DIANNE FEINSTEIN

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California has died at age 90.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says he spoke with Sen. Dianne Feinstein after she fell in her home and went to the hospital for a short time.

Attorneys for California U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein say in a court filing that she is being stiffed on payments for “significant” medical bills by a trust created for her benefit by her late husband.

Destination cruise shows are among the fashion world's most ambitious, winging the fashion crowd to some of the planet's most scenic locations.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s ongoing medical struggles have raised a sensitive political question with no easy answer: Who would California Gov. Gavin Newsom pick to replace her if the seat becomes vacant.

Senate Democrats moved three of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees along party lines Thursday after weeks of delay due to California Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s extended absence.

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein has returned to the Senate after a two-and-a-half-month absence recovering from a case of shingles.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein is returning to Washington after a more than two-month absence led to calls from within her own party for the oldest member of Congress to resign.

A Southern California lawmaker who is running for a contested Congressional seat was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving.

In campaign 2024, Democrats are looking to find a successor for one of their top House candidates as they try to retake the majority in the House.

Dianne Feinstein isn't the first senator to take an extended medical absence or face questions about age or cognitive abilities.

Republicans have blocked a Democratic request to temporarily replace California Sen. Dianne Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee, leaving Democrats with few options for moving some of President Joe Biden’s stalled judicial nominees.

Democrats’ efforts to temporarily replace California Sen. Dianne Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee are meeting quick opposition from some Republicans.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is back at work in the U.S. Capitol, almost six weeks after a fall at a Washington-area hotel and undergoing extended treatment for a concussion.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s monthslong absence from the Senate has become a growing problem for Democrats.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California is asking to be temporarily replaced on the Judiciary Committee while she recovers from a case of shingles.

A Republican attorney and former congressional candidate has entered California's 2024 race for the U.S. Senate seat currently occupied by Dianne Feinstein.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has been released from the hospital after treatment for a concussion and will continue to recover in an inpatient rehabilitation facility.

California congresswoman Barbara Lee has filed paperwork to enter the race for the seat held by long-serving Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein is not seeking reelection in 2024.

California’s U.S. Senate race is kicking off at a hectic pace, with candidates holding competing events more than a year before the primary election.

Nancy Pelosi has made an early pick in California's 2024 U.S. Senate race — providing Sen. Dianne Feinstein doesn't seek another term.

The political jockeying for the California Senate seat on the 2024 ballot is well underway, even as Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein has yet to say whether she'll run again.

Democratic Rep. Katie Porter of California says she'll seek the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a fellow Democrat and the oldest member of the chamber.

U.S. federal lawmakers have changed 19th-century maritime liability rules for accident victims and their families in response to the 2019 boat fire off the coast of Southern California that killed 34 people.

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says he plans to question the director of the federal Bureau of Prisons this week about why the agency continues to stand by a high-ranking official who beat Black inmates in the 1990s.

The troubled Los Angeles City Council appears headed into a long power struggle, as two disgraced councilmen resist widespread calls for their resignation amid a racism scandal and state investigation.

The three Los Angeles City Council members at the center of a scandal over a recording of racist comments have each had long careers in state and local politics.

A little-known federal judge appointed to the bench two years ago by Donald Trump is in the spotlight this week over her decision to hand the former president a major procedural win.

The utility that oversees California’s last operating nuclear power plant is taking steps to seek federal approval for an extended lifespan, just hours after the Legislature opened a pathway for a run that could last through 2030.

California has a first-in-the nation law and a $30 million training program both aimed at trying to help former inmate firefighters turn pro after they are released from prison.

Wildfires fed by windy and hot conditions have grown dramatically in California and Montana, forcing evacuation orders for over 100 homes.

The nine justices of the Supreme Court made clear in their landmark ruling Friday whether they stand on abortion.

Less than a day after a gunman massacred 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Texas, a Wednesday Senate hearing for President Joe Biden’s pick to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reflected the deep political divisions over guns.

