The Kremlin has confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin gifted to Donald Trump a portrait he commissioned of the U.S. president.

Kitty Dukakis, the wife of former Massachusetts governor and Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, has died.

Three former Environmental Protection Agency leaders say rollbacks proposed by the Trump administration endanger the lives of millions of Americans and abandon the agency’s mission to protect the environment and human health.

President Donald Trump wants to increase logging in national forests and on public lands, including by bypassing endangered species protections.

President Donald Trump will stand at the front of the U.S. House chamber to address a joint session of Congress, the first of his second term in office.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is defending President Donald Trump’s firing of the nation’s senior military officer and a wave of top dismissals at the Pentagon, insisting that they weren’t unusual despite accusations that the new administration is injecting politics into the military.

NFL coach Sean Payton says he can't think of a major American sporting venue that has aged as well as the nearly 50-year-old Superdome.

Scott Turner has been confirmed as the secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Lee Greenwood will perform “God Bless the U_S_A.”.

Some current and former defense leaders and veterans are questioning whether Pete Hegseth would be able to enforce discipline in the ranks if the Senate confirms him as President-elect Donald Trump's defense secretary.

Jimmy Carter’s funeral will feature an interstate choreography of grief, ceremony and logistics that is characteristic of state funerals.

The nation's unique Electoral College system for electing a president, which replaces the popular vote, puts disproportionate voting power in the hands of a relative few states.

As Vice President Kamala Harris begins her fall campaign for the White House, she can look to history and hope for better luck than others who have tried the same.

A federal appeals court in New Orleans is taking another look at its own recent order requiring a Texas county to keep eight books on public library shelves that deal with subjects including sex, gender identity and racism.

Capital punishment could emerge as a major campaign issue in the U.S. presidential race for the first time in 30 years, with top GOP candidates already one-upping each other by touting tougher, more far-reaching death penalty laws.

Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson has died.

After a challenging first year in office, Manhattan's district attorney is back in the spotlight with a reinvigorated investigation of former President Donald Trump.

One would have to go back hundreds of years to find a monarch who reigned longer than Queen Elizabeth II.

The Biden administration is toughening its language toward NATO ally Turkey.

With his death, former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin leaves behind a very different China than the one he tried to shape.

President Joe Biden is asking Congress to intervene to avert a potentially crippling freight rail strike before Christmas, even if it means handing a defeat to Democratic allies in the labor movement.

A collection from the estate of General Colin Powell of nearly 400 items stretching from the momentous to the mundane is currently up for auction.

The war in Ukraine, especially Russian President Vladimir Putin’s references to Moscow’s nuclear arsenal, have awakened memories that many of a certain age thought were buried.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has filed 25 lawsuits against President Joe Biden's administration in the past 20 months.

Presidents come and go, but White House grounds superintendent Dale Haney has been a constant through the past 10 presidencies.

The Biden administration plans to release 15 million barrels of oil from the U.S. strategic reserve to counter recent production cuts announced by OPEC+ nations.

Whenever the president travels, a special bullet-resistant lectern called the “blue goose" typically goes with him.

In cities and suburbs across the U.S., Republicans up and down the ballot have overwhelmingly focused on sending a message that violent crime is out of control.

The defense team in the Capitol riot trial of the Oath Keepers leader is relying on an unusual strategy with Donald Trump at the center.

Republican J.

Republican J.

Hanging out with Richard Nixon's daughter.

Ken Starr, a former federal appellate judge and a prominent attorney whose criminal investigation of Bill Clinton led to the president’s impeachment, died Tuesday at age 76, his family says.

The question of whether the Biden administration can require federal employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 has been argued in an appeals court in New Orleans for a second time.

She went horseback riding with Ronald Reagan.

Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama have unveiled their official White House portraits in an event filled with nostalgia and humor.

It’s been more than a decade since President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, welcomed back George W.

The Soviet Union seemed an immovable superpower in perpetual antagonism to the United States Before Mikhail Gorbachev came along.

Recently retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has become the honorary co-chairman of a nonpartisan group devoted to education about the Constitution.

President Joe Biden has arrived in South Carolina to begin what's expected to be at least a seven-day vacation with members of his family.

Mo Ostin, a self-effacing giant of the music business who with rare integrity presided over Warner Bros.

Seven months after being fired by CNN, Chris Cuomo is reemerging into the public eye.

The assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has revealed long-suspected, little-talked-of links between him and the Unification Church.

A court ruling is back in effect that blocks President Joe Biden from requiring federal employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

When Joe Biden was running for president, he wasn't shy about calling out dictators and authoritarian leaders.

President Joe Biden’s administration has scrapped former President Donald Trump’s red, white and blue design for the new generation of presidential aircraft after an Air Force review suggested it would raise costs and delay the delivery of the new jets.

Bush’s defeat in the race for attorney general could mark the end of a four-generation political dynasty, and the end of an era of Texas politics that began when the first George Bush moved to Odessa in 1948.

