STEPHEN GROVES

The name of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., remains on the sign at the entrance of the offices of the Speaker of the House on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023 in Washington, one day after he was ousted from the Speaker's position. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
McCarthy’s ouster leaves the House adrift as divided Republicans seek to unite behind a new leader
The stunning removal of Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker has left the House adrift. Republicans are now struggling to bring order to their fractured majority.
 
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., leaves the House floor after being ousted as Speaker of the House at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
House speaker chaos stuns lawmakers, frays relationships and roils Washington
Republican California congressman Kevin McCarthy’s ouster from the speaker role has left the House of Representatives roiling. An essential body of American democracy no longer has an elected leader.
 
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., gives two thumbs up as the Senate votes to approve a 45-day funding bill to keep federal agencies open, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Government shutdown averted with little time to spare as Biden signs funding before midnight
The threat of a federal government shutdown ended late Saturday night after Congress approved a temporary funding bill to keep federal agencies open until Nov. 17.
 
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., pauses as he addresses reporters about efforts to pass appropriations bills and avert a looming government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. He is joined at right by House Homeland Security Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., and Rep. Monica de la Cruz, R-Texas. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
McCarthy’s last-ditch plan to keep the government open collapses, making a shutdown almost certain
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s last-ditch plan to keep the government temporarily open has collapsed. Friday’s vote a day before the deadline makes a government shutdown almost certain.
 
FILE - From left, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., and Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., propose amendments to the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Bill before the House Rules Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
The far right has been feuding with McCarthy for weeks. Here’s how it’s spiraling into a shutdown
The House is in a familiar position with little time left to prevent a government shutdown: It’s effectively paralyzed as conservatives feud with Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
 
FILE - House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., walks to the chamber for procedural votes to advance appropriations bills, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday night, Sept. 26, 2023. McCarthy is digging in on his refusal to take up Senate legislation designed to keep the federal government fully running beyond midnight Saturday, Sept. 30. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
McCarthy rejects Senate spending bill while scrambling for a House plan that averts a shutdown
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is digging in on his refusal to take up Senate legislation designed to keep the federal government fully running beyond midnight Saturday.
 
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., emerges from a closed-door Republican strategy session to talk to reporters about updates on funding the government and averting a shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Speaker McCarthy is back to square one as the Senate pushes ahead to avert a federal shutdown
The Senate is marching ahead with a bipartisan approach to prevent a government shutdown. But on the House side, Speaker Kevin McCarthy is back to square one. The Republican leader laid out his strategy Wednesday behind closed doors.
 
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., talks to reporters as Congress returns to work in crisis mode with only a few days to go before a government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. McCarthy faces an insurgency from hard-right Republicans eager to slash spending even if it means closing federal offices to millions of Americans. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Congress says it wants to avoid a shutdown. But the House and Senate are moving even further apart.
Congress is starkly divided over very different paths to preventing a federal shutdown. The Senate is charging ahead with a bipartisan package to temporarily fund the government and bolster Ukraine aid and U.S. disaster funds.
 
FILE - House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of Calif., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023, in Washington. McCarthy has turned to a strategy that has so far preserved his tenuous hold on House leadership but also marked it by chaos. He is facing a fast-approaching government shutdown that threatens to disrupt life for millions of Americans. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
Speaker McCarthy is giving hard-right Republicans what they want. But it never seems to be enough.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy has turned to a strategy that so far has preserved his tenuous hold on House leadership, but also marked his tenure by chaos. It’s a strategy of giving hard-right lawmakers what they want.
 
FILE - Visitors take in the massive sculpture carved into Mount Rushmore at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, in, Keystone, S.D. Gates will be locked and thousands of rangers will be furloughed from national park sites if Congress doesn’t reach a budget agreement Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. But Arizona and Utah officials say they’ll make sure visitors can still enjoy the dramatic depths of the Grand Canyon and the soaring red cliffs of Zion Valley and South Dakota says it will pay to keep Mount Rushmore and Badlands accessible. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
A government shutdown is averted for now with a temporary funding bill. What happens in a shutdown?
A U.S. government shutdown would have disrupted many services that Americans rely on and squeezed federal workers. Social Security checks would have still gone out, but other government functions would have been severely curtailed.
 
