Sen. Luján’s stroke jolts Democrats

For months, Senate Democrats have quietly pondered the possibility that their razor-thin majority could be upended by the absence, incapacitation or death of a single senator. This week, that scenario became reality when one of the youngest Democrats, Sen. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, suffered a stroke.

He is expected to recover fully and return to the Senate in weeks. But the political impact was immediate: Some plans had to be shelved and many on Capitol Hill braced for partisan battles to come.

A brief look back at stories that had readers talking this week