This presidential election will be the first since the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol.

In a debate that evoked a calmer era in American politics, Tim Walz and JD Vance on Tuesday went after each other’s running mates and sought to shore up their campaigns' vulnerabilities at a time of renewed fears of a regional war in the Middle East and sadness over devastation from Hurricane Helene.

Work on the presidential inauguration platform is kicking off at the U.S. Capitol.

Kamala Harris has pressed a forceful case against Donald Trump in their first and perhaps only debate before the presidential election.

Kamala Harris steps on to the presidential general election debate stage for the first time Tuesday.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar has won her primary race in Minnesota.

After a tough summer of primaries, the progressive House members who call themselves “the Squad” are facing their final challenge next week.

Populist conservative and ex-NBA player Royce White has shaken up a U.S. Senate primary race in Minnesota.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar says she remains cancer-free following her bout with breast cancer in 2021, but doctors recently removed a small spot and that she’ll get radiation treatment as a precaution.

Experts say rebuilding Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge could take anywhere from 18 months to several years.

Senate Republicans have blocked legislation that would protect access to in vitro fertilization, objecting to a vote on the issue Wednesday even after widespread backlash to a recent ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court that threatens the practice.

A 96-year-old Korean War veteran from Minnesota has been waiting for 70 years for a Purple Heart medal.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democratic senators are urging federal regulators to investigate multibillion-dollar acquisitions by oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron, saying the deals could lead to higher prices at the gas pump.

US Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke of New York sent a letter Thursday to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and X CEO Linda Yaccarino expressing “serious concerns” about the emergence of AI-generated political ads on their platforms and asking each to explain any rules they’re crafting to curb the harms to free and fair elections.

When Jimmy Carter stepped onto the national stage, he brought along those closest to him, introducing Americans to a colorful Georgia family that helped shape the 39th president’s public life and now, generations later, is rallying around him for the private final chapter of his 98 years.

Senators grilled Ticketmaster Tuesday about its spectacular breakdown last year during a sale of Taylor Swift concert tickets.

Federal proposals that would have significantly boosted security funding for election offices and heightened penalties for threatening their staff failed to advance this year.

The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed increasing ethanol and other biofuels that must be blended into the nation’s fuel supplies over the next three years.

U.S. senators from both parties have expressed skepticism that a proposed merger between grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons will lower prices for consumers.

Democrats celebrating a successful effort to keep control of the U.S. Senate this year will soon confront a 2024 campaign that could prove more challenging.

Some state attorneys general aren’t shaking off this week’s Ticketmaster debacle.

Elon Musk tweeted a link to an unfounded rumor about the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, just days after Musk’s purchase of Twitter fueled concerns that the social media platform would no longer seek to limit misinformation and hate speech.

Jury selection is getting underway in the trial of two former Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s death.

The central idea behind House and Senate bills to reform an arcane federal election law is simple: Congress should not decide presidential elections.

House Democrats are voting this week on changes to a 19th century law for certifying presidential elections.

Local election officials preparing for the rapidly approaching midterm elections have one more headache: trying to combat misinformation that can confuse, anger and disenfranchise voters.

Victims of abuse and their families saw a quiet breakthrough this summer when a new bipartisan gun safety law made it more difficult for intimate partners convicted of domestic abuse to obtain firearms.

The top policy and communications executive at Amazon and a one-time White House spokesman has been named the head of policy at Airbnb.

Since the 2020 election, election officials and workers have faced an onslaught of harassment and threats stemming from false claims that the election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.

The nine justices of the Supreme Court made clear in their landmark ruling Friday whether they stand on abortion.

President Joe Biden signed legislation Thursday meant to make shipping goods across oceans cheaper.

Eleven years after her own life was massively altered by gun violence, former congresswoman Gabby Giffords stood in front of the Washington monument and once again lobbied for stricter gun laws after yet another string of mass shootings in America.

In one form or another, every Supreme Court nominee is asked during Senate hearings about his or her views of the landmark abortion rights ruling that has stood for a half century.

President Joe Biden is blasting what he calls a “radical” leaked draft opinion suggesting the Supreme Court is poised to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v.

President Joe Biden has saluted his “friend of five decades” Walter Mondale, traveling to the University of Minnesota to remember the former vice president and Democratic Party elder whose memorial service was delayed for a year due to the pandemic.

President Joe Biden plans to speak at a memorial service on Sunday for former Vice President Walter Mondale, who died last April at age 93.

