A last-minute intervention ensured the military was paid despite the government shutdown, but military families remain anxious as the shutdown drags on without a long-term solution.

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Lee Saunders — president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees — about how federal workers are handling the latest round of layoffs.

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Lee Saunders — president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees — about how federal workers are handling the latest round of layoffs.

The court's conservative majority could invalidate the section of the Voting Rights Act aimed at ensuring minority voters are not shut out of the process of drawing new congressional district lines.

The housing market is showing signs of loosening up, but a lack of starter homes is still keeping potential first-time buyers on the sidelines.

During the speech last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth lectured senior military officials on the "warrior ethos," focusing on fitness and grooming standards, and calling out "fat generals."

The federal government is currently shut down. The NPR Network is following the ways the government shutdown is affecting services across the country.

They're framing it as a way to share data and messages about threats, emergency preparedness and public health policy at a time when the federal government isn't doing its job in public health.

A Supreme Court case over Louisiana's congressional map could determine the future of Voting Rights Act protections against racial discrimination and allow Republicans to draw 19 more House seats.

Israel pressures Hamas to hand over hostage bodies more quickly, testing the ceasefire deal. And, the Supreme Court takes up a major case on that could weaken the Voting Rights Act nationwide.