How the narrow Senate majority will shape Biden's presidency
CNN
In a matter of hours, President Joe Biden will inherit a Democratic-controlled House of Representatives and Senate. But the narrow majorities in both chambers will challenge his administration's agenda, his timeline and the goal Biden set to restore unity in the country after four years of tumult under President Donald Trump.
Bottom line: When Biden is sworn in Wednesday, we still may not know some of the basic tenets of how the Capitol will function during his first two years. There still is not an organizing resolution laying out the rules that will govern the 50-50 Senate over the next two years. We still have no official word on when there will be an impeachment trial, and the fight over fast-tracking Biden's nominees has already begun. Big picture: A normal pace isn't coming anytime soon. Sources have repeatedly told CNN that the next days and weeks will test both parties and the institutions they inhabit. Fights over the constitutionality of impeaching an ex-President are already beginning. Slow-walking Biden's nominees is already underway. And besides the daily business of governing, each party is reckoning with its future. Republicans must recalibrate and decide what their party stands for in the wake of Trump. Democrats -- now finally in power -- must decide how hard they want to push the agenda of their base all the while being governed by a President who has always valued compromise.
An Afghan man who served alongside US special forces and fled his native country after its takeover by the Taliban died over the weekend shortly after being detained by immigration authorities, according to his family and an advocacy group.
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The retirement of Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin after nearly 30 years in office sparked an expensive three-way Democratic primary that has showcased the party’s divisions over how to confront President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and introduced pro-crypto forces as an influence seeking to shape the midterm elections. The contest is also setting up a test of Gov. JB Pritzker’s political clout in the state as he eyes a potential 2028 presidential bid.
One month into the partial government shutdown, hundreds of Transportation Security Adminstration workers going without full pay have quit, prompting more travel headaches amid ongoing staffing shortages, a winter storm in the Midwest and spring break travel.
Moves to create massive new immigration detention facilities are catching local officials by surprise, leaving them and their communities scrambling for answers.
The Israeli military said the brother of the man who drove a vehicle laden with explosives into a Michigan synagogue Thursday was a Hezbollah commander killed in a strike last week.
A Rhode Island community had their own “Miracle on Ice” last night when Colin Dorgan whose mother, father and grandfather were killed in a devastating shooting last month, scored the game winning goal in double overtime to lead the Blackstone Valley Schools’ hockey team to the championship game.
As the politics around Israel shift in the US, many Democratic lawmakers and candidates are seeking distance from the American Israel Political Affairs Committee. It comes as the group is spending big to shape the outcome of primaries across the country.
Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy in February weighed possible political peril against a long career in medicine, ultimately casting the critical vote to confirm known vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy as the president’s Health and Human Services secretary.
As CENTCOM commander, it’s up to Adm. Brad Cooper to keep the military campaign on track until a political decision is made to end it — however long that may take.
As the war with Iran continues, oil prices are soaring and airlines will see higher fuel costs – which could hit travelers around the world in their wallets.
Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, grandson of former Cuban President Raúl Castro, appeared for the first time alongside Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel at two public events on Friday, raising questions, according to analysts, about his role in Cuba’s leadership as the island faces calls for regime change from the United States.
Federal prosecutors charged a lobbyist with trying to extort a former client and his son to recover half a million dollars in debt, according to court filings.