WASHINGTON -- Rep. Rob Woodall is all-in in the race to succeed House Budget Chairwoman Diane Black if and when she steps down.

"Absolutely," the George Republican said when asked if he will compete for the top spot when Black leaves the chairmanship. Black is running for governor of Tennessee in the 2018 elections, though she has not yet said ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Claire McCaskill attended a dinner on Monday hosted by President Donald Trump's daughter and son-in-law to discuss the administration's tax overhaul efforts -- but still wasn't embracing the GOP tax plan.

McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat and member of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, also was invited to the White House...Read more

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump, facing blowback for his failure to call the families of four soldiers who died in combat, on Tuesday invoked the fallen son of his chief of staff, retired Gen. John Kelly.

"As far as other presidents, I don't know, you could ask Gen. Kelly, did he get a call from Obama? I don't know what Obama's policy was,...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Senate Republicans overcame internal objections to advance a GOP budget plan Tuesday, an important step that lays the groundwork for President Donald Trump's tax cuts.

Some conservatives had griped that the fiscal 2018 budget proposal would allow $1.5 trillion in deficit-financed tax cuts.

But Senate Majority Leader Mitch ...Read more

BILOXI, Miss. -- Superintendent Arthur McMillan, speaking outside the administration building Monday, said the Biloxi School District never removed "To Kill A Mockingbird" from the middle school library or reading list.

And eighth graders who want to study the book now have a choice to attend a special book study.

He would not answer questions...Read more

BEIRUT -- The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have taken full control of the northern province of Raqqa from the Islamic State militia, the group's spokesman told dpa.

Talal Silo said the military operations inside Raqqa have finished and the group is combing the city for sleeper cells.

SDF forces were also removing mines from the ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Senators face a lengthy list of President Donald Trump's judicial picks, but consideration of the nominees could be affected by three significant factors: an extensive backlog of vacancies, Republican leaders' willingness to continue altering chamber traditions, and the Democrats' lack of motivation to aid GOP efforts to remake the...Read more

MIAMI -- A family cruise to paradise turned into a nightmare on Saturday, when an 8-year-old tumbled over the inner railings of a ship and fell to her death.

Carnival spokeswoman Jennifer De La Cruz said it isn't yet clear if there's security footage capturing the accident, and Miami-Dade police, the lead agency, had no updates on the ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump's pick to be the nation's drug czar withdrew from consideration Tuesday after news reports focused attention on his role in weakening the government's power to combat the nation's opioid epidemic.

Trump sent a message on Twitter Tuesday morning announcing that Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.) had withdrawn his name ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Orrin Hatch raised $936,992 in the most recent fundraising quarter amid speculation about whether he will seek an eighth term.

After re-election in 2012, the Utah Republican said this term would be his last. But Donald Trump's election and the prospect of tax reform made the Senate's most senior Republican reconsider.

Hatch ...Read more

CHICAGO -- The death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia forced the remaining eight members of the nation's highest court to work harder toward compromise, Justice Elena Kagan said Monday during a speech at the Chicago-Kent College of Law.

In an hourlong appearance before law students and high-profile lawyers including Illinois ...Read more

LAS VEGAS -- The story seemed straightforward: The unarmed security guard approached Stephen Paddock's room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, distracting the gunman and potentially saving lives.

With a gunshot wound to his leg, he helped point officers to the gunman's location and stayed behind to evacuate hotel guests.

...Read more

MILWAUKEE -- What you would probably notice first about Thomas Richards are his eyes.

He's just 17 months old, but perhaps because he is unable to speak, he uses his eyes the way other babies coo and babble. All the subtle little muscles around his eyes go to work. They engage you.

And then comes the grin. Once Thomas has caught your eyes, he ...Read more

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Democrats in the Midwest know that the way to win back voters in states such as Iowa is to talk about the economy, but they're debating how exactly to do it.

As a state that can make or break presidential campaigns, and one that had regularly sent liberal Democrats to Washington, Iowa now serves as a test of whether ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Mark Sanford is facing what is arguably his first competitive re-election campaign since returning to Congress in mid-2013 -- and both his Republican and Democratic challengers raised more money than the South Carolina lawmaker this summer.

Sanford, however, holds a major cash advantage in the latest round of fundraising ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- The White House is rebuffing a House committee's bipartisan request for detailed information about the Trump administration's use of private email for government work and executive branch use of government and chartered aircraft.

In two letters Monday from White House congressional liaison Marc Short, the top Republican and ...Read more

As guardians of health and gatekeepers to the world of medicine, primary care doctors are expected to plunge dauntlessly into the most delicate topics with their patients. Now, in the wake of the worst mass shooting in recent U.S. history, a new campaign is challenging these physicians to talk to their patients about guns.

As doctor questions ...Read more