First Run News

WASHINGTON — Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said on Tuesday that the Justice Department should “certainly look at” charging James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director whom President Trump fired, for what she described as leaks of classified information. Ms. Sanders made the remarks after being asked at the White House press briefing whether the president was aware that his former chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, had said in an interview on “60 Minutes” that firing Mr.

WASHINGTON — When President Trump welcomed Malaysia’s prime minister, Najib Razak, to the White House on Tuesday, he thanked him for “all the investment you’ve made in the United States.” Mr. Trump did not single out Mr. Najib’s patronage of his hotel two blocks from the White House, but he could have: the Malaysian leader was spotted entering and exiting the Trump International Hotel, with his entourage, on Monday and Tuesday. The White House denied that Mr. Najib had picked the hotel at Mr. Trump’s behest.

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats on Tuesday warned they would work to block any rewrite of the tax code that repealed the estate tax and the deduction for state and local taxes, arguing that those moves would make a mockery of Republican promises to target tax relief to the middle class. But before Republicans could consider Democratic demands, they still were struggling to overcome their own disagreements over the arcana of a rewritten tax code. The clash over specific tax measures comes as the promised tax overhaul enters a pivotal phase.

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats on Tuesday warned they would work to block any rewrite of the tax code that repealed the estate tax and the deduction for state and local taxes, arguing that those moves would make a mockery of Republican promises to target tax relief to the middle class. But before Republicans could consider Democratic demands, they still were struggling to overcome their own disagreements over the arcana of a rewritten tax code. The clash over specific tax measures comes as the promised tax overhaul enters a pivotal phase.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily allowed the Trump administration to stop some 24,000 refugees from entering the United States while the court considers broad challenges to the administration’s revised travel ban. The court’s brief order effectively reversed part of an appeals court ruling that had lifted the travel ban’s restrictions on the nation’s refugee program.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is considering reducing the number of refugees admitted to the country over the next year to below 50,000, according to current and former government officials familiar with the discussions, the lowest number since at least 1980. President Trump promised during his 2016 campaign to deny admittance to refugees who posed a terrorist threat.

HOUSTON — Floodwaters in two Houston neighborhoods have been contaminated with bacteria and toxins that can make people sick, testing organized by The New York Times has found. Residents will need to take precautions to return safely to their homes, public health experts said. It is not clear how far the toxic waters have spread. But Fire Chief Samuel Peña of Houston said over the weekend that there had been breaches at numerous waste treatment plants.

HOUSTON — For six months, Sue and Roger Powell have been hoping to find a buyer for their 7,100-square-foot home in the Houston suburb of Katy. A week ago, after they waded out of it with a few suitcases on air mattresses, those hopes had largely faded.

HOUSTON — As we walked through Shirley Hines’s flood-battered Houston neighborhood on Sunday, we passed pile after pile at the curb — the soggy, ruined contents of people’s homes, mixed with floorboards, Sheetrock and insulation. I suddenly felt a tinge of embarrassment. My 8-year-old son carried a box containing small, pretty things: three red-striped cups, fragile and ordinary kitchen-cabinet objects. In a place where everything was broken, what good was something so shiny and little and whole? The three cups were a gift for Ms. Hines, from a stranger in Maryland. I first met Ms.

WASHINGTON — As Hurricane Irma rampaged through Florida, snapping power lines and damaging vital equipment, it left as many as 15 million people in the state without electricity, the Department of Homeland Security said on Tuesday.