What happened. Why it matters. Plainly.
Elections, courts and the federal government, reported without a side: what was decided, by whom, and what remains unsettled.
Maggie Haberman, the veteran New York Times White House correspondent and CNN political analyst, told CNN’s “The Source” on Thursday, August 20, 2026
North Korea fired roughly 10 short-range ballistic missiles from the Pyongyang area toward its eastern waters on August 20, 2026, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs
Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin sent letters on Aug. 18, 2026, to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, asking them
Alaska held its statewide primary on August 18, 2026, and the early numbers show Democrat Mary Peltola ahead of Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan, a crowded
Florida voters went to the polls Tuesday, August 18, 2026, in primaries for governor, a U.S. Senate special election, and every U.S. House seat in the state.
The White House ballroom project, for which the East Wing was demolished, is before the Supreme Court while the justices decide whether above-ground construction
A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling that Sigal Chattah is not lawfully serving as Nevada’s acting U.S. Attorney, finding that the Trump administration
President Trump used a Truth Social post over the weekend of August 15-16, 2026 to press the Senate to act on a bill that would end the twice-yearly clock change
President Donald Trump on Sunday, August 16, instructed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” the joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises
In an interview aired Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” host Kristen Welker asked Attorney General Todd Blanche a direct question: could he pledge
Nigel Farage, who leads Reform UK, has held on to his seat in Clacton, winning a by-election — a special vote held to fill a seat that becomes vacant between
Family members of sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln say multiple crew members have tried to jump overboard during a deployment that has now stretched to more
Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar won Minnesota’s DFL primary for governor Tuesday, beating six other candidates by a wide margin.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley won Wisconsin’s Democratic primary for governor, the Associated Press declared early Wednesday, narrowly defeating state Rep. Francesca Hong to set up a November matchup with Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany.
President Trump signed an executive order titled “Delivering Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations for Americans” on August 10, 2026, at a White House
Zohran Mamdani is not running for the United States Senate. He is the mayor of New York City — the 112th, sworn in on January 1, 2026 after defeating Andrew Cuomo
Temporary Protected Status for Haitians is no longer in effect. On August 5, 2026, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes — the same judge who blocked the termination
The Associated Press called Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary for Abdul El-Sayed on Wednesday morning, and Haley Stevens phoned him to concede.
Twenty-five states asked a federal trade court on Monday, August 3, 2026, to throw out the Trump administration’s newest tariffs — duties of 10 or 12.5 percent
Senate Republicans adjourned early on Saturday, August 8, 2026, for a five-week recess after a narrower photo-ID measure failed 52-46 and the SAVE America Act was put off until September.