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of Calif., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
White House preparing for government shutdown as House Republicans lack a viable endgame for funding
The White House has direct federal agencies to get ready for a shutdown after House Republicans left town for the weekend with no viable plan to keep the government funded.
 
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., walks from the chamber to his office just after House Republicans failed to advance their own defense bill for second time in a week, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Government shutdown risk spikes as House Republicans leave town in disarray amid hard-right revolt
With the collapse of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s latest plan to avert a federal shutdown, lawmakers have left town with no endgame in sight.
 
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., briefs reporters following a closed-door Republican Conference meeting on how to agree on a path to funding the government, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
McCarthy struggles to pass a temporary spending bill to avoid a shutdown as others look at options
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says he won’t give up trying to pass a conservative bill to prevent a government shutdown.
 
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., briefs reporters following a closed-door Republican Conference meeting on how to agree on a path to funding the government, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Speaker McCarthy faces an almost impossible task trying to unite House GOP and fund the government
Speaker Kevin McCarthy is trying to accomplish what at times seems impossible. The Republican speaker is working furiously to convince his colleagues to come together to pass a conservative bill to keep the federal government open.
 
FILE - Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., talks to reporters about avoiding a government shutdown and launching an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, following a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans at the Capitol in Washington, Sept. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Speaker McCarthy is running out of options to stop a shutdown as conservatives balk at a new plan
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is running out of options as he tries to press forward with a plan to keep the federal government from shutting down.
 
FILE - The Capitol in Washington, is seen at sunrise, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. On one side of the U.S. Capitol, two senators have steered the debate over government funding mostly clear of partisan fights, clearing a path for bills to pass with bipartisan momentum. Steps away, on the House side of the building, things couldn’t be more different. House Republicans, trying to win support from the far-right wing of the party, have loaded up their government funding packages with funding cuts and conservative policy priorities. Democrats have responded with ire, branding their GOP counterparts as extreme and bigoted and withdrawing support for the legislation.(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
The Senate’s bipartisan approach to government funding is putting pressure on a divided House
The United States is at risk of another damaging government shutdown, potentially as soon as the end of September. So what’s happening on Capitol Hill?
 
Ukraine's Head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak, left, and Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, right, listen as Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool via AP)
Zelenskyy plans to visit Washington as Congress is debating $24 billion in aid for Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected on Capitol Hill and at the White House next week. On Friday, Jake Sullivan, the president’s national security adviser, confirmed the visit to the White House, which will take place on Thursday.
 
FILE - House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., joined at right by Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., arrives for a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 6, 2023. Scalise has been diagnosed with blood cancer.(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
No. 2 House Republican Steve Scalise returns to the Capitol after his blood cancer diagnosis
Rep. Steve Scalise has returned to the U.S. Capitol for the first time since being diagnosed with a blood cancer known as multiple myeloma. Scalise is 57 years old and is the No. 2 House Republican.
 
President Joe Biden walks across the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, after returning from a trip to India and Vietnam. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Biden brushes off House impeachment inquiry and says Republicans want to shut down the government
President Joe Biden is brushing off the House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry. Biden says the way he sees it, they opened the probe against him because they want to shut down the federal government.
 
Former President Donald Trump greets South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem at the South Dakota Republican Party Monumental Leaders rally Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, in Rapid City, S.D. (AP Photo/Toby Brusseau)
Gov. Kristi Noem endorses Trump as he visits South Dakota
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem endorsed former President Donald Trump at a party fundraiser in Rapid City Friday night that doubled as an opportunity for Noem to showcase herself as a potential vice presidential pick.
 
FILE - President Donald Trump appears with Gov. Kristi Noem in Sioux Falls, S.D., Sept. 7, 2018. As his rivals spend the day holding town halls and meet-and-greets in early-voting states, Donald Trump is heading to South Dakota on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, for a party fundraiser that will double as an opportunity for the state's governor, Kristi Noem, to showcase herself as a potential vice presidential pick. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem expected to endorse Trump
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is expected to endorse Donald Trump’s presidential campaign when he travels to her state for a Republican fundraiser on Friday.
 
FILE - The U.S. Capitol is seen on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Congress is returning to Capitol Hill to try to avert a government shutdown, while House Republicans also consider whether to press forward on an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)
Congress returns to try to prevent a government shutdown while the GOP weighs an impeachment inquiry
Congress is returning to Capitol Hill to try to avert a government shutdown, while House Republicans consider whether to pursue an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. Senators return Tuesday.
 
