Senate Democrats have blocked legislation to regulate a form of cryptocurrency after arguing that the bill needed stronger protections.

Congressman Gerry Connolly of Virginia is stepping down as the top Democrat on the powerful House Oversight Committee and won’t be seeking reelection next year.

Countries around the world are tightening their cyberdefenses as global tensions rise.

U.S. officials say Navy Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the only woman on NATO’s military committee, was fired over the weekend by the Trump administration.

U.S. officials and members of Congress say President Donald Trump has abruptly fired the director of the National Security Agency.

Trump administration officials are struggling to stem the fallout from revelations that top national security officials discussed sensitive attack plans over a messaging app and mistakenly added a journalist to the chain.

The Democratic Party appears fractured as a torrent of frustration and anger has been unleashed on Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.

The investigation into a January midair collision that killed 67 people near Washington, D.

CIA employees have gotten letters offering them buyouts if they voluntarily resign.

President Donald Trump’s most controversial Cabinet nominees have flooded the zone in back-to-back-to-back confirmation hearings.

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

The first bill signed by President Donald Trump is named after a slain Georgia nursing student whose name became a rallying cry during Trump’s White House campaign.

Senate Democrats reelected Chuck Schumer as party leader on Tuesday as the party moves into a deeply uncertain time, with no real consensus on a strategy as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office.

China watchers know Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz as “the Florida faction” in foreign policy — two Florida lawmakers who share especially tough positions on China.

The hours and days immediately after Election Day are likely to pose the greatest opportunity for anyone looking to mislead and deceive U.S. voters.

A judge is freeing from prison a Colorado paramedic convicted in the death of Elijah McClain, a Black man whose name became part of the rallying cries for social justice that swept the U.S. in 2020.

When the Russian government hacked into Hillary Clinton's campaign emails and leaked them to the press in 2016, intelligence officials agonized for weeks about the correct response.

Top U.S. intelligence officials say Russia, China and Iran are continuing to target voters in the U.S. with disinformation and propaganda related to the upcoming presidential election.

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.

Text, photos, videos and audio created using artificial intelligence are increasingly making their way into campaigns for state and local office.

The Justice Department says it's concerned that releasing audio of President Joe Biden’s interview with a special counsel about his handling of classified documents could lead to deepfakes that trick Americans.

The leader of the Senate Intelligence Committee says the U.S. may be less prepared for the threat of foreign disinformation ahead of this year's election than it was four years ago.

A leadership shake-up at Boeing is highlighting the difficult path facing the iconic aircraft manufacturer as it tries to navigate through another safety crisis.

TikTok’s extensive lobbying campaign is the latest tech industry push since the House passed legislation that would ban the popular app if its China-based owner doesn’t sell its stake.

The U.S. Senate is slogging past far-right Republican opposition to helping Ukraine fight Russia.

Federal officials are clearing the ways for grounded Boeing planes to resume flying.

A former Colorado officer has been sentenced to 14 months in jail in the death of Elijah McClain.

Senate Democrats have moved to temporarily change Senate rules and confirm hundreds of military nominees.

The Biden administration has chosen a location for a new FBI headquarters in Maryland, selecting the site over one in Virginia following a sharp competition between the two states.

A jury has acquitted another Denver-area police officer who put Elijah McClain in a neck hold before the Black man was injected with the powerful sedative ketamine by paramedics and died.

At a closed-door Senate forum, tech leaders loosely endorsed the regulation of artificial intelligence.

A judge in Colorado has agreed to delay the first criminal trial in the death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who was stopped by police, forcibly restrained and injected with a powerful sedative nearly four years ago.

A bipartisan group of senators has introduced legislation that would require the National Archives to screen documents leaving the White House for classified material.

A proposed Drug Enforcement Administration rule aimed at cracking down on prescriptions for dangerous drugs has spurred a backlash from dying patients and those who care for them.

The Biden administration has begun sharing with a bipartisan group of lawmakers known as the Gang of Eight classified documents found in the possession of former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence.

A handful of red-state Democrats were instrumental in helping Republicans secure a rollback of banking regulations sought by then-President Donald Trump in 2018.