In one form or another, every Supreme Court nominee is asked during Senate hearings about his or her views of the landmark abortion rights ruling that has stood for a half century.

Empathy is not a quality many Republican senators want to see in the next Supreme Court justice.

The latest nominee for a seat on the Supreme Court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, has stressed the importance of religious faith in her life and career.

Richard Blum, the husband of California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, has died after a long battle with cancer.

The leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee are demanding Attorney General Merrick Garland take immediate action to reform the beleaguered federal Bureau of Prisons.

San Francisco residents have recalled three members of the city’s school board for what critics called misplaced priorities and putting progressive politics over the needs of children during the pandemic.

A seemingly endless amount of drama, name-calling, lawsuits and outrage from parents made the saga of San Francisco’s school board a riveting pandemic sideshow.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has introduced a proposal to reauthorize the 1990s-era law that extends protections for victims of domestic and sexual violence after it lapsed in 2019 because of Republican opposition.

More than 600 sitting senators have died or resigned since the first Congress met in 1789.

During his confirmation to the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh assured Sen_ Susan Collins a woman's right to an abortion was “settled law.”.

A Navy ship named for slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk has been launched in San Diego Bay.

American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and JetBlue will require employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Vice President Kamala Harris urged voters in her home state of California to defend the Democratic Party's progressive values by defeating the recall against Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The sweeping $1 trillion infrastructure bill approved by the Senate this week includes funding for Western water projects that farmers, water providers and environmentalists say are badly needed across the parched region.

James Hormel, the first openly gay U.S. ambassador and a philanthropist who funded organizations to fight AIDS and promote human rights, has died.

Lawmakers in Congress have introduced a bill that would pump tens of billions of dollars into fixing and upgrading the country's dams.

Veteran forester Randy Moore has been named chief of the U.S. Forest Service, the first African American to lead the agency in its 116-year history.

Looming over the Senate Democrats this year is a decision that could fundamentally change Congress as it has operated for decades.

Six decades after University of California forestry professor Harold Biswell experimented with prescribed burns and was treated with ridicule, he is seen as someone whose ideas could save the U.S. West’s forests and ease wildfire dangers.

Top Democrats are urging California activists to stay united behind Gov. Gavin Newsom as he faces a recall election.

FILE - In this June 1, 2020, file photo, San Francisco Mayor London Breed speaks outside City Hall in San Francisco. Breed joined a chorus of officials who have denounced the tweets by the vice president of San Francisco's school board, Alison Collins, as racist and anti-Asian. The posts resurfaced last week amid a surge of violence and harassment against Asian Americans in the San Francisco Bay Area and around the country. They are the latest embarrassment for San Francisco’s school board, which has prided itself on putting racial equity at the top of its agenda. Under a plan recently negotiated with its labor unions, San Francisco plans to phase-in the reopening of elementary school classrooms in mid-April.

Gavin Newsom says he'll appoint a Black woman to the U.S. Senate if Feinstein retires before her term ends in 2024. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday he expects and hopes Sen. Dianne Feinstein will serve her full term after suggesting the day before he's been thinking about her replacement. Newsom followed up Tuesday with extended and effusive praise for Feinstein, calling her a friend and mentor and praising her work in Washington. Feinstein and Newsom hail from San Francisco, a political power center where each served as mayor, though decades apart. Warschaw said she did not speak to Newsom but expects he heard from upset Feinstein supporters.

Gavin Newsom says he'll appoint a Black woman to the U.S. Senate if Feinstein retires before her term ends in 2024. Gavin Newsom said Monday he'd appoint a Black woman to replace U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein if she retires before her term is up in 2024. “We have multiple names in mind and the answer is yes," he said during a interview on MSNBC's “The ReidOut" when asked if he would name a Black woman to the seat if given the chance. Newsom recently held that power after then-California Sen. Kamala Harris was elected vice president. He faced competing pressure to name a Latino and a Black woman and eventually chose Alex Padilla, making him California's first Latino U.S. senator.

