CBS News Politics

Qatari mediators return to Tehran to push for a U.S.-Iran deal as Trump acknowledges outreach, but keeps his threats on the table.

The November 2026 midterm elections are just four days away. Candidates in key races — and President Trump — are making their closing arguments to voters.

The Justice Department and a group of veterans are set to face off in court over the fate of President Trump's proposed 250-foot arch.

Former FBI Director James Comey will be back in a federal courtroom on Friday, as his legal team prepares to argue for dismissing the Justice Department's latest attempt to criminally charge him.

Campaigns are experimenting with AI texting to hear from more voters than before — and sometimes, to persuade them.

Millions of Americans will gain an hour of sleep this weekend when the time change commonly known as daylight savings ends for 2026, meaning clocks "fall back."

"I am not interested in tricking voters," Democratic Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola said, after operatives were accused of recruiting a person with the same name as Sen. Dan Sullivan.

A report alleged that people aligned with Democrat Mary Peltola's campaign helped recruit a candidate with the same first and last name as Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. Peltola denied the allegations.

In Alaska's Senate race, voters will choose between four candidates, including GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan and a man with the same first and last name — a situation that has frustrated Republicans and drawn scrutiny for Democrat Mary Peltola.

President Trump canceled his rally in Iowa, opting for a telerally instead. He also spoke at a rally in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on Thursday afternoon, where he campaigned for Republican Senate candidate Darline Graham. CBS News' Fin Gómez reports and Nicholas Reynolds, a politics editor for The Post and Courier, has more on South Carolina's Senate race.

The Justice Department has begun issuing a new wave of subpoenas stemming from an ongoing criminal investigation into Alaska's U.S. Senate race, multiple sources confirmed to CBS News.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired the Pentagon's top military planner, Army Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia, a Pentagon official told CBS News.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's aggressive and, what critics call, dangerous overhaul of the U.S. military continued this week. Top military strategist Lt. General Brett Sylvia was abruptly fired, accused of leaking classified information to the media. Charlie D'Agata reports.

The critical Senate race in South Carolina is closer than expected, and President Trump stopped there with six days to go until the midterms. Weijia Jiang has more.

Rising fertilizer and fuel costs, drought and low crop prices have pushed Kansas farms to the edge — scrambling farmers' loyalties in the Senate race between GOP Sen. Roger Marshall and Democrat Adam Hamilton.

The Justice Department has issued grand jury subpoenas to California officials, escalating a dispute over allegations by the federal government that the state may have as many as 20,000 non-citizens registered to vote.

Actor Patrick Steward died at 86; a criminal investigation into the Alaska Senate race escalates.

With Social Security's main trust fund on course to be depleted in 2032, Congress will face mounting pressure to find remedies and avert benefit cuts.

Alaska Senate race under investigation amid Dan Sullivan controversy; Trump's Iran war drives up airfares as midterms approach.

Half of the Senate and a third of gubernatorial races will go without a debate between major party candidates in the 2026 cycle.