Members of the Senate intelligence committee say they should have access to classified documents that were discovered in the homes of President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence.

The discovery of classified documents at the home of former Vice President Mike Pence is scrambling the blame game in Washington.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has banned the use of several Chinese-owned apps including TikTok and WeChat on state government devices and wireless networks.

Congressman A.

As TikTok's popularity has exploded, it's become more than just a place for viral dance challenges.

On the same day the Federal Reserve gave a sobering report on the U.S. economy’s trajectory, administration officials highlighted how they have kept some of the nation’s smallest businesses afloat through the pandemic.

A new Senate study warns that U.S. spy agencies’ efforts to stop China and other adversaries from stealing secrets are hampered by miscommunication and a lack of money and staff at the agency intended to coordinate those efforts.

Security-sealed rooms and lock bags are some of the ways Capitol Hill keeps classified documents secured.

While the FBI affidavit justifying the search of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate is highly redacted, it includes new details about the classified information that was stored at the former president's home.

Sen. Joe Manchin sealed the deal reviving President Joe Biden’s big economic, health care and climate bill.

Some federal lawmakers urged Google last month to limit the appearance of anti-abortion pregnancy centers in certain abortion-related search results.

China is the foremost challenge for U.S. national security agencies, a so-called “hard target” that is America’s chief rival for global dominance.

Top U.S. intelligence officials admit that they underestimated Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russia’s invasion.

President Joe Biden has signed an executive order on government oversight of cryptocurrency that urges the Federal Reserve to explore whether the central bank should create its own digital currency.

A firm that tracks cryptocurrency transactions says $33.8 million in the digital currency has been donated to Ukraine’s government and non-governmental organizations there since the start of Russia’s invasion.

Vladimir Putin is raising fears that he has become more reckless, more committed to restoring the USSR, perhaps more likely to set off a world-altering war.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is forcing big tech companies to decide how to handle Russian state media that spread propaganda and misinformation.

Russia has some of the best hackers in the world, but in the early days of the war in Ukraine, its ability to create mayhem through malware hasn’t had much of a noticeable impact.

For months, the White House repeatedly released its intelligence findings about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plans to attack Ukraine.

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.

A key part of President Joe Biden’s plans to fight major ransomware attacks and digital espionage campaigns has been languishing for more than eight months.

U.S. Capitol Police were ill-prepared for the thousands of protesters who descended on Capitol Hill during last year's insurrection.

Two years have passed since Congress directed the creation of an intelligence center to lead efforts to stop election interference by foreign adversaries.

Thousands of intelligence officers could soon face dismissal for failing to comply with the U.S. government’s vaccine mandate, leading to concerns from Republican lawmakers about potentially hurting agencies considered critical to national security.

The CIA says it will create a top-level working group on China as part of a broad U.S. government effort focused on countering Beijing’s influence.

It would be the token of all tokens: a $1 trillion coin, minted by the U.S. government, then cashed in to flood the treasury with cash and solve a political impasse over suspending the debt limit.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration has received notification that the Department of Defense has authorized the use of Marine Corps Base Quantico to house Afghan refugees, as well as a national guard installation in central Virginia.

Democratic-led congressional committees are vowing to press President Joe Biden’s administration on what went wrong as the Taliban swept to power in Afghanistan.

President Joe Biden set out to build back more than roads and bridges in his big infrastructure bill.

The Senate has moved closer to passing a $1 trillion infrastructure package after lawmakers from both parties voted to clear a key procedural hurdle.

Senate Democrats from across the party's political spectrum seem near the unanimity they’ll need for the crucial first step toward their $3.5 trillion infrastructure vision.

President Joe Biden is praising the Senate for edging the bipartisan infrastructure plan closer to passage.

After much delay, senators have unveiled their $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Senators and the White House are locked in intense negotiations to salvage a bipartisan infrastructure deal.

Lawmakers racing to seal a bipartisan infrastructure deal early this coming week are hitting a major roadblock over how much money should go to public transit.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is pressuring lawmakers to reach agreement by next week on a pair of massive domestic spending measures.

