National Politics

The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday declined to adopt stricter regulations on particle matter pollution, going against the recommendation of its own scientists to implement tougher standards, according to The Washington Post and The New York Times. Administrator Andrew Wheeler, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, signed the standards on Friday, the Post said,

A spending deadline, a potential Presidential veto and a bipartisan group of lawmakers hoping to finally unveil legislation that guarantees millions of Americans won’t lose unemployment benefits at the end of the month. Congress is up against clock, which means it’s going to be a consequential and, yes, messy week on Capitol Hill. This is

President-elect Joe Biden on Monday announced the health team that will lead his administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic when he takes office in January. Biden’s transition team announced California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as his nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services, Dr. Vivek Murthy as his nominee for US surgeon general, Dr.

Congress passed a landmark relief package at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, but since then has failed to approve more federal aid while families continue to struggle. Many Democrats and Republicans are in favor of additional stimulus spending, but there was little hope for a deal before the end of the year until late

Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and her Democratic opponent Rev. Raphael Warnock traded sharp attacks during a debate Sunday evening ahead of a pivotal runoff election next month. The outcome of their race, along with the result of a second Georgia runoff in January between incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue and his Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff,

Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal attorney and the face of his longshot legal challenges to overturn the presidential election results, has been hospitalized after testing positive for Covid-19. The 76-year-old former New York mayor was admitted to Georgetown University Hospital on Sunday, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN. Giuliani appeared to

As he builds out his health team, President-elect Joe Biden on Monday announced he will nominate Dr. Vivek Murthy as US Surgeon General, a role Murthy held under the Obama administration. As he’s set to return to the same position he held from 2014 to 2017, Murthy is expected to have an expanded portfolio, two

A bipartisan group of senators on Sunday appeared optimistic that lawmakers would put forward a proposal for another coronavirus stimulus package, saying details about the piece of legislation would likely come early this week. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, who is part of a bipartisan group of senators hashing out a compromise on a

President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of a rigged election loomed over a Georgia Senate debate on Sunday evening, in which Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and her Democratic opponent the Rev. Raphael Warnock sharply attacked each other ahead of a pivotal runoff election next month. Loeffler did not explicitly say that she believes the presidential election

President-elect Joe Biden is nominating California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, the transition team announced Monday along with other key members of the incoming administration’s health team. If confirmed by the United States Senate, Becerra would serve a critical role in the administration’s response to a pandemic

With all eyes on Georgia’s two runoff elections that will determine the balance of power in the Senate, two of the candidates are set to debate each other on Sunday evening that will give them an opportunity to present their case weeks before the contests take place. Who is debating? Incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler

Georgia Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan said Sunday that the “mountains of misinformation” about the election that President Donald Trump is spreading, most recently in his remarks at a rally in the state Saturday night, could hurt GOP chances in upcoming Senate runoff races. While campaigning for Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in

Moncef Slaoui, the head of the US government’s effort to develop a vaccine against Covid-19, on Sunday praised President-elect Joe Biden’s plan to ask all Americans to wear masks to curb the spread of the coronavirus, saying the practice is key as the country awaits widespread distribution of the vaccine. “I think it’s a good

The Trump administration must post a public notice that it will accept new applications for the Obama-era program shielding undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children from deportation, a federal judge ordered Friday. Judge Nicholas Garaufis’ latest order builds on his November ruling where he found that Chad Wolf was not legally serving

President Donald Trump on Saturday called Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, pushing him to convince state legislators to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s win in the state, a source familiar with the conversation told CNN. Trump asked Kemp to call a special session and convince state legislators to select their own electors that would support him, according

The eyes of the political universe are on Georgia this weekend, as the voter registration deadline for January’s Senate runoffs approaches. Each side is desperately trying to motivate their party before the Monday deadline and early voting begins on December 14. Former President Barack Obama and former state House minority leader Stacey Abrams held a

President Donald Trump has purged a Pentagon business advisory board and replaced its members with his former campaign manager and deputy campaign manager, neither of whom have served in the military or have any apparent experience with the defense industry. Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller announced Friday that Trump loyalists Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie

Talks moved slowly Saturday over a massive funding bill to keep the government open and on a Covid relief package that congressional leaders are trying to hammer out, making it all but certain Congress will need at least an additional week to reach a major agreement, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Multiple

President-elect Joe Biden pledged to end construction of his predecessor’s signature border wall, but halting the ongoing, multibillion-dollar project will be an arduous, complex and potentially costly process. His administration will be saddled with lawsuits over wall funding, face questions about maintenance of the barriers built over the last four years and have to contend

A fallen US Army sergeant is poised to become the first Black service member to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. President Donald Trump on Friday signed legislation that waives the five-year limit for awarding the military’s highest medal for valor in combat to Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn C.

The Trump administration prevented President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team from meeting with its counterparts at Pentagon intelligence agencies this week, according to a former senior intelligence official familiar with intelligence transition discussions. The slowdown means the Biden team has not yet been able to meet with officials from the military intelligence agencies within the Defense

Joe Biden renewed his promise this week to build an administration that will “look like the country.” But that task is proving to be a major challenge for the President-elect as he tries to achieve the right ideological balance and avoid alienating key allies — while some Black and Latino leaders voice disappointment about the