WASHINGTON — Both parties are preparing for a hard-fought midterm election year that, if the first full week of 2026 is any indication, will bring along some surprises.

Primary contests begin in March and will help answer key questions about what’s driving voters in both parties and set up the critical battleground races to watch in the ...Read more

WASHINGTON — For congressional Republicans, the year’s big question is how aggressive should they be in trying to advance President Donald Trump’s policies as the midterm elections approach as opposed to making the sales pitch for what’s already become law.

The immediate challenge facing Congress is once again funding the government, ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly on Monday sued Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Defense Department in D.C. district court over the Pentagon’s attempt to reduce Kelly’s pension pay and rank after he appeared in a November video that urged troops to refuse unlawful orders.

The lawsuit contends that Kelly’s speech was ...Read more

WASHINGTON — A compromise fiscal 2026 funding bill released Sunday would provide major increases for federal public defenders as well as a court security account, matching requests from the judiciary in those two areas.

Federal public defenders would see a nearly 22% increase in funding under the bill, a proposed figure that comes amid long-...Read more

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., sued Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Monday to block the Pentagon’s effort to punish him for urging troops to defy illegal orders from superiors.

The retired Navy captain and astronaut asked a court to reverse Hegseth’s formal censure of him, which could lead to a demotion and reduction in retirement pay, saying the...Read more

WASHINGTON — Democrats need to hone their messaging on “full-throated economic populist ideas” as the party looks to regain ground in the 2026 midterms, Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Monday. And she suggests the party take a page out of President Donald Trump’s playbook to do that.

“Donald Trump said every single day that he would lower ...Read more

WASHINGTON — House Democrats renewed their legal challenge Monday to the Trump administration’s restrictions on congressional oversight visits to immigration detention facilities, after the Department of Homeland Security released new guidance requiring a seven-day wait period.

In a court filing Monday, attorneys representing the lawmakers ...Read more

MIAMI — Miami Dade College is trying to disqualify a judge who already ruled in its favor from any future proceedings in a public transparency lawsuit over the College Board of Trustees’ decision-making process to give away prime downtown land for Donald Trump’s presidential library.

Even though Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mavel Ruiz tossed ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — They were sons of Washington, D.C., privilege, young men whose fathers shaped the nation’s history for better and for worse.

The two men from San Diego each found their own success, in part through family connections — one repeatedly winning election to Congress, the other becoming a respected state prosecutor.

Then they each...Read more

WASHINGTON — After months of pressure from rank-and-file members, a House panel will consider a new Republican-led bill this week that aims to prohibit members of Congress from trading stocks.

The bill, unveiled Monday by House Administration Chair Bryan Steil, R-Wis., would ban members of Congress, their spouses and dependent children from ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Mary Peltola launched a run for Senate in Alaska on Monday, positioning herself as an independent-minded Democrat and boosting the party’s hopes that a competitive race in a deep-red state could help Democrats secure control of the chamber.

Peltola served as the state’s at-large House member for over two years ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments Tuesday over the legality of state bans on transgender athletes participating in women and girls’ sports, in a pair of cases that could shape the legal landscape nationwide for similar bans and other transgender issues.

Two athletes challenged state laws in Idaho and West Virginia...Read more

WASHINGTON — Appropriations are on the agenda for both chambers of Congress this week, with a three-bill spending package potentially reaching President Donald Trump’s desk by the end of the week, and a possible Venezuela war powers vote-a-rama coming to the Senate floor.

The Senate is scheduled to vote Monday evening to limit debate on ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Maine state Sen. Joe Baldacci, the brother of former Rep. and Gov. John Baldacci, is running to succeed retiring fellow Democrat Jared Golden in a battleground district that’s voted for Donald Trump three times.

Golden announced last year that he would not seek a fifth term representing the rural 2nd District, leaving Democrats...Read more

Even government programs can get strangled by red tape.

Think back to 2021. That’s when President Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. It directed more than $1 trillion toward transportation and infrastructure projects. That included more than $42 billion to expand broadband internet.

“Access to high-speed internet ...Read more

A few months into President Trump's second term, federal appeals court Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III — a conservative appointee of President Reagan — issued a scathing opinion denouncing what he found to be the Trump administration's unlawful removal of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to his native El Salvador, despite a previous court order barring it...Read more

President Donald Trump said that the U.S. is closely monitoring the protests in Iran and is mulling potential options as the Islamic Republic faces its third week of nationwide protests, the largest since 2022.

“We’re looking at it very seriously. The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told ...Read more

Thousands of demonstrators and a handful of elected officials turned out for a “No Kings” rally in Manhattan on Sunday, voicing their opposition to the Trump administration in the wake of the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, and U.S. military actions in Venezuela.

“This is an urgent ...Read more

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected this week to name global leaders for a “Board of Peace” to administer his ambitious post-war plan for Gaza, officials say, even as a standoff between Israel and Hamas raised doubts about the prospects for success.

Made up mainly of fellow heads of government or state and chaired by Trump, the board is...Read more

Following the capture of Venezuelan strongman and Cuban ally Nicolás Maduro, President Donald Trump said Sunday Cuba won’t be receiving any more oil from the South American country and warned the government in Havana to “make a deal BEFORE IS TOO LATE.”

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the Cuba has for many years survived ...Read more