President Joe Biden visited the U.S. Capitol in search of Democratic support for his multitrillion-dollar domestic agenda.

President Joe Biden has announced a bipartisan agreement on a pared-down but still huge infrastructure plan.

President Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of senators have reached an agreement to significantly boost infrastructure spending, though considerable hurdles remain before the blueprint unveiled Thursday becomes reality.

The dilemma surrounding ransomware payments has left U.S. officials fumbling about how to respond to such demands.

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.

While President Joe Biden pitches his infrastructure plan to the American public, the real work of delivering his legislative agenda takes place behind the scenes.

President Joe Biden is promoting his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan directly to Americans with an appeal to think big.

The short answer for many security experts and federal officials is that it can’t — at least not without some significant changes. Ad“The SolarWinds hack was a victory for our foreign adversaries, and a failure for DHS,” said Sen. The FAA initially told the AP in mid-February that it had not been affected by the SolarWinds hack, only to issue a second statement a few days later that it was continuing to investigate. Federal officials said that amount is only a down payment on much bigger planned spending to improve threat detection. The hosting services of Amazon Web Services and GoDaddy were used by the SolarWinds hackers to evade detection, officials said recently.

The effort showed how social media and other technology can be leveraged to spread misinformation so quickly that those trying to stop it cannot keep up. Straka said via email that nothing from the #WalkAway Campaign ”encourages people not to vote.” He declined further comment. Democrats blame misinformation efforts for helping Trump win larger-than-expected shares of Latino support in normally reliably blue areas. AdNow researchers will be watching to see if misinformation — especially that meant to discredit COVID-19 vaccines — spreads among congressional districts. So far, Congress isn't investigating Spanish-language misinformation to see if its origins spread beyond Latin America.

Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – Many questions remain unanswered about the failure to prevent the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The Capitol Police also did its own intelligence assessment warning that Congress could be targeted on Jan. 6. Four House committees are probing what went wrong with that data collection, including the House intelligence committee. “I don’t want our committee’s examination to be about Trump or about Jan. 6,” Warner, D-Va., said in an interview. Thousands of National Guard troops still guard the Capitol, which is now surrounded by fencing and barbed wire and closed off to the public.

But the North Carolina Republican’s vote to convict former President Donald Trump should not have come as a shock. AdWith Burr retiring at the end of his term in 2022, it’s a vote that could end up defining his career. Exactly a year later, as the Russia investigation was wrapping up, Burr’s time leading the committee came to an abrupt end. He sided with most Republicans in a vote to dismiss the trial, creating an expectation he’d also vote to acquit. AdSo when Burr stood up to vote for Trump's conviction, many in the chamber wondered if there would be other surprises.

AdThe reaction reflects the severity of a hack that was disclosed only in December. The administration has also proposed expanding by 30% the budget of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, or CISA, a little-known entity now under intense scrutiny because of the SolarWinds breach. The breach was discovered in early December by the private security firm FireEye, a cause of concern for some officials. AdRight after the hack was announced, the Treasury Department bypassed its normal competitive contracting process to hire the private security firm CrowdStrike, U.S. contract records show. “In practical terms, what that meant is they weren’t invited in because no department or agency wants to look bad,” he said.

Ad“This is a sophisticated actor who did their best to hide their tracks,” she told reporters at the White House. It will take us some time to uncover this layer by layer.”U.S. authorities have said the breach, first disclosed in December, appeared to be the work of Russian hackers. “An advanced, persistent threat actor likely of Russian origin was responsible," she said, without providing any details on the potential responses. She said the Biden administration supports changes to “culture and authorities” that prevented the hack from being detected on the federal civilian systems. The hack, Neuberger said, highlights the need to modernize the nation's IT infrastructure and its cyber defenses, issues that will be addressed in an upcoming executive order.

