Rand Paul

CIA Director John Ratcliffe departs a classified briefing for senators at the Capitol on Capitol Hill, Thursday, June 26, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Senators diverge sharply on damage done by Iran strikes after classified briefing

Senators are emerging from a classified briefing with sharply diverging assessments of President Donald Trump’s bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites. Republicans called the mission a clear success, while Democrats expressed deep skepticism.
 
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks with reporters after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican senators to watch in the maneuvering over Trump’s big bill

 
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., arrives for a vote as Republicans work to advance President Donald Trump's spending and tax bill, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Trump urges senators to get his big tax bill done by July 4th

 
President Donald Trump speaks at U.S. Steel Corporation's Mon Valley Works-Irvin plant, Friday, May 30, 2025, in West Mifflin, Pa. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

The Latest: Musk slams Trump-backed plan to cut taxes and spending

 
President Donald Trump, right, walks toward the Oval Office as he returns to the White House with Bryson DeChambeau, winner of the 2024 U.S. Open, after playing golf, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

The Latest: Trump’s pledge to fix national debt faces skepticism from some Republicans

 

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Senators consider changes to debt limit and Medicaid in Trump’s big bill

Some U.S. Senators want to make changes to President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill of tax breaks and spending cuts, like making additional cuts to Medicaid and not raising the debt limit. (AP Video by Nathan Ellgren)
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The Senate votes down resolution to block Trump’s global tariffs amid economic turmoil

Senate GOP approves framework for Trump’s tax breaks

Senate rebukes Trump’s tariffs as Democrats pick up some Republican support

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President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing in ceremony for interim U.S. Attorney General for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Can Trump fix the national debt? Republican senators, many investors and even Elon Musk have doubts

 
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer D-N.Y., speaks during "Hands Off Social Security " rally on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Schumer is vowing to hold up Justice Department nominees for answers about luxury plane from Qatar

 
President Donald Trump answers a reporter's question during an event in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, Monday, May 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Trump’s plan to accept free Air Force One replacement from Qatar raises ethical and security worries

 
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks during the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing on the nomination of Martin Makary to serve as Commissioner of Food and Drugs at the Department of Health and Human Services, on Capitol Hill Thursday, March 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file)

Sen. Paul points to business-sector resistance to Trump’s tariffs in solidly red Kentucky

 
Ed Martin speaks at an event hosted by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., at the Capitol in Washington, June 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades, File)

Trump’s pick for top prosecutor in DC is testing Republican loyalty

 
President Donald Trump walks to board Marine One after speaking with reporters on the South Lawn of the White House, April 3, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Takeaways from the Senate budget vote: Tariff pressure, debt worries and signs of GOP unease

 
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., joined by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the GOP whip, left, talks to reporters at the Capitol, in Washington, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate GOP approves framework for Trump’s tax breaks and spending cuts after late-night session

 
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., center, is joined from left by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., as they speak to reporters about President Donald Trump's tariffs on foreign countries, at the Capitol, in Washington, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate rebukes Trump’s tariffs as some Republicans vote to halt taxes on Canadian imports

 
Bottles and decorations are seen in the tasting area of The Bard Distillery in Graham, Ky., Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)

Trump’s tariff wars forge rare bipartisan alliance in Kentucky as bourbon makers fear escalation

 
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters after a Senate policy luncheon on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, March 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

The Latest: Senate passes 6-month funding bill, sending measure to Trump’s desk

 
Elon Musk leaves after meeting with Senate Republicans, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Elon Musk comes to Capitol Hill to meet with Republicans who discuss turning DOGE cuts into law

 
Former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., President-elect Donald Trump's pick for Secretary of Labor, left, is pictured on Capitol Hill, Jan. 14, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

Can Trump bring unions into the GOP fold? His labor nominee presents a major test

 
This photo provided by Trisha Bushey shows the evening sky and points of light near in Lebanon Township, N.J., on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (Trisha Bushey via AP)

Federal officials’ authority to track and disable drones set to expire, snared in budget battle

 
This photo provided by Trisha Bushey shows the evening sky and points of light near in Lebanon Township, N.J., on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (Trisha Bushey via AP)

Bill responding to drone sightings is blocked in the Senate

 
FILE- Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Ranking Member Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks during a committee hearing, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, File)

Rand Paul wants to bring back Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy as a Senate chair

 
FILE - Jefferson County Public Schools buses make their way through the Detrick Bus Compound on the first day of school, Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, in Louisville, Ky. (Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal via AP, File)

School choice ballot measure framed as a pivotal decision for Kentucky education

 
FILE - Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks to reporters about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and his recent freeze-ups on camera, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Kentucky school choice ballot measure pits competing messages from Gov. Andy Beshear, Sen. Rand Paul

 
FILE - Rep. Yvette Clarke of New York speaks at a news conference in Washington, Nov. 4, 2021. Clarke and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota sent a letter Thursday to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and X CEO Linda Yaccarino asking each to explain any rules they're crafting to curb AI-generated election ads that deceive people. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Meta and X questioned by lawmakers over lack of rules against AI-generated political deepfakes

 
FILE - A person uses a cell phone in New Orleans on Aug. 11, 2019. On Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming an emergency broadcast system test on Oct. 4 will send a signal to cell phones nationwide in order to activate nanoparticles such as graphene oxide that have been introduced into people’s bodies. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn’t happen this week

 
FILE - The Department of Homeland Security logo is seen during a news conference in Washington, Feb. 25, 2015. The Department of Homeland Security has long had the ability to inspect facilities where chemicals are used or stored to make sure their security systems are in place. And the facilities themselves have been required to vet prospective employees for any terrorism links. But the program, called the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards, expired July 28, 2023, after Congress failed to renew it. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

The US government is eager to restore powers to keep dangerous chemicals out of extremists’ hands

 
Members of the Bowling Green Fire Department work to extinguish an early morning structure fire on State Street Friday, July 21, 2023 in Bowling Green, Ky. The building, home to Senator Rand Paul's Bowling Green local office, sustained heavy damage, including a roof collapse. (Jake Moore/Daily News via AP)

Fire damages building that houses office of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul

 
Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to reporters at the State Department in Washington, Monday, July 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Blinken urges Congress to act on delayed ambassadorial nominations

 

Democratic Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear reelected to second term