Some Americans are receiving tax forms saying they owe money on unemployment benefits they never received. Unemployment benefits are taxable, so government agencies must send a tax form to people who received them. AdBernie Irwin, 86, said her daughter-in-law and a friend also received the tax forms. Now, overwhelmed unemployment agencies could face another onslaught — this time from people requesting corrected tax forms. He put a freeze on his credit and filed a fraud report with the state unemployment department but so far hasn't heard anything back.

FILE - In this March 12, 2020, file photo, George Washington High School stands in San Francisco. The San Francisco school board has voted to remove the names of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln from public schools after officials deemed them and other prominent figures, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein unworthy of the honor. After months of controversy, the board voted 6-1 Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, in favor of renaming 44 San Francisco school sites with new names with no connection to slavery, oppression, racism or similar criteria, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The decision by the San Francisco Board of Education in a 6-1 vote Tuesday night affects one-third of the city's schools and came nearly three years after the board started considering the idea. It’s almost like a parody of leftist activism,” said Gerald Kanapathy, a father of two young children, including a kindergartener at a San Francisco school not on the list.

The disgraced former San Diego congressman received one of the pardons issued Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, by President Donald Trump in the final hours of his term. The disgraced former San Diego congressman received one of the pardons issued Wednesday by President Donald Trump in the final hours of his term, which included several others with California connections. Trump granted him a conditional pardon, saying Cunningham tutored inmates while in prison and now volunteers for a local fire department. ELLIOTT BROIDYTrump granted a full pardon to Broidy, of Beverly Hills, a major Trump fundraiser and former Republican National Committee deputy finance chairman. Those supporting the pardon included California Republican Reps. Devin Nunes and Ken Calvert.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump vetoed a bill Friday that would have gradually ended the use of large-mesh drift gillnets deployed exclusively in federal waters off the coast of California, saying such legislation would increase reliance on imported seafood and worsen a multibillion-dollar seafood trade deficit. Trump also said in his veto message to the Senate that the legislation sponsored by Sens. But they said at least 60 other marine species — including whales, dolphins and sea lions — can also become entangled in the nets, where they are injured or die. In 2018, California passed a four-year phaseout of large-mesh drift gillnets in state waters to protect marine life. He said Americans will import more swordfish and other species from foreign sources without this fishery.

Gavin Newsom speaks at a COVID-19 testing facility in Valencia, Calif. As California Gov. Gavin Newsom's shoulders as he considers his pick to serve out the rest of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' Senate term through 2022. The South saw its highest number of Black Senate candidates ever this year, but none won races outright. Labor icon Dolores Huerta and California Latinas for Reproductive Justice want Newsom to appoint a Black woman. De Leon won the endorsement of the California Democratic Party and prominent labor unions, in part because of his support for immigrant rights and aggressive policies to curb climate change.

Myers, a former press secretary to President Bill Clinton, became a senior adviser to California Gov. She joins Jim DeBoo, a California consultant well-versed in the quirks of the state capital and statewide political campaigns, as a senior adviser to the governor. Beyond Myers, Newsom's new additions include DeBoo as senior adviser, making official on Jan. 1 a role he has informally held. Observers say adding him to Newsom's staff signals a desire for sharper political thinking and better connections with the state Legislature, but it could raise questions about special interests' access to the governor. Angie Wei, a Newsom adviser and former chief of staff for the California Labor Federation, is his new legislative affairs secretary.

Today is Friday, Dec. 4, the 339th day of 2020. On Dec. 4, 1783, Gen. George Washington bade farewell to his Continental Army officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York. In 1965, the United States launched Gemini 7 with Air Force Lt. Col. Frank Borman and Navy Cmdr. In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson left Washington on a trip to France to attend the Versailles Peace Conference. In 1992, President George H.W.

