The Latest Breaking News from McClatchy Washington Bureau

First Step Act: Who's eligible for release under the new criminal justice law?

WASHINGTON _ Sweeping changes to the federal prison system will allow tens of thousands of federal inmates to be released from prison over the next 10 years, but there's little data about who or where they are now.

McClatchy Washington Bureau · Dec 21, 2018

With no fix in sight, federal agencies prepare for a shutdown

WASHINGTON _ Hundreds of thousands of federal workers would be sidelined, while hundreds of thousands more would be forced to work without pay, if a host of government agencies shut down at midnight.

McClatchy Washington Bureau · Dec 21, 2018

Israel confounded, confused by Syria withdrawal, Mattis resignation

WASHINGTON _ The abrupt resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has left Israel, America's closest ally in the Middle East, confounded as it comes to grips with the even greater implications of the U.S. military withdrawal from Syria that prompted Mattis' departure.

McClatchy Washington Bureau · Dec 21, 2018

Graham, Trump go to war over troop withdrawal from Syria

WASHINGTON _ Sen. Lindsey Graham Thursday introduced a formal congressional resolution "expressing the sense of the Senate" that the United States should maintain "its limited military activities" in Syria as his own war with President Donald Trump escalated.

McClatchy Washington Bureau · Dec 20, 2018

Trump administration wants huge limits on food stamps � even though Congress said 'no'

WASHINGTON _ A lot more people could have to meet work requirements for food aid under a Trump administration plan unveiled early Thursday, just before the president signed legislation that's supposed to keep the current food aid eligibility system largely in place.

McClatchy Washington Bureau · Dec 20, 2018

Backed by conservatives, Trump vows to veto spending bill over lack of wall funding

WASHINGTON _ Angry House conservatives have mounted a fierce _ and as of Thursday afternoon, successful _ crusade to prod President Donald Trump to veto a year-end government funding bill that lacks big money for a U.S.-Mexico border wall.

McClatchy Washington Bureau · Dec 20, 2018

NC elections board notified feds after 2016 claims of election fraud in Bladen County

McCrae Dowless, a Bladen County, N.C., elected official and political operative, paid workers to collect absentee ballots and return them to him before the 2016 election, witnesses told state board of election investigators, according to documents released Wednesday.

McClatchy Washington Bureau · Dec 19, 2018

Trump's vow to build a wall hits a dead end

WASHINGTON _ Donald Trump isn't getting the "big, beautiful" wall he wants at the border with Mexico anytime this year. And it's highly unlikely he'll get it in 2019 or 2020.

McClatchy Washington Bureau · Dec 19, 2018

Inside Kamala Harris' relationship with an Indian-American community eager to claim her

WASHINGTON _ Indian-American publications write about her regularly. Her first name means "lotus" in Sanskrit. She takes pride in grinding her own Indian spices. And she has been known to reference slogans that were used by Indian independence fighters like her grandfather.

McClatchy Washington Bureau · Dec 19, 2018

AG Hawley helped strike down Obamacare. Can Sen. Hawley pick up the pieces?

WASHINGTON _ Josh Hawley is in a bind as he enters the U.S. Senate and has to deal with fixing the nation's health care system.

McClatchy Washington Bureau · Dec 18, 2018