Widespread power outages affect White House, U.S. Capitol

Widespread power outages in the U.S. capital and its suburbs on Tuesday cut electricity to a number of government buildings, including the White House and State Department, and at several of the Smithsonian museums. The State Department's daily news briefing was suspended after power was lost. A U.S. official said the White House was without power for a few minutes. Some subway stations were running on backup power, according to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.