WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth mounted a combative defense against the impeachment effort against him in Congress, casting the move as a politicized attack on U.S. troops and lawful military operations ordered by President Donald Trump.

“I was proud to execute” Trump’s orders, he said, “and I would do it again.”

...Read more

In most races in the midterm elections on Nov. 3, 2026, Americans had only two realistic choices: Democrats and Republicans.

As a scholar of parties and elections, I am often asked why the U.S. has only two major parties, while other democracies offer voters three, four or even five choices. The U.S. system looks weird compared to ...Read more

The law of large numbers in statistics means the greater the sampling size, the truer to the actual values. In politics, the law of large numbers of Democrats elected to the House under Hakeem Jeffries and to the Senate under Chuck Schumer means that the chambers will not be held hostage to a handful of members and the bodies can be truer to the...Read more

U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner has won reelection to Washington’s 5th Congressional District seat, in a race that saw a Democratic challenger get the closest to winning the district in more than 30 years.

With Monday’s vote count, Baumgartner, a Republican from Spokane, led Democrat Carmela Conroy 51.7% to 47.9%.

Earlier vote tallies had ...Read more

DENVER — Democrat Eileen Laubacher declared victory Monday in her race against U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a polarizing crusader for the Make America Great Again movement whose apparent defeat in Colorado’s most conservative district is the latest fallout of the blue wave that crashed over President Donald Trump’s coalition last week.

While...Read more

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is throwing his support behind the United Nations-authorized Gang Suppression Force, warning Monday that the latest international effort to wrest control of Haiti from the powerful grip of criminal gangs must succeed because Washington has run out of other options.

“If the Gang Suppression Force effort ...Read more

WASHINGTON — LaKesha Womack faced towering odds as an underfunded Democrat making her first run for public office in a North Carolina district that Donald Trump carried by 15 points two years ago.

But as early voting surged in mid-October, she sensed she might pull off an upset over Republican Rep. Tim Moore, the influential former speaker of...Read more

The anonymous satirical art activist group Secret Handshake is at it again — this time erecting a giant golden statue of a seated President Trump rubbing a bare foot. Titled "The Foot Soldier," the statue pokes fun at the president's famous bone spurs — a diagnosis he received in 1968, which led to a medical exemption during the Vietnam War....Read more

WASHINGTON — Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., took to the House floor Monday to unveil a resolution that would impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and a vote on the issue could occur by Wednesday.

A draft resolution that Massie read aloud on the House floor on Monday accused Hegseth of eight violations of law or the Constitution, including that...Read more

Abortion advocates are hopeful that Texas’ newly elected Democratic leaders could mean the state could enact more exceptions to the state’s near-total abortion ban.

Here’s where the laws currently stand, and what could change when the new leaders, including Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa, are sworn in.

What do current Texas abortion laws say? ...Read more

Democrat Eileen Laubacher declared victory Monday in her race against U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a polarizing crusader for the Make America Great Again movement whose defeat in Colorado’s most conservative district is the latest fallout of the blue wave that crashed over President Donald Trump’s coalition last week.

While the Associated ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump offered full-throated support for Pete Hegseth, signaling that the embattled defense secretary’s job was safe for now amid a congressional effort to impeach him for his conduct of the Iran war.

Republican Representative Thomas Massie introduced a measure on Monday to impeach Hegseth, roughly one week ...Read more

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to take on a civil rights case filed by residents of Poppleton in West Baltimore who challenged the city’s eminent domain taking of homes under a 20-year-old, failed agreement with a developer.

The Poppleton Now Community Association and six residents filed the lawsuit in August 2024, alleging Baltimore�...Read more

After initially congratulating Democrats on their midterm wins, which he said he was "absolutely willing to accept," President Donald Trump posted a baseless missive to social media about not trusting early ballot totals or voting machines.

"Does anybody really believe that this 'Election' was honest. How could the Polls be so wrong???" he ...Read more

NEW YORK — A state lawmaker is drafting a bill to potentially block New York’s participation in President Donald Trump’s Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program — seemingly against the wishes of Gov. Kathy Hochul.

State Sen. John Liu, D-Queens, chair of the New York City education committee, on Monday said he plans to introduce ...Read more

WASHINGTON — What happens when more than 100 members-elect descend on Capitol Hill a week after Election Day?

As Rep.-elect Dan Koh, D-Mass., put it, “It really is like high school — but it’s fun high school.”

Trainings and guest speakers aren’t everyone’s idea of a fun time, but Democrats are feeling good about this year’s new...Read more

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie introduced a measure to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday, roughly one week after the unpopular Iran war the Pentagon chief championed fueled a midterm defeat for President Donald Trump’s Republican Party.

Massie launched his new bid to oust Hegseth as the House of Representatives resumed work ...Read more

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal over a lawsuit brought by the mother of Ricky Cobb against the Minnesota state troopers involved in his shooting death more than three years ago on Interstate 94.

The decision brings finality to the extensive criminal and civil legal maneuvers against troopers Ryan Londregan and Brett ...Read more