Health agencies working under Robert F.

Republicans and Democrats alike are questioning the deep staffing cuts, research funding freezes and policy changes U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F.

House Republicans want to set aside up to $5 billion a year for scholarships to help families send their children to private and religious schools, marking an unprecedented effort to use public money to pay for private education.

President Donald Trump and Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry have discussed the possibility that Julia Letlow, a congresswoman elected in 2021 after her husband died of COVID, might challenge Sen. Bill Cassidy in next year's Republican primary.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F.

The political battle lines are drawn for a debate in Washington and beyond over a Republican budget plan that’s a cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda.

Health secretary Robert F.

The Senate has passed a bill that would result in more prison sentences for fentanyl traffickers.

Robert F.

The White House has withdrawn the nomination of David Weldon, a former Florida congressman, to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the National Institutes of Health is promising to help restore trust in medical research.

A Senate committee has advanced the nomination of President Donald Trump’s choice to head the Department of Labor.

As they mustered support for their confirmations by the U.S. Senate, some of Donald Trump’s nominees made statements from which they’ve already distanced themselves upon taking office.

A lawsuit filed by 17 states challenging federal rules entitling workers to time off and other accommodations for abortions may proceed, a federal appeals court ruled.

Newly installed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F.

Linda McMahon on Thursday sketched out how key functions of the Education Department could be carved up to achieve President Donald Trump’s goal of dismantling the agency, vowing to “reorient” the department while continuing some of its largest programs.

Republican skepticism in the Senate of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees has been worn down.

President Donald Trump’s early moves, such as trying to slash the federal government and imposing tariffs on key allies, are testing how far Republicans are willing to go in supporting his supercharged “Make America Great Again” agenda.

President Donald Trump says he wants the U.S. to take ownership of the Gaza Strip and redevelop it after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere.

Vocal vaccine skeptic and activist lawyer Robert F.

A letter submitted to the U.S. Senate that states it was sent by physicians in support of Robert F.

Robert F.

The man who hopes to be President Donald Trump’s health secretary said he needed to see data showing vaccines are safe, but when an influential Republican senator did so, he dismissed it.

Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana has emerged as a central figure in the confirmation of Robert F.

Robert F.

Democratic senators have grilled three of President Donald Trump’s cabinet picks during their confirmation hearings.

Robert F.

Robert F.

Allies of President Donald Trump have been quick to threaten primary challengers for Republican senators who don’t back Trump's Cabinet picks and legislative priorities.

President Joe Biden has told mourners in New Orleans that they are not alone as he paid tributes to victims of last week's attack.

The Senate is pushing toward a vote on legislation that would provide full Social Security benefits to millions of people.

Senate Democrats failed in their bid to confirm a Democratic member of the National Labor Relations Board after the Senate rejected a razor-thin vote that hinged on the pivotal rejections of independent Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

Republican Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming announced on Wednesday that he will be running for U.S. Senate, hoping to unseat GOP U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, who is up for reelection in two years.

The U.S. Senate has approved a resolution intended to hold Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre in criminal contempt for failing to testify before a Senate panel.

A Senate committee has voted to authorize an investigation into the bankruptcy of Steward Health Care and to subpoena the company’s CEO.

Workers are entitled to time off and other job accommodations for abortions under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, according to finalized federal regulations published Monday.

A federal rule that goes into effect next month could make it easier for millions of workers to unionize at big companies like McDonald’s.

The relationship between President Joe Biden and new House Speaker Mike Johnson will be one of the most important in Washington over the next year.

The end of Labor Day would typically mark the start of a furious sprint to the Iowa caucuses as candidates battle for their party’s presidential nomination.

This summer, millions of Americans with student loans will be able to apply for a new repayment plan that offers some of the most lenient terms ever.

Moderna’s CEO is defending a plan to more than quadruple the company’s COVID-19 vaccine price.

First lady Jill Biden visited a medical center in New Orleans to stress the importance of cancer research.

