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.

In this Nov. 5, 2020, file photo, the Supreme Court in Washington. The Supreme Court has rejected Republicans' last-gasp bid to reverse Pennsylvanias certification of President-elect Joe Bidens victory in the electoral battleground. “But it’s worth it for the Supreme Court to weigh in and settle it once and for all,” he said. Spencer Cox, who will become governor in January, blasted Attorney General Sean Reyes for deciding to join the suit. Despite the political pressure, Idaho’s Republican attorney general chose not to join the Texas suit.