First Run News

The Democratic sweep in Tuesday’s elections has raised the pressure on Republicans to make good on their campaign promises. Republican senators downplayed any setback to their tax-reform push from the elections, but said the results drove home the need to deliver legislative wins before votes are cast in 2018.  “I do think, however, that it does speak to the need for us to get accomplishments. ... I think right now there's a general frustration in the country that even though we've gotten some things done on our agenda, that some of the big ticket items remain incomplete,” Sen.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and AT&T traded accusations on Wednesday over whether the company would have to sell off CNN, the cable network frequently feuding with President Trump, as a condition of its merger with Time Warner. Sources at the Justice Department told The Hill and other news outlets that antitrust officials had rejected an offer from AT&T on Monday to divest in CNN in order to win approval for the $85 billion deal. The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the offer did not alleviate their concerns that the deal could potentially harm the public

Senate Republicans are set to unveil a tax-reform bill that differs significantly from legislation in the House, setting up a battle within the GOP as it tries to hand President Trump his first major legislative victory. Tax-writers in the Senate are expected to eliminate the deduction for state and local taxes in their legislation, a break with House Republicans, who have proposed keeping it in place for property taxes up to $10,000. About two dozen House Republicans from high-tax states had insisted on the $10,000 exemption in the bill, saying it was critical to ease the financial impact on

The White House was in damage control mode on Wednesday as it sought to deflect blame for Tuesday's sweeping electoral losses and reassure Republicans who fear President Trump’s unpopularity will cost them at the polls in 2018.

Democrats view Tuesday as the start of a nationwide voter uprising against Trump. The party coasted to victory in governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey, while cutting into GOP majorities in statehouses across the country.

SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Tex. — Families have buried their dead, one by one, in the cemetery on the edge of town since the 1850s, when a settler named Dr.

The video makes clear that the masked man clad in black stormed into the church intent on shooting everyone there — and he nearly did.

The video makes clear that the masked man clad in black stormed into the church intent on shooting everyone there — and he nearly did.

Suzanne Hollack tried to care for her husband at home after he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia at age 69. But it got to the point where she couldn’t take a shower for fear he would stray out of the house. So 18 months ago, she moved him to a memory care community near their home in Scottsdale, Az., which like most long-term care, is not covered by Medicare. That, plus his other medical expenses, cost the couple $90,000 last year. “These expenses place a huge burden on your retirement savings,” said Mrs. Hollack, whose husband, Harry, managed operations for semiconductor companies.

A decades-old tax credit designed to spur cures for rare diseases has been so successful that it’s now become a target in the House Republican tax plan. The proposal under consideration would end the tax breaks for development of what are called orphan drugs. Ending the credit used by big and small drug companies could save the government an estimated $54 billion over the next decade, an effort to help offset some of the anticipated losses in revenue if other Republican tax cut provisions become law. With the Senate poised to offer its own broad tax plan soon, many details are still in flux.

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans, under pressure to pass a sweeping tax rewrite before year’s end, are expected to unveil legislation on Thursday that would eliminate the ability of people to deduct state and local taxes but would stop short of fully repealing the estate tax, according to lobbyists and other people familiar with the bill. The Senate plan is taking shape as Republicans digest the drubbing they suffered on Tuesday night in affluent suburbs across the country, many of them represented by Republicans in the House.