Congress

WASHINGTON — Puerto Rico’s five-year struggle to free itself from crushing debt ended Tuesday when a federal judge signed off on the U.S. territory’s bankruptcy plan. The restructuring cuts Puerto Rico’s public debt from $33 billion to just over $7.4... Read More

WASHINGTON — As public health officials warned this week the U.S. COVID-19 death toll could reach 1 million by this spring, a congressional panel on Wednesday considered what it would take to ensure it never happens again. Rep. Joseph Morelle,... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday will try to talk anxious Americans through the challenges of delivering on his lengthy to-do list as he holds a rare news conference to mark his first year in office and asks... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the United States Capitol issued subpoenas Tuesday evening to Rudolph Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell and Boris Epshteyn. In a tweet, the committee said simply, “The four individuals... Read More

WASHINGTON — Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., won’t be seeking reelection to Congress in the fall, bringing the curtain down on an 11-term congressional career. “Nearly 40 years ago, a tragic accident left me paralyzed. My dreams of becoming a police... Read More

WASHINGTON — Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., the Northern California Democrat who jumped from energy to public service, announced Tuesday he’s retiring at the conclusion of his third term. McNerney joined 26 other Democrats who have announced they plan to leave... Read More

WASHINGTON — Two bills introduced in the Senate this week would broaden the ban on members of Congress buying and selling stocks while they hold public office. The bills from Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff and Republican Sen. Josh Hawley follow... Read More

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Republican Rep. John Katko, a former Justice Department prosecutor who distinguished himself as a pragmatic public servant in Congress, announced Friday that he will not be seeking reelection later this year. Perhaps best known to the general... Read More

WASHINGTON — With most eyes on Capitol Hill glued to the drama transpring in the Senate this week over the fate of the filibuster and a pair of sweeping election reform bills, a small group of lawmakers is quietly working... Read More

WASHINGTON — House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is refusing a request by the House panel investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection to submit to an interview and turn over records pertaining to the deadly riot. The House Select Committee to Investigate... Read More

WASHINGTON — The House Rules Committee on Monday rejected an amendment to the Guard and Reserve G.I. Bill Parity Act that would guarantee Armed Services members discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine are eligible for G.I. Bill education benefits. The... Read More

FORT LAUDERDALE — Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick has won the election to represent Florida's 20th Congressional District, replacing the late long-time Rep. Alcee Hastings. As of 7:22 p.m. Tuesday night, Cherfilus-McCormick had garned 78% of the total 45,471 votes reported cast.... Read More

WASHINGTON — Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., a member of the moderate New Democrat Coalition who championed renewable energy and the completion of the VA Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado, said Monday he will retire from Congress after his current term.... Read More

DURHAM, N.C. — Two decades after coming oh so close to winning the 2003 edition of  “American Idol,” Clay Aiken is running for Congress as a Democrat in North Carolina. “Can you believe it’s been almost 20 years since I... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will use a speech in Georgia to endorse changing Senate filibuster rules that have stalled voting rights legislation, saying it’s time to choose “democracy over autocracy.” But some civil rights groups won’t be there, in protest of... Read More

WASHINGTON — Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, appears to be forcing a constitutional showdown over his refusal to testify to a congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol. Jordan notified the House select committee by a letter... Read More

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The race to replace the late Rep. Alcee Hastings in Florida’s 20th Congressional District — a contest considered all but signed, sealed and delivered to three-time candidate Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick in the heavily Democratic district — has... Read More

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Friday formally invited President Joe Biden to speak to a joint session of Congress on March 1. In a brief letter, Pelosi thanked the president for his “bold vision and patriotic leadership”... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is preparing to mark the first anniversary of the U.S. Capitol insurrection, the violent attack by Trump supporters that has fundamentally changed the Congress and raised global concerns about the future of American democracy. Biden and congressional Democrats will... Read More

WASHINGTON — Rep. Brenda Lawrence, Michigan’s only Black member of Congress, revealed Tuesday evening that she will not be running for reelection in 2022. Lawrence is the 25th incumbent Democratic House member to opt out of a reelection bid this... Read More

WASHINGTON — Vince Evans, a top aide to Vice President Kamala Harris, is leaving the White House to become the new executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus. Evans, who served as the vice president’s deputy director of public engagement... Read More

WASHINGTON — A warning Monday from the attending physician for Congress about skyrocketing COVID-19 cases is compelling lawmakers and Capitol Hill staff members to rethink their meeting schedules and masking guidelines. A letter Dr. Brian P. Monahan wrote to House... Read More

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan initiative crafted by Reps. Nancy Mace and Derek Kilmer would provide much needed grant money to support the construction of tiny homes for homeless veterans. Six years after the Veterans Community Project started building tiny homes... Read More

CHICAGO — Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., announced Tuesday that after three decades in Congress he will not be seeking re-election to a 16th term in 2022.  Rush revealed his plans at a news conference at Roberts Temple Church of God... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Government Accountability Office is pressing lawmakers to institute legislation that would improve oversight and accountability of the Department of Energy’s carbon capture and storage demonstration project expenditures. GAO conducted a study of DOE’s investment of $1.1 billion... Read More

WASHINGTON — A day after the Virginia Supreme Court approved a new House district map that substantially redefines the area she represents, Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger announced she’s all in for a reelection bid in 2022. “Nearly 200,000 Virginians in... Read More

LANSING, Mich. — Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., announced Tuesday that after seven years of representing Michigan’s 12th Congressional District, she will move to the state’s newly drawn 6th Congressional District to pursue a re-election bid in 2022. Dingell, who has... Read More

WASHINGTON — A new memorial honoring all those who have served in the global war on terrorism since the Sept. 11 attacks is coming to the National Mall. President Joe Biden signed S.535, the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Location... Read More

WASHINGTON — Margaret Mulkerrin has been promoted to the position of communications director in House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s office, replacing Katie Grant Drew, who is leaving the post at the end of the month to pursue an opportunity off... Read More

PHILADELPHIA — A 19-year-old Wilmington, Delaware, man has been charged in connection with the armed carjacking of Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon last week. Josiah Brown was one of five individuals who were apprehended in Scanlon’s 2017 Acura MDX hours after... Read More