Louisiana's Republican U.S. Sen. John Kennedy told supporters on Wednesday that he will not run for governor in October.

Both of Louisiana's U.S. senators say they have considered running for governor in 2023 and will announce their decisions soon.

The House has passed a wide-ranging gun control bill in response to recent mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas.

The statistics discussed at the inaugural Global Citizen NOW conference were bleak.

Home-district projects for members of Congress are back, sprinkled across the government-wide $1.5 trillion bill that President Joe Biden signed recently.

At a time when calls to the IRS have reached record levels, a private company lets those who are willing to pay jump to the front of the line to get their phone calls answered.

President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration parried questions on crises ranging from the COVID pandemic to the opioid epidemic at his confirmation hearing Tuesday.

As mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu oversaw billions of dollars in infrastructure repairs and improvements when he took over a lagging recovery from Hurricane Katrina in 2010.

Lawmakers from both parties say haunting images of surging rivers, flooded roads and tornado damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida show the need to upgrade the nation’s aging infrastructure network.

Lawmakers from both parties say haunting images of surging rivers, flooded roads and tornado damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida show the need to upgrade the nation’s aging infrastructure network.

Less than a week after Hurricane Ida battered the Gulf Coast, President Joe Biden walked the streets of a hardhit Louisiana neighborhood on Friday and told residents “I know you’re hurting."

Hurricane Ida knocked out all eight transmission lines that deliver power to New Orleans, leaving the entire city without electricity as the powerful storm pushed through on Sunday and early Monday with winds that reached 150 miles per hour.

Top Republicans are battling school districts in their own states’ urban, heavily Democratic areas over whether students should be required to mask up as they head back to school.

Senators are struggling to wrap up work on the bipartisan infrastructure plan.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell had vowed to be “100% focused” on stopping President Joe Biden’s agenda.

The senators who spent months stitching together a nearly $1 trillion infrastructure package are now trying to sell it to the American people.

Organizations representing long-term care facilities are urging lawmakers working on a bipartisan infrastructure plan to avoid dipping into COVID-relief funds to help pay for the roughly $600 billion in new spending sought for the public works buildout.

Senate Republicans have rejected an effort to begin debate on a bipartisan infrastructure deal that senators brokered with President Joe Biden.

A Republican senator who helped negotiate a nearly trillion-dollar bipartisan infrastructure bill says a proposal to strengthen IRS enforcement to raise money to help pay for the bill's spending is officially off the table.

Environmental groups hailed a sweeping $3.5 trillion domestic spending plan announced by Democrats, saying it would make “transformational investments” in clean energy and put the nation on a path to cut greenhouse emissions by at least 50% by 2030.

A bipartisan deal to invest nearly $1 trillion in the nation’s infrastructure appears to be back on track after a stark walk-back by President Joe Biden to his earlier insistence that the bill be coupled with an even larger Democrat-backed measure in order to earn his signature.

President Joe Biden is seeking to clarify his position on the bipartisan infrastructure package proposed by lawmakers.

President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure deal has been thrown in doubt, barely 24 hours after it was announced.

The debate over bipartisanship is coming to a head as a summer legislative flurry intensifies in Congress.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will confer with White House officials on next steps for President Joe Biden’s $4 trillion infrastructure plans.

The Supreme Court’s latest rejection of a Republican effort to dismantle “Obamacare” is another sign that the GOP must look beyond repealing that law if it wants to hone the nation’s health care problems into a winning political issue.

Congressional Democrats are eyeing a $6 trillion infrastructure package that goes far beyond roads and bridges.

A bipartisan senators’ group working on a $1 trillion infrastructure compromise has now doubled in size, expanding to 21 members.

President Joe Biden’s hope of pouring billions of dollars into green infrastructure investments is running into the political obstacle of winning over Republican votes.

A bipartisan group of senators is eyeing an infrastructure deal with $579 billion in new spending as part of a $1 trillion total package.

