More Trump Cabinet picks making the rounds with senators
Get the latest news on the transition to the new administration of President-elect Donald Trump and a new Congress.
By Meryl Kornfield, Azi Paybarah, Justine McDaniel, Brianna Tucker and Mariana Alfaro
Democratic staffer arrested after trying to enter Capitol with ammunition, police say
The staffer, identified by Capitol Police as 38-year-old Michael Hopkins, was stopped while going through routine security screening at the Cannon House Office Building.
By Mariana Alfaro
California opens special session preparing for anti-Trump lawsuits
The session follows Donald Trump’s vows to punish the state if it fails to hew to his policy prescriptions.
By Reis Thebault
Biden surges arms to Ukraine, fearing Trump will halt U.S. aid
Biden’s Ukraine directive has stirred debate, as some officials worry it will cut too deeply into American stockpiles and jeopardize military needs elsewhere.
By Michael Birnbaum, Missy Ryan and Siobhán O'Grady
Is Hunter Biden’s pardon a good or bad thing for the rule of law?
It either strengthens it -- or undermines it, depending whom you’re talking to
By Amber Phillips
What to make of Trump’s Cabinet picks
On some Cabinet picks, President-elect Donald Trump’s strategy is clear: disruption and retribution.
By Amber Phillips
How to argue about politics on Thanksgiving — with the facts
From tariffs to deportations, here are the facts about some of the heated issues that could come up on Thanksgiving.
By Amber Phillips
Americans’ many contradictions on Trump’s agenda
Mass deportation and tariffs are among the proposals on which Americans’ views contain multitudes.
By Aaron Blake
Even Republicans want a check on Trump
Three-quarters of Americans and a majority of Republicans say they want Republicans in Congress to push back on Donald Trump when they disagree.
By Aaron Blake
2024 is the year Democrats lost their populist edge
New polling reinforces a reason Democrats lost in 2024: Voters increasingly see the GOP as speaking for -- and to -- them.
By Aaron BlakeHave a few hours of clemency for federal crimes? Some suggestions.
President Joe Biden’s grant of clemency to his son Hunter included crimes that he still had a few hours to commit. As it turns out, he had a lot of options of what he could’ve gotten away with.
By Philip Bump
Biden visiting an African region critical to the U.S.-China rivalry
The president arrived Monday in Angola, his first trip to Africa as president and one of his final foreign trips in office.
By Abigail Hauslohner
At trial, U.S. calls ex-D.C police officer a Proud Boys ‘double agent’
A D.C. police intelligence officer is on trial, accused of helping the Proud Boys and lying to investigators about it afterward.
By Spencer S. Hsu
Supreme Court appears sympathetic to FDA’s rejection of flavored vapes
The FDA has rejected applications for more than 1 million fruit-, candy- and dessert-flavored e-cigarettes and vaping liquids in recent years.
By Justin Jouvenal and Rachel Roubein
The extraordinary breadth of Hunter Biden’s pardon
President Joe Biden’s pardon of son Hunter for any offenses over a nearly 11-year period doesn’t have many, if any, direct historical parallels.
By Aaron Blake
President Biden faces criticism over controversial pardon of his son Hunter
Some Democrats fear that Trump will use the pardon to criticize the justice system and bolster his own efforts to remake it.
By Matt Viser and Perry Stein
The Patel nomination inverts the rationalizations of GOP senators
In 2017, many endorsed the replacement of a controversial FBI leader with a steady one who could restore confidence. Now, they’re asked to replace that leader with a controversial one.
By Philip Bump
Even its creator now admits that ‘2000 Mules’ is discredited
But the enormous damage caused by the obviously contrived film has already been done.
By Philip Bump
With Hunter pardon, Biden joins short list of presidents who absolved family
Donald Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, an in-law, and Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother, Roger.
By Niha Masih
Huckabee pick as Israel ambassador reflects long evangelical alliance
Former pastor and Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee has pressed, along with other evangelicals, for a bond with Israel rooted in biblical prophecy.
By Michelle Boorstein
Potential conflicts of interest may haunt Dr. Oz’s confirmation to run Medicare, Medicaid
Dr. Oz has extolled Ozempic’s promise for weight-loss. Now Medicare, which Trump wants Oz to oversee, may cover it.
By Desmond Butler, Lauren Weber and Caitlin Gilbert
A Connecticut town that swung toward Trump offers clues for Democrats
Even in the Naugatuck Valley, a Democratic area in a blue state, economic frustrations pushed some voters toward the Republican nominee
By Cleve R. Wootson Jr. and Dan Keating
Amid worry about Trump, calls for career Justice Dept. staff to stay
Attorney General Merrick Garland and other top officials are urging career staffers to stay at the Justice Department during a second Trump administration.
By Perry Stein and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez
Joe Biden pardons his son Hunter
The president had promised not to pardon Hunter Biden, who was convicted of gun-related charges and had pleaded guilty in a tax case.
By Matt Viser
Trump taps Massad Boulos, another in-law, as adviser on Middle East
The move comes a day after Trump selected Charles Kushner, a New Jersey real estate developer and father-in-law to his daughter Ivanka, to be the ambassador to France.
By Holly Bailey