Government shutdown hours away as House GOP pitches last-ditch deal  —  Just hours before a government shutdown, the House planned to vote on a measure to keep the government open for 45 days at current spending levels, adding money for U.S. disaster relief but none of the billions of dollars …

Squabbles, missteps and failure to govern: The Republican week that was  —  Republicans offered a kaleidoscopic display of self-inflicted wounds by politicians unwilling to govern responsibly and loath to confront the damage done by Donald Trump  —  There are good weeks and bad weeks …

Pregnant with no OB-GYNs around: In Idaho, maternity care became a casualty of its abortion ban  —  After an Idaho hospital closed its obstetrics department, pregnant women in the county have been left without nearby care.  Their OB-GYNs fled the state.  —  If you're pregnant in Bonner County …

‘Multiple’ people dead after truck crash and ammonia leak lead to evacuation in Illinois  —  The Friday evening crash involved a semi-truck that started leaking anhydrous ammonia, prompting an evacuation of people within about a one mile radius of the crash, including parts of Teutopolis in south central Illinois.

The Trump administration touted him as a victim of #MeToo.  Now he's accused of dismembering a girlfriend  —  The gruesome discovery spoke to a ghastly crime.  —  On the afternoon of July 20, someone using a waterfront trail in Alameda spotted a large garbage bag wrapped in duct tape …

‘No enemies to the right’: DeSantis ally hosts debate hedging white nationalism  —  Christopher Rufo's Twitter space discussed conservatives cooperating with extremists ‘to destroy the power of the left’  —  Conservative activist Christopher Rufo, who is a close ally of Florida governor …

Trump's attack on Milley fuels special counsel's push for a gag order  —  Donald Trump has unleashed a social media attack on Mark Milley, suggesting he should have been put to death for treason.  —  Special counsel Jack Smith's office argued Friday that Donald Trump's recent attacks …

'It's crazy': Shutdown caps Congress' week from hell  —  Back in the 1990s, as then-Speaker Gingrich put it, Republicans could at least “afford to have five or six people be idiots.”  —  Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman has never seen a scenario like this week: “Not in real life — in movies.

A President on a Picket Line  —  On Tuesday, Joe Biden became the first sitting American president to walk a picket line.  Specifically, he joined strikers and spoke briefly outside a General Motors facility in Van Buren Township, Mich., where hundreds of striking autoworkers were demanding …

Trump animates California Republicans with calls to shoot people who rob stores  —  In an occasionally dark and profane speech, Donald Trump on Friday sought to win over Republicans in California by complaining that rich people in Beverly Hills smell bad because they're denied water …

Michigan Republican Party faces financial turmoil, bank records show  —  Lansing — The Michigan Republican Party had about $35,000 in its bank accounts in August, according to internal records that flash new warning signs about the dire state of the GOP's finances and raise questions …

Dress code debate reflects the US Senate's diminished reputation  —  The debate over the U.S. Senate dress code, spurred by Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), is a fight that seems insignificant to most yet reflects how the once vaunted and respected institution of the U.S. Senate has diminished in the eyes of the American people.

Judge in Trump racketeering case denies motion to suppress evidence  —  X  —  Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee on Friday denied a motion by former Trump campaign attorney Kenneth Chesebro to toss out emails and memos he wrote detailing a plan to use a Republican slate of electors …

IRS contractor charged with stealing Donald Trump's tax returns, which were leaked to press  —  Federal prosecutors announced charges Friday against a contractor with the Internal Revenue Service who allegedly stole the tax returns of a high-ranking government official.