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Editorial Team

AP Congressional Correspondent
FILE—With a partial government shutdown looming by week's end, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, joined at right by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., confers with an aide following a closed-door meeting with fellow Democrats on spending legislation that funds the Department of Homeland Security and other government agencies as the country, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Senate passes Trump-backed government funding deal, sending to House
The Senate has voted to fund most of the government through the end of September while carving out a temporary extension for Homeland Security funding, giving Congress two weeks to debate new restrictions on federal immigration raids across the country.
 
FILE- Voting booths are set up at a polling place in Newtown, Pa, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
House Republicans propose voting changes as Trump administration eyes the midterms
House Republicans are proposing sweeping changes to the nation’s voting laws. The package released Thursday is a long-shot priority for President Donald Trump that would mean some stricter requirements before Americans vote in the midterm elections in fall.
 
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., arrives at his office as the Senate returns at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Partial shutdown seems increasingly likely as Democrats demand ICE changes
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has laid out a list of demands for the Department of Homeland Security as the Senate heads toward a crucial Thursday vote.
 
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a news conference at Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem faces rising calls for her firing or impeachment
A groundswell of voices have come to the same conclusion: Kristi Noem must go. Democratic Party leaders, top advocacy organizations and even some of the most centrist lawmakers in Congress are calling for the Homeland Security secretary to step aside after the shooting deaths in Minneapolis of two p
 
Workers clear the Capitol grounds after a snowstorm Monday, Jan. 26, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
The shootings in Minneapolis are upending the politics of immigration in Congress
The shooting deaths of two American citizens at the hands of federal law enforcement in Minneapolis have upended the politics of the Trump administration’s deportation agenda.
 
Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith testifies before the House Judiciary Committee about his investigations into President Donald Trump, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026 at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Takeaways from Jack Smith on his case against Trump, ‘so many witnesses’ and the threats ahead
Former Special Counsel Jack Smith testified publicly for the first time on Capitol Hill about his investigation of President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
 
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
House approves final spending bills as Democrats denounce ICE funding
The House has passed this year’s final batch of spending bills. Lawmakers still smarting from last fall’s record 43-day shutdown worked to avoid another funding lapse for a broad swath of the federal government.
 
Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith takes an oath before the House Judiciary Committee at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Smith defends his Trump investigations at a House hearing. ‘No one should be above the law,’ he says
Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith has defended his investigations of Donald Trump at a public congressional hearing.
 
Federal officers stand outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building during a protest on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Trump’s ICE force is sweeping America. Billions in his tax and spending cuts bill are paying for it
President Donald Trump promised the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, but achieving his goal wouldn’t have been possible without his big tax and spending cuts bill.
 
Rioters loyal to President Donald Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
House GOP’s new Jan. 6 committee questions what happened that day
The House GOP’s new Select Committee on the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack has held its first hearing, but it’s clear the trauma of that day still lingers.
 
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at Mar-a-Lago, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Plane used in boat strike off Venezuela was painted to look like a civilian aircraft, AP sources say
The plane used by the U.S. military to strike an alleged drug-smuggling boat off Venezuela last fall was painted to look like a civilian aircraft.
 
The U.S. Capitol is photographed, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
Congress is debating the possible consequences for ICE and even Noem after Renee Good’s killing
Members of Congress are considering the possible consequences for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and even Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after an ICE officer shot Renee Good to death in Minnesota.
 
Secretary Marco Rubio meets with Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot at the State Department, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026 in Washington. (AP Phoro/Kevin Wolf)
Venezuela helps vault Rubio to quarterback of Trump’s foreign policy team
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a football fan, now is quarterbacking President Donald Trump’s foreign policy team as it navigates particularly turbulent global waters, notably in Venezuela.
 
A replica plaque commemorating the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot stands outside the office of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
After delays, the missing Jan. 6 plaque will be displayed at the Capitol
The Senate has agreed to display a plaque honoring the police who defended the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack.
 
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
House passes bill to extend health care subsidies in defiance of GOP leaders
The House has passed legislation that extends expired health care subsidies for those who get coverage through the Affordable Care Act.
 
Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., second from right, leaves after speaking on the House floor at the Capitol, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Hoyer laments House ‘is not living up to the Founders’ goals’ as he tells colleagues he’s retiring
The longest-serving Democrat in Congress has announced he’s retiring at the end of his term, saying he’s deeply concerned “this House is not living up to the Founders’ goals.”
 
