Blanche Clears Crucial Vote, Nearing Confirmation as Attorney General

Todd Blanche’s nomination now advances to the Senate floor, where it was not immediately clear whether he would be confirmed given that he can afford to lose only two senators on a party-line vote.

 By Glenn Thrush and

Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, has overseen a wholesale transformation of the Justice Department.

Inside the Oval Office Showdown Between Trump and Jeanine Pirro

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, told President Trump that his interior secretary, Doug Burgum, had misled him with a self-serving cover story for his own mistakes.

 By Tyler PagerGlenn Thrush and

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, at a news conference in Washington in April.

In Ohio, Toxic Wastewater Is Bubbling Up Out of the Ground

The state is a major importer of fracking wastewater, which gets pumped underground but doesn’t always stay there. The city of Marietta is fighting back.

 By Quinn Glabicki and

The wastewater, which can be radioactive, has risen to the surface through older oil and gas wells near Marietta, Ohio, such as this one.

The Iran War’s Forgotten Captives: Sailors Trapped in the Persian Gulf

Thousands of civilian workers remain stranded on ships at risk of attack by Iran. On one vessel, sailors have been held by the Iranian navy for more than three months.

 By Jenny Gross and

U.S.-Israel attacks against Iran on Feb. 28 followed by Iran’s almost-immediate closure of the Strait of Hormuz, has stranded thousands of sailors.