US Politics An aide’s account lifts lid on Trump’s presidential power grabLast week’s testimony by Cassidy Hutchinson about the final days of Donald Trump’s presidency could be the smoking gun that leads to a criminal prosecution of him
Profile Why America’s gun lobby leader Wayne LaPierre is under fireThe vice-president of the National Rifle Association is fighting to keep his job with a long-simmering controversy over the running of the organisation exacerbated by public anger over the latest school massacre in Texas
Marion McKeone: Thomas under Supreme scrutiny as wife’s activities come to lightThe US Supreme Court Justice is feeling the heat over an alleged conflict of interest this weekend, after it emerged that his wife Ginni played a big role in attempts to overturn the result of the November 2020 presidential election
Big Read: Marion McKeone on the inner tensions gripping the US Supreme Court as it continues to lurch to the rightLike so many of the other cracks beneath the veneer of US democracy, Supreme Court dysfunction didn’t start with Donald Trump’s presidency, but it was a whole lot worse by the end of it
Marion McKeone: Biden is discovering that the buck stops with him after a difficult first yearFor every Biden victory during his first year as president there were unforced errors, unrealistic goals set and some sheer bad luck
Roe v Wade takes another blow as Supreme Court upholds Texas abortion lawWomen’s rights under the constitution have been undermined by Texas’s abortion ban, but the conservative-dominated Supreme Court is refusing to step in
Biden’s ambitious social spending plan stalled by stubborn senatorsThe plan to fund federal programmes on everything from climate change to affordable housing grants to lower prescription drug prices requires the support of all 50 Democratic senators, but two of his more conservative members are holding out
Conservatives target abortion with new assault on Roe v WadeRepublicans and social conservatives are now waging their cultural war against reproductive rights, and are eagerly awaiting an upcoming case in Mississippi which could overturn US women’s constitutional right to abortion
The fall of Afghanistan: Civilians pay the price for America’s ‘for profit’ invasionAs the Taliban take over power in Afghanistan, experts and former residents say the US’s first priority was never to support a local struggle against oppression and poverty, but to line its own pockets
Landslide: An exhaustive and exhausting delve into the fall of TrumpMichael Wolff’s latest book about the 45th president of the United States is full of juicy gossip, but is ultimately a depressing read
A reluctant Biden gets involved in Middle East conflict as pressure mounts at home The US president’s unquestioning support for Israel is being increasingly criticised by Congressional Democrats, young Democratic activists and civil rights groups
Susan O’Keeffe: It will take the actions of millions worldwide to truly eliminate racial hated Totem moments like this week’s Derek Chauvin verdict can give a false sense of progress against racism but what is required is constant vigilance and a widespread change in mindset
Could Ireland take a multi billion euro hit on tax?If the Biden administration’s proposals on global tax come to pass, our economy is unlikely to emerge unscathed over the long term, with corporate tax reform potentially costing Ireland billions each year
Vincent Boland: Hope has turned into expectation: we will overcome this pandemicThe early days of the Covid-19 pandemic were dominated by loudmouths, incompetents and populists. Then the serious people took over
Brian Keegan: Boldly going where no US president has gone before Joe Biden is implementing a radical agenda to fund his public expenditure programme, but what will it mean for our corporation tax yields?
Trump protégé fights for his political life amid sex and drugs controversyMatt Gaetz, the Florida Congressman and a rising star in the Republican Party, is embroiled in a sex-trafficking scandal that threatens to consume his career
DC battles its democratic deficit and fights to become 51st stateWith no votes and no senators, Washington, DC’s non-state status has long been an issue for its 712,000 permanent residents
Biden in crisis management mode as Covid catastrophe begins to fadeFrom climate change to gun control, and the increasing numbers gathering on the country’s border, US president Joe Biden has a daunting list of issues to tackle
Analysis: Pressure on school places means political row is brewingSchool admission rules still favour the ‘old Irish’ but with growing populations in urban areas, politicians will have to find new policies to level the playing field. They could start by looking at what happened in Boston almost 50 years ago
The GOP goes from one extreme to anotherThe US election last November delivered an electoral earthquake in Georgia whose white Republican senators were ousted in favour of two Democrats – a Jewish journalist and a black preacher. But Georgia also sent QAnon supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene to Congress, a woman who sees herself as Maga’s Joan of Arc