The Vermont Independent wants to force Medicare negotiations with drug companies and use that revenue to pay for a broader program.Sen. Bernie Sanders, chair of the Budget Committee, arrives to a committee hearing. | Stefani Reynolds-Pool/Getty ImagesBernie Sanders wants to make sweeping changes to Medicare and prescription drug policy — and evade the filibuster to do it.The Vermont Independent is urging Democrats to force Medicare to enter into negotiations with drug companies and use that revenue to pay for a huge expansion of the entitlement program. Sanders, who chairs the Senate Budget...…The Vermont Independent wants to force Medicare negotiations with drug companies and use that revenue to pay for a broader program.Sen. Bernie Sanders, chair of the Budget Committee, arrives to a committee hearing. | Stefani Reynolds-Pool/Getty ImagesBernie Sanders wants to make sweeping changes to Medicare and prescription drug policy — and evade the filibuster to do it.The Vermont Independent is urging Democrats to force Medicare to enter into negotiations with drug companies and use that revenue to pay for a huge expansion of the entitlement program. Sanders, who chairs the Senate Budget...WW…

The president is preparing to embark on a new, far more public-facing phase of his term.President Joe Biden speaks from the State Dining Room following the passage of the American Rescue Plan in the U.S. Senate at the White House on March 6. | Samuel Corum/Getty ImagesPresident Joe Biden spent the first months of his presidency hunkered down as he worked on getting more vaccines into people’s arms and a massive bill to deal with the pandemic to his desk.With that $1.9 trillion legislation set to clear Congress and the pace of vaccinations picking up, the White House is preparing to embark...…The president is preparing to embark on a new, far more public-facing phase of his term.President Joe Biden speaks from the State Dining Room following the passage of the American Rescue Plan in the U.S. Senate at the White House on March 6. | Samuel Corum/Getty ImagesPresident Joe Biden spent the first months of his presidency hunkered down as he worked on getting more vaccines into people’s arms and a massive bill to deal with the pandemic to his desk.With that $1.9 trillion legislation set to clear Congress and the pace of vaccinations picking up, the White House is preparing to embark...WW…

The House took the first step toward pushing Biden's relief package through Congress without GOP support.President Joe Biden makes brief remarks in the Oval Office at the White House. | Doug Mills-Pool/Getty ImagesPresident Joe Biden met with Democrats on Wednesday as the House took its first step toward passing his sprawling $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package through Congress without any Republican help.The lower chamber approved a budget measure in 218-212 vote, directing a dozen committees to start drafting the pieces of Biden’s bill, including $1,400 stimulus checks, $350 billion...…The House took the first step toward pushing Biden's relief package through Congress without GOP support.President Joe Biden makes brief remarks in the Oval Office at the White House. | Doug Mills-Pool/Getty ImagesPresident Joe Biden met with Democrats on Wednesday as the House took its first step toward passing his sprawling $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package through Congress without any Republican help.The lower chamber approved a budget measure in 218-212 vote, directing a dozen committees to start drafting the pieces of Biden’s bill, including $1,400 stimulus checks, $350 billion...WW…

The president, in a new video, called on his supporters not to engage in violent demonstrations that federal law enforcement warns might be brewing.President Donald Trump denounced the Capitol attack as an incursion that “struck at the very heart of our republic.” | Al Drago/Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump issued a last-ditch appeal to nonviolence in a video statement on Wednesday, just after the House voted to make him the first twice-impeached American president on a charge of inciting an insurrection.In a video posted to the White House Twitter account on Wednesday evening, Trump...…The president, in a new video, called on his supporters not to engage in violent demonstrations that federal law enforcement warns might be brewing.President Donald Trump denounced the Capitol attack as an incursion that “struck at the very heart of our republic.” | Al Drago/Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump issued a last-ditch appeal to nonviolence in a video statement on Wednesday, just after the House voted to make him the first twice-impeached American president on a charge of inciting an insurrection.In a video posted to the White House Twitter account on Wednesday evening, Trump...WW…

Members of the D.C. National Guard were watching traffic as a riot unfolded blocks away.Trump supporters stormed the halls of the capitol on Jan. 6. | Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP PhotoAs pro-Trump rioters besieged the Capitol complex last week, leading to five deaths and scores of injuries, hundreds of members of the D.C. National Guard — with easy access to body armor, shields and helmets — sat on the sidelines around the city, unable to act.In conversations with POLITICO on Monday, five of the National Guardsmen on duty last week expressed frustration and disbelief with how the events...…Members of the D.C. National Guard were watching traffic as a riot unfolded blocks away.Trump supporters stormed the halls of the capitol on Jan. 6. | Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP PhotoAs pro-Trump rioters besieged the Capitol complex last week, leading to five deaths and scores of injuries, hundreds of members of the D.C. National Guard — with easy access to body armor, shields and helmets — sat on the sidelines around the city, unable to act.In conversations with POLITICO on Monday, five of the National Guardsmen on duty last week expressed frustration and disbelief with how the events...WW…

Lawmakers are demanding a "full accounting" of what was taken as rioters ransacked congressional offices.A supporter of President Donald Trump sits inside the office House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as he riots inside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday. | Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty ImagesThe mob that rampaged inside the halls of Congress on Wednesday might have taken a lot more than Americans’ illusions of invulnerability.“National security equities” may have been among the records stolen from the Capitol on Wednesday when pro-Trump insurgents stormed the building and looted several...…Lawmakers are demanding a "full accounting" of what was taken as rioters ransacked congressional offices.A supporter of President Donald Trump sits inside the office House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as he riots inside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday. | Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty ImagesThe mob that rampaged inside the halls of Congress on Wednesday might have taken a lot more than Americans’ illusions of invulnerability.“National security equities” may have been among the records stolen from the Capitol on Wednesday when pro-Trump insurgents stormed the building and looted several...WW…

Funding for schools will be a central element of the next coronavirus relief package."Everybody I know wants to open up the schools," Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday. "But it has to be safe for the children.” | Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesCongress’ push to deliver its next coronavirus relief package is facing a massive new hurdle: the national fight over reopening America’s schools.President Donald Trump’s demands for in-person education this fall — despite a resurgence of Covid-19 cases in dozens of states — has emerged as another partisan flashpoint in Washington, with both parties split...…Funding for schools will be a central element of the next coronavirus relief package."Everybody I know wants to open up the schools," Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday. "But it has to be safe for the children.” | Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesCongress’ push to deliver its next coronavirus relief package is facing a massive new hurdle: the national fight over reopening America’s schools.President Donald Trump’s demands for in-person education this fall — despite a resurgence of Covid-19 cases in dozens of states — has emerged as another partisan flashpoint in Washington, with both parties split...WW…

The speaker is leading the opposition against Trump — from her dining room.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. | Alex Wong/Getty ImagesAs President Donald Trump beams into American homes with his daily coronavirus briefings, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has decided the best way to counter him is to be everywhere — even if that means doing so from her San Francisco kitchen.Almost daily, Pelosi pops up on one network or another — even cycling through the late-night talk show junket — dropping in for interviews from a computer propped up on a dining room table that sits just off her West Coast kitchen.“He has...…The speaker is leading the opposition against Trump — from her dining room.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. | Alex Wong/Getty ImagesAs President Donald Trump beams into American homes with his daily coronavirus briefings, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has decided the best way to counter him is to be everywhere — even if that means doing so from her San Francisco kitchen.Almost daily, Pelosi pops up on one network or another — even cycling through the late-night talk show junket — dropping in for interviews from a computer propped up on a dining room table that sits just off her West Coast kitchen.“He has...WW…