Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden wants Congress to know he's sincere about cutting a deal on infrastructure, but Republican lawmakers have deep-seated doubts about the scope of his proposed package, its tax hikes and Biden's premise that this is... Read More

WASHINGTON - The House Ethics Committee has opened an investigation into the recent flood of allegations against Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., including that he broke sex trafficking laws, shared graphic images of women with lawmakers on the House floor, and... Read More

WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden unveiled a $1.5 trillion budget proposal for the 2022 fiscal year, that among other things, includes a 16% increase in non-defense spending. In his first budget proposal as president, Biden is asking Congress for $753... Read More

WASHINGTON - Rep. Alcee Hastings, the dean of Florida’s congressional delegation, died Tuesday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 84. Hastings announced his cancer diagnosis just over two years ago, but he continued to press on with his... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans in Congress are making the politically brazen bet that it's more advantageous to oppose President Joe Biden's ambitious rebuild America agenda  than to lend support for the costly $2.3 trillion undertaking for roads, bridges and other... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Virginia’s plan for a $3.7 billion passenger rail expansion was revolutionary on Tuesday when the governor announced it but later in the week looked like the tip of the iceberg. The next day, President Joe Biden presented his plan... Read More

WASHINGTON -- The backlash continued Thursday against Georgia’s new elections law while Congress moved ahead with a bill that could eliminate much of states’ rights to determine the conditions for which residents vote, when they vote and where.  Civil rights... Read More

Democrat Rita Hart threw in the towel Wednesday afternoon, giving up her bid to represent Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, and effectively ending the 2020 election cycle. Hart, who had been challenging the outcome of the race before the Committee on... Read More

WASHINGTON - Reps. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., are leading a bipartisan effort to award so-called “Dust Off” crews of the Vietnam War with the Congressional Gold Medal.  Dust Off crewmembers - helicopter air ambulance pilots, crew... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Arrests of Jan. 6 insurrectionists at the U.S. Capitol are continuing this week even as the zeal to throw the defendants in prison with severe sentences begins to subside or run into stumbling blocks of criminal law. In... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Congressional Budget Office released its long-term budget outlook last week projecting federal debt held by the public will exceed the nation’s gross domestic product by the year’s end.  The CBO painted a complicated picture in its analysis... Read More

Mark Sanford, the former South Carolina governor who served two stints in Congress and briefly ran against Donald Trump for the Republican nomination for president, is joining a lobbying firm. Shumaker Advisors, which announced Sanford’s hiring on Tuesday, said he... Read More

NEW YORK (AP) — A few years ago, Dave Isay started worrying about America as he saw the middle ground between the political parties vanish into what he calls "disconnection and a vast void." "I am not ever concerned about... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Problem Solvers Caucus is urging the Congressional leadership to return to regular order in the House, allowing for open debate on the House floor, committee hearings, and amendments.   In a letter endorsed by the 58-Member bipartisan Caucus,... Read More

David Freiheit began his presentation at the American Enterprise Institute event on the values and consequences of free expression in the digital age by pointing to the response of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to Amazon’s “snotty tweets.” Warren has repeatedly... Read More

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Trade Commission is organizing a new rulemaking office to coordinate its efforts against what it calls deceptive business practices. The agency’s chairwoman described the reorganization as the start of a more aggressive campaign to protect consumers... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Blue Dog Coalition of House Democrats have endorsed the Commission on Domestic Terrorism Act of 2021, which would create an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate the federal government’s failure to more broadly respond to the threat of domestic... Read More

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Friday appointed Gen. William J. Walker, currently commander of the D.C. National Guard, to serve as the next House Sergeant-at-Arms, making him the first African American to hold the position. He replaces Paul D.... Read More

A recent Harvard study found that when it came to the combined economic and health impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, tribal communities “are having the worst of both worlds at the same time.” On Thursday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Federal Election Commission granted a request from Republican lawmakers that they be allowed to use campaign funds to pay for personal security for themselves and their families. The National Republican Senate Committee and the National Republican Congressional... Read More

WASHINGTON - In 2018, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized to a U.S. House committee when presented with active drug trafficking posts on his site, admitting social media platforms need better “policing” of such content.  Three years later, despite Facebook having... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden at his first news conference left the door open to backing fundamental changes in Senate procedure to muscle key parts of his agenda like immigration and voting rights past Republican opposition "if there's complete... Read More

WASHINGTON -- No one at a congressional hearing Thursday doubted the arts and humanities suffered severely during the COVID-19 pandemic. The question was how much longer the government should continue to bail them out with financial rescue grants. “We know... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Senate voted 92-7 Thursday to extend the Paycheck Protection Program to the end of May after rejecting Republican efforts to reshape the program and stymie the vote altogether.  The popular program was scheduled to expire on March 31.... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are renewing their efforts to muscle through the largest overhaul of U.S. elections in a generation, setting up