National Politics

White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended the administration’s school reopening goals on Wednesday in the wake of criticism from parents, teachers, students and local officials who say the goals are insufficient. Psaki said the bar set by the administration was “not the ceiling” as she fielded multiple questions on the matter during Wednesday’s news

The White House has pledged to bar President Joe Biden’s family from using the office for personal gain, but questions are being raised by good governance groups and news outlets about whether an investment firm co-founded by Biden’s son-in-law could present a new set of ethical challenges for the administration. On the campaign and now,

Vice President Kamala Harris will have her first private lunch with Secretary of State Antony Blinken Wednesday, meetings that are expected to continue with regularity, according to two administration officials. The meetings, which will be worked around their schedules and Covid-19 regulations, continue a tradition of vice presidents in close collaboration with their administration’s secretary

The latest House coronavirus relief legislation would make more people eligible for Affordable Care Act subsidies for two years, temporarily fulfilling one of President Joe Biden’s campaign promises. The bill, introduced this week by House Ways and Means Committee chair Rep. Richard Neal, would make the federal premium subsidy more generous and would eliminate the

The top lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee urged the Biden administration on Tuesday to designate a leader to address the US government response to the massive hacking campaign that targeted government agencies and private-sector companies. “The federal government’s response so far has lacked the leadership and coordination warranted by a significant cyber event,” wrote

President Joe Biden on Wednesday will make his first trip to the Pentagon since taking office and will speak to the significance of having the first African American in the nation’s history serving as secretary of defense, according to the White House. The trip comes as Biden forges ahead with his agenda while his predecessor

Though it started as a way to provide relief to middle class families, the child tax credit has also evolved into a bipartisan tool for lifting kids out of poverty. Now, President Joe Biden and congressional Democratic leaders want to overhaul the credit, turning it into a guaranteed income stream worth hundreds of dollars a

Attorneys for former President Donald Trump were defending him not only on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday in his second impeachment trial, but also in Palm Beach, Florida, at a town council meeting. On Capitol Hill they were fighting for his legacy; in Florida the fight was for his right to live full

Six Republicans joined all of their Democratic colleagues on Tuesday to vote that the impeachment trial against former President Donald Trump is constitutional, with Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy emerging as the sole Republican to switch his vote after an initial vote on constitutionality last month. The 56-44 final vote marked the closing chapter of Tuesday’s

They’re not the Air Obamas, but one sneakerhead with a lot of cash will have an opportunity this week to purchase an exclusive pair of basketball kicks made in honor of the 44th President. The unique pair of Nike Hyperdunks will be sold on the website of Sotheby’s auction house Friday at 4:44 p.m. ET,

The Senate is voting on whether the Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump is constitutional, in what could be an early indication of how the final vote will shake out. The vote was held Tuesday after Trump’s second impeachment trial began with the House impeachment managers showing how rioters violently breached the US

The new lawyers who signed on to lead former President Donald Trump’s impeachment defense team brought a curious history of experience with them as they defended the former President on Tuesday during the first day of his second Senate trial. Already one of the attorneys — Bruce L. Castor, Jr., a well-known lawyer and the

President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, Neera Tanden, apologized on Tuesday for some of the criticism she has previously directed at congressional Republicans and expressed regret over past tweets during a Senate confirmation hearing. Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio questioned Tanden at the Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing

The Biden administration will send some of the Covid-19 vaccine supply directly to community health centers starting next week as part of an effort to reach underserved areas, White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients announced Tuesday. “Community health centers are an important part of our broader strategy to ensure we are reaching everyone with

Congress has authorized nearly $4 trillion in spending over the past year to help address the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but only about $3 trillion of it has been spent. Roughly a third of that money went directly to struggling families through stimulus checks, expanded unemployment payments and food stamps. That leaves

Congress is negotiating a fresh stimulus package that would include a third round of stimulus checks, but while there’s broad agreement on the need for more direct payments, it will take weeks before any go out. The upcoming second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump will push back any congressional action, and lawmakers are

The Justice Department on Tuesday asked US attorneys appointed by former President Donald Trump to submit their resignations, a turnover that spares two top prosecutors in Delaware and Connecticut overseeing two sensitive Trump-era investigations. The resignations are effective February 28, US attorneys were told on a conference call with acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson, according

Tuesday marks the start of former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial, with all eyes on the Senate serving as jury to deliberate whether to convict or acquit the former President. The case arrives at the upper chamber, overseen by Senate president pro tempore Sen. Patrick Leahy, after the House voted last month to impeach

Embattled Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has told those close to him he wants to stay in his role under the new president, two sources tell CNN, despite his troubled tenure at the helm of the US Postal Service and his background as a supporter and donor to former President Donald Trump. President Joe Biden faces