President Joe Biden is pursuing “multiple paths forward” as he looks to muscle his big infrastructure package through Congress.

President Joe Biden’s nominee to oversee vast expanses of public land in the U.S. West is being criticized by Republicans because of her involvement in partisan politics as a longtime Democratic aide and environmentalist.

Senate Republicans have blocked the creation of a bipartisan panel to study the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Senators are laboring to find a path forward for legislation creating a commission on the Jan. 6 insurrection.

An independent commission to study the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection would be modeled after a similar panel that studied the 9/11 terrorist attacks and has long been hailed as a bipartisan success.

The two players in the most important relationship in Washington finally are ready for a face-to-face meeting.

Republican leaders are signaling no willingness to embrace President Joe Biden’s ideas for a massive infrastructure investment.

For years Amazon has been under pressure from shoppers, brands and lawmakers to crack down on counterfeits on its site.

The $12 million Great Red Snapper Count estimated that the Gulf holds about 110 million adult red snapper -- those at least 2 years old. More than 60% of the red snapper were in areas that previously had not been checked, according to the study by 20 scientists from 14 universities and NOAA. AdThe report estimated that about 48 million adult red snapper swim off Florida, 29 million off Louisiana, 23 million off Texas and 10 million off Mississippi and Alabama. He noted that the red snapper count received twice as much funding as all of the studies he oversees at the Southeast Fisheries Science Center. Congress voted for the study in 2016, as red snapper recreational seasons got shorter and shorter while anglers kept seeing more and bigger fish.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., talks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021, on the fourth day of the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump. – Trashed on social media and censured by Louisiana Republicans, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy described himself Wednesday as “at peace” with his vote to convict former President Donald Trump at his impeachment trial and dismissed the scorching GOP backlash he's received. Ad“I’ve received comments from folks who are Republican who object to the vote,” Cassidy said. They've called for Republicans to ban Cassidy from their events, and several local Republican groups have joined the executive committee of the state GOP in condemning Cassidy's vote to convict Trump. Asked whether his vote to convict Trump could damage his chances of reelection in 2026, Cassidy replied: “It is six years off, but that's immaterial.

But to ensure Republican support, Pelosi said Democrats sent the proposal to GOP leaders “to see what suggestions they may have because, for this to work, it really has to be strongly bipartisan." It is an open question whether the commission will be authorized to investigate Trump's actions. Still, some Republicans have said they think such a commission is necessary alongside other congressional efforts to investigate the attack. “There’s still more evidence that the American people need and deserve to hear and a 9/11 commission is a way to make sure that we secure the Capitol going forward,” said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. “Our country has been wounded,” the former 9/11 commission chairmen said.

Two Senate committees have summoned top security officials to testify, the beginning of a comprehensive look at what went wrong. In her letter to Democratic colleagues, Pelosi said the House will also put forth supplemental spending to boost security at the Capitol. The hearing will begin a broad examination of the security failures that led to the breach. The security breakdown on Jan. 6, as the House and Senate met for a joint session to count electoral votes, was severe. With the diminished security presence, the rioters not only breached the Capitol but entered the Senate chamber minutes after senators had fled.

Alaska Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski speaks to reporters during a visit to the state Capitol on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021, in Juneau, Alaska. Murkowski said she knows there could be political consequences for her vote to convict former President Donald Trump during his recent impeachment trial but says she can't be afraid of that. She also said that if the state Republican Party decides to censure her for her vote, “they can make that statement. Other Republicans who voted to convict Trump, including Sens. She said the Republican Party “was a pretty good party before Donald Trump, and I believe we can be a good party after Donald Trump.

Two Senate committees have summoned top security officials to testify, the beginning of a comprehensive look at what went wrong. In her letter to Democratic colleagues, Pelosi said the House will also put forth supplemental spending to boost security at the Capitol. The hearing will begin a broad examination of the security failures that led to the breach. The security breakdown on Jan. 6, as the House and Senate met for a joint session to count electoral votes, was severe. With the diminished security presence, the rioters not only breached the Capitol but entered the Senate chamber minutes after senators had fled.