At the Academy Awards in Los Angles Sunday night, attendees expressed support for Ukraine by going silent for 30 seconds.

Democrats have conflicting views of what they're accomplishing in the 50-50 Senate and of how to take advantage of their control on the chamber.

There's a shifting narrative on COVID-19 restrictions across the country among Democratic officials and candidates.

More than 600 sitting senators have died or resigned since the first Congress met in 1789.

The Democrats’ fragile hold on the Senate majority has become vividly apparent with the sudden illness of of New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Luján.

Donald Trump’s relentless, false claims about the 2020 presidential election have sparked fresh urgency in Congress for changing the Electoral Count Act.

Democrats know they may lose control of Congress in November's midterm elections.

Congress has taken a new step toward reining in the market dominance of Big Tech. Bipartisan legislation advanced by a Senate panel would bar the dominant online platforms from favoring their own goods and services over those of rivals on the platforms.

Democrats are mounting an impassioned bid to overhaul Senate rules that stand in the way of their sweeping voting legislation.

A year after the Jan. 6 attack, the new chief of the U.S. Capitol Police says the force is sure "to get tested again” and will be prepared.

The Capitol Police chief is about to gain new authority to request help from the National Guard.

During his confirmation to the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh assured Sen_ Susan Collins a woman's right to an abortion was “settled law.”.

Senate Democrats forced another test vote on voting rights legislation.

Minneapolis voters have rejected a proposal to replace the city’s police department with a new Department of Public Safety — an idea that arose from the May 2020 death of George Floyd.

Minnesota’s Congressional delegation on Monday is introducing a resolution to posthumously award the Congressional Gold Medal to pop superstar Prince, citing his “indelible mark on Minnesota and American culture,” The Associated Press has learned.

While accusing the giant social network of pursuing profits over safety, a former Facebook data scientist told Congress she believes stricter government oversight could alleviate the dangers the company poses, from harming children to inciting political violence to fueling misinformation.

Senate Democrats are paring back their signature elections bill in hopes of kickstarting their stalled push to pass it.

Minnesota Sen_ Amy Klobuchar says she has been treated for breast cancer and the treatment “went well.”.

Vice President Kamala Harris urged voters in her home state of California to defend the Democratic Party's progressive values by defeating the recall against Gov. Gavin Newsom.

After the success that Democrats in Georgia had in 2020, the Deep South battleground is working with other Southern states to help expand Democrats' national footprint.

Jimmy Carter is sometimes called a better former president than he was president.

President Joe Biden offered “profound gratitude” to law enforcement officers who responded to the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection as he signed legislation to award them Congressional Gold Medals for their service.

The Senate has voted to award Congressional Gold Medals to the Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department for protecting Congress during the Jan. 6 insurrection, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden for his signature.

Top congressional Democrats huddled with President Joe Biden, looking to salvage their push to enact voting rights legislation.

Senate Democrats have taken their case for a federal voting bill on the road.

A key senator says congressional Democrats are exploring ways to include financial incentives for states to expand voting access as part of a massive infrastructure bill.

Dozens of states are taking aim at Google in an escalating legal offensive on Big Tech. A lawsuit filed late Wednesday targets Google's Play store, where consumers download apps designed for the Android software that powers most of the world’s smartphones.

The filibuster is here to stay, for now, and that’s posing a challenge to President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress.

Senate Republicans have blocked debate of a sweeping overhaul of how elections are run in the United States.

The Senate will take a key vote next week on a sweeping rewrite of voting and election law, setting up a dramatic test of Democratic unity on a top priority that Republicans are vowing to block.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has affirmed key approvals by state regulators of Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 oil pipeline replacement project.

Nearly 250 people were arrested when protesters attempting to stop the final leg of the reconstruction of an oil pipeline across northwestern Minnesota took over a pump station.

A Senate report examining security failures surrounding the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol blames missed intelligence, poor planning and multiple layers of bureaucracy for the deadly siege.

A Senate investigation of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol has found a broad intelligence breakdown across multiple agencies, along with widespread law enforcement and military failures.

More than three months after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, Congress is still trying to figure out how to move forward and prevent future attacks.

More than three months after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, Congress is still trying to figure out how to move forward and prevent future attacks.

New details from the deadly riot of Jan. 6 are in a previously undisclosed document prepared by the Pentagon for internal use.

Broadband internet in the U.S. costs more than in many other rich nations, it still doesn’t reach tens of millions of Americans and the companies that provide it don’t face much competition.