WASHINGTON – California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Monday she will step down from her role as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, giving up the powerful spot after public criticism of her bipartisan outreach and her handling of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation hearings. Feinstein, 87, said in a statement that she would not seek the position in the next Congress. 2 Democrat, said he will seek to replace Feinstein as the committee's top Democrat. He led daily news conferences during breaks in the hearings with the other Democrats on the panel while Feinstein usually did not appear. “It’s time for Sen. Feinstein to step down from her leadership position on the Senate Judiciary Committee,” said Brian Fallon, the executive director of Demand Justice, which opposes conservative nominees to the courts.

Election Day is over but California already is consumed with its next high-profile political contest the competition to fill Kamala Harris' soon-to-be-vacant U.S. Senate seat. Padilla is one of a group of people being considered as one of the candidates for the Senate pick. A group of Black California lawmakers have organized a lobbying drive behind U.S. Rep. Karen Bass, who represents parts of Los Angeles and its suburbs. And they could wait: California’s other Senate seat is held by 87-year-old Dianne Feinstein, the chamber’s oldest member. Does Newsom run the risk of angering groups who lose out on the Senate pick and who might make his re-election bid more difficult?

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., shakes hands with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., at the close of the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. “This has been one of the best set of hearings that I’ve participated in,” Feinstein said at the Senate Judiciary Committee. “It’s time for Sen. Feinstein to step down from her leadership position on the Senate Judiciary Committee,” said Brian Fallon, the executive director of Demand Justice, which opposes conservative nominees to the courts. Trump has been able to install more than 200 judges on the federal bench and is now poised to seat his third justice on the Supreme Court. “Judiciary Committee Democrats had one goal this week: to show what’s at stake under a 6-3 conservative Supreme Court — and we did that,” Feinstein said.

A former Notre Dame Law School professor, Barrett would be the only one of her Supreme Court colleagues not groomed in the Ivy League. But Barrett is the most open opponent of abortion nominated to the Supreme Court in decades. She refused to say whether the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion rights was correctly decided, though she has signed two ads against it. Others testifying Thursday included Laura Wolk, the first blind woman to be a law clerk for the Supreme Court, who told senators that Barrett’s encouragement and support were life-changing. “Her brilliance is matched only by her compassion,” said Wolk, who also spent a year as a law clerk for Barrett.

WASHINGTON – Over and over, Amy Coney Barrett said she’d be her own judge if confirmed to the Supreme Court. She called the Voting Rights Act a “triumph in the civil rights movement,” without discussing the specifics of the earlier challenge to it. It would be applying laws that are designed to protect the election and protect the right to vote,” Barrett said. The health care debate has been central to the week’s hearings, as Americans struggle during the pandemic, leading to a sharp exchange among senators at one point. Durbin retorted that health risks left many senators monitoring from their offices rather than convening as a group.

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett listens during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Barrett also said she could not answer whether Trump has the power to delay the general election, an idea the president floated earlier this year. Democrats say they have no interest in revisiting that issue during this confirmation process. This time, Democrats have focused on the effects on “real people” if the Affordable Care Act is overturned by the high court. AN “EXCRUCIATING” PROCESSBarrett said she accepted Trump’s nomination because she is “committed to the rule of law” and the role of the Supreme Court.

Yes, the Trump administration is asking the high court to throw out the Obama-era healthcare law, and if she is confirmed quickly Barrett could be on the Supreme Court when the court hears the case. Democrats also repeatedly brought up words Barrett wrote in 2017, when she was a law professor, criticizing Chief Justice John Roberts' 2012 opinion saving the Affordable Care Act. Barrett wrote that Roberts had "pushed the Affordable Care Act beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute." But the court could simply “sever” the mandate from the law and leave the rest of the law alone. One other key observer of the case suggested the Affordable Care Act would likely stand.

“I think Amy’s doing incredibly well,” he said at the White House departing for a campaign rally. Allowing Trump to fill the seat with Barrett “poses a threat to safe and legal abortion in our country," Harris said. Democrats warn that she would be a vote to undo the law and strip health coverage from millions of Americans. "I'm not hostile to the ACA,” Barrett told the senators. “You would not be getting Justice Scalia, you would be getting Justice Barrett,” she declared.