(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)WASHINGTON – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday that Congress will establish an independent, Sept. 11-style commission to look into the deadly insurrection that took place at the U.S. Capitol. In a letter to Democratic colleagues, Pelosi said the House will also put forth supplemental spending to boost security at the Capitol. After former President Donald Trump’s acquittal at his second Senate impeachment trial, bipartisan support appeared to be growing for an independent commission to examine the deadly insurrection. AdInvestigations into the riot were already planned, with Senate hearings scheduled later this month in the Senate Rules Committee. An independent commission along the lines of the one that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks would probably require legislation to create.

One joked, "We’re going to Disney World!”Now acquitted in his second Senate impeachment trial, Trump is preparing for the next phase of his post-presidency life. And he's confronting a Republican Party deeply divided over the legacy of his jarring final days in office, culminating in the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol. Searing video images of the day played on loop during his impeachment trial, which ended Saturday. Sen. Lindsey Graham, who spoke with Trump on Saturday night, acknowledged that Trump is “mad at some folks,” but also “ready to move on and rebuild the Republican Party” and “excited about 2022." That sharp rebuke from his once-loyal defender underscores how dramatically Trump's stock has fallen in Washington since his first impeachment trial just over a year ago.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., walks on Capitol Hill after the Senate acquitted former President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021. Trump was accused of inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and the acquittal gives him a historic second victory in the court of impeachment. Investigations into the riot were already planned, with Senate hearings scheduled later this month in the Senate Rules Committee. We needed more senators with spines.”AdMcConnell told Republican senators shortly before the vote that he would vote to acquit Trump. Beutler's statement late Friday that Trump rebuffed a plea from House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy to call off the rioters was ultimately entered into the trial record.

But in the end, only seven of 50 Senate Republicans voted to convict Trump in his historic second impeachment trial on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)NEW YORK – The Republican Party still belongs to Donald Trump. But in the end, only seven of 50 Senate Republicans voted to convict Trump in his historic second impeachment trial on Saturday. Indeed, in Trump's Republican Party, there are very few willing to cross him if they harbor future political ambitions. “The authoritarian side of the Republican Party is the dominant side,” he said.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, arrives at the start of the fifth day of the second impeachment trial of former President Trump, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021 at the Capitol in Washington. (Stefani Reynolds/Pool via AP)(AP) – Seven Republicans voted Saturday to convict former President Donald Trump in his Senate trial, easily the largest number of lawmakers to ever vote to find a president of their own party guilty at impeachment proceedings. AdAlso striking was the “guilty” vote by Cassidy, who was reelected in November from a deep-red state where GOP support is widespread. I voted to convict President Trump because he is guilty,” Cassidy said in a one-sentence statement issued after his vote to convict. He said he wouldn't vote against his own conscience “simply because it is politically convenient.”Romney’s “guilty” vote at Trump’s initial impeachment trial last February made him the first senator to ever vote to convict a president of the same party.

An unexpected morning vote in favor of hearing witnesses threw the trial into confusion just as it was on the verge of concluding. Republicans are anxious to get the trial over with and discussion of Trump and the Capitol invasion behind them. Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he would vote to acquit Trump, according to a person familiar with his thinking. At issue at first on Saturday was whether to subpoena Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington state, one of 10 Republicans to vote for Trump’s impeachment in the House. Trump is the only president to be twice impeached and the first to face trial charges after leaving office.

In this image from video, House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., speaks about the motion to call witnesses during the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021. Coming amid the searing COVID-19 crisis, the Biden White House is trying to rush pandemic relief through Congress. Most of them ultimately voted to acquit, doubting whether Trump was fully responsible or if impeachment is the appropriate response. Within a week Biden was inaugurated, Trump was gone and Pelosi sent the article of impeachment to the Senate days later, launching the proceedings. At the same time, this year's trial carried similar warnings from the prosecutors that Trump must be held accountable because he has shown repeatedly he has no bounds.