National Guard troops were delayed in getting to the building as the rioters beat up police officers and smashed through windows and doors to get in. On Thursday, seven House committees asked 10 federal agencies for documents and communications from the government as part of a wide-ranging investigation. The Senate Homeland and Governmental Affairs Committee and the Senate Rules Committee have already held two hearings with security officials about what went wrong. The security officials described violent attacks on overwhelmed police officers and desperate pleas for backup. As the committees investigate, Capitol officials are improving the building's physical security, including reinforcing the House doors that the rioters attempted to breach.

Democrats and Republicans both see the legislation, which touches on nearly every aspect of the electoral process, as fundamental to their parties’ political futures. Republicans charge the bill would strip power from the states and cement an unfair political advantage for Democrats. It would expand voting by mail, promote early voting and give states money to track absentee ballots. Some measures would limit mail voting, cut hours at polling places and impose restrictions that Democrats argue amount to the greatest assault on voting rights since the Jim Crow era. The bill has already run into roadblocks that have become familiar since Democrats began their narrow control of the Senate two months ago.

Democrats and Republicans both see the legislation, which touches on nearly every aspect of the electoral process, as fundamental to their parties’ political futures. Republicans charge the bill would strip power from the states and cement an unfair political advantage for Democrats. It would expand voting by mail, promote early voting and give states money to track absentee ballots. Some measures would limit mail voting, cut hours at polling places and impose restrictions that Democrats argue amount to the greatest assault on voting rights since the Jim Crow era. The bill has already run into roadblocks that have become familiar since Democrats began their narrow control of the Senate two months ago.

Congressional Democrats, including Klobuchar, and nonprofits are pushing for a federal bill that would give nonprofits $50 billion to help them retain employees, hire newly unemployed workers and expand their operations. The bill, which was reintroduced in the U.S. Senate this week by U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and three other Senate Democrats, would give individual nonprofits grants of up to $3 million. The bill would also allow intermediary organizations, which help and provide expertise for nonprofits, to get grants of up to $100 million. Nonprofits with 500 or fewer employees have been able to get forgivable loans for expenses through the government’s Payment Protection Program. More than 100 organizations have endorsed the bill, including the National Council of Nonprofits.

Klobuchar, who heads the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on competition policy, has launched a broad examination by the panel of monopoly concerns. The current drift toward bigness began with a merger boom in the 1980s in corporate America that fattened profits for the dominant companies. But hold on, some are saying, let’s not punish bigness for its own sake; better to look at each case individually. They say big companies can bring efficiencies of scale, reduce prices and create jobs. He said as a candidate that breaking up Big Tech companies was something that should be considered.

Jury selection begins Monday, March 8, 2021, for Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer charged with murder and manslaughter in George Floyd's death. (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)MINNEAPOLIS – Jury selection begins Monday for a former Minneapolis police officer charged with murder and manslaughter in George Floyd's death. City, county and state officials are preparing for any sort of reaction that trial testimony or a verdict might elicit. AdTHE JUDGEHennepin County Judge Peter Cahill is respected and has a reputation as a no-nonsense, fair judge. AdPROSECUTIONDays after Floyd's death, Minnesota's governor announced that Attorney General Keith Ellison would take the lead on prosecuting the case.

Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – Many questions remain unanswered about the failure to prevent the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The Capitol Police also did its own intelligence assessment warning that Congress could be targeted on Jan. 6. Four House committees are probing what went wrong with that data collection, including the House intelligence committee. “I don’t want our committee’s examination to be about Trump or about Jan. 6,” Warner, D-Va., said in an interview. Thousands of National Guard troops still guard the Capitol, which is now surrounded by fencing and barbed wire and closed off to the public.

Guard troops who had been waiting on buses were then rushed to the Capitol, arriving in 18 minutes, Walker said. Much of the focus at Wednesday's hearing was on communications between the National Guard and the Defense Department. Contee said Sund pleaded with Army officials to deploy National Guard troops as the rioting escalated. AdAccording to the Defense Department, Walker was called at 3 p.m. by Army officials, and was told to prepare Guard troops to deploy. Thousands of National Guard troops are still patrolling the fenced-in Capitol, and multiple committees across Congress are investigating Jan. 6.

Former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund testifies before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs & Senate Rules and Administration joint hearing on Capitol Hill, Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, to examine the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Sund said he hadn’t seen an FBI field office report that warned of potential violence citing online posts about a “war." Sund said he did see an intelligence report created within his own department warning that Congress could be targeted on Jan. 6. ”Sund and Irving disagreed on when the National Guard was called and on requests for the guard beforehand. A House subcommittee will examine damage to the Capitol on Wednesday and will hear testimony from current security officials, including Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman, on Thursday.

