CHICAGO — Aldermen officially threw their budget cards on the table Wednesday by introducing their own 2026 package to the City Council, the clearest sign yet they believe they don’t need Mayor Brandon Johnson to solve the current impasse on next year’s spending plan.

The high-stakes game of chicken between the freshman mayor and his ...Read more

U.S. forces seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump said Wednesday, in the latest escalation in a widening U.S. campaign of military and law-enforcement pressure on the Nicolás Maduro regime.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump described the vessel as “a large tanker, very large, largest one ever ...Read more

NEW YORK — Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Kaz Daughtry, who had a meteoric rise in city government under Mayor Adams but attracted his share of criticism, as well, put in his papers Wednesday to retire from the Police Department, with an effective date of Jan. 8, police records show.

Daughtry, who was still technically a detective on loan ...Read more

WASHINGTON — As the Senate tees up a pair of partisan votes on health care Thursday, senators from both sides of the aisle said debate isn’t over regarding enhanced premium tax credits that millions of people rely on.

Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Wednesday that he wasn’t ruling out finding a way to extend the tax ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Wednesday launched a Gold Card initiative that would allow foreign nationals to purchase legal status in the United States for $1 million.

President Donald Trump was among the U.S. officials who made announcements touting the opening of the trumpcard.gov site, which has the Gold Card for individuals ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., on Wednesday filed a discharge petition to force a vote on a two-year extension of the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits, as House GOP leadership eyes a health care vote next week that won’t include such a measure.

The petition had only eight signatures as of Wednesday afternoon, though ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The House cast a strong, mostly bipartisan vote Wednesday to pass the bicameral compromise version of the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act.

The $900.6 billion defense authorization bill’s 312-112 vote was due mostly to strong support from the GOP majority.

Republicans backed the bill 197-18, while Democrats ...Read more

NEW YORK — Latino immigrants have been disproportionately targeted by ICE more than any other ethnic group in New York state during the Trump administration’s crackdown, according to a new study.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has zeroed in on Latino migrants at a rate that far exceeds the pursuit of immigrants who come...Read more

It sounds like something only the San Francisco tech scene could dream up: A newborn’s first-ever car ride takes place without a driver.

But that’s precisely what happened Monday when a woman delivered her child in a Waymo autonomous vehicle while on her way to UC San Francisco Medical Center, hospital spokesperson Jess Berthold confirmed. ...Read more

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — At two back-to-back public appearances in Richmond and Virginia Beach this week, Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger outlined her plan to maintain a stable business environment in the state and discussed several legislative priorities related to energy, housing and health care.

Spanberger spoke at the Hampton Roads Chamber in...Read more

BOSTON — A future debate between the three Republican candidates for Massachusetts governor is up in the air as Mike Kennealy is calling on his competitors to join him on stage.

Kennealy posted a video to his campaign’s official Facebook page on Monday, calling on primary competitors Mike Minogue and Brian Shortsleeve to join him for a ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration must immediately end the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles, the latest legal blow to the president’s embattled efforts to police American streets with armed soldiers.

Senior U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer said in his ruling that command of the ...Read more

CHICAGO — The federal government has agreed to extend until April a temporary restraining order requiring improved conditions at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility in Broadview, putting off a courtroom faceoff that was scheduled for next week.

In the wake of a class-action lawsuit filed in October, U.S. District ...Read more

Tony Dokoupil is moving from mornings to evenings at CBS News.

Dokoupil, currently the co-host of "CBS Mornings," has signed a new deal to take over as anchor of "CBS Evening News." His new role was announced Wednesday.

The news division's signature program is returning to a solo anchor format after pairing John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois ...Read more

Republican state senators did not have to cast initial votes related to Indiana’s mid-census redistricting Wednesday as the three Democratic amendments were voted on by voice vote.

House Bill 1032, which addresses mid-census redistricting and gives Republicans an advantage in all nine congressional districts, moves on without Senate ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — Gov. Josh Stein on Wednesday announced that he would reverse cuts his administration made to Medicaid provider payment rates, saying months of legislative inaction left the program underfunded and led to a wave of lawsuits from patients and providers.

For months, Stein said, the state’s health and human services department ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say a Trump administration policy change is making it nearly impossible for agency staff with disabilities to access telework as a reasonable accommodation.

Political appointees at the agency are repealing previously approved reasonable accommodation requests as the ...Read more