Biden Administration Aims to Trump-Proof the Federal Work Force  —  If Donald Trump wins a second term, he and his allies want to revive a plan to allow a president to fire civil service workers who are supposed to be hired on merit.  The Biden administration is trying to thwart it.

Congress is in crisis.  There's no clear escape.  —  “We've been seeing this coming ... I just didn't think we were dumb enough to get there,” Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) said.  —  The government is barreling toward a shutdown.  House Republicans threaten to impeach the president — though some of them don't see the evidence.

Trump's New York Fraud Trial in Limbo After His Legal Gambit Works  —  Trump's lawyers are going after Judge Arthur F. Engoron, saying he's overstepped his bounds. … An appellate judge has taken the remarkable step of hitting pause on the New York Attorney General's upcoming bank fraud trial …

U.A.W. Strike Is a Real-Time Test of Biden's Economic Agenda  —  White House aides believe the outcome of the battle between the car companies and its workers will underscore many of the president's policy positions.  —  Rarely do so many parts of a president's political identity collide in one place.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to visit Washington next week  —  Zelensky's visit was coordinated with the Biden administration in a joint push to Congress to provide $24 billion in aid  —  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to travel to Washington next week after a gathering …

What I saw at the Texas border shocked me  —  On Sept. 6, a federal judge in Austin ordered Texas to remove a floating “buoy barrier” wall in the Rio Grande outside Eagle Pass, which has become a symbol of Governor Greg Abbott's (R) Operation Lone Star border program.

How a shutdown could blindfold the Fed  —  The Bureau of Labor Statistics won't collect or publish data such as unemployment numbers and the Consumer Price Index in the event of a shutdown, a spokesperson said.  —  Government funding gridlock is threatening to deprive the Federal Reserve …

With democracy on the ballot, the mainstream press must change its ways  —  US news organizations have turned Biden's age into a scandal and continue to cover Trump as an entertaining side show  —  Christiane Amanpour has reported all over the world, so she recognizes a democracy on the brink when she sees one.

‘It will take years to recover’ from Tuberville blockade, top Navy nominee says  —  Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Navy's No. 2 officer, has been leading the service on an acting basis because of the impasse.  —  President Joe Biden's nominee to be the Navy's top officer, Adm. Lisa Franchetti …

By Asking for Tanya Chutkan's Recusal, Trump Invited a Lesson in His Centrality to January 6  —  Trump's motion for Tanya Chutkan to recuse was not designed to work.  Rather, it was designed as a messaging vehicle, to establish the basis for Trump to claim that a Black Judge was biased …

Wisconsin Republicans vote to fire elections director, who may not leave the job  —  The vote creates a dispute over who is in charge of overseeing elections in a state that is expected to play a critical role in next year's presidential campaign  —  MADISON, Wis. — Republicans …

All thanks to ‘Big Yellow Taxi’: How State discovered Chinese hackers reading its emails  —  The State Department relied on a clever alert system to uncover and unravel an advanced Chinese spying campaign that involved breaches of officials' emails.  —  A recent Chinese-linked hack …

Hunter Biden indicted on federal gun charges  —  The indictment against the president's son comes after a plea agreement on tax and gun charges fell apart in July and amid a probe of his finances by House Republicans.  —  Federal prosecutors have indicted Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, on gun charges, court documents show.