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
House takes step toward extending Affordable Care Act subsidies, overpowering GOP leadership
The House is pushing ahead with legislation to renew subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans. A bipartisan coalition in the House overpowered Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday to push forward a measure that would revive the enhanced subsidy.
 
Rioters loyal to President Donald Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
Fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack brings fresh division to the US Capitol
On the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, there is no official event to memorialize what happened.
 
Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives at the U.S. Capitol Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, for a closed-door briefing with top lawmakers after President Donald Trump ordered U.S. forces to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and bring him to New York to face federal drug trafficking charges. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Rubio, Hegseth brief congressional leaders as questions mount over next steps in Venezuela
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other top officials have briefed leaders in Congress on the striking military operation in Venezuela.
 
A replica plaque commemorating the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot stands outside the office of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
This Jan. 6 plaque was made to honor law enforcement. It’s nowhere to be found at the Capitol
Approaching the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, the official plaque honoring the police who defended democracy is nowhere to be found.
 
President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine listen as Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Capture of Maduro and US claim that it will run Venezuela raise new legal questions
Legal questions are being raised about the Trump administration’s capture of Venezuela’s president and claims that it will “run” the South American country.
 
Adm. Kevin Lunday, acting commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, speaks during a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing on his nomination for Commandant of the Coast Guard, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Senator pauses Coast Guard nomination over policy on swastikas, nooses and other hate symbols
A U.S. senator says she’s pausing the nomination for the top Coast Guard job because leaders appeared to have “backtracked” on a commitment to ensure that swastikas and nooses are considered hate symbols and prohibited from being displayed.
 
Former Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith enters a room in the Rayburn House Office Building to give his deposition before the House Judiciary Committee, part of its oversight into DOJ investigations into President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Jack Smith tells lawmakers his team developed ‘proof beyond a reasonable doubt’ against Trump
Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith has told lawmakers in a closed-door interview his team “developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt” President Donald Trump criminally conspired to overturn his 2020 election loss.
 
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., meets with reporters as Republicans struggle with a plan to address growing health care costs, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Speaker Johnson rebuffs efforts to extend health care subsidies, pushing ahead with GOP plan
House Republican leaders are determined to push ahead with a health care bill that excludes efforts to address the soaring monthly premiums for Affordable Care Act recipients.
 
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth walks to the auditorium to brief members of Congress on military strikes near Venezuela at the Capitol, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Hegseth says he won’t publicly release video of boat strike that killed survivors in the Caribbean
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the Pentagon will not publicly release unedited video of a strike that killed two survivors of an initial attack on a boat allegedly carrying cocaine in the Caribbean.
 
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., prepares to speak to reporters following a strategy session with House Republicans, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Speaker Johnson unveils health care plan as divided Republicans scramble for alternative
The Senate failed to get anywhere on health care this week. Now it’s the House’s turn. Speaker Mike Johnson late Friday released a package of proposal to address growing health care costs.
 
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem raise her arm before the House Committee on Homeland Security on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Homeland Security Secretary Noem defends Trump’s hard-line immigration policies during tense hearing
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has defended the Trump administration’s immigration policies during a contentious House committee hearing.
 
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth smiles as he walks to a secure room in the basement of the Capitol to brief lawmakers on how he handled a military strike on a suspected drug smuggling boat and its crew in the Caribbean near Venezuela Sept. 2, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Hegseth tells congressional leaders he is weighing release of boat strike video
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says he’s still weighing whether to release the full video of an attack on an alleged drug boat that killed two survivors.
 
U.S. Navy Adm. Frank M. Bradley, right, accompanied by Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, left, walks to a meeting with senators on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
What to know as lawmakers disclose vivid new details of US boat strikes
Members of Congress now know that the U.S. military fired upon two people clinging to the wreckage of a boat allegedly carrying drugs — and they want answers.
 
U.S. Navy Adm. Frank M. Bradley, accompanied by Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, right, walks to a meeting with senators on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Admiral says there was no ‘kill them all’ order in boat attack, but video alarms lawmakers
A Navy admiral has told lawmakers that there was no “kill them all” order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in the boat attack in the Caribbean, but the video of survivors being killed has alarmed lawmakers, That disclosure Thursday comes as Congress scrutinizes an attack on an alleged drug boat i
 
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