Politics and Government News

Supreme Court won't halt turnover of Trump's tax records
In a significant defeat for former President Donald Trump, the Supreme Court on Monday declined to step in to halt the turnover of his tax records to a New York state prosecutor.
AG nominee Garland vows sharp focus on Capitol riot
Merrick Garland is vowing to prioritize combating extremist violence with an initial focus on the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol if he is confirmed as attorney general in President Joe Biden's administration.
Mixed opinions on how to allocate Biden aid money
President Joe Biden and other Democrats want the federal government to send most Americans another $1,400 to help them weather the pandemic. But some economists, and even some people set to get the cash, say a better approach would be to target those most in need.
Will economic uptick make Minnesota’s deficit vanish?
Lawmakers will get a fresh economic forecast this week that determines the scope of their work ahead to craft a new state budget. Signs point to improvement over the last forecast, which predicted a deficit. 
Biden to mark nation reaching 500,000 COVID-19 deaths
President Joe Biden will mark the U.S. reaching the grim milestone of 500,000 lives lost from COVID-19 with a moment of silence and candle lighting ceremony at the White House.
After days of power outages, some Texas residents now face huge electricity bills
Texas allows companies to sell electricity through variable-rate plans. When the price of electricity skyrocketed last week, that meant exorbitant bills for many residents who had been trying to save money.
Smith seeks probe of natural gas price spikes during storm
Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota is calling for federal investigations into possible price gouging of natural gas in the Midwest and other regions, following severe winter storms that caused widespread power outages in the southern U.S.