President-elect Donald Trump’s tough talk about Greenland and the Panama Canal shows that he’s most comfortable playing offense, even if nothing much comes of it.

President Joe Biden on Monday vetoed a once-bipartisan effort to add 66 federal district judgeships, saying "hurried action" by the House left important questions unanswered about the life-tenured positions.

A powerful government panel on Monday failed to reach consensus on the possible national security risks of a nearly $15 billion proposed deal for Nippon Steel of Japan to purchase U.S. Steel, leaving a decision to President Joe Biden, a longtime opponent of the deal.

President Joe Biden on Monday signed into law a defense bill that authorizes significant pay raises for junior enlisted service members, aims to counter China's growing power and boosts overall military spending to $895 billion despite his objections to language stripping coverage of transgender medical treatments for children in military families.

Republican fiscal hawks have every justification to be concerned about the federal government’s finances. Both the federal budget deficit and total federal debt held by the public are at all-time highs. For the first time ever, the federal government is spending more on interest payments to service its debt than it spends on national security. […]

Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci on Monday urged Elon Musk to stay out of politics and focus on his successful businesses. “Stick to business. You‘ve done great. You‘ve made a couple hundred billion dollars since the election,” Scaramucci said in an interview on CNN’s “The Situation Room” with Wolf Blitzer, describing his advice...

Former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said on Monday that President-elect Trump's recent provocations about the U.S. possibly retaking control of the Panama Canal are part of a negotiating tactic to get the rates down. Mulvaney added, however, that Trump has leverage in the negotiating process because he makes “credible” threats. “This is...

Part of the Santa Cruz, Calif., wharf collapsed on Monday, sending three construction workers into the ocean. All victims were rescued — two by a lifeguard unit and a third managed to swim to safety, according to the Santa Cruz Fire Department, which noted that there were no reports of significant injuries “at this time.”...