A bipartisan group of rank-and-file lawmakers in Kansas scuttled a plan for cutting taxes Thursday, with Republicans defying GOP leaders and Democrats ignoring a personal appeal from the state’s Democratic governor. The state House rejected a plan to cut taxes by about $1.4 billion over the next three years. It resulted from a deal between Gov. Laura Kelly and top Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature, but the House...

Like many Americans, Richard Bidon says he’d like to see the U.S. government “go back to its original design” — a system of checks and balances developed nearly 240 years ago to prevent any branch, especially the presidency, from becoming too powerful. But that’s mainly when Republicans are in power. Bidon, an 84-year-old Democrat who lives near Los Angeles, said if President Joe Biden is reelected, he doesn’t...