Author: Reporter

Vice President Kamala Harris needed to get to the U.S. Senate to break a tie. But first she had to avoid causing a traffic jam. One more senator had to vote before Harris could end the impasse, and he was in Georgetown, on the opposite side of Washington. If Harris left in her motorcade, street closures would likely cut off his route to Capitol Hill. So she waited. “I was on the phone with the senator’s staff telling them, you have to tell me when he’s in the car and when he’s crossed the threshold through downtown,” Kristine Lucius,...

Here is a quick quiz: What replaced the food pyramid, the government guide to healthy eating that stood for nearly 20 years? If you are stumped, you are not alone. More than a decade after Agriculture Department officials ditched the pyramid, few Americans have heard of MyPlate, a dinner plate-shaped logo that emphasizes fruits and vegetables. Only about 25% of adults were aware of MyPlate – and less than 10% had attempted to use the guidance, according to a study released on November 28 by the National Center for Health Statistics. Those figures for 2017-2020 showed only slight improvement...

Republican leader Kevin McCarthy failed in two rounds of voting to become House speaker on January 3, a historic defeat with no clear way out as House Republicans dug in for a long, messy start for the new Congress. Needing 218 votes in the full House, McCarthy got just 203 in both rounds — less even than Democrat Hakeem Jeffries in the GOP-controlled chamber. McCarthy had pledged a “battle on the floor” for as long as it took to overcome right-flank fellow Republicans who were refusing to give him their votes. But it was not at all clear how...