Yes, the Trump administration is asking the high court to throw out the Obama-era healthcare law, and if she is confirmed quickly Barrett could be on the Supreme Court when the court hears the case. Democrats also repeatedly brought up words Barrett wrote in 2017, when she was a law professor, criticizing Chief Justice John Roberts' 2012 opinion saving the Affordable Care Act. Barrett wrote that Roberts had "pushed the Affordable Care Act beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute." But the court could simply “sever” the mandate from the law and leave the rest of the law alone. One other key observer of the case suggested the Affordable Care Act would likely stand.

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)WASHINGTON – The Latest on the Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett (all times local):5:50 p.m. The Senate Judiciary Committee has wrapped up the first of four days of planned Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett. She warned it’s not just health care that is at risk if Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed. Sen. Michael Lee was present for the start of Senate Judiciary Committee hearings Monday for Barrett. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham opened the hearing by defending holding the hearing so close to the presidential election.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut was among several Democrats demanding that Barrett pledge not to take part in any election case. “Health care coverage for millions of Americans is at stake with this nomination,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the committee’s senior Democrat. Among Republicans, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, dismissed warnings Barrett will undo the law as “outrageous.”Trump himself seemed to be watching, tweeting several times about the hearing. In one message, he tweeted that he’d have a “FAR BETTER” health care plan, with lower costs and protections for preexisting conditions. But he has not, as yet, discussed an actual health care plan.

FILE - In this June 2, 2020, file photo, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti arrives to appeal to Black Lives Matter protesters in downtown Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel,File)LOS ANGELES – After a scrappy debate that Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey believed lifted her campaign and was a “disaster” for her opponent, she got a text message from the LA mayor with unwelcome news: He was switching his endorsement to her challenger. A little more than half is for Gascon, the vast majority from a handful of well-heeled backers supporting justice reforms. Gascon has gained support from protests over the death of George Floyd at the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer. Lacey said Gascon is pandering to supporters and that when he was San Francisco DA he never prosecuted a police killing case.

Hearings before the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee will begin Monday, Oct. 12, for President Donald Trumps Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett. SEN. KAMALA HARRIS, D-CALIF.Harris, Joe Biden's running mate in the presidential election, will again be in the spotlight as Democrats question a Trump nominee for the Supreme Court. Harris and other key Democrats said the hearings should not move forward without plans to test people attending, including senators, for coronavirus. In a sign of the heightened scrutiny, Vice President Mike Pence tried to get Harris to reveal whether she and Biden support expanding the Supreme Court, as many liberals advocate. In just three years on the 7th Circuit, Barrett has twice argued for approval of abortion restrictions that violated Supreme Court precedent, Hirono said.

Democrats are treading carefully on religious faith as they prepare to question President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee. “I don’t intend to question her about her personal views or private religious faith or views,” Coons, a key Biden ally, said this past week. Fearful of losing the high court for a generation, the left is demanding that Democrats resist Barrett's nomination with everything they have. Republicans have preemptively declared any discussion of Barrett’s faith out of bounds. But specifics about Barrett’s faith, such as broaching People of Praise, would have “a bad odor,” Franke said.

In this Oct. 1, 2020, photo, Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett, meets with Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., at the Capitol in Washington. Confirmation hearings begin Monday for President Donald Trumps Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. If confirmed, the 48-year-old appeals court judge would fill the seat of liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last month. (Graeme Jennings/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – Confirmation hearings begin Monday for President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. If confirmed, the 48-year-old appeals court judge would fill the seat of liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last month.

