Detroiter Avi Rachlin is doubling down on his use of a racial slur targeting Black people while testifying at a Michigan Senate Committee hearing Thursday about legislation that would permanently ban firearms from the state Capitol and legislators' offices.

Incoming Democratic Senator-elect Ruben Gallego of Arizona says building authentic connections with working-class voters can help Democrats find their way back to power in Washington.

After a resounding election victory, President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans say they have a mandate to govern.

President-elect Donald Trump is considering recess appointments to skip over Senate confirmations for some of the most powerful positions in the U.S. government.

Demand Justice, a progressive organization focused on the judiciary, is set to bombard Capitol Hill with a message for the closing weeks of the 118th Congress: Do “whatever it takes” to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominees as a second Donald Trump presidency looms.

Just hours after Republican Sen. John Thune was elected as the incoming Senate majority leader, President-elect Donald Trump presented him with one of his first tests — an announcement that he intends to nominate House Republican Matt Gaetz as attorney general.

A Federal Reserve official has given a lengthy defense of the central bank's political independence.

Democratic lawmakers who wield control of the Virginia Legislature are hoping to make good on promises made on the campaign trail, including becoming the first Southern state to expand constitutional protections for abortion access.

It was the first seriously contested Senate Republican leadership election in decades.

Congress has a short but important to-do list as lawmakers return to Washington this coming week for what is known as a lame-duck session.

Senate Republicans vying to replace longtime leader Mitch McConnell have been crossing the country to campaign and fundraise for colleagues, making their final arguments before an important upcoming Senate vote.

The races for control of Congress are at a stalemate.

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Democratic Rep. Colin Allred are making their final pitches to Texas voters at campaign stops across the state as Election Day nears.

The same Michigan voters Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris needs in the critical swing state will also determine whether her party maintains its foothold on state government two years after pulling off a historic sweep.

The cockiness, expletives and threats unleashed by former President Rodrigo Duterte in a Senate inquiry brought back the nightmare of the bloody “war on drugs” for many families of the thousands of victims who were gunned down under his rule.

Michigan lawmakers have introduced new legislation that aims to hold state officials accountable and protect patients' rights.

South Carolina is preparing to put up the first individual statue of an African American on its Statehouse lawn.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said after the 2020 election that then-President Donald Trump was “stupid as well as being ill-tempered” and a “despicable human being."

Ohio's close Senate race took a twist recently when cellphone video surfaced of Republican Bernie Moreno criticizing women whose votes are driven by the abortion issue.

North Carolina legislators have approved an initial $273 million relief package to help address Hurricane Helene’s devastation and recovery in the mountains.

In some of the closest House races in the country, Democratic candidates are leaning into an issue that Republicans have made a centerpiece of their pitch to voters — immigration.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Republican challenger David McCormick have held the first debate in their race for a swing-state seat.

Congress is off for the campaign season.

Czechs are casting ballots in the second round of voting for a third of the seats in Parliament’s upper house.

An advanced deepfake operation targeted Sen. Ben Cardin, the Democratic chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, this month, according to the Office of Senate Security.

Congress has avoided a government shutdown just weeks before the Nov. 5 election.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is preparing a series of Senate resolutions that would stop more than $20 billion in U.S. arms sales to Israel.

Sen. John Thune of South Dakota is competing intensely to become the next Republican leader in the Senate.

Republicans have blocked for a second time this year legislation to establish a nationwide right to in vitro fertilization, arguing that the vote is an election-year stunt after Democrats forced a vote on the issue.

Democrats are pumping $25 million into expanded voter outreach across 10 states as part of their effort to protect their narrow Senate majority.

Mexico’s Senate has voted to overhaul the country’s judiciary, clearing the biggest hurdle for a controversial constitutional revision that will make all judges stand for election.

Hong Kong's government says the U.S. House of Representatives twisted facts in an attack on the city as it passed a bill that could close its representative offices in America.