Former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund appears before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs & Senate Rules and Administration joint hearing on Capitol Hill, Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, to examine the January 6th attack on the Capitol. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)WASHINGTON – Security officials testifying at Congress' first hearing on the deadly siege of the Capitol cast blame and pointed fingers on Tuesday but also acknowledged they were woefully unprepared for the violence. The security officials lost their jobs, and Trump was impeached by the House on a charge of inciting the insurrection, the deadliest attack on Congress in 200 years. But then-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund testified that he only learned about it the day before Tuesday's hearing. But in closing, Klobuchar restated the testimony: “There was clear agreement this was a planned insurrection.”ONE OFFICER'S PERSONAL STORYThe hearing opened with Capitol Police Capt.

Former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund testifies before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs & Senate Rules and Administration joint hearing on Capitol Hill, Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, to examine the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Sund said he hadn’t seen an FBI field office report that warned of potential violence citing online posts about a “war." Sund said he did see an intelligence report created within his own department warning that Congress could be targeted on Jan. 6. ”Sund and Irving disagreed on when the National Guard was called and on requests for the guard beforehand. A House subcommittee will examine damage to the Capitol on Wednesday and will hear testimony from currrent security officials, including Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman, on Thursday.

Two Senate committees have summoned top security officials to testify, the beginning of a comprehensive look at what went wrong. In her letter to Democratic colleagues, Pelosi said the House will also put forth supplemental spending to boost security at the Capitol. The hearing will begin a broad examination of the security failures that led to the breach. The security breakdown on Jan. 6, as the House and Senate met for a joint session to count electoral votes, was severe. With the diminished security presence, the rioters not only breached the Capitol but entered the Senate chamber minutes after senators had fled.

In a letter signed last week they wrote that “the First Amendment does not apply in impeachment proceedings, so it cannot provide a defense for President Trump." Another showed Biden talking about taking Trump “behind the gym” to “beat the hell out of him,” like in high school. Trump used the word "fight" while trying to undermine the outcome of a free and fair election that he lost. Dozens of legal challenges to the election put forth by Trump and his allies were dismissed. AdStill, Trump's lawyers said they were making a valid point by highlighting Democrats' use of the word "fight."

Democrats plan to move quickly on one of the first bills of the new Congress, which would set federal election standards. Advocates say the bill is the most consequential piece of voting legislation since the Voting Rights Act of 1965. House Democrats vowed two years ago to make the bill a priority, and they reintroduced it this month as H.R. That bill would restore a key provision of the Voting Rights Act that had triggered federal scrutiny of election changes in certain states and counties. In general, state election officials have been wary of federal voting requirements.

When it gazes into the mirror, the United States does not generally see a land of process and procedure. The bold, splashy storylines that Americans crave, and have used to construct their nation, don't always play well with repetition and routine. That's where process, procedure and ritual come in. And that for every deafening moment that lurches the nation forward, there are countless procedural ones that inch it along. For one moment, whatever kind of American you are, whatever you’re upset about and however you voted, this land was incontrovertibly your land.

House Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina, and former President George Bush, take a selfie before the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)COLUMBIA, S.C. – As they witnessed President Joe Biden take the oath of office on Wednesday, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said former Republican President George W. Bush lauded him as a “savior” for helping get Biden elected. The South Carolina Democrat is largely credited with giving Biden the endorsement he needed to shoot to the top of 2020′s large Democratic field and win his party's nomination. Clyburn, South Carolina’s only Democratic representative in Congress, is the dean of the state’s Democrats and the third-ranking member of the U.S. House. Clyburn said that his backing of Biden also came up Wednesday during conversations with former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, the party's 2016 nominee.

When Biden takes office later this month, his biggest challenge may be navigating a deeply divided country past the turmoil of the Trump era. Biden essentially framed his presidential campaign as a response to Trump, pledging to “restore the soul” of America. He has said he decided to seek the White House after watching Trump say there were “very fine people on both sides” of a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. “Biden has to be very conscious of dealing with President Trump," Updegrove continued. But the senator said the inauguration itself may offer the most important opportunity for Biden to set a forward-looking tone.

Similar structures have previously been used around the White House and in other cities that faced prolonged demonstrations. “The safety and security of all those participating in the 59th Presidential Inauguration is of the utmost importance,” the Secret Service said in a statement. A Trump rally in front of the White House helped rile up the mob that later stormed the Capitol. The inaugural committee said Biden would receive an official escort, with representatives from every military branch, for a block before arriving at the White House from the Capitol. Trump may not invite Biden to the White House while forgoing the inauguration, which Bendat said would amount to “an assault on our democracy” akin to the mob violence at the Capitol.

