Kevin Freking

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FILE – The exterior of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building is seen in Washington, on March 22, 2013. Congress is racing to wind down a tax break meant to encourage businesses to keep workers on the payroll during the COVID-19 pandemic. What was expected to cost the government $55 billion has instead cost it nearly five times that amount as of July. Meanwhile, new claims pour into the IRS each week. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Lawmakers race to wind down COVID-era employee retention tax credit, seeing ‘almost universal fraud in the program’

By Kevin Freking, Fatima Hussein, and others

Jodey Arrington

‘We’re all in this boat together. The boat is sinking’: House GOP moves to tackle $34 trillion national debt with bipartisan commission

By Kevin Freking and The Associated Press

The U.S Capitol is seen on a sunny day in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Congress sends President Biden a short-term spending bill that would avert a looming government shutdown—but only until March

By Mary Clare Jalonick, Kevin Freking, and others

FILE – The U.S Capitol is seen on Jan. 8, 2024, in Washington. The chairmen of the top tax policy committees in Congress announced a bipartisan agreement Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024, to enhance the child tax credit and revive a variety of tax breaks for businesses, a combination designed to attract support from lawmakers of both political parties. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)

Business tax breaks and an enhanced child tax credit are on the menu as bipartisan group of lawmakers push to pass bill before IRS season

By Kevin Freking and The Associated Press

FILE – House Speaker-elect Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., addresses members of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Oct. 25, 2023. Congressional leaders have reached an agreement on topline spending levels for the current fiscal year 2024 that could help avoid a partial government shutdown later this month. Funding is set to lapse Jan. 19 for some agencies and Feb. 2 for others. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Congressional leaders agree on spending levels for 2024 in big step to avoid government shutdown

By Kevin Freking and The Associated Press

Lloyd Austin

As Defense Secretary hospitalization stretches toward full week, source says his deputy didn’t know herself until Thursday

By Tara Copp, Colleen Long, and others

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA – NOVEMBER 11: A homeless man sleeps on the sidewalk outside the City Hall as APEC Economic Leaders’ Week begins as of today in San Francisco, California, United States on November 11, 2023. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The homeless crisis is getting worse with a 12% rise to a new to record high amid an ‘extraordinarily challenging’ rental market

By Kevin Freking and The Associated Press

Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., leaves the Capitol after being expelled from the House of Representatives, Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, in Washington. The House has voted to expel Santos following a critical ethics report on his conduct that included converting campaign donations for his own use, making him just the sixth member in the chamber’s history to be ousted by his colleagues. Expulsion requires support from two-third of the House. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Rep. George Santos becomes only the 6th Congress member in U.S. history to be expelled from his job by colleagues

By Kevin Freking and The Associated Press

UNITED STATES – NOVEMBER 7: Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., leaves a meeting of the House Republican Conference in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, November 7, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Serial liar Rep. George Santos won’t seek reelection after ethics report says he wired campaign donations to his personal bank account

By Kevin Freking and The Associated Press

George Santos

House Ethics panel finds ‘substantial evidence’ that George Santos broke the law, refers finding to DOJ

By Kevin Freking and The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 25: U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) applauds alongside fellow lawmakers as the House of Representatives holds an election for a new Speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol on October 25, 2023 in Washington, DC. After a contentious nominating period that has seen four candidates over a three-week period, the House GOP conference selected Johnson as their most recent nominee to succeed former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who was ousted on October 4 in a move led by a small group of conservative members of his own party. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

GOP finally unites to elect Mike Johnson as House speaker, ending 3 weeks of Congressional chaos

By Lisa Mascaro, Stephen Groves, and others

Mike Johnson walking through the halls of the Capitol building

After 3 failed attempts to elect a new speaker, Republicans put forward an obscure figure who rallied support for Trump’s 2020 election challenge

By Lisa Mascaro, Stephen Groves, and others

WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 30: U.S. House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) speaks with members of the media following passage in the House of a 45-day continuing resolution on September 30, 2023 in Washington, DC. The House voted to pass a short-term, bipartisan funding bill that could avert a government shutdown and sent it to the Senate just hours before a midnight deadline. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Tom Emmer abandons House Speaker bid just hours after becoming the latest GOP nominee, adding to the Congressional chaos

By Lisa Mascaro, Stephen Groves, and others

WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 20: U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) speaks to the media as he leaves a closed-door House Republican meeting at the U.S. Capitol on October 20, 2023 in Washington, DC. The House Republican caucus is searching for a new Speaker of the House candidate after Rep. Jim Jordan failed on three separate attempts to achieve a majority of votes in the House of Representatives. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Republicans dump Jim Jordan as House Speaker nominee, leaving Congress in crisis yet again

By Lisa Mascaro, Farnoush Amiri, and others

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, talks with reporters as House Republicans meet again behind closed doors to find a path to elect a new speaker after House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., dropped out of the race Thursday night, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Republicans choose Trump ally Jim Jordan as their new nominee for House speaker

By Lisa Mascaro, Kevin Freking, and others