But that hope dimmed when word came Saturday before the trial resumed that Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell would vote to acquit Trump. If Trump were convicted, the Senate could take a second vote to ban him from running for office again. AdA look at the Republicans whom Democrats are eyeing as they make final arguments in the case:THE FREQUENT TRUMP CRITICSRepublican Sens. AdThree other GOP senators have said they will not run again in two years, potentially freeing them up to vote against Trump and anger base voters in the party. The Republican leader’s views are closely watched and carry sway among GOP senators, and his decision on Trump is likely to influence others weighing their votes.

If Trump were convicted, the Senate could take a second vote to ban him from running for office again. While none of them are locks to vote for conviction, they have joined with Democrats twice to vote against GOP efforts to dismiss the trial. AdHEADED OUTPennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, who is retiring from the Senate in 2022, has also voted twice with Democrats to move forward with the trial. All three voted to dismiss the trial, but Portman says he still has an open mind about conviction. EYES ON McCONNELLSenate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has twice voted to dismiss the trial, indicating he will ultimately vote to acquit.

Senators are submitting written questions to the prosecution and the defense in the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump. Ad___12:40 p.m.Donald Trump’s lawyers have opened their arguments in the former president’s impeachment trial with a direct attack on Democrats. House prosecutors at former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial relied on emotion and violent images on video to make their case in arguments over the past two days. But he's made a comeback as one of Donald Trump's lawyers at the former president's impeachment trial. AdHe's getting a chance to make a different impression when he begins to present Trump’s defense on Friday.

(Senate Television via AP)WASHINGTON – Donald Trump’s lawyers have a simple objective as they open their defense at the former president’s impeachment trial: Don’t lose any Republican votes. Most Senate Republicans have indicated that they will vote to acquit Trump on the House charge of incitement of insurrection. Here's what to watch for on Friday as the defense opens arguments in Trump’s historic second impeachment:THE ARGUMENTSTrump’s lawyers plan to argue their client’s innocence on multiple fronts. Hoping that brevity will appeal to their restless Senate audience, the lawyers are expected to keep their arguments short. Like the House prosecutors, Trump's lawyers have up to 16 hours over two days to plead their case.

Since losing the November election to President Joe Biden, Trump has been hemorrhaging attorneys. Trump's impeachment lawyers started off their defense by misspelling the words “United States” in their brief. Navarro told The Associated Press that he “warned the president that his legal team was going to fail him." Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said Trump’s team did a “terrible job." AdBut after impeachment, Trump's legal needs will likely accelerate, with the investigations in New York, Georgia and possibly Washington, D.C., where prosecutors will have the power of subpoena.

Ad"They did it because Donald Trump sent them on this mission,” said House prosecutor Stacey Plaskett, the Democratic delegate representing the U.S. Virgin Islands. Ad“On Jan. 6, President Trump left everyone in this Capitol for dead,” said Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, a prosecutor. At one dramatic moment, the video shows police shooting into the crowd through a broken window, killing a San Diego woman, Ashli Babbitt. “Greatly disturbing.”Trump is the first president to face an impeachment trial after leaving office and the first to be twice impeached. Trump's second impeachment trial is expected to diverge from the lengthy, complicated affair of a year ago.

While the Democrats have appealed to the senators’ emotions, Trump’s lawyers have tried to tap into raw partisan anger. REPUBLICANS TO WATCHSix Republican senators voted with Democrats on Tuesday not to dismiss the trial on constitutional grounds. AdCassidy was the only one who did not side with Democrats in a similar vote two weeks ago. He said after the vote Tuesday that he thought Democrats had a better argument and that Trump’s team had done a “terrible” job. He said he will watch the additional arguments as an impartial juror and then decide whether to convict.