US Politics Explainers

Federal judges report a surge in violent threats against themselves and families, with security incidents up nearly 60 percent last year.

• Human...

• Personnel shift: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will leave her role later this month, citing the birth of her second child as the...

The administration is expanding oversight beyond closed models to address open-source risks, marking a clear shift from its prior light-touch...

Homeschooling has grown to an estimated 6% of K-12 students in 2023-24.

• Regulation push: Jo Anderson calls for home inspections, standardized...

The House approved the Stop Insider Trading Act to raise penalties for congressional insider trading and ban new individual stock purchases by...

The Alien Terrorist Removal Court issued its first order since its 1996 creation on July 16, 2026. This reactivation of the obscure court is the key development in immigration enforcement.

A top Treasury official warned the White House it risked breaking the law by interfering in IRS audits, then was forced out. The episode spotlights friction between political pressure and legal compliance in tax administration.

Medicare physician reimbursement has fallen 33% over 25 years after inflation, with Congress relying on temporary fixes instead of lasting...

The U.S. lifted its TikTok ban on federal government devices after a new joint venture with American investors, where ByteDance retains nearly 20%...

The Trump administration rescinded the TikTok ban on federal devices after concluding the app no longer poses a national security threat.

• Shift in...

Trump's order recommends universal childhood immunization against 11 diseases, compared to the 18 previously recommended by the CDC in late 2024.

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• A continuing resolution keeps the government funded by extending current spending levels and only changing the expiration date.
• Senate passed the...

The unreleased framework exempts open-weights models like Llama from any review, while skipping publication entirely:

• Uncontrollable spread:...

Trump has pivoted to sanctions after military strikes failed to deliver quick results against Iran.

• The White House launched Operation Economic...

The 119th Congress has passed major legislation expanding detention, deportation funding, and border infrastructure.

• Laken Riley Act mandates...

Arbitrary federal research funding cuts and political interference in grantmaking threaten US innovation by reducing output and global...

The administration's early health care actions have centered on cuts to personnel and budgets, efforts to remove vaccine mandates, and attempts to end diversity efforts.

Food company executives successfully lobbied the Trump administration to delay the first federal definition of ultra-processed foods by sending...

• Senate passed a CR funding agencies through Dec 11 that also temporarily blocks an OMB rule giving political appointees power to halt grants...

Trump's approach treats emergencies as a tool to reject constitutional limits rather than work within them.

• He has issued 6.5 times more emergency...