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks at the NKY Chamber of Commerce at the Madison Event Center, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, in Covington, Ky. McConnell appeared to briefly freeze up and was unable to answer a question from a reporter during the event on Wednesday, weeks after he had a similar episode in Washington. (WCPO via AP)
Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell can continue with his work schedule, congressional physician says
The attending physician to Congress says he’s cleared Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell to continue with his planned schedule. That word from Dr.
 
FILE - Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., talks to reporters outside his office about calls for an impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden, at the Capitol in Washington, July 25, 2023. The White House says Congress should pass a short-term funding measure to ensure the government keeps operating after the current budget year ends Sept. 30. McCarthy, R-Calif., told Fox News on Sunday that he “would actually like” to have a short-term funding measure because a shutdown “hurts the American public.” (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
McCarthy floats stopgap funding to prevent a government shutdown at the end of next month
Congressional leaders are pitching a stopgap government funding package to avoid a federal shutdown after next month. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy raised the idea to House Republicans on a members-only call.
 
FILE - Devon Archer, Hunter Biden's former business partner, passes through the security checkpoint as he arrives on Capitol Hill to give closed-door testimony to the House Oversight Committee in the Republican-led investigations into President Biden's son, in Washington, Monday, July 31, 2023. House Republicans released a transcript Thursday, Aug. 3, of their interview with Hunter Biden’s former business associate detailing overseas financial dealings with the president’s son. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Testimony from Hunter Biden associate provides new insight into their business dealings
House Republicans are releasing new information about the business dealings of President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. Republicans on Thursday released the transcript of an interview with Devon Archer, who was Hunter Biden’s business partner.
 
FILE - Cleanup of portions of a Norfolk Southern freight train that derailed Friday night in East Palestine, Ohio, continues on Feb. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
6 months after the East Palestine train derailment, Congress is deadlocked on new rules for safety
Congress responded to the fiery train derailment in eastern Ohio earlier this year with bipartisan alarm at railroad crashes causing potential disasters.
 
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., left, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., stand together during a meeting with visiting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, July 27, 2023. Before adjourning for the August recess, the two leaders worked to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2024 for military activities of the Department of Defense. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Senate passes defense bill with bipartisan support, but clash looms with House over social issues
The Senate has passed a massive annual defense bill that would deliver a 5.2% pay raise for service members and keep the nation’s military operating.
 
FILE - Douglas Fir seedlings grow at New Mexico State University's John T. Harrington Forestry Research Center in Mora, northern New Mexico, Aug. 24, 2022. The NMSU center plays a vital role in the reforestation process of ravaged areas affected by wildfires in the state of New Mexico. House Republicans are searching for solutions to climate change without restricting American-produced energy that comes from burning oil, coal and gas. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File)
House Republicans propose planting a trillion trees as they move away from climate change denial
House Republicans are searching for solutions to climate change without restricting American-produced energy that comes from burning oil, coal and gas.
 
FILE - A voter drops his ballot in a drop box at Marilyn J. Praisner Community Recreation Center, during Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, in Burtonsville, Md. Congressional Republicans and Democrats are preparing vastly different bills dealing with voting and elections, underscoring the great divide between the parties on how to address a fundamental aspect of American democracy.(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
Deep partisanship will be on display as Congress releases competing voting bills
Congress is considering renewed efforts to shore up voting and election laws in the coming weeks. But in a sign of dissonance between Republicans and Democrats on the basic functions of U.S. democracy, the parties will unveil competing proposals.
 
FILE - Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., talks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, May 28, 2023. Republicans in the House are increasingly threatening impeachment against Biden and his top Cabinet officials. Impeachment has traditionally been viewed as an option of last resort in Congress, to be used only for severe wrongdoing. But the constitutionally authorized power to charge officials with "high crimes and misdemeanors" is on the way to becoming routine. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Threats of impeachment and censure used to be rare. In this Congress, they’re becoming routine
Republicans in the House are increasingly threatening impeachment against President Joe Biden and his top Cabinet officials. Impeachment has traditionally been viewed as an option of last resort in Congress, to be used only for severe wrongdoing.
 
Load More