COLUMBIA, S.C. — A Republican state legislator wants to give former President Donald Trump the option of making the State House grounds his final resting place.

A bill from GOP state Rep. R.J. May would require the South Carolina Department of Administration to offer any president acquitted of impeachment twice to be buried on State House ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Stacey Abrams says new federal protections for voting rights are needed because too many states, including Georgia, are trying to hinder access.

Legislation proposed this year by Republicans in the Georgia's General Assembly would eliminate or limit automatic voter registration, early in-person voting and mail-in voting, Abrams ...Read more

HOUSTON — When President Joe Biden visits Texas’ largest city on Friday, epicenter for the state’s most deadly winter storm in modern history, he will be welcomed by many Texans who blame state leaders for failing to quickly respond to the disaster.

“He’s coming for all Texans, for people like myself who were without power,” said ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday that he would “absolutely” support Donald Trump if he were the Republican Party’s nominee for president in 2024.

His remarks, in a Fox News interview, marked an about-face from less than two weeks ago, when he delivered an impassioned speech from the Senate floor in which...Read more

Overwhelming caseloads, substantial litigation delays and spiraling costs have prompted Congress to take a fresh look at expanding the number of judges sitting on lower federal courts.

In a hearing Wednesday held by the House Committee on the Judiciary, both congress members and witnesses characterized the situation as a crisis that has been ...Read more

New York prosecutors have received eight years of Donald Trump’s individual and corporate tax returns from the former president’s accounting firm, according to a spokesman for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.

The voluminous records, which cover the years from 2011 to 2018, were turned over to Vance’s office by Mazars USA on ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Among GOP elected officials and operatives, intense disagreements rage over the future of their party. But no sign of dissent will be visible this weekend when conservatives gather for an annual conference that has long showcased Republicans’ internal debates.

Instead, one theme will rule them all — fealty to Trump.

The ...Read more

ATLANTA — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene rode into Congress on a message of “people over politicians” and fueled her bid with small-dollar donations from around the country.

Once in Washington, the Georgia Republican quickly spent her donors’ money to gain access to the halls of power, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of her ...Read more

With little Republican support, House Democrats passed a bill Thursday that would lock in long-sought legal safeguards for LGBTQ+ people — but the historic measure faces stiff opposition in the Senate.

The “Equality Act,” which tweaks existing civil rights law to spell out that sexual orientation and gender identification are protected ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court will hold a private conference Thursday to consider whether the case of a fired Texas state trooper merits adding to its docket due to the larger question it raises: Does a state’s sovereignty outweigh federal powers to build armies?

The case of LeRoy Torres v. The Texas Department of Public Safety ...Read more

WASHINGTON — With House Democrats poised to pass their 791-page campaign finance, elections and ethics overhaul as soon as next week, outside groups that support the measure are turning to the Senate.

Left-leaning organizations such as Indivisible, Public Citizen, Democracy 21 and Common Cause, among others, have ramped up lobbying, ...Read more

Illinois U.S. Rep. Marie Newman’s push to pass a law that would ban discrimination against LGBTQ Americans has put her at the center of a feud with controversial Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, a pro-Trump freshman congresswoman from Georgia who has espoused baseless conspiracy theories.

On Tuesday, Newman, a Democrat from suburban Chicago...Read more

Illinois U.S. Rep. Marie Newman’s push to pass a law that would ban discrimination against LGBTQ Americans has put her at the center of a feud with controversial Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, a pro-Trump freshman congresswoman from Georgia who has espoused baseless conspiracy theories.

On Tuesday, Newman, a Democrat from suburban Chicago...Read more

The Biden administration's decision this week to reopen a detention center in Texas for unaccompanied teenaged minors drew outrage from immigrant rights advocates, including U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who denounced the move as Trumpism revisited, or at the least extended. It's not that simple.

To be sure, resurrecting the 66-...Read more

President Joe Biden’s ability to bring together the two parties in Congress is already being tested. But the good news is that on at least one issue — climate change — the fate of the president’s ambitions does not rest primarily with his ability to unite Congress, but with his ability to support and expand ongoing work in the rest of ...Read more

ALBANY, N.Y. — Health care groups and lobbyists tied to nursing homes flooded Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s campaign coffers with cash last year as the state shielded hospitals and long-term care facilities from the threat of lawsuits stemming from the coronavirus outbreak.

Lawmakers and critics are raising questions about the donations and ties as ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Republicans’ family discussion on earmarks is starting to spill into public view, with top GOP lawmakers backing “congressionally directed spending” while staunchly conservative members staking out their opposition.

The division sets up another fissure as the party continues to struggle with its identity in the shadow of ...Read more

ATLANTA — The Georgia Senate approved a bill Wednesday that would allow the state to take over local election offices that fail to meet standards.

Senate Bill 89 would allow the State Election Board to establish criteria for “low-performing” election offices and, if they don’t improve, to replace the local officials with new election ...Read more