Politics

WASHINGTON — In a message on Twitter accompanied by a picture of her face partly covered by a medical mask, Melania Trump, the first lady, urged Americans on Thursday to protect themselves from the coronavirus by wearing face coverings in public, an image all the more striking because it contrasted with her husband’s mixed messages […]

Hi. Welcome to On Politics, your guide to the day in national politics. I’m Reid Epstein, filling in for Lisa today. Sign up here to get On Politics in your inbox every weekday. We spent countless hours reporting about how Iowa’s Democratic electorate longed for a younger, fresh-face candidate who could usher in generational change.

WASHINGTON — When the federal government began rushing trillions of dollars of assistance to Americans crushed by the coronavirus pandemic, the hope was that some of the aid would allow businesses to keep workers on the payroll and cushion employees against job losses. But so far, a staggering number of Americans — more than 16

WASHINGTON — Federal contactors complained on Thursday that they were being given short shrift by guidelines released by the intelligence community for paying employees with coronavirus relief funds. The guidelines from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence allow intelligence agencies to fund contractors for lost hours from March 27, the date President Trump

Tamera Goodwin and her husband, who live in Madison, also said they hadn’t received ballots. “I was looking all over the place, I was looking on the news, Facebook, my state assemblyman’s page, talking to neighbors at a distance, but everyone was confused,” Ms. Goodwin said. “None of us has gotten our ballots and none

SUGARCREEK, Ohio — On April 1, John Miller, a manufacturer here with deep connections to the close-knit Amish community of Central Ohio, got a call from Cleveland Clinic. The hospital system was struggling to find protective face masks for its 55,000 employees, plus visitors. Could his team sew 12,000 masks in two days? He appealed

WASHINGTON — In his daily briefings on the coronavirus, President Trump has brandished all the familiar tools in his rhetorical arsenal: belittling Democratic governors, demonizing the media, trading in innuendo and bulldozing over the guidance of experts. It’s the kind of performance the president relishes, but one that has his advisers and Republican allies worried.

Ms. Brennan told lawmakers on Thursday that the agency was already in talks with the Treasury about the potential loan, but its revenue predictions suggest that the money would not be enough if the crisis continues. Even with an increase in online shopping and package delivery to Americans cooped up at home, the agency could

Joseph R. Biden Jr. took some of his first steps to bring together the Democratic Party now that he is its presumptive presidential nominee, announcing proposals on Thursday to lower the eligibility age for Medicare to 60 and to expand student debt forgiveness programs for low-income and middle class families. The proposals, which Mr. Biden

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court, never the most transparent of institutions, has all but vanished. It still issues decisions, like the one on Monday that refused to extend absentee voting in Tuesday’s elections in Wisconsin. But the justices have stopped doing the most public part of their job, hearing arguments, and the courthouse is closed