NAHUNTA, Ga. (AP) — Huge plumes of smoke blanketed swaths of the Southeast on Wednesday as crews battled rapidly growing wildfires that destroyed more than 50 homes in Georgia and forced hundreds to flee the drought- and wind-fueled flames. Some of the biggest blazes were near Georgia’s coast, while others were popping up in northern Florida, a state facing one of its worst fire seasons in decades. It was not yet clear how the wildfires started, but the bottom half of Georgia is perilously...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate took the first steps in a new effort to reopen the Department of Homeland Security early Thursday, voting to adopt a budget plan that would fund ICE and Border Patrol over Democratic objections and sending it to the House. The entire department has been shut down since mid-February as Democrats have demanded policy changes in the wake of fatal shootings of two protesters by federal agents. Republicans are now trying to fund the two agencies through the process a...

A Republican senator juggling three roles — lawmaker, doctor and political candidate seeking reelection — walked a fine line on Wednesday as he questioned Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. , a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has moved to dramatically roll back the nation's childhood vaccine recommendations. Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who chairs one committee that oversees Kennedy's department and sits on another, took a tough but measured posture in two high-stakes hearings where...