*By Carlo Versano*
There is an unspoken tradition in Washington that the president faces the press a day after a midterm election that revokes power from his party in Congress. When Democrats gained control of both houses in 2006, a humbled President George W. Bush called it a "thumping." In 2010, an equally-chastened President Barack Obama admitted his party took a "shellacking."
No such thing happened on Wednesday.
President Trump vacillated between subdued and combative as he called Tuesday's election ー in which Democrats took control of the House and several pivotal governorships ー a "very close-to-complete victory."
Trump took credit for the GOP's ability to maintain control of the Senate and blamed certain losses of House Republican candidates on their disloyalty. He praised Rep. Nancy Pelosi, calling her "very smart," but then warned House Democrats that he would have Senate Republicans probe their conduct, should they use their newfound subpoena power to investigate him.
In a nearly two-hour-long press conference from the East Room of the White House that began with a low-key statement but quickly deteriorated into a rollicking Q&A, the president ratcheted up his antagonism of the gathered press corps. He called CNN's Jim Acosta a "rude, terrible person" and excoriated PBS' Yamiche Alcindor for asking "a racist question" when she attempted to probe him on whether his rhetoric was emboldening white nationalists.
As the president spoke, the AP called the contested Montana Senate race for Jon Tester, one of the Democrats that Trump was reportedly most hoping to defeat.
In a TV interview Sunday, Yellen didn't rule out President Joe Biden acting on his own to try to avert a first-ever federal default.
North Carolina lawmakers on Thursday approved and sent to the governor a ban on nearly all abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, down from the current 20 weeks, in response to last year’s overturning of Roe v. Wade at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Associate Justice Clarence Thomas joins other members of the Supreme Court as they pose for a new group portrait, at the Supreme Court building in Washington, Oct. 7, 2022. A Republican megadonor paid two years of private school tuition for a child raised by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who did not disclose the payments, a lawyer who has represented Thomas and his wife acknowledged Thursday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and three other members of the far-right extremist group were convicted Thursday of a plot to attack the U.S. Capitol.
Florida Republicans on Wednesday approved bills to ban diversity programs in colleges and prevent students and teachers from being required to use pronouns that don't correspond to someone's sex, building on top priorities of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
New York state is banning natural gas stoves and furnaces in most new buildings in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Authorities in the U.S. and Europe arrested nearly 300 people, confiscated over $53 million, and seized a dark web marketplace as part of an international crackdown on drug trafficking that officials say was the largest operation of its kind.
Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan has stepped down shortly after apologizing for accepting a payment of $10,000 per month from a consultancy firm for a marijuana company.
U.S. and Mexican officials have agreed on new immigration policies meant to deter illegal border crossings.
Newly opened records that belonged to Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens give the public a behind-the-scenes glimpse at his decades on the court, including the tense struggle over the 2000 presidential election and major cases on affirmative action and abortion.
