Idaho voters are heading to the polls to decide primaries for the U.S. House and the state legislature.

Lawmakers broke for their August recess this week with many worried about whether they can avoid a partial government shutdown upon their return.

Madison Cawthorn's unexpected victory in 2020 made him the youngest member of the House and a rising Republican star — until the scandals started piling up.

U.S. officials say they have almost completed a lengthy project to dig up and remove radioactive and hazardous waste buried for decades in unlined pits at an eastern Idaho nuclear facility that sits atop a giant aquifer.

House Republicans narrowly voted Wednesday, March 17, to allow their members to seek earmarks under certain conditions, making a clean break from a decade-long ban against seeking money for specific projects back home. Scott Applewhite, File)WASHINGTON – House Republicans narrowly voted Wednesday to allow their members to seek earmarks under certain conditions, making a clean break from a decade-long ban against seeking money for specific projects back home. The 102-84 vote changes the party's internal rules and allows Republicans to join the Democratic House majority as it puts in place a new process for earmarks in spending and transportation bills. “I think members here know what’s most important about what’s going on in their district, not Biden,” McCarthy said. Rep. Ted Budd, R-N.C., said that even if Republicans and Democrats start requesting earmarks for local projects in future bills, he will not participate.

A dirty word for many Republicans is making the rounds on Capitol Hill -- earmarks. It's a question that's vexing Republicans as they consider whether to join a Democratic push to revive earmarks, the much-maligned practice where lawmakers direct federal spending to a specific project or institution back home. Democratic appropriators in the House see a solution and are proposing a revamped process allowing lawmakers to submit public requests for “community project funding” in federal spending bills. The ranking Republican on the committee, Rep. Sam Graves of Missouri, said earmarks would not increase the amount of money spent in a bill. “That’s something I feel pretty strongly about.”Norman worries that earmarks would be used to entice Republicans to vote for bills with expensive price tags.

Kathy Kratt of Orlando, Fla., displays her Trump flags as she and other protesters demonstrate their support for President Donald Trump at the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. Trump bemoaned the decision late Friday, tweeting: “The Supreme Court really let us down. Two days after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed his suit, Trump jumped into the high court case. “If the Supreme Court shows great Wisdom and Courage, the American People will win perhaps the most important case in history, and our Electoral Process will be respected again!” he tweeted Friday afternoon. Many Republican voters in several states won by Biden have demanded that their elected officials find a way to invalidate the president-elect's victories.