Hundreds of protesters pushed into Mexico’s Senate as lawmakers weighed a contentious plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary, forcing the body to temporarily suspend its session.

House Speaker Mike Johnson is vowing to press ahead with requiring proof of citizenship for new voters as part of a bill to avoid a partial government shutdown.

Mexico’s Catholic leaders have raised their concerns over a controversial judicial reform pushed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says passage of a six-month temporary spending bill would have widespread and devastating effects on the department and the military.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has teed up a vote this week on a bill that would keep the federal government funded for six more months.

The race for control of Congress is as close as ever.

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel says Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro broke the law by publicly endorsing the reelection of President Joe Biden and criticizing former President Donald Trump in several statements he made while on official duty overseas.

Massachusetts U.S. Sens. Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren are among several political leaders who are attacking the leader of a troubled health care system for refusing to comply with a subpoena to appear before a Senate committee.

Mexico’s governing party says judges in the current court system are corrupt, and it wants to push through a unusual proposal to make the country’s entire judicial branch — some 7,000 judges —stand for election.

Morning 4 is a quick roundup of stories we think you should know about to start your day.

Should Michigan schools be required to teach water safety courses?

Following a pair of defections by opposition senators, Mexico’s ruling party is edging closer to a steamroller two-thirds majority in both houses of congress.

Three Republican Oklahoma state lawmakers will go before voters for the second time in about two months in runoff elections.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell says the challenge of deterring America's adversaries should be “front and center” for the next president.

A top Democrat in the U.S. House says it will take a shift of power in Congress to ensure that legislation is finally passed to extend and expand a compensation program for people exposed to radiation following uranium mining and nuclear testing carried out by the federal government.

The Senate’s top Democrat says he'll work to block a plan that would significantly cut the proposed budget of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Voting concludes Saturday in Hawaii’s state primaries, where candidates for Congress and the Legislature will compete for their parties’ nominations.

A court in Thailand has ordered the dissolution of the progressive Move Forward Party, which won national elections in 2023, saying it violated the constitution by proposing an amendment of a law against defaming the country’s royal family.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is predicting that Democrats will keep control of the Senate in the November election.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has introduced legislation reaffirming presidents don't have immunity for criminal actions, an attempt to reverse the Supreme Court’s landmark decision last month.

Senators are heading home for the month after failing to advance a bill to expand the child tax credit and restore some business tax breaks.

The Senate has passed legislation designed to protect children from dangerous online content.

Congressional Democrats in Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and beyond are seeing an outpouring of volunteers to help Vice President Kamala Harris and counter Republican Donald Trump.

A top Air Force commander at the North American Aerospace Defense Command has been nominated to be the next chief of the National Guard Bureau.

The Senate will consider legislation this week that aims to protect children from dangerous online content, moving forward with what could become the first sweeping new regulation of the tech industry in decades.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered an immediate ban on the mostly Chinese-run online gaming operations in the country.

Detroit-area businessman Sandy Pensler has announced his withdrawal from the Republican Senate race in Michigan just ahead of the state's primary.

The top four officers of the National Guard Bureau have left or are set to retire in about two weeks, and to date no nominations for their replacements have been confirmed by the Senate.

Democrats in the state legislative majority have rebuffed calls by New Mexico’s governor to address the “dangerous intersection” of crime and homelessness.

Activists in the Dominican Republic are protesting against a bill for a new criminal code that would retain a total abortion ban.

Sen. Bob Menendez has shown no sign he will voluntarily resign from the Senate following his conviction on bribery charges.

Mississippi election officials say redrawing legislative districts in time for this November’s election is impossible because of tight deadlines to prepare ballots.

After meeting for around two hours to discuss whether President Joe Biden should remain at the top of their presidential ticket, Senate Democrats almost unanimously have agreed on one thing — not to say anything about it.

The Senate will pursue a spending increase next year of about 3.4% for defense and 2.7% increase for non-defense programs under a bipartisan agreement reached by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

New Treasury rulemaking would expand the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States’ jurisdiction to review land sales near 56 additional military sites, bringing the overall number to 227.