A federal appeals court is being asked to reconsider its decision allowing the Biden administration to require that federal employees get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Justice Clarence Thomas says that the Supreme Court has been changed by the shocking leak of a draft opinion earlier this month.

Former White House national security adviser Robert C.

As bad as the environment seems with climate change and other pollution, scientists say humanity has also done a pretty good job of cleaning up past messes.

The Russian warship now known as the Moskva began its life as the Slava, or “glory” in 1979 at the height of the Cold War in what was the Soviet republic of Ukraine.

The first-ever publication of 1950 census records promises to solve some family mysteries for amateur genealogists and family historians.

Congressional leaders are hailing Republican Rep. Don Young as a colorful but pragmatic lawmaker who got things done for his constituents.

Justice Clarence Thomas participated in arguments at the Supreme Court via telephone on Monday following a hospital stay of nearly a week.

Justice Clarence Thomas was discharged from the hospital Friday after a stay of nearly a week, the Supreme Court said.

The Supreme Court is declining to say whether 73-year-old Justice Clarence Thomas remains in the hospital.

Lauro F.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted some of America’s most prominent evangelical leaders to raise a provocative question.

President Joe Biden knows better than anyone the unexpected turns a Supreme Court nomination can take after it lands on Capitol Hill.

The 2022 midterm election season opens Tuesday in Texas.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s implied threat to turn the Ukraine crisis into a nuclear war presents President Joe Biden and U.S. allies with choices rarely contemplated in the atomic age.

If President Joe Biden’s search for a nominee to the Supreme Court could be summed up by a Help Wanted ad it might read: “Seeking a well-respected liberal jurist.

A bipartisan group of two dozen former South Carolina federal prosecutors are offering their “wholehearted support” for Judge Michelle Childs’ nomination to an appellate court.

Former Attorney General William P.

As America’s first second gentleman, Doug Emhoff has visited 31 states to promote Biden administration policies and the coronavirus vaccine.

When the leaders of the Soviet Union’s three Slavic republics met at a secluded hunting lodge near the Polish border on Dec. 8, 1991, they delivered a death blow to the USSR.

Americans are remembering Bob Dole, a man who defied the odds in war, only to fall short of his ultimate goal in politics.

U.S. leaders and military veterans are mourning the loss of former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, a World War II veteran and former Republican presidential candidate who served in Congress for 36 years.

Bob Dole's political career began in 1950 with election to the Kansas Legislature.

Supreme Court justices considering a major abortion case Wednesday will hear from just three lawyers: one representing the state of Mississippi, another representing Mississippi’s only abortion clinic and the last representing the Biden administration.

President Joe Biden has pardoned two turkeys at the White House, an annual holiday tradition.

An elite but often-underwater beach town at the Jersey Shore is looking for its own solutions to back bay flooding, deciding it can’t wait for state and federal officials to agree on a fix.

In 1972, Big Bird lined up on `Sesame Street' to receive a measles vaccine as part of a campaign to get more youngsters inoculated against the disease.

Colin L.

Jill Biden is speaking candidly about the challenges of her job as first lady.

A child of working-class Jamaican immigrants in the Bronx, Colin Powell rose from neighborhood store clerk to warehouse floor-mopper to the highest echelons of the U.S. government.

A Kentucky man pardoned by President Donald Trump after his conviction in a 2012 bribery plot has been charged again with campaign-related crimes, this time involving a 2016 illegal campaign contribution scheme.

President Joe Biden is nominating former senior State Department official Nicholas Burns to serve as his ambassador to China and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to serve as his envoy to Japan.

President Joe Biden’s vacation plans, like those of so many Americans during this national summer of uncertainty, keep changing.

A freshman senator has ground the Senate to a crawl in order to slow the passage of a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure package.

President Joe Biden should be heading out on vacation and a traditional August break from Washington.

Sen. Rob Portman had worked through the night repeatedly as the lead Republican negotiator in a bipartisan group seeking an infrastructure deal.

The Democratic-led House has passed legislation to repeal the 2002 authorization for use of military force in Iraq.

The White House and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are endorsing efforts to terminate the 2002 authorization of military force against Iraq.

Joe Biden will become the 13th American president to meet Queen Elizabeth II.

Republican George P.

Houston residents and officials are seething over a Texas agency's decision to not award the city a single cent of the initial $1 billion in federal flood mitigation funding the state was promised following Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

Karine Jean-Pierre has become the first openly gay woman to deliver the White House press briefing and only the second Black woman in history to take on the role.

From Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger to Al Franken and Donald Trump, there’s a rich history of celebrities trying out new careers in politics.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has sued the U.S. Department of Interior in an effort to see fireworks shot over Mount Rushmore on Independence Day.

