Poli Alert Politics & Civics

The Trump administration is dismantling much of the federal government’s specialized research on cyclospora as the foodborne parasite has sickened more than 17,000 Americans this summer, raising concerns about the government’s ability to investigate future outbreaks. Two of the three Agriculture Department projects that make up nearly all of USDA’s …

Hostilities between the United States and Iran escalated sharply overnight into Wednesday as Iran launched strikes against U.S. military positions across the Middle East following a deadly U.S. attack near the Strait of Hormuz that Iranian officials said struck a wedding gathering and killed at least five people. The escalation …

House lawmakers formally censured Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards of North Carolina over findings that he behaved inappropriately toward two women staffers, showering them with gifts and attention, including reciting poetry for one and giving each a personalized handgun. The resolution was backed by members of both parties with overwhelming support. …

Congress is moving to take a government shutdown off the table before the November midterm elections, with the House approving a short-term funding bill Tuesday that would keep federal agencies operating through Dec. 11. The 370-48 vote sends the measure to President Donald Trump, who has indicated he will sign …

A Republican congressional candidate in a competitive North Carolina race was suspended from Kalshi after betting on her own election, a move the prediction market said violated its rules against trading on events a user could influence. Laurie Buckhout, a retired Army colonel and combat veteran, purchased less than $1,000 …

An anonymous federal official has warned Congress that a rushed and insufficiently tested U.S. Postal Service system could prevent large numbers of Americans from receiving mail ballots this fall if courts allow President Donald Trump’s plans for the midterm elections to take effect. The whistleblower disclosure, made public Tuesday by …

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is expected to leave the Trump administration within days after the White House accepted his resignation, according to a person familiar with the matter and a White House official. The resignation comes after months of speculation about Driscoll’s future. NBC News reported last week that he …

A fuel supplier is accusing a company linked to several Freedom Fuel gas stations — a discount network promoted by President Donald Trump — of taking more than $4 million worth of gasoline without paying for it. Mansfield Oil Co., a Georgia-based fuel supplier, filed the lawsuit Aug. 19 in …

The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for President Donald Trump to continue construction of a massive ballroom at the White House, rejecting a preservation group’s effort to halt the controversial project. The 5-4 decision found that the National Trust for Historic Preservation likely lacked legal standing to challenge …

The Pentagon has quietly placed several conservative military veterans with large online followings in government positions, while declining to disclose their roles as they publicly amplify Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s views and criticize his opponents, according to people familiar with the matter and Pentagon records reviewed by The Washington Post. …

Google Maps has begun displaying “Lake America” for users in the United States after President Donald Trump ordered the federal government to rename Lake Ontario, adding a digital twist to an increasingly contentious dispute with Canada. Google announced Saturday that the change was rolling out following Trump’s executive order last …

The fragile pause in direct U.S. attacks on Iran has ended. U.S. forces struck Iranian rocket launchers near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday after Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces were observed preparing to fire rockets and sea mines into the strategic waterway, according to U.S. Central Command. It was the …

President Donald Trump announced Friday that the United States had reached an unprecedented agreement with Venezuela giving a new U.S.-backed venture majority control over more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves — a deal Trump immediately declared the “biggest oil deal in world history.” But while Trump is …

Just over two months from midterm elections and four months removed from a U.S. Supreme Court decision that gutted Voting Rights Act protections for majority Black U.S. House districts, and 63 years after Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech there, thousands gathered again at the …

A Florida grand jury says the DeSantis administration misappropriated $10 million in taxpayer money by diverting it from a Medicaid settlement into the Hope Florida Foundation, where it was quickly routed through nonprofit organizations and ultimately into political committees and the Republican Party of Florida. The 19-page report, which was …