President Joe Biden is standing firm against calls for him to drop his reelection candidacy and calling for an end to the intraparty drama that has torn apart Democrats since his dismal debate performance.

House Republicans are off to a quicker, more united start this year when it comes to funding the federal government, passing four of 12 annual appropriations bills before the end of June compared to zero at this time last year, when the new majority got off to a rocky start.

U.S., Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has announced new sanctions against members of La Nueva Familia Michoacana drug cartel, a notoriously violent group that wars for territorial control with a slate of other Mexican cartels.

Senate Republicans have blocked bipartisan legislation that would have outlawed bump stocks after the Supreme Court struck down a ban on the rapid-fire gun accessory.

Thailand’s Senate has voted overwhelmingly to approve a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage, clearing the last legislative hurdle for the country to become the first in Southeast Asia to enact such a law.

The CEO of Boeing got his day in front of Congress, and it was a rocky flight.

Pennsylvania is seeing lots of action targeting gaps in its vote-by-mail laws.

After the 2020 election, many Republican senators distanced themselves from Donald Trump.

A southwest Georgia Republican who went to prison for his actions inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, may come a step closer to serving in Congress when the state holds primary runoff elections in some U.S. House and state legislative races.

Wall Street has rallied as Argentina’s president traveled to Italy for the Group of Seven summit buoyed by his first legislative victory.

President Joe Biden’s grip on a key federal energy commission will last beyond his first term, giving a boost to the Democrat’s push for renewable energy regardless of the election results in November.

Senate Republicans have blocked legislation that would make it a right nationwide for women to access in vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments.

Argentina’s Senate narrowly approved key state overhaul and tax packages proposed by President Javier Miliei, delivering an initial legislative victory to the libertarian leader in his efforts to enact his promises of radical change.

Merrick Garland is the third attorney general in U.S. history to be held in contempt of Congress.

A federal appeals court has upheld California’s ban on gun shows at county fairs and other public properties, deciding the laws do not violate the rights of firearm sellers or buyers.

Former President Donald Trump will meet with Senate Republicans Thursday, speaking to the group just two weeks after he was convicted on 34 charges in his hush money trial and as GOP senators have increasingly rallied around him.

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman was treated at a hospital for a bruised shoulder after a car accident Sunday morning, according to a statement from his Senate office.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy embraced his status as an outsider who came to Montana to start a business during the first debate in a race that could tip the balance of power in the Senate.

Senate Republicans have blocked legislation designed to protect women’s access to contraception.

Senate Democrats are making a renewed push to show their support for ensuring nationwide access to in vitro fertilization.

South Dakota Republicans’ tug-of-war over their party identity continues in Tuesday’s election, with district-level primaries the main event.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and 22 other Democratic senators are calling on the Justice Department to prevent and prosecute alleged collusion and price-fixing in the oil industry.

A conservative University of Wisconsin regent says he won't step down when his term ends this month.

The Biden administration has, as expected, announced an additional $275 million in military aid for Ukraine as Kyiv struggles to hold off advances by Russian troops in the Kharkiv region.

Senate Republicans are blocking for a second time a bill to clamp down the number of migrants allowed to claim asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Senate has confirmed the 200th federal judge of President Joe Biden’s tenure.

The California Senate has passed a set of ambitious reparations proposals Tuesday.

Sen. Cory Booker says prisoners should be learning professional skills that help prepare them for their release instead of being forced to work.

A bill before California lawmakers would require new cars sold in the state in coming years to beep a warning whenever drivers exceed the speed limit by at least 10 mph.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has denounced the chief prosecutor of the world’s top war crimes court for seeking the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A Senate inquiry has found BMW, Jaguar Land Rover and Volkswagen have bought parts made by a Chinese company sanctioned under a 2021 law for using forced labor.

A Pennsylvania man whose father is a prominent conservative activist has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for storming the U.S. Capitol.

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