Clarke to take office and lead the team of federal prosecutors to address recent allegations of unconstitutional acts

Federal prosecutors in Washington, DC, will not pursue criminal charges against the US Capitol Police officer involved in the shooting death of Ashli Babbitt during the riot at the Capitol on January 6, the Justice Department said Wednesday. The Justice Department said it has cleared the officer involved and has closed its investigation, saying there

Almost a year after Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the Supreme Court’s liberals to cast the determinative vote to block a Louisiana abortion law, his opinion in the case is causing deep divisions among lower court judges and lawyers. Last June, Roberts, who had never voted against an abortion restriction, spelled out his thinking

Activist and nonprofit founder Rana Abdelhamid on Wednesday launched a Democratic primary challenge to Rep. Carolyn Maloney in New York’s 12th congressional district, marking the third straight election in which Maloney, who has been in Congress since 1993, will face intense opposition from party progressives. This time, though, the field will include a candidate with

Members of the Oath Keepers paramilitary group likely stored weapons at a hotel in Arlington, Virginia, as part of their plan to have an armed rapid-response force during the January 6 insurrection, federal prosecutors said. The new details flesh out previous accusations from prosecutors that members of the Oath Keepers assembled a “quick reaction force,”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday praised President Joe Biden’s plan to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, calling it a “careful and thought-out plan.” “The President doesn’t want endless wars. I don’t want endless wars. And neither do the American people. And it’s refreshing to have a thought-out plan with a set timetable instead

Watch the president’s remarks live starting at about 1:15 p.m. in the player below. It’s an image President Joe Biden kept returning to: the sight of helicopters evacuating Americans from Saigon during the last major battle of the Vietnam War. In the United States, the image has come to reflect the humiliating end to a

A group of House Foreign Affairs Committee lawmakers are calling on the Biden administration to “urgently push” Saudi Arabia to lift restrictions on imports to Yemen, where the United Nations says nearly 50,000 people are already starving to death. “Since 2015, the restrictions imposed by the coalition have critically exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in Yemen,”

Texas Rep. Kevin Brady, a long-serving lawmaker and top Republican on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, announced on Wednesday he is retiring at the end of his term. “I have an announcement I can’t think of a better place to make it than right here at the chamber I led many years ago. …