Susan Davis

There are only two must-pass items on the agenda: a short-term funding bill to keep the government running past Sept. 30, and a separate funding bill to combat the spread of the Zika virus.

After their hastily arranged meeting in Mexico on Wednesday, President Enrique Peña Nieto disputed Donald Trump's claim that payment for the proposed border wall had not been discussed.

Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Marco Rubio of Florida are favored to win their GOP primaries on Tuesday. So is Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz despite angry opposition.

GOP Sen. Pat Toomey and his Democratic opponent, Katie McGinty, are battling it out in the Philadelphia-area suburbs.

Women are the decisive vote in the Pennsylvania Senate race, where Democratic challenger Katie McGinty is seeking to oust GOP Sen. Pat Toomey. They are competing for women voters worried about economic and national security. The battleground is the Philadelphia-area suburbs.

Senate Republicans are bracing for down-ballot losses that are likely to cost the party their Senate majority this year.

The GOP presidential nominee has made similar incendiary remarks in the past that link rival Hillary Clinton to the Islamic State.

Focus groups with swing, female voters in Ohio and Arizona reveal that negative attitudes saturate a critical bloc of voters this year.

Donald Trump, who has begun to slip in the polls, has charged that the outcome of November's election will be "rigged." President Obama blasted that as "ridiculous" in a wide-ranging news conference.

Party loyalists are hopeful the GOP presidential nominee can change course after a disastrous first week of the general election campaign.

Steve Inskeep talks with NPR congressional reporter Susan Davis about Donald Trump's unwillingness to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan and Sen. John McCain in their primaries next week. Echoing Ryan's words when Trump clinched the GOP presidential nomination, Trump said of endorsing Ryan, "I'm not there yet."

The Democratic presidential nominee and her running mate have opposing views on the Hyde Amendment, a long-standing policy to limit federal funding of abortions.

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine's positions on Wall Street reforms and trade deals are already drawing the ire of groups who had backed Clinton's primary rival Bernie Sanders.

The House and Senate are set to adjourn Thursday for a seven week summer recess that leaves behind in Washington, D.C., much unfinished business and sets up what could be a contentious fall.

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine is a on a short list to become Hillary Clinton's vice president. Kaine was also a finalist to become President Obama's running mate.

House Democrats continued a sit in on the floor of the chamber overnight and into Thursday to force a vote on gun legislation. Speaker Paul Ryan adjourned the House until July 5.

Defying the sit-in, Republicans passed a funding measure for Zika and left for the July 4 recess. The House will convene in a pro forma session Friday but no business will be conducted until July 5.

Sen. Marco Rubio announced Wednesday he will run for reelection to his Florida seat. The one-time Republican presidential candidate pledged not to run again but has reconsidered. The Florida seat is considered a competitive one for the GOP in an election cycle in which the party's control of the Senate could be in jeopardy.

Once the House was gaveled into session, Democrats shouted down the chair. Republican leaders recessed the House, but returned later in the day to vote on unrelated measures.

The retiring Florida Republican senator is under pressure from his party to reverse course and run again this November.