His name isn’t on the ballot, but President Donald Trump’s unprecedented second-term agenda and the federal government shutdown are top of mind on the campaign trail with one month to go until Election Day 2025.  In the spotlight this November are New Jersey and Virginia, the only two states to hold gubernatorial contests the year after a presidential election.  The races, which traditionally grab outsized national attention, are...

With the government shutdown now in day four and no compromise in sight, a federal budget expert says two dates could send things “spiraling out of control”: the first day essential federal workers go without pay and the first day service members miss a paycheck. The next federal worker pay date is Oct. 10 and the next pay date for the military is Oct. 15, according to the...

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein on Friday signed “Iryna’s Law,” which increases checks on criminals getting out on bail and prohibits cashless bail for some violent crimes and most repeat offenders following the stabbing death of a Ukrainian refugee on a Charlotte light-rail train in August.  Stein, a Democrat, has said he doesn’t like every part of the bill that was passed by the Republican-controlled state Legislature, which...