Congressional candidate Darren Bailey, left, campaigns with state Rep. Adam Niemerg at a local restaurant meet-and-greet, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, in Casey, Ill. (AP Photo / John O’Connor)

As it winds down, the race could be seen as a measure of Donald Trump’s clout. Mike Bost is a popular incumbent, but he’s running in a time and place where disdain for government is white-hot. Establishment Republicans are angry their man has to face an intraparty challenge, which is the attitude Darren Bailey argues needs to be dislodged.

(Cottonbro Studio / Pexels)

Some lawmakers and critics of TikTok have argued the Chinese government could force the company to share data on American users. TikTok says it has never done that and wouldn’t do so if asked. The U.S. government also hasn’t provided evidence of that happening.

President Joe Biden arrives on Marine One to attend a fundraiser in San Francisco, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. (AP Photo / Manuel Balce Ceneta)

The administration, stymied by Republican lawmakers who rejected a negotiated border bill earlier this month, has been exploring options that President Joe Biden could deploy on his own without congressional approval.

In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, right, meets with Rep. Mike Gallagher, the Republican chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, center, and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D.-Ill., in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)

In a meeting Thursday with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, Rep. Mike Gallagher, the Republican chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, highlighted the bipartisan support for the U.S.-Taiwan partnership, which he described as “stronger and more rock-solid than ever now.”

Election judges demonstrate the accuracy of the city’s voting equipment on Oct. 28, 2022, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo / Abbie Parr)

Election officials face a long list of challenges this year, including potential cyberattacks waged by foreign governments, criminal ransomware gangs attacking computer systems and the persistence of election misinformation that has led to harassment of election officials and undermined public confidence.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas listens during a news conference about security for NFL’s Super Bowl 58 football game, in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. (Alex Brandon / AP Photo)

The evening roll call proved tight, with Speaker Mike Johnson’s threadbare GOP majority unable to handle many defectors or absences in the face of staunch Democratic opposition to impeaching Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the first Cabinet secretary facing charges in nearly 150 years.

Rep. Delia Ramirez appears on “Chicago Tonight” on Jan. 29, 2023. (WTTW News)

Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Chicago), herself the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants, weighs in on the situation in Washington and efforts to address immigration.

A migrant walks along a road shadowed by the steel columns of the border wall separating Arizona and Mexico after crossing into the United States, Friday, Dec. 15, 2023, near Lukeville, Ariz. (AP Photo / Gregory Bull, File)

As the Senate broke for the holidays, due back Jan. 8, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in a rare joint statement indicated negotiations are progressing. 

George Santos, R-N.Y., leaves the Capitol after being expelled from the House of Representatives, Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo / Stephanie Scarbrough)

The vote to expel was 311-114. Expulsion requires support from two-thirds of the House, a purposefully high bar, but a blistering House Ethics Committee report that accused Santos of breaking federal law proved decisive.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin from Illinois at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Nov. 28, 2023. (WTTW News)

“In cities like Chicago dealing with the constant drumbeat of gun violence, it has turned these public health officials into battlefield experts,” U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said. “They’ve seen the aftermath of bullets tearing through bone like it’s tissue paper.”

Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks after he was chosen as the Republicans latest nominee for House speaker at a Republican caucus meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. (AP Photo / Jose Luis Magana)

Mike Johnson of Louisiana, a lower-ranked member of the House GOP leadership team, becomes the fourth Republican nominee in what has become an almost absurd cycle of political infighting since Kevin McCarthy’s ouster. 

Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., arrives as Republicans meet to decide who to nominate to be the new House speaker, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. (Alex Brandon / AP Photo)

It’s been three weeks since Republicans ousted Kevin McCarthy as House speaker. Rep. Tom Emmer won a simple majority of his colleagues behind closed doors, but he will need the support of most all Republicans during a House floor vote ahead.

U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez and U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson, join “Chicago Tonight” on Oct. 23, 2023. (WTTW News)

U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Chicago, and U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Chicago, joined “Chicago Tonight” to discuss aid to Israel, the House Speaker race and a growing number of migrants arriving to Chicago from the southern border.

Rep. David Joyce, R-Ohio, upper left, confers with House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., as Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, center, and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., far right, tabulate votes as Republicans failed to elect Jordan as speaker, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Nine lower-level Republican lawmakers are now running to be speaker, leader of the House and second in second in line to the presidency — none with any clear shot for the gavel.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, center, and others, look on as the vote is counted for a third ballot to elect a speaker of the House, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)

The Republicans have no realistic or workable plan to unite the fractured GOP majority, elect a new speaker and return to the work of Congress that has been languishing since hard-liners ousted Kevin McCarthy at the start of the month.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee leaves the Republican caucus meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo / Jose Luis Magana)

The prolonged stalemate risks keeping the House intractably shut down for the foreseeable future after the unprecedented ouster of Kevin McCarthy as speaker.