The White House says a senior national security official is leading the U.S. response to a massive breach of government departments and private corporations discovered late last year. The announcement that the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emergency technology, Anne Neuberger, has been in charge of the response to the SolarWinds hack follows congressional criticism of the government effort so far as disorganized. Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emergency technology, was in charge of remediating the hack, identifying issues with the federal government's response and launching a study aimed at preventing similar incidents, the White House said. In a letter released Tuesday, leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee blasted the Biden administration for what they said was a lackluster reaction to the SolarWinds hack. Also on Wednesday, the House Homeland Security Committee held a hearing with cybersecurity experts to discuss the SolarWinds hack and other issues.

President-elect Joe Bidens pick for national intelligence director Avril Haines speaks during a confirmation hearing before the Senate intelligence committee on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, in Washington. (Joe Raedle/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Avril Haines as director of national intelligence, giving President Joe Biden the first member of his Cabinet and placing the first woman in charge of the nearly two-decade old agency. In her confirmation hearing Tuesday, Haines made clear she intends to end the Trump administration's practice of pressuring officials to shape their analysis to the president’s liking. “When it comes to intelligence, there is simply no place for politics — ever,” she told the Senate Intelligence Committee. “The last four years have been hard on the intelligence community,” said Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the new chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee after Democrats took the majority on Wednesday.

Now Biden will have to do it with President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial beginning potentially as soon as his first day in office. “We’re going to have to move simultaneously in a whole bunch of areas.”Biden has so far stayed largely out of public deliberations over Trump's impeachment for inciting a riot. So let him do his job — and let the Senate do their work,” said California Rep. Barbara Lee, a Democrat. And there’s the prospect they could further exacerbate the already fraught atmosphere on Capitol Hill, politicizing Biden’s agenda and making it tougher for him to get support from winnable Republican senators. And Democrats on Capitol Hill are barreling ahead as well, refusing to accept the prospect that impeachment will deter them from their legislative goals.

WASHINGTON – A confirmation hearing for President-elect Joe Biden's pick for national intelligence director has been postponed until next week, according to leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Avril Haines, a former CIA deputy director and former deputy national security adviser in the Obama administration, was to have appeared Friday before the Senate Intelligence Committee. “The Director of National Intelligence plays a crucial role in overseeing the 18 agencies that make up our nation’s Intelligence Community, and the committee looks forward to holding a hearing next week with Ms. Haines,” the senators said. The hearing was announced Wednesday, setting Haines up to be the first of Biden's picks to face a Senate committee for confirmation. Concerns about national security are running high after last week's assault on the Capitol, with law enforcement facing an outpouring of potential new threats, as well as the Russian hack of government computer networks.

Now Biden will have to do it with President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial beginning potentially as soon as his first day in office. “We’re going to have to move simultaneously in a whole bunch of areas.”Biden has so far stayed largely out of public deliberations over Trump's impeachment for inciting a riot. So let him do his job — and let the Senate do their work,” said California Rep. Barbara Lee, a Democrat. And there’s the prospect they could further exacerbate the already fraught atmosphere on Capitol Hill, politicizing Biden’s agenda and making it tougher for him to get support from winnable Republican senators. And Democrats on Capitol Hill are barreling ahead as well, refusing to accept the prospect that impeachment will deter them from their legislative goals.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., holds a news conference on the day after violent protesters loyal to President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Congress, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. “It has been an epiphany for the world to see that there are people in our country led by this president, for the moment, who have chosen their whiteness over democracy,” Pelosi said. Pelosi says, “The complicity, not only the complicity, the instigation of the president of United States, must and will be addressed.”___1:25 p.m. Flight attendants have expressed concern that their flights could be carrying supporters of President Donald Trump who took part in Wednesday’s violent protest and siege of the U.S. Capitol. ___2:25 a.m.Democrats in Congress are laying the groundwork to impeach President Donald Trump.

The U.S. government on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021, said a devastating hack of federal agencies is likely Russian in origin and said the operation appeared to be an intelligence gathering effort. The assessment was disclosed in a rare public statement from the FBI and other investigative agencies. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)WASHINGTON – Top national security agencies confirmed Tuesday that Russia was likely responsible for a massive hack of U.S. government departments and corporations, rejecting President Donald Trump's claim that China might be to blame. The agencies made clear the operation was “ongoing” and indicated the hunt for new threats was not over. The day of that report, Dec. 19, Trump tweeted that the “Cyber Hack is far greater in the Fake News Media than in actuality” and suggested without any evidence that China could be to blame.

