Virginia men convicted for actions connected to U.S. Capitol breach and more headlines

The state Capitol. (Ned Oliver/Virginia Mercury)

• "Virginia men convicted for actions connected to U.S. Capitol breach." —

• "Rep. Good sought to kill bill to grant full Social Security benefits to pensioners." — Cardinal News

• "Virginia opioid overdose deaths nearing pre-pandemic levels." —

• "'We're not going to be quiet about it': Virginia state senator receives threatening email." —

• "Jury awards Abu Ghraib detainees $42 million, holds Reston-based contractor responsible." — The Associated Press

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has made clear she has no plans to step down, according to people close to her, despite calls from some on the left that President Joe Biden should be allowed to try to name a successor before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

A new water tower in Alabama is causing area residents to ask why the structure is painted like the end zones at Neyland Stadium on a Tennessee Saturday night.

The move comes after Musk became one of Trump's staunchest supporters, and biggest financial backers, during the last stage of his presidential campaign

A White House spokesperson on Monday pushed back on President-elect Trump's demand that the Democratic Senate stop confirming judges during the lame-duck period before he takes office and the upper chamber flips to GOP control. Senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates in a statement pointed to past precedent and the "real-life toll" such a pause...

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) said he believes President-elect Trump will move the Space Command to Alabama in his first week in office. During an interview with Mobile, Ala., radio FM Talk 106.5 that aired Monday, Rogers, who is the House Armed Services Committee chair, said he expects Trump will immediately reverse the decision made by...

President-elect Trump's White House victory has created tussles among conservatives and liberals alike over whether the Supreme Court's oldest justices should retire. Trump's election has raised public anticipation that two of the court's leading conservatives, Justice Clarence Thomas, 76, and Justice Samuel Alito, 74, may step down. Although the incoming Republican-controlled Senate could glide their...

SPRINGFIELD — On the first day of the Illinois legislature's brief fall session, Republicans called on Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker to promise not to raise taxes to address a projected budget deficit of more than $3 billion. The Governor's Office of Management and Budget made the deficit projection on Nov. 1, four months into a budget year that includes about $750 million in tax hikes needed to ...

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said Monday that last week's election giving Republicans control of the chamber and leaving Democrats in the minority is now part of the calculus as he evaluates his political future. Durbin, the Senate's No. 2 ranking Democrat, turns 80 on Nov. 21 and has yet to say if he'll run for reelection in 2026. He has been in the Senate since 1997 after serving 14 ...

After being tapped to lead the Department of Government Efficiency with Vivek Ramaswamy, Elon Musk said all of the actions taken by the department will be posted online for "maximum transparency."

The first vote the lame-duck Senate will take as it returns Tuesday will be on a nominee for a Chicago federal court, kicking off Democrats' uphill campaign to confirm as many of President Joe Biden's picks for the judiciary as possible before losing power at the end of next month.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn (R), who is locked in an intense three-way race to become the next Senate majority leader, is pledging to Republican senators that he will give them more opportunity to debate and amend bills on the Senate floor, responding to criticisms of current Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell's (Ky.) style. "It's no...

A federal judge in Ohio is coming out of partial retirement in an apparent effort to block President-elect Trump from having the opportunity to name his replacement.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has invited Pennsylvania Republican David McCormick and Arizona Sen.-elect Ruben Gallego (D) to the Senate orientation this week after initially not extending an invitation to either due to uncounted ballots in both races. Schumer's decision to exclude McCormick was contentious because The Associated Press had declared him the...

Brit Hume, chief political analyst at Fox News, suggested Monday the push from President-elect Trump's allies to elevate Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) into GOP leadership may not go the way they planned. "I think this press from Trump World to support him is likely to backfire," Hume said Monday on Fox News's "Special Report." "Senators...

Several of the Wisconsin Supreme Court liberal justices appeared opposed to the enforcement of a 174-year old law when it comes to abortion during oral arguments Monday in a high-profile case meant to clarify law in the state. Wisconsin abortion law has been unsettled since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, [...]

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — President-Elect Donald Trump's selection of Congresswoman Elise Stefanik for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations means New York's North Country and parts of Central New York will be voting for a new representative within months of re-electing Stefanik. Stefanik was elected last week to her sixth term in the U.S. House [...]

California regulators have approved plans to strengthen the state's carbon reduction standards — a move that opponents fear could drive up gasoline prices. The decision, which occurred following a 12-hour meeting Friday, involves amendments to California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard and serves to decrease petroleum dependency and achieve air quality gains. Liane Randolph, chair of the California...

The Louisiana House of Representatives voted Tuesday to eliminate the state's $150 million tax incentive for film and TV production, as part of a broad package of measures to reduce the state income tax. Louisiana was the first state to adopt a tax incentive for film production, in 1992, though the program did not start ...

Fire crews responded to Stone Road after reports of a house explosion. They said they found a collapsed house on fire. READ MORE: President-elect Donald Trump has selected Florida Republican Rep. Mike Waltz to be his national security adviser. "Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda, and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!" Trump said in his announcement. The national security adviser does not require Senate confirmation.

The Energy Department announced the end of replenishing the nation's strategic oil reserves, which were depleted by nearly half under President Biden, and used the opportunity to praise the administration for the work it has done to maintain and replenish the stockpile.

A federal judge has blocked a Louisiana law over displaying the Ten Commandments in public schools from taking effect. NBC News' Danny Cevallos has details on the ruling and what could come next in the Supreme Court.

President-elect Donald Trump announced that billionaire Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new "Department of Government Efficiency," despite the fact that government agencies can only be created by an act of Congress. The new office will be named the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE—a reference to a decade-old meme that was later turned into a cryptocurrency beloved by Musk. Both Ramaswamy and Musk celebrated in posts on X, the social media site Musk purchased fo

The next Trump administration's efficiency program should prioritize implementing open watchdog recommendations, enacting legislative reforms, streamlining regulations, using AI to automate the workforce, and reviewing the federal budget to identify wasteful or outdated programs to achieve substantial taxpayer savings.

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a Louisiana law requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in all public school classrooms. U.S. District Judge John deGravelles granted a preliminary injunction to a coalition of parents that sued the state, meaning Louisiana will not be allowed to require the Ten Commandments in classrooms while the...

Democratic state attorneys general could be the last line of defense when Trump takes power again in January and begins implementing his extremist agenda.

The Supreme Court refused Tuesday to hear former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows's appeal seeking to move to federal court his Georgia criminal charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) charged Meadows, President-elect Trump and more than a dozen others over accusations they...

A federal judge in New York on Tuesday set a trial date for April 14 in the libel lawsuit that Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential nominee, brought against The New York Times. "This case should not require very much preparation since it's a retrial," Judge Jed Rakoff said during a conference Tuesday. A lawyer for the newspaper, David Axelrod, raised the possibility the two sides could settle and asked for more time.