The Latest Breaking News from McClatchy Washington Bureau

Heavy on insults, light on substance: 5 takeaways from the chaotic first Biden-Trump debate

WASHINGTON _ Personal insults. Chaos on stage. More interruptions than anyone can count.

McClatchy Washington Bureau · Sep 29, 2020

Democrats spot erosion of Trump's rural dominance

MONACA, Pa. _ Terri Mitko is sure there are former supporters of President Donald Trump who aren't going to be voting for him again, because she lives with one: her husband.

McClatchy Washington Bureau · Sep 29, 2020

Trump says USPS can't handle a mostly mail-in election. Many states already vote that way

WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump expressed doubt that mail-in ballots would result in a legitimate election during the presidential debate Tuesday night, even saying "the system can't handle it."

McClatchy Washington Bureau · Sep 29, 2020

Impeachment and protests didn't move the Biden-Trump race. Will a Supreme Court fight?

WASHINGTON _ An election year featuring the impeachment of the president, the worst pandemic in a century, a catastrophic recession and racial unrest has left the race for the White House largely in the same place: Joe Biden holding a steady lead over Donald Trump nationally and in key battleground…

McClatchy Washington Bureau · Sep 23, 2020

Operation Warp Speed advisers held investments in COVID vaccine firms, records show

WASHINGTON _ Several top officials leading the administration's effort to develop a coronavirus vaccine at record speed had financial ties to the pharmaceutical companies now competing to develop the much-needed drug, according to disclosures released Tuesday.

McClatchy Washington Bureau · Sep 23, 2020

Kamala Harris was tough on Kavanaugh. How will she approach hearings on RGB's successor?

WASHINGTON _ Kamala Harris is likely to get a unique chance to question a Supreme Court nominee uninterrupted before a national audience as Americans head to the polls _ an opportunity supporters see as an important boost for the Democrats' presidential ticket.

McClatchy Washington Bureau · Sep 21, 2020

Will Democrats add seats to the Supreme Court? They'll need Dianne Feinstein's support

WASHINGTON _ California Sen. Dianne Feinstein has not ruled out the possibility of expanding the Supreme Court if Republicans fill the late Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat before the November election, she said in an interview Monday.

McClatchy Washington Bureau · Sep 21, 2020

'Give the president space': Trump aides ask conservatives for trust on Supreme Court

WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump's top aides reached out to prominent conservatives over the weekend to discuss potential strategies for the upcoming battle over a vacancy on the Supreme Court created by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, asking them not to get ahead of the president days before…

McClatchy Washington Bureau · Sep 20, 2020

Trump says he's 'the best thing' for Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria aid package

WASHINGTON _ The Trump administration defended its slow approval of $11.6 billion in federal grant money to Puerto Rico on Friday, three years after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, blaming "continual instability" for the delay.

McClatchy Washington Bureau · Sep 18, 2020

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies of cancer at age 87

WASHINGTON _ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who rose from a modest Brooklyn upbringing to become a famed women's rights litigator, Supreme Court justice and unexpected pop culture celebrity, died from complications of pancreatic cancer Friday. She was 87.

McClatchy Washington Bureau · Sep 18, 2020