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)WASHINGTON – A proposed COVID-19 relief bill is expected to get backing from President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell but it won't include $1,200 in direct payments to most Americans, a Republican senator involved in the bipartisan talks says. “President Trump has indicated that he would sign a $908 billion package — there’s only one $908 billion package out there and it’s ours,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said Sunday. While favoring the $1,200 checks, Biden said the emerging compromise was "immediately needed” and that additional assistance could follow later. On Sunday, lawmakers involved in the negotiations said the direct payments would have to wait until after Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20. The direct payments, he said, will be a task for Biden.

The $908 billion aid package to be released Monday would be attached to a larger year-end spending bill needed to avert a government shutdown this coming weekend. “This is not a stimulus bill, it’s a relief bill,” he said. While favoring the $1,200 checks, Biden said the emerging compromise was "immediately needed” and that additional assistance could follow later. On Sunday, lawmakers involved in the negotiations said the direct payments would have to wait until after Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20. The direct payments, he said, will be a task for Biden.

The Kentucky Republican made the announcement after President-elect Joe Biden called upon lawmakers to pass a downpayment relief bill now with more to come next year. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi resumed talks with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin about a year-end spending package that could include COVID relief provisions. Lawmakers' bipartisan effort comes after a split-decision election delivered the White House to Democrats and gave Republicans down-ballot success. Pelosi and Mnuchin were discussing COVID relief and other end-of-session items, including a $1.4 trillion catchall government funding bill. Pelosi and Mnuchin grappled over a relief bill for weeks before the November election, discussing legislation of up to $2 trillion.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Democrats once dominated Koochiching County in the blue-collar Iron Range of northern Minnesota. But in this month's presidential election, President Donald Trump won it with 60% of the vote. Though Democrats’ rural woes aren’t new, they now heap pressure on Biden to begin reversing the trend. In clinging to their majority, House Democrats lost rural seats, notably the one held for 30 years by Rep. Collin Peterson in western Minnesota. For now, Democrats' future in rural America rests largely on how Biden is viewed there, Heitkamp said.

The former astronaut defeated Republican Sen. Martha McSally, who was appointed to the seat after McCain’s death in 2018. Daines’ first election in 2014 broke a Democratic lock on the Senate seat that had lasted more than 100 years. The six-term congressman from northern New Mexico defeated Republican Mark Ronchetti, a former television meteorologist, and Libertarian Bob Walsh. Reed cruised to victory over Waters, an investment consultant who mounted earlier unsuccessful campaigns for state Senate and U.S. Senate in Massachusetts. Warner defeated Republican challenger Daniel Gade in a low-key race in which the incumbent had a massive cash advantage.

In a state where Confederate monuments have stood for more than a century and have recently become a flashpoint in the national debate over racial injustice, Virginians remain about evenly divided on whether the statues should stay or go, according to a new poll. The poll conducted this month by Hampton University and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 46% support removal of Confederate statues and 42% oppose removal. The poll conducted this month by Hampton University and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 46% support removal of Confederate statues and 42% oppose removal. The 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville that left a counterprotester dead had its origins in a city debate over whether to remove Confederate statues. On another topic, the poll found only about 1 in 4 Virginians support keeping schools in the state completely closed to in-person learning.

It was the first that Schiff, then the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, had ever heard of it. Two years later, Schiff says that breakdown is still emblematic of the disjointed effort among government agencies, Congress and private companies as they try to identify and address foreign election interference. Most of the hacking attempts by Russian, Chinese and Iranian agents were halted by Microsoft security software and the targets notified. The current director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, a close Trump ally, tried to end most in-person election security briefings — a decision he later reversed after criticism from lawmakers from both parties. Lawmakers say that in restricting what's given to Congress, the administration is effectively restricting what it tells the public about election security and misinformation.