President Biden to meet with port heads ahead of expected Christmas supply crunch

With global supply chain bottlenecks threatening the Christmas shopping season, President Joe Biden will highlight his administration's work with ports on Wednesday and try to stave off the potentially politically explosive headaches Americans may face as delays threaten holiday gift-giving.

The president plans to meet with the leaders of the two busiest ports in the United States - Los Angeles and…

House votes to temporarily raise debt limit

The House voted Tuesday to temporarily raise the debt ceiling by $480 billion after the Senate approved the stopgap measure late last week, putting off the risk of default until early December.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the lower chamber back to Washington from a two-week recess to pass the measure. The bill passed along party lines Tuesday evening in a 219–206 vote. It now heads to President Joe Biden's desk for signature.…

Infants of COVID-positive mothers have high rates of health complications, study finds

Infants born to mothers with COVID-19 are significantly more likely to experience health problems, such as difficulty breathing, compared to infants born to mothers without COVID-19, according to a new study published Monday.

The study, published in the Journal Of Maternal-Fetal And Neonatal Medicine, adds a new layer onto the growing body of research showing the potential complications…

Taliban says US will provide humanitarian aid to Afghanistan

The Taliban say Washington has agreed to provide humanitarian aid to a desperately poor Afghanistan on the brink of an economic disaster, while refusing to give political recognition to the country's new rulers

ISLAMABAD - The U.S. has agreed to provide humanitarian aid to a desperately poor Afghanistan on the brink of an economic disaster, while refusing to give political recognition to the country's new Taliban rulers,…

Trump boasted of crowd size at Jan. 6 riot, new book says

While the Capitol was under attack on Jan. 6, former President Donald Trump remained out of sight from the public and watched TV in the White House private dining room, ABC News' chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl revealed on ABC's "This Week."

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., called Trump to ask him to tell the rioters to leave the Capitol, Karl reports in his new book, "Betrayal: The Final Act of…

Health officials report uptick in children's rare COVID-related inflammatory syndrome following delta surge

A number of pediatric hospitals across the country are warning about an increase in the number of cases of multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children, a rare condition in which different parts of the body, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes or gastrointestinal organs, become inflamed.

The uptick follows the country's most recent summer delta surge in…

Health officials report uptick in children's rare COVID-related inflammatory syndrome following delta surge

A number of pediatric hospitals across the country are warning about an increase in the number of cases of multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children, a rare condition in which different parts of the body, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes or gastrointestinal organs, become inflamed.

The uptick follows the country's most recent summer delta surge in…

With COVID-19 mandates rolling out, what to know about religious exemptions

With COVID-19 vaccine mandates proliferating across the country in the public and private sectors as well as some school districts, the pushback from those unwilling or hesitant to get their shots is heating up.

The vaccination effort has raised new questions about exemptions because mandates for adults are generally rare outside of settings like healthcare facilities and the military, and the inoculations…

Democrats expected to take short-term debt ceiling increase, reject GOP reconciliation offer

Senate Democrats emerged from a closed door special caucus meeting on the debt ceiling on Wednesday and said they intend to take GOP Minority Leader Mitch McConnell up on his short-term debt ceiling increase.

Multiple senators and aides told ABC News Democrats are rejecting McConnell's other offer that would have Republicans expediting Democrats passing a longer-term debt ceiling increase…

Supreme Court takes up secret CIA black sites in 9/11 detainee's case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday will wrestle with the limits of the government state secrets privilege in a high-stakes case brought by the first al-Qaida suspect detained and harshly interrogated at a CIA "black site" after Sept. 11, 2001.

Abu Zubaydah, who was captured in Pakistan in 2002, was waterboarded 83 times, spent 11 days in a coffin-size confinement box and was subjected to "walling, attention…

Florida trying to block money Biden sent to school districts fined for mask mandates

Days after the Biden administration reimbursed two Florida school districts whose board members lost their salaries for mandating masks for students, the state's top education official is trying to strip the districts of the money.

In a series of memoranda, Florida Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran recommended Monday that the Florida Board of Education, which meets Thursday, withhold…

Facebook reckoning comes as Jan. 6 inquiry heats up: The Note

It might almost look like bipartisanship is back on Tuesday, when a Senate subcommittee convenes a hearing with a former Facebook employee, as Democrats and Republicans are almost equally eager to use the hearing to blast the social media giant.

They're coming at their outrage from decidedly different angles, which could stifle efforts to pass meaningful regulations more than any perceived technological illiteracy in…

Fauci notes COVID-19 progress but warns more surges are possible

As the U.S. sees its first notable decline in COVID-19 metrics in more than three months, with coronavirus-related hospital admissions and average daily new cases dropping by more than 30% over the last month, Dr. Anthony Fauci says the country is making progress against the current surge, but warned we're not out of the woods yet during an interview on ABC's "This Week."

"We certainly are turning the corner on this…

Biden says he'll 'work like hell' to get infrastructure agenda across finish line

After multiple delays to a House vote on his infrastructure deal this week, President Joe Biden says he still believes his party can overcome disagreements to move the plan forward.

Speaking with reporters Saturday, Biden pledged to "work like hell" to get both the bipartisan and reconciliation infrastructure bills passed as his ambitious domestic agenda hangs in the balance.

"Everybody is…

Body believed to be missing 19-year-old Miya Marcano found: Police

A body believed to be 19-year-old college student Miya Marcano, who has been missing for just over a week, was discovered Saturday morning, the Orange County Sheriff's Office announced.

Authorities searched around the Tymber Skan apartments in Orange County, Florida, on Saturday and discovered a body in a wooded area nearby "that we believe to be that of Miya Marcano," Sheriff John Mina said.

Marcano, a student…

Biden heads to Capitol Hill to meet with House Democrats amid infighting

President Joe Biden went to Capitol Hill Friday afternoon to meet with House Democrats, White House officials said, amid party infighting that has put his legislative agenda in jeopardy.

Biden, who has kept a low public profile most of the week while negotiating behind the scenes trying to break the impasse, spoke behind doors with liberal and moderate lawmakers for about half an hour.

He added, "It…

White House promises more rapid COVID-19 tests amid supply shortage

With at-home rapid COVID-19 tests hard to come by and many stores limiting purchases, the White House on Friday acknowledged the current supply crunch, promising to double the number of rapid tests available for sale within the next two months.

"You're right that the at-home rapid test is under a lot of demand," White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said, emphasizing that "overall, testing…

Ohio health care workers warn of 'astronomical' COVID-19 pediatric surge

Although coronavirus-related hospitalizations are beginning to trend down nationally among all age groups, the rate of pediatric infections remains at an "exceptionally high" level, according to experts.

Across the country, federal data shows that nearly 2,000 children are currently hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19. In recent weeks, as the viral surge in the South is finally showing…

US says ivory-billed woodpecker, 22 other species extinct

BILLINGS, Mont. - Death's come knocking a last time for the splendid ivory-billed woodpecker and 22 more birds, fish and other species: The U.S. government is declaring them extinct.

It's a rare move for wildlife officials to give up hope on a plant or animal, but government scientists say they've exhausted efforts to find these 23. And they warn climate change, on top of other pressures, could make such disappearances…

Key takeaways from US military leaders on Afghanistan withdrawal

In their first appearance before Congress since the withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Afghanistan, the nation's top military leaders candidly admitted to lawmakers that they had recommended to President Joe Biden that the U.S. should keep a troop presence there, appearing to contradict his assertions.

The testimony by Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. Frank McKenzie, the…