President Trump sought to blunt the impact of a forthcoming book by longtime Washington journalist Bob Woodward, calling it possibly “made up” or the product of embittered aides, after a number of sensational excerpts emerged on Tuesday.

The Senate confirmation hearings for Judge Brett Kavanaugh started off contentiously Tuesday and will probably continue to gain steam Wednesday, with the first bout of public questioning of President Trump’s Supreme Court pick.

Democrats made clear Tuesday that the confirmation hearing for Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, will not go quickly or smoothly, though the chances of blocking his appointment in the GOP-led Senate remain slim.

Three-quarters of Americans want to preserve key protections in the Affordable Care Act that bar health insurers from turning away sick customers, according to a new poll that highlights the political pitfalls of current Republican efforts to roll back the safeguards.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey scheduled a Tuesday news conference where he was expected to appoint former Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl to fill the seat of the late John McCain.

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Facing widespread outrage, the New Yorker has dropped plans to interview Stephen K. Bannon during its festival next month.

New Yorker editor David Remnick told the Associated Press in a statement Monday that should he interview Bannon in the future it would be in "a more traditionally journalistic setting." The former aide to President Trump and former Breitbart News chairman was supposed to be a featured guest during a prestigious gathering that over the years has drawn some of the world's most prominent artists.

The announcement that Bannon would be featured had been made earlier Monday and denounced by Roxane Gay, Jessica Valenti and many others. Filmmaker Judd Apatow had tweeted he would not attend if Bannon was interviewed. Kathryn Schultz was among the New Yorker staff writers who tweeted that they had informed Remnick directly about their objections.

President Trump started his Labor Day with an attack on a top union leader, lashing out after criticism from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

Trump tweeted Monday that Trumka "represented his union poorly on television this weekend." He added: "it is easy to see why unions are doing so poorly. A Dem!"

The president's attack came after Trumka appeared on "Fox News Sunday" over the weekend, saying efforts to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement should include Canada. Trumka, whose organization is an umbrella group for most unions, said the economies of the United States, Canada and Mexico are "integrated" and "it's pretty hard to see how that would work without having Canada in the deal."

Under the soaring neo-Gothic arches of the National Cathedral, official Washington was set to gather Saturday to say farewell to Sen. John McCain, capping days of tributes to the war hero and two-time Republican presidential contender who died last week of brain cancer at the age of 81.

Two former presidents who prevented McCain from winning that title, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican George W. Bush, were to deliver eulogies to the sixth-term Arizona senator before 2,500 invited guests. Their keynote role was McCain’s idea — his final, poignant display of the bipartisanship that was his hallmark, and was celebrated at memorial services from Phoenix to the U.S. Capitol over the last three days.

Related: Mourners gather to pay tribute to Sen. John McCain at U.S. Capitol »