Alexis Simendinger

In today’s issue: Vice President Harris, in the final few weeks of her presidential bid, has been pressed by events to juggle dual roles in governance and politics amid domestic and international crises. On the one hand, hurricane recovery in multiple swing states inserted Harris into news coverage with the aura of executive say-so and...

In today’s issue: The presidential contest featured plenty of convivial rhetorical flourishes Tuesday between vice presidential candidates Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and Ohio’s Republican Sen. JD Vance on big issues that divide the electorate. Fast-talking, conspicuously amiable, practiced at dodging direct policy questions and eager to appear moderate, the progressive governor and the conservative...

In today’s issue: Vice presidential debates in contemporary election cycles have tended to be the opposite of bruising cage matches and often duller affairs for live TV than the faceoffs between presidential nominees Think illumination more than ticket elevation. But in this close election, anything could matter. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Minnesota Democrat Gov....

Shutdown averted — for now. Congress on Wednesday passed a three-month stopgap spending bill that will fund the government through Dec. 20, sending the legislation to President Biden’s desk for his signature ahead of the Sept. 30 shutdown deadline. The House cleared the legislation in a 341-82 vote, including support from 209 Democrats and 132...

Congress is almost at the finish line for this month’s spending fight, but lawmakers are kicking the proverbial can down the road until December. The House will take up a vote today for a three-month stopgap funding bill to prevent a government shutdown on Sept. 30. The measure, which is widely expected to pass with...

Former President Trump couldn’t miss the headline in his hometown paper, The New Times, Monday. “Trump’s best poll results in weeks. … He leads in three Sun Belt battleground states.” Within the Republican Party, there is a let-Trump-be-Trump contingent and there are the hand wringers. Some Republican supporters fret about the quality of Trump’s get-out-the-vote...

No one knows this morning how this presidential election will end in 43 days. Not voters, candidates or paid political advisers. Pollsters greet daily survey results with head shakes and eager calls for fresh polls. The political drama is suspenseful and exhausting. It’s a contest about everything and nothing. What’s intended to shock has a...

Lawmakers in the House are launching plan B to avert a government shutdown at the end of the month. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) failed to pass plan A, a six-month stopgap bill with a non-citizen voter ID measure sought by former President Trump, through the lower chamber Wednesday, prompting House GOP leadership to shift gears....

Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) funding gamble didn’t pay off. A diverse group of House Republicans on Wednesday torpedoed Johnson’s proposal for a six-month government funding bill, dealing an embarrassing blow to the GOP leader and derailing his strategy to avoid a shutdown on Sept. 30. Fourteen Republicans, including Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (Ala.)...

Forty-seven days remain until Election Night, but the 2024 election is already underway. The earliest ballots went out to voters at the beginning of this month and more are soon to follow with millions of Americans expected to cast their votes early and by mail ahead of Nov. 5. Mail voting saw an unprecedented boom...