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U.S. politics: the White House, Congress, the courts and the campaigns, and what each move means.
Oral arguments in Watson v. Republican National Committee on March 23 could eliminate mail-in ballot grace periods in at least 15 states before the November 2026 midterms, affecting millions of voters including military personnel serving overseas.
President Trump posted on Truth Social Friday that the U.S. is 'getting very close to meeting our objectives' and mulling a wind-down, even as the Defense Department confirmed deployment of two Marine Expeditionary Units and oil prices remained above $110 per barrel.
The Department of Homeland Security shutdown, now the longest partial agency funding lapse in modern American history, has snarled airport security lines, blocked immigration oversight, and stalled ICE operations — as Senate negotiators failed again Saturday to bridge the gap on ICE body camera and warrant requirements.
The Trump administration's four-page AI blueprint, published Friday, asks Congress to establish a single national regulatory floor for artificial intelligence — overriding state AI rules on child safety, copyright, and liability — with legislation sought 'this year.'
Republicans launched days of around-the-clock Senate floor speeches on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register and photo ID to cast any ballot, though the bill remains likely to fail a 60-vote filibuster threshold.
The justices accepted the expedited TPS challenge for both Haiti and Syria but declined the administration's request to immediately end the protections, setting oral arguments for late April in what could be the biggest immigration ruling of the Trump era.
An NPR analysis found that the Board of Immigration Appeals — reduced from 28 to 15 judges, packed with Trump loyalists, and pumping out a record 70 precedent-setting decisions in 2025 — has eliminated due process protections for millions of immigrants with almost no public scrutiny.
Saturday's 47-53 vote again featured Rand Paul as the only Republican to cross over and John Fetterman as the lone Democratic holdout, as Booker and five colleagues promise to force a new war powers vote every day until the administration holds public hearings.
The Congressional Budget Office moved up the insolvency date by a year to 2032, citing higher-than-expected inflation driving larger cost-of-living adjustments, with an across-the-board cut of up to 25 percent automatic if Congress fails to act.
The White House's four-page blueprint for federal AI governance would prohibit states from enacting any AI regulations that conflict with federal law, require age verification for AI platforms used by minors, protect AI intellectual property, and streamline permitting for data center power plants — with AI czar David Sacks calling it 'a bold, America-first approach.'
Senator Mike Lee orchestrated a rare Senate floor takeover to force consideration of legislation that would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in all federal elections — a bill supporters call essential election security and critics call the most far-reaching voter suppression measure in decades.
The Oklahoma senator's stormy confirmation hearing featured Republican chair Rand Paul confronting him over violent rhetoric, Democratic grilling over immigration enforcement, and a pivotal crossover vote from Democrat John Fetterman that sent the nomination to the full Senate.
Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that Lake 'repeatedly thumbed her nose' at statutory requirements and that her appointment violated the Constitution's Appointments Clause, voiding the mass layoffs that had gutted VOA from 49 languages to just 4.
The FCC waived its own 39% ownership cap to green-light a deal that will give Nexstar 265 stations in 44 states, but eight state attorneys general and DirecTV immediately filed lawsuits calling the merger 'illegal, plain and simple' and asking courts to freeze it.
WatchThe Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit Friday alleging Harvard leadership showed 'deliberate indifference' to the harassment, assault, and stalking of Jewish and Israeli students after October 7 — escalating the administration's financial war on elite universities to an unprecedented level.
Defense Secretary Hegseth confirmed the largest military supplemental request in American history, saying 'it takes money to kill bad guys,' but Republican Rep. Boebert said 'I am a No,' and Sen. Murkowski demanded a strategic plan before approving any war spending.
In the 10th interagency agreement to dismantle the Education Department, the Trump administration announced a three-phase plan to move all student loans — including 9.2 million in default and eventually FAFSA — to the Treasury, raising legal challenges and borrower confusion.
Oral arguments in Watson v. RNC are scheduled for March 23 — a case asking whether federal law requires ballots to be received, not just postmarked, by Election Day, with a ruling expected in June just months before the 2026 midterms.
The Trump administration cut the nation's top immigration court from 28 judges to 15, stacked it with loyalists, and used it to issue precedent eliminating bond eligibility, allowing third-country deportations, and restricting asylum — setting policy for every immigration judge in the country.
The combined 265-station company will reach more than 60% of American households after Chairman Brendan Carr waived FCC ownership limits — while New York and seven other states sue to block a deal critics say will spike cable bills and gut newsrooms.
Unpaid TSA workers are walking off the job at record rates — with callout spikes above 50% at some airports — as a DHS funding stalemate between Congress and the White House enters its fifth week with no end in sight.
Workers at the Greeley, Colorado plant that processes 8 percent of U.S. beef walked out over stagnant wages, dangerous line speeds, and denied protective equipment, in the most significant food-industry labor action since the 1985 Hormel strike.
Watson v. Republican National Committee asks whether federal law requires mail-in ballots to be received — not just postmarked — by Election Day, a ruling that could invalidate voting laws in more than a dozen states months before November.
The Oklahoma senator survived a blistering confirmation hearing in which Republican chairman Rand Paul voted against him, with Democrat John Fetterman providing the one-vote margin that sends the nomination to the full Senate.
WatchFor the first time since the war began, top U.S. intelligence officials faced Congress — and declined to back the administration's core rationale for striking Iran, as the resignation of a key counterterrorism official cast a shadow over two days of testimony.
The initiative, flowing from AG Pam Bondi's December memo, will embed IRS Criminal Investigation agents at the FBI to scrutinize funding streams at organizations deemed 'extremist' — a definition that critics say could sweep in mainstream advocacy groups.
The Defense Department sent a supplemental funding request to the White House that would be the largest single military spending ask in modern American history, as the war burns through more than $1 billion a day.
Kash Patel confirmed before the Senate Intelligence Committee that the FBI purchases commercially available movement data, reversing the position of his predecessor and alarming civil liberties advocates.
Facing a competitive primary and eyeing Trump's endorsement, Sen. John Cornyn says he'll support whatever Senate rule changes are needed to pass the SAVE America Act.
Juliana Stratton defeats two incumbent House members for the right to run for Dick Durbin's Senate seat, while Republican Darren Bailey wins a rematch with Gov. JB Pritzker.