WASHINGTON -- Even with the country largely at a standstill amid the worsening coronavirus pandemic, election year politics are intensifying as the general election matchup has come into clearer focus.

The main super PAC backing President Donald Trump's reelection bid Wednesday announced a $10 million ad buy that will target former Vice ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump has made contentious exchanges with reporters a feature of his daily coronavirus briefings, often using personal invective to bulldoze past questions about shortfalls with masks, ventilators and testing and his own past statements.

But he has shown an altogether different response to one lesser-known media ...Read more

Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has drawn attention for her scrapes with President Donald Trump over the federal government's coronavirus response, is on Joe Biden's list of potential vice presidential candidates, he said in an interview Tuesday.

The former vice president made the remarks during an appearance on MSNBC, after host...Read more

WASHINGTON -- As the cameras rolled in the Rose Garden, President Donald Trump walked from the White House podium to a nearby table for the dramatic unveiling of a new and improved product, one supposedly able to deliver faster, better results.

As the head of the Food and Drug Administration extolled the coronavirus testing kit, Trump opened a ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Before the coronavirus pandemic, the Census Bureau planned to kick off in-person counting and outreach efforts that are key to the 2020 count on April 1, "Census Day."

Efforts to stop the spread of the virus scuttled those efforts, pushing a census process already rocked by controversy into unprecedented territory. Vulnerable ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- As the House loses time in legislative session due to the coronavirus pandemic, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer warned members Tuesday that he may make up for days lost by canceling recesses or extending legislative weeks in the future.

"I would urge you to keep your schedules very flexible," the Maryland Democrat said in a "...Read more

WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration on Tuesday weakened one of the nation's most aggressive efforts to combat climate change, releasing new fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks that handed a victory to the oil and gas industry.

The new rule, from the Environmental Protection Agency and Transportation Department, will almost ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration, scrambling as deadlines approach, plans soon to release rules on fuel efficiency for new cars and trucks that have pitted the federal government against California on a policy key to combating climate change.

The announcement, expected as early as Tuesday, follows months of struggle by the administration ...Read more

AUSTIN, Texas -- Urging a federal judge to let Texas officials continue to block most abortions, state lawyers argued Monday that the restriction was a necessary part of a wider effort to contain a deadly pandemic.

Gov. Greg Abbott's executive order of March 22 prohibited surgeries and procedures that were not "immediately medically necessary" ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump praised the "pretty good job we've done" when he predicted in late February that the number of Americans infected by the coronavirus would dwindle to "close to zero" in a couple of days.

Over the last weekend, one of his most chaotic since the pandemic struck, Trump drastically redefined success, claiming ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- As President Donald Trump's coronavirus response team gathered at the White House Sunday to discuss reopening the U.S. for business by Easter, his top health experts painted a troubling picture of what lay ahead.

Deborah Birx, an immunologist picked by Vice President Mike Pence to weigh the ailment's impact, cautioned that the U.S...Read more

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump announced Sunday that federal social distancing guidelines meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus would be extended to April 30, setting aside his calls to jump-start the U.S. economy within another two weeks and fill churches on Easter Sunday.

Speaking at a briefing in the Rose Garden of the White ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Wary of President Trump's criticism that they were ungrateful for his management of the coronavirus crisis, governors of several of the hardest-hit states sought gingerly Sunday to avoid provoking him anew and risk losing desperately needed federal aid.

Despite the drastic shutdown of much of the country, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the ...Read more

Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden said he feels "frustration" with the U.S. coronavirus response and that it's his role to say what he believes President Donald Trump needs to do.

"If I see something that's not happening, I think it's my obligation to step up and say 'this is what we should be doing,'" Biden said Sunday on NBC's "...Read more

WASHINGTON -- The coronavirus pandemic has put on indefinite hold a major portion of the U.S. Supreme Court's docket, including a multibillion-dollar clash between software giants Google and Oracle Corp. and cases that could affect President Donald Trump's reelection chances.

What was supposed to have been a drama-filled spring at the high ...Read more