With jab at Ryan, Trump ignites new tensions in GOP

As Republican loyalists continue to flee, Donald Trump has ignited new party tensions by refusing to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan or Arizona Sen. John McCain, a remarkable display of party division just three months before Election Day. The Republican presidential nominee told The Washington Post Tuesday that he's "just not quite there yet," when asked about an endorsement of Ryan, who faces a primary election next week.

In blow to GOP unity, Donald Trump refuses to back Paul Ryan, John McCain

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said Tuesday that he is refusing to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan and Sen. John McCain just two weeks after pledging to bring the fractured GOP together at the party's nominating convention. He also ripped into New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte in the same interview with the Washington Post.

Trump declines to endorse Ryan, McCain in GOP primaries

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Briar Woods High School, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016, in Ashburn, Va. While Ryan faces underdog Paul Nehlen in a primary next week, Trump told The Washington Post that "I'm not quite there yet" with an endorsement of the House speaker.

Republicans declare support for Khans in spat with Trump

Prominent Republicans are speaking out Monday against their own presidential candidate after he chose to scuffle with the grieving parents of a decorated Army veteran killed in Iraq. Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the bereaved parents of Capt.

Fight with Khan family tests Trump’s ‘say anything’ strategy16 minutes ago

In this Friday, July 29, 2016 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Colorado Springs, Colo. Trump broke a major American political and societal taboo over the weekend when he engaged in an emotionally-charged feud with Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the bereaved parents of a decorated Muslim Army captain killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq.

Defining the passage of CARA

PORTSMOUTH – President Barack Obama is expected to sign into law the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act this week, moving forward federal efforts to battle the nation's opioid addiction epidemic. CARA authorizes a comprehensive list of programs intended to help states add recovery services and to strengthen already existing programs.

Hope on Haven Hill slated to open in fall, despite challenges

Kerry Norton and Colene Arnold have not had a good night's sleep since they founded Hope on Haven Hill. The planned residential facility for pregnant women battling substance abuse has come a long way since the two women went public with their idea in September 2015.

Ruth: Big names staying away from Republican convention

Normally a presidential nominating convention takes on all the trappings of a coronation, at least until Clint Eastwood shows up to stage a seance with an empty chair. Four years ago, the Republicans were in hot and sticky Tampa to crown Mitt Romney as their standard-bearer, who was easily defeated by President Barack Obama.

Q-pollster: Rubio “on the way to getting the last laugh” in Florida

Republicans in Florida spent weeks trying to convince Marco Rubio to change his mind and run for re-election to the Senate. A new Quinnipiac poll shows that they knew what they were talking about.

Democrats attack Ayotte over donation from troubled college

Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire has come under fire for accepting donations from a for-profit college company being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice. Ayotte, who is in facing Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan in one of the country's most competitive U.S. Senate races, returned the $8,000 in donations from San Diego-based Bridgepoint Education Inc., last month after her campaign said that she learned of the company's problems.

GOP to investigate FBI decision on Clinton emails

Angry House Republicans are announcing plans to investigate FBI Director James Comey's decision against pressing criminal charges for Hillary Clinton over her handling of classified emails. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Comey's decision defies explanation and leaves many questions unanswered.

Incumbent Senate Republicans build leads amid a substantiala ticket-splitting

Donald Trump may be down in the polls, but Republican Senate candidates are still faring relatively well, suggesting - at least for now - that they may escape being drawn down by the whirlpool that analysts predicted would drown all who surround the billionaire businessman. While presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton tops Mr. Trump in matchups in Florida, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, incumbent Senate Republicans are all ahead in polling in their own races, building significant leads.

GOP senator: Lynch should formally hand over Clinton probe

Kelly Ayotte GOP senator: Lynch should formally hand over Clinton probe The Trail 2016: Meet and greet and grief Clean energy group backs two GOP incumbents MORE is joining a growing number of Republicans who want Attorney General Loretta Lynch to hand off a Department of Justice investigation into Hillary Rodham Clinton Labor chief: Clinton-Lynch meet not 'planned in advance' Clinton scheduled to interview with FBI: reports Dem platform draft adopts Sanders proposal on taxing foreign earnings MORE "I believe Attorney General Lynch should recuse herself from this case given the importance of the investigation and the need to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest to ensure that all Americans have confidence in the outcome," said Ayotte, the former attorney general of New Hampshire.

Rank-and-file Republican activists hear Trump rail against Clinton on trade

State Republican Party Chairwoman Jennifer Horn described the group of 150 Granite Staters who sweltered in a vacant, crumbling asphalt lot outside of a shuttered lightbulb factory to hear Donald Trump as "good, solid New Hampshire voters." Horn was the highest-ranking state GOP official to attend the event at the former Osram Sylvania facility, along with a few state representatives and a group of well-known veterans leaders.

Financial reports reveal final steps leading up to Hassan’s decision to run for Senate

Gov. Maggie Hassan greets supporters at the State House as she files her declaration of candidacy papers to seek the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate earlier this month. AP Just one year ago, the State House was abuzz with chatter about whether Gov. Maggie Hassan would jump into the U.S. Senate race.

Protesters urge Sen. Ayotte to toughen on gun laws

U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers Tuesday to explain their support for a bill aimed at restricting firearms purchases by those found to be on the government's terrorist watch lists, even as protesters gathered outside her Nashua office to demand further action. Ayotte, a Nashua Republican, said she is proud to work with a senators across party lines on a "reasonable and common-sense proposal" to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists while ensuring the constitutional rights of Americans.

Dana Milbank: Congress on guns: doing nothing faster than ever

On May 24, the House Appropriations Committee took up a proposal "to deny transfers of firearms to persons known or suspected to be engaged in conduct related to terrorism." In a party-line vote, Republicans defeated the plan 29 to 17. Nineteen days later, a man whom the FBI had investigated as a possible terrorist went into an Orlando nightclub and, claiming solidarity with the Islamic State, shot 49 people to death with weapons he bought legally.

Senate blocks gun measures offered in wake of Orlando massacre Read Story USA Today

The Senate as expected on Monday rejected four partisan gun measures offered in the wake of the Orlando massacre, including proposals to keep guns out of the hands of people on terror watch lists. Two Republican proposals would have increased funding for the national background check system and created a judicial review process to keep a person on a terror watch list from buying a gun; two Democratic measures would have expanded background checks to private gun sales and allowed the Justice Department to ban gun sales to suspected terrorists.