Bush on December 6, 2018 in College Station, Texas. The 41st president will be laid to rest near his presidential library next to his wife Barbara and daughter Robin. Bush to his burial has returned to his presidential library in College Station where it will become a permanent exhibit. Union Pacific originally commissioned the locomotive for the opening of an exhibit on trains at the presidential library. During the locomotive's 2005 unveiling in College Station, Bush talked about his fondness for trains, recalling sleeping on them as a child during trips with his family.

President Joe Biden participates in a roundtable discussion on a coronavirus relief package in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, March 5, 2021. It reflects a White House media strategy meant both to reserve major media set-pieces for the celebration of a legislative victory and to limit unforced errors from a historically gaffe-prone politician. In a sharp contrast with the previous administration, the White House is exerting extreme message discipline, empowering staff to speak but doing so with caution. The volume has been turned so low in the Biden White House that they need to worry about whether anyone is listening," said Frank Sesno, former head of George Washington University's school of media. “Presidential press conferences are not on the top of the agenda for Americans who are worried about COVID and the economic disaster that has befallen so many families,” he said.

President Joe Biden participates in a roundtable discussion on a coronavirus relief package in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, March 5, 2021. It reflects a White House media strategy meant both to reserve major media set-pieces for the celebration of a legislative victory and to limit unforced errors from a historically gaffe-prone politician. In a sharp contrast with the previous administration, the White House is exerting extreme message discipline, empowering staff to speak but doing so with caution. The volume has been turned so low in the Biden White House that they need to worry about whether anyone is listening," said Frank Sesno, former head of George Washington University's school of media. “Presidential press conferences are not on the top of the agenda for Americans who are worried about COVID and the economic disaster that has befallen so many families,” he said.

FILE - In this July 1981 file photo released by The White House, U.S. President Ronald Reagan, left, and Vice President George Bush go horseback riding at Camp David, Md. He capped it off by beating one of his granddaughters at Mario Kart during his first presidential visit to Camp David, the historic retreat for U.S. leaders. That’s what Camp David has traditionally offered presidents: a respite from Washington where they can shed their ties and relax with family. Bill Clinton tried to replicate that diplomatic alchemy when he invited Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to Camp David for Mideast peace talks in 2000. He said when foreign leaders descend on Camp David, it can be like an “adult sleepover.”“Going to camp in the cabins creates an atmosphere where leaders are very close together.

In this Jan. 25, 2021 photo, Secret Service vehicles parked outside of Blair House in Washington. Blair House, the official government guest house, is serving as a temporary home for Vice President Kamala Harris. AdSo Harris moved into Blair House, where President Harry Truman lived from 1948-1952 during major renovations to the White House. The original Blair House was built in 1824 by Joseph Lovell, the Army surgeon general, and later sold to journalist Francis Preston Blair. The Blair family sold the house to the U.S. government in the early 1940s, and it was turned into the president's official guest house.

First lady Jill Biden's necklace says "Mama," as she takes a tour of Whitman-Walker Health, Friday, Jan. 22, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)WASHINGTON – Five days into her new role, Jill Biden signaled Monday that she'll be a more active first lady, with a trio of virtual appearances before governors' spouses, young Latinos and library officials. Jill Biden's early moves seemed designed to signal that she intends to be more active than her predecessor, Melania Trump. On Monday, Jill Biden took on the role of top surrogate for the president, encouraging unity and promising the administration would listen to all voices. Joe Biden was a U.S. senator for 36 years, followed by eight years as vice president.

The dogs moved into the White House on Sunday, following Biden's inauguration last week. Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, a self-described germaphobe, does not own any pets and had none with him at the White House. “Pets have played an important role in the White House throughout the decades, not only by providing companionship to the presidents and their families, but also by humanizing and softening their political images,” said Jennifer Pickens, author of a book about pets at the White House. Among the stranger White House pets was Calvin Coolidge and first lady Grace Coolidge’s raccoon Rebecca. But instead she got an embroidered collar with the title “White House Raccoon” and entertained children at the White House Easter Egg Roll.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)CINCINNATI – Ohio Sen. “Our country is very polarized,” Portman said, adding that former President Donald Trump did not help with the polarization. “Both in his words before the attack on the Capitol and in his actions afterward, President Trump bears some responsibility for what happened,” Portman said. “And right now the kind of candidate that’s going to come out of a Ohio Republican primary is not going to be that kind of candidate. “Yeah, sure, some people are mad at him,” said Ohio Republican strategist Ryan Stubenrauch.

WASHINGTON – When Joe Biden took the oath of office as the 46th president, he became not only the oldest newly inaugurated U.S. chief executive in history but also the oldest sitting president ever. That’s 78 days older than President Ronald Reagan was when he left office in 1989. A look at how the country Biden now leads has changed over his lifetime and how his presidency might reflect that. The world population in Biden’s lifetime has grown from about 2.3 billion to 7.8 billion. The month Biden was born, a dozen eggs averaged about 60 cents in U.S. cities -- two hours of minimum wage work.