Politics

Win McNamee/Getty Images (WASHINGTON) — With potential default just six days away, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy arrived at the Capitol Friday telling reporters he remained optimistic despite no deal in hand. McCarthy said negotiators “made progress” overnight but wouldn’t get into specifics of the framework being discussed. “And I’m gonna work as hard as we […]

Creativeye99/Getty Images (WASHINGTON) — A former leading member of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group was sentenced Friday to eight years and six months in prison for her role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Jessica Watkins led a small group into the Capitol building, but prosecutors said her actions enabled many more […]

Office of the Inspector General/Dept. of Justice (WASHINGTON) — The 123 federal prisons in the United States need roughly $2 billion worth of “maintenance” and most are “aging and deteriorating,” according to a DOJ inspector general report. In three prisons, the conditions are so bad they had to be closed — including the Metropolitan Correctional […]

joe daniel price/Getty Images (WASHINGTON) — A sharply divided Supreme Court on Thursday significantly rolled back federal safeguards for wetlands under the Clean Water Act, siding with Idaho property owners in a decision that curbs Environmental Protection Agency power. The case, Sackett v. EPA, pitted Michael and Chantell Sackett against EPA regulators over a bid […]

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images (WASHINGTON) — Seeking to strike a reassuring tone despite days of negotiations, President Joe Biden said Thursday afternoon that he’s had several “productive conversations” with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and their teams are “making progress” on debt ceiling talks as the country inches closer to default. “I’ve made it clear time and […]

Grant Faint/Getty Images (WASHINGTON) — “The taxpayer must render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, but no more.” With those words, Chief Justice John Roberts and a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday sided with a 94-year-old Minnesota woman who got no compensation when the government seized her home over a small unpaid tax bill and […]

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images (WASHINGTON) — With just seven days until potential default, House members are heading home for Memorial Day recess — without a debt ceiling deal in sight. “Every hour matters,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott on Thursday. “That’s why the White House has to become very […]

Stephen Maturen/Getty Images (WASHINGTON) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is set to forgo a traditional presidential campaign launch and will instead hold his “campaign kickoff” event next week in the key state of Iowa, according to campaign plans exclusively obtained by ABC News. The May 30 kickoff event will begin a four-day swing through 12 […]

Bloomberg Creative/Getty Images (WASHINGTON) — After three weeks of negotiations and eight days from a possible default, as of Wednesday there was still no breakthrough in talks to avert potential financial catastrophe as soon as June 1. Shortly before noon, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters he was sending his House Republican bargaining team to the […]

Drew Angerer/Getty Images (WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are headed toward a clash in the 2024 GOP primary race and are already foreshadowing an intense conflict of personalities. Their stances on tax and spending policies, however, aren’t so different. In a GOP largely remade by Trump’s 2016 success, many leading […]