Paul Kane:

It's a well-worn story now about how John Boehner, then House minority leader, joined a rising star in his caucus, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, in April 2009 for one of the first major tea party protests in the California Republican's hometown of Bakersfield. A little more than six years later, after they surfed that wave into power, the movement consumed both of them.

Immigrants wait in fear after raids; Trump takes credit

Pastor Fred Morris looked out over his congregation Sunday as news ricocheted around the world that American authorities were rounding up immigrants in an enforcement surge that President Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail. Parishioners did not smile as on any other Sunday morning.

Army to allow completion of Dakota Access oil pipeline

The Army said Tuesday that it will allow the $3.8 billion Dakota Access oil pipeline to cross under a Missouri River reservoir in North Dakota, clearing the way for completion of the disputed four-state project. However, construction could still be delayed because the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which has led opposition, said it would fight the latest development in court.

Notes from the Trump White House

The New York Times cited Russian media reports that link the charges to the disclosure of the Russian role in attacking state election boards, including the scanning of voter rolls in Arizona and Illinois, and do not mention the parallel attacks on the Democratic National Committee and the e-mails of John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman. , R-Utah, said that President Donald Trump is "eager to work with" GOP lawmakers in undoing new federal protections for Bears Ears, a sacred tribal site in Utah.

Firewood is stacked up at a protest encampment along the route of the …

President Donald Trump's executive actions on the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines are aimed at turning the much-protested pipelines into reality. Here's a look at what may be next for the two pipelines: The $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline to carry North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois is nearly complete, except for a stretch underneath Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir in southern North Dakota.

What’s next for the Dakota Access, Keystone XL pipelines?

President Donald Trump's executive actions on the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines are aimed at turning the much-protested pipelines into reality. Here's a look at what may be next for the two pipelines: The $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline to carry North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois is nearly complete other than a stretch underneath Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir in southern North Dakota.

Southern Illinois group delivers Affordable Care Act support letters to congressman

Marisa Winegar, of Carbondale, poses for a photo Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017, at Republican U.S. Representative Mike Bost's office in Carbondale. Winegar said she read in The Washington Post that repealing the Affordable Care Act would kill more than 43,000 people each year.

Insurance equality? States push for cost-free vasectomies

Vasectomies, which are not covered under President Barack Obama's health care law, are increasingly being included in state measures that would require insurers to provide cost-free coverage of birth control. Backers of laws and proposals in such states as Illinois, Vermont, Maryland and most recently New York say that if women can get tubal ligations with no out-of-pocket costs, men should be able to get their surgical sterilization covered cost-free as well.

Illinois Senate vows swift action on ambitious budget plan

In this Jan. 9, 2017, file photo, Illinois Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, left, talks with Illinois Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, right, at the Illinois State Capitol, in Springfield, Ill. Illinois Senate leaders are hoping to move swiftly on a pledge to advance an ambitious state-budget compromise by month's end.

The Peace Prize Winner Who Waged War

When he was first elected president, many observers, up to and including the Norwegian Nobel Committee, believed Barack Obama would represent a substantive departure from the foreign policy of his predecessor, George W. Bush. On the campaign trail, the then-senator from Illinois promised to bring the Iraq War to an end within 16 months.

Klinsmann believes US Soccer made progress before his firing

Freezing rain moved into the southern Plains early Friday, creating icy condition that prompted flight cancellations and school closures as forecasters warned that the weather could cripple the region through the... A thick glaze of ice covered roads from Oklahoma to southern Illinois on Friday amid a winter storm that caused numerous wrecks, forced school cancellations, grounded flights and prompted dire warnings for people to stay... A senior U.S. official says the Obama administration is aware of frequent contacts between President-elect Donald Trump's top national security adviser and Russia's ambassador to the United States.

New Legislature, same old problem in Illinois: No budget

Illinois' financial crisis is being handed off from one set of lawmakers to another this week - a problem that, at 18 months, is the nation's longest-running budget stalemate. The key players: The conservative businessman-turned-governor Bruce Rauner and Michael Madigan, the old-school Democratic House speaker whose decades at the helm has made him a Capitol institution.

Pressure on Obama to grant last-minute pardons, commutations

Under mounting pressure to free convicts as a last act, President Barack Obama is planning at least one more batch of pardons and commutations before leaving office in two weeks, but don't expect many famous offenders to make the list. The list of bold names appealing to Obama for compassion in his final weeks includes accused leaker Chelsea Manning, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Army Sgt.

Under 3 weeks left: Obama in closing stretch of presidency

His last presidential vacation behind him, Barack Obama is entering the closing stretch of his term, an eleventh-hour push to tie up loose ends and put finishing touches on his legacy before handing the reins to President-elect Donald Trump. Obama returns to Washington at midday Monday from Hawaii with less than three weeks remaining in his presidency.

Imprisoned Blagojevich awaits Obama decision on commutation

In this July 15, 2011 file photo, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich arrives at the federal courthouse in Chicago. Blagojevich is asking a U.S. appeals court to nullify his 14-year prison term and order a third sentencing hearing.