This was a big day, especially for the House and Senate leadership lane, one of my specialties. Smith Goes to Washington” you've seen my work area since a press gallery scene from the movie was filmed there more than 70 years ago. (The Senate chamber, however, was a soundstage). The mob was out of the building by then and, strangely, it almost seemed boring, waiting for the Capitol to be declared safe. The Daily Press Gallery where I work had not been breached.

Members of the National Guard arrive to secure the area outside the U.S. Capitol, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. But there it was, in the capital city of the United States in early January 2021: a real-time breaking and entering the likes of which the republic has never seen. “This,” Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said, "is an absolute disgrace." The United States on Wednesday seemed at risk of becoming the very kind of country it has so often insisted it was helping: a fragile democracy. “This temple to democracy” was what Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, called the Capitol building after things calmed down.

A woman was shot and killed inside the Capitol, and Washington’s mayor instituted an evening curfew in an attempt to contain the violence. Together, the protests and the GOP election objections amounted to an almost unthinkable challenge to American democracy and exposed the depths of the divisions that have coursed through the country during Trump’s four years in office. Before dawn Thursday, lawmakers completed their work, confirming Biden won the presidential election. In the aftermath, several Republicans announced they would drop their objections to the election, including Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., who lost her bid for reelection Tuesday. Some House lawmakers tweeted they were sheltering in place in their offices.

Myon Burrell is photographed at his home in Minneapolis, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020, two days after his release from prison. … Every step that I took, it was just like bricks, just bricks and bricks and bricks, just being removed from my shoulders,” said Burrell, now 34, in his first interview from home. Burrell now has a job lined up, along with a wife and supportive family ready to help with his transition to freedom. With no idea how to navigate the criminal justice system, he said, many were easily convinced by defense attorneys to sign plea deals even when they weren’t guilty. “We need to make compassion and redemption part of our criminal justice system.”Burrell’s sentence was commuted to 20 years, but he was not pardoned.

That's the message from the congressional committee organizing inauguration ceremonies for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Despite this week’s rollout of the new vaccine, its availability to the general public is still months away. Biden's own inaugural committee, which works with the congressional committee, had already asked supporters to stay away from Washington and plan safe inaugural celebrations at home. Features of that convention, such as the virtual roll call from every state, may be incorporated into a virtual inauguration experience. Blunt said planners were developing "enhanced opportunities to watch the ceremonies online, in addition to the traditional televised national broadcast.”

Just hours after receiving the news, he walked out the front door of Stillwater prison into below-freezing temperatures. The AP investigation that followed sparked national outrage and gave Burrell’s family and community organizers the ammunition they needed to get Klobuchar’s attention. One had his 16-year prison sentence cut to three. He said the justice system failed his family, and media coverage and support for Burrell’s release overshadowed his sister’s death. Edwards III, Tyesha’s brother, said news of Burrell’s release is especially hard after the death of his mother last year.

WASHINGTON – The Latest on President-elect Joe Biden (all times local):4:20 p.m.President-elect Joe Biden is confirming that he will nominate retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin to be secretary of defense. And he wrote that Austin knows that the secretary of defense has a different set of responsibilities than a military officer. ___HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PRESIDENT-ELECT JOE BIDEN'S TRANSITION TO THE WHITE HOUSE:President-elect Joe Biden will nominate retired four-star Army general Lloyd J. Austin to be secretary of defense, according to four people familiar with the decision. Those pledges came even as Biden struck a somber tone about the toll the coronavirus has already taken. The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies is being prevented from publicly announcing its plans for President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and her husband Doug Emhoff take the stage during a drive-in get out the vote rally, Monday, Nov. 2, 2020, in Philadelphia. Doug Emhoff, the 56-year-old husband of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, will leave his private law practice by Inauguration Day to focus on his role at the White House, a spokesperson said Tuesday. While Emhoff built a career as a high-profile entertainment lawyer in Southern California, he's been most visible to voters as Harris' supportive husband. When Harris began her term in the U.S. Senate in 2017, Emhoff moved to DLA Piper, which had a presence in Washington and Los Angeles, where Harris and Emhoff split their time. John Bessler, the husband of Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who is also a lawyer, called Emhoff a “modern man" for dedicating time to Harris' political career over his own.