Ron Elving

Why are we making such a monumental fuss over the visit of Pope Francis to America?

So he is the first pope ever to speak to Congress, and he will also visit the White House, New York City and Philadelphia. While millions are excited to the point of frenzy, millions ...

Don't bet on John Boehner being ousted as House speaker during the latest round of wrangles on Capitol Hill this month. He's likely to survive into 2016 and finish this, his third term, as the boss of the House majority Republicans.

Boehner might have any number of reasons to retire, ...

Donald Trump was once again at center stage at Wednesday night's debate hosted by CNN — the second debate among the GOP candidates for president This time, however, he had a harder time holding the spotlight.

Again and again throughout the seemingly interminable three-hour spectacle, the attention of the audience ...

As Rick Perry suspended his second campaign for president Friday, it was hard to remember how big a deal his first one had been just four years ago.

Perry was riding high in the saddle in the summer of 2011. He was the thrice-elected governor of the nation's second-most-populous state, ...

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton currently dominate the 2016 presidential story, not only in the polls but in the news. Virtually everything either of them says is instantly seized upon to be celebrated or condemned by various media.

Surely no two candidates in the past have followed such profoundly disparate ...

It is hard to imagine a presidential election cycle at NPR without the warm presence and reassuring wisdom of Andy Kohut.

The man who founded the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, and who later served as president of the expanded Pew Research Center from 2004 to ...

Hillary Clinton goes to Puerto Rico on Friday to thank voters there for past support in the primaries, and offering her support for more lenient treatment of the island's mounting public debt.

Now that 34 senators have committed to support President Obama on the Iran nuclear agreement, that deal looks certain to survive the opposition of Republicans in Congress.

But Congress still faces an ugly September and fall, as other crises await members returning from five weeks of vacation, namely:

• A ...

With the approval of Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski, announced Wednesday, President Obama has secured enough support in Congress to sustain his nuclear deal with Iran.

One measure of how impressive Bernie Sanders' crowds have been lately is the respect they get from Donald Trump, a man who clearly believes size matters.

"He's getting the biggest crowds, and I'm getting the biggest crowds," Trump said last week of Sanders in one of his innumerable TV interviews.

...

Bad news for Hillary Clinton this week regarding her private email server seems to be good news for Bernie Sanders. And despite scandals, Donald Trump continues to overshadow the other GOP candidates.

It is possible that Donald Trump will look back on the first Republican presidential debate Thursday night in Cleveland and wish he had not taken part.

That notion seems absurd at first glance. Taking the stage for the season's first clash was widely seen as the zenith of Trump's campaign ...

The first debate of the 2016 presidential campaign season is Thursday, Aug. 6. With so many Republican candidates trying to get on stage, what should voters be looking for?

Four U.S. presidents have completed a second term since that became the limit, and three of them might well have had a shot at winning again: Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.

Some said it was the End of The Donald, others the Beginning of the End.

Republican officials and professionals called it the moment when the Trump house of cards had begun its inevitable tumble. Many in the media agreed.

But was it so, or are we in Washington, the political-professional ...

These are palmy days for Sen. Bernie Sanders and his improbable campaign for president. Thousands throng his events in Maine, Iowa and Wisconsin. He has raised $15 million in just a few months, and he polls better among Democrats than any one Republican is polling among Republicans.

At a minimum, ...

With his eulogy Friday for the slain pastor and parishioners of "Mother Emanuel" AME Church in Charleston, S.C., President Obama concluded the most shining week of his second term.

The president praised the leadership of South Carolina for its response to the Charleston killings, especially their decision to take down ...

The Supreme Court dealt same-sex marriage advocates a historic victory Friday, ruling 5-4 that states must license and recognize same-sex marriage. For more, David Greene speaks with NPR's Ron Elving.

The tragic events in Charleston this month have released years of racial and political tension in the South, and the pressure is being felt by Republican officeholders across the region.

Why the Republicans? Because it is increasingly difficult to find officeholders in the region who are not Republicans.

The South ...

Jeb Bush declared his candidacy for president Monday with no jacket or tie, but he didn't really let his hair down until he repeated much of his speech Tuesday night on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show.

On Tonight, the candidate with the familiar name was "slow jammin' the news." That's a ...