FILE - Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trumps nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, meets with Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)WASHINGTON – Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are calling on the Justice Department to provide any missing materials from a questionnaire completed by Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. The letter was signed by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary panel, and nine other Democrats. “As Judge Barrett said on the day she was nominated, ‘A judge must apply the law as written. He said the group is prepared to “do whatever it takes to push Judge Barrett’s nomination over the finish line by the end of October.”___Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

Barrett tells the Senate Judiciary Committee that the White House initially contacted her Sept. 19, the day after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, creating the court vacancy. Trump made the offer when she visited the White House on Monday, Sept. 21, “and I accepted,” she wrote. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was “even more convinced” of Barrett after their brief meeting. The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to hold hearings Oct. 12. At the Capitol, Vice President Mike Pence said Barrett “represents the best of America.” The White House formally submitted the nomination Tuesday.

The court will hear a case challenging the constitutionality of President Barack Obama's health care law just after the election, adding to the urgency of the issue. On Monday, Harris told voters in North Carolina that without the health care law, birth control coverage could be eliminated and pregnancy could be considered a preexisting condition. “We will not give up, and we will not give in,” Harris said of the Supreme Court fight. In focusing on health care, Democrats would be taking a different posture than in the last Supreme Court confirmation fight, when they argued that then-nominee Brett Kavanaugh was not fit to be a justice. They will also tie the health care issue to the pandemic and to abortion rights, the aides said.

If Trump wins the election, Biden said the president’s nominee should have a vote. No justice has ever been confirmed to the Supreme Court so close to a presidential election with early voting already underway in some states. Republicans believe the fight ahead will boost voter enthusiasm for Trump and Senate Republicans at serious risk of losing their majority. Democrats warn Barrett's confirmation would almost certainly undo Americans' health care protections as the high court takes up a case against the Affordable Care Act in the fall. Biden has said he would nominate the first Black woman to the court, but he has not released the names of his potential choices.

Biden on Sunday appealed directly to his former colleagues in the Senate to “take a step back from the brink." If Trump wins the election, his nominee should have a vote, Biden said, but if he wins the presidency, he should choose the next justice. Republicans believe the fight ahead will boost voter enthusiasm for Trump and Senate Republicans at serious risk of losing their majority. With only two of the 53 Republican senators voicing opposition to a confirmation vote before the Nov. 3 election, Democrats appeared outnumbered — and without recourse to block the nomination. Asked about potential House maneuvers to stall the nomination, such as impeaching Attorney General William Barr, Pelosi quipped, “What is the use of talking about that?” She stressed that Americans should “vote, vote, vote” to put Democrats in charge of the White House, House and Senate.

Within weeks, she is likely to be the newest associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. First among them was the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Scalia, but they also dug deeper. Months later, in the fall of 2017, Trump set about updating his list of potential nominees to the Supreme Court. Trump and McGahn set about elevating Barrett's profile for the next opening on the high court –- with Trump telling some aides he was “saving” her for Ginsburg's seat. “I am truly humbled by the prospect of serving on the Supreme Court,” she said.

(AP Photo/Michael Perez)SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Kamala Harris is poised to become a leading figure in the Democratic opposition to President Donald Trump's Supreme Court pick, with her status as both a lawmaker and vice presidential nominee putting her in the center of the fight. The California senator is in a unique role following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday. She was widely praised by Democrats for her questioning of Brett Kavanaugh during the last Supreme Court confirmation fight. Beyond her questioning of Kavanaugh, he pointed to her 2017 questioning of then-Sen. Jeff Sessions as Trump’s first attorney general. “That would give her the flexibility to be able to be in D.C., maybe a little bit more than during a traditional presidential campaign closing stretch,” he said.

Acknowledging an expected surge in mail-in ballots because of the coronavirus pandemic, DeJoy says voters should mail back their ballots at least seven days prior to the election. Trump urged a no vote, railing on Twitter against mail-in ballots expected to surge in the COVID-19 crisis. He has said he wants to block extra funds to the Postal Service. Still, there were signs of bipartisan support for the Postal Service, one of the most popular government agencies with an approval rating above 90%. Twenty-six House Republicans broke with Trump and GOP leaders to back the House bill, which passed 257-150.

