Federal government of the United States

Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Jill Biden holds the Bible during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington, Jan. 20, 2021.

5 major challenges facing Biden on Day One   

Biden administration

Here’s a roundup of coverage on The World that will get you caught up on the fraught transition of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden.

Members of the US National Guard stand inside anti-scaling fencing that surrounds the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 10, 2021.

Impeachment looms after US Capitol attack; Pakistan plunges into darkness; Taiwan-US diplomatic ties strengthened

Top of The World
US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks

McConnell says Republicans have the votes to set impeachment trial rules

Mitch McConnell

Impeachment comes to the Senate — 5 questions answered

Trump impeachment
A man behind a desk with the American flag on it

Trump’s ad hoc diplomacy makes him look ‘extremely weak,’ says Amb McFaul

Foreign policy
Photo of US President Donald Trump.

Could President Trump be impeached and convicted — but also reelected?

Politics

An American legal and political history scholar says that careful examination of the Constitution suggests President Trump could be reelected even if he is removed through impeachment.

Unclassified papers

Spies and the White House have a history of running wild without congressional oversight

For decades now, the evolving role of congressional oversight of US intelligence has involved major clashes and scandals, from the Iran-Contra affair of the 1980s to the intelligence abuses that led to the 2003 war in Iraq.

Several men in dark suits stand as others sit

Things That Go Boom: Is America’s foreign policy for sale?

Politics

Think tanks with nonprofit status aren’t required to say much of anything when it comes to the source of their funding — whether it be billionaires or foreign governments. That can become a problem when such organizations significantly influence foreign policy — such as the Iran nuclear deal — without disclosing to whom they are financially beholden.

Supreme Court Hears Challenge to Voting Rights Act

The Supreme Court hears arguments today in what could be a landmark Supreme Court ruling regarding the state of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The act, first signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, was a major piece of civil rights legislation aiming to reverse a practice that long disenfranchised black Americans. Today a key […]