Krishnadev Calamur

Updates on NPR staffing for election coverage.

The ATF says bump stocks convert a semi-automatic weapon into a machine gun by firing multiple rounds with a single pull on the trigger. Machine guns have been banned under federal law since 1934.

Members of the congressional progressive caucus have withdrawn a letter urging President Biden to adjust his approach to the war in Ukraine.

Megan Pratz is the new Political Editor, Sue Davis is now NPR Political Correspondent and Deirdre Walsh is Congressional Correspondent

Washington Desk staffing update: Ashley Lopez & Ximena Bustillo join the team

Washington Desk staffing updates for Arnie Seipel and Deepa Shivaram

The former president's White House records are sought by the Democratic-led House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Justices seemed more open to the vaccine mandate for almost all workers at hospitals, nursing homes, and other medical providers receiving federal Medicare and Medicaid funds.

The fate of abortion in the U.S. appears to be on shaky ground as a divided Supreme Court weighs a Mississippi law. A decision in the case is expected by summer.

President Biden said that while restrictions imposed on travelers from several nations in southern Africa would slow the variant's entry, the U.S. will eventually see cases.

It's the first major gun case at the court since 2008, when the court ruled that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms grants individuals the right to keep a gun at home for self-defense.

In arguments Monday, the court heard challenges from the U.S. Justice Department and abortion providers over the controversial law that has the effect of banning most abortions in Texas.

The Justice Department wants the high court to put the restrictive law on hold during ongoing legal challenges. The U.S. government says the legislation is unconstitutional.

The court's liberal justices appeared incredulous about the actions of the district court judge in the original proceedings, but the conservatives appeared unpersuaded.

But a majority of the court appeared inclined to defer to the government's position that the release of information on Abu Zubaydah's treatment would hurt national security.

The justice has been vaccinated since January. As a result of his positive test, he will not attend Justice Amy Coney Barrett's investiture ceremony.

On Dec. 1, the court will hear arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. The Mississippi case tests whether all state laws that ban pre-viability abortions are unconstitutional.

"If the Democrats can do it, the Republicans can do it," Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer told NPR's Nina Totenberg.

But the justice was philosophical about the outcome: "I wrote a dissent — and that's the way it works," he said. The decision was part of what court watchers call the "shadow docket."

In an interview with NPR, the 83-year-old said: "When exactly I should retire, or will retire, has many complex parts to it. I think I'm aware of most of them, and I ... will consider them."