She faced questions familiar to women in politics, particularly women of color, about her ambition. Harris faced both the scrutiny of her personal life and the resistance to her rise as she raced past rivals from more well-connected families. Years later, when she ran for California attorney general and needed support beyond her liberal home base, Harris tempered her stance on capital punishment. She knew that her adopted homeland would see Maya and me as Black girls, and she was determined to make sure we would grow into confident, proud Black women," Harris wrote of her mother. At Howard, Harris joined Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nations oldest sorority for Black women.

She faced questions familiar to women in politics, particularly women of color, about her ambition. Harris faced both the scrutiny of her personal life and the resistance to her rise as she raced past rivals from more well-connected families. Years later, when she ran for California attorney general and needed support beyond her liberal home base, Harris tempered her stance on capital punishment. She knew that her adopted homeland would see Maya and me as Black girls, and she was determined to make sure we would grow into confident, proud Black women," Harris wrote of her mother. At Howard, Harris joined Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nations oldest sorority for Black women.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is already being lobbied by hopefuls and numerous names are emerging in the early speculation. (Kevin Dietsch/Pool Photo via AP, File)LOS ANGELES The possible election of U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris as vice president has kicked off widespread speculation in California about who might replace her. Gavin Newsom, who would choose a replacement if Joe Biden and Harris defeat President Donald Trumps ticket. For Newsom, the list choices is long and the political risks many, especially with a national reckoning on racial injustice underway.

According to a new poll, Americans overwhelmingly are in favor of requiring people to wear masks around other people outside their homes, reflecting fresh alarm over spiking infection rates. Support for requiring masks is overwhelming among Democrats, at 89%, but 58% of Republicans are in favor as well. The poll was conducted before Trump, who for months was dismissive of masks, said this week that its patriotic to wear one. About half say they favor requiring people to stay in their homes except for essential trips. About half also favor requiring bars and restaurants to close.

The GOP-led panel endorsed Mississippi Appeals Court Judge Cory Wilson Thursday on a 12-10, party line vote. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)WASHINGTON The Senate has approved the nomination of a Mississippi judge to a federal appeals court, the 200th federal judge named by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Republican-controlled chamber. Democrats also said he has made false claims about the prevalence of voter fraud in the United States and expressed opposition to enforcement of the federal Voting Rights Act. "Judge Wilsons troubling record on voting rights is highly relevant to his nomination,'' said California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Democrats said McConnell and Trump were focused on far-right judicial nominees at the expense of legislation to address the COVID-19 pandemic, gun violence, voting rights and other issues.

The committee rarely moves forward on subpoenas without bipartisan support, and hasnt done so in more than a decade. Democrats have argued that the errors in the surveillance do not invalidate the Russia investigation, which ultimately found that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election but found insufficient evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy with Trumps campaign. The list also includes some current officials who dealt with the investigation, including Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray. Grahams investigation is one of several diving into the Russia investigation, a subject that has followed Trump throughout his presidency. The Justice Department has its own internal probe separate from the inspector generals investigation, and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is also looking at the matter.

The United States resumed deportation flights to Guatemala, nearly a month after the Central American country refused to accept them. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)WASHINGTON U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Wednesday that it has expanded COVID-19 testing among people held at its detention facilities following criticism of its response to the outbreak. ICE says it now offers voluntary tests for the virus to all people held at detention facilities in Tacoma, Washington, and Aurora, Colorado, and will consider doing the same at other locations. There have been 45 confirmed cases among ICE employees at detention facilities, including 15 at a facility at the airport in Alexandria, Louisiana, where people are held just prior to deportation. The results for the testing at the Aurora, Colorado, facility are expected to be available within a week.

A person runs while a police vehicle is burning during a protest over the death of George Floyd in Los Angeles, Saturday, May 30, 2020. Gavin Newsom for 500 to 700 members of the Guard to assist the 10,000 Los Angeles Police Department officers. One officer suffered a fractured skull, Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said. But please dont destroy our beloved Los Angeles. The scale of the destruction in Los Angeles was being compared to the 1992 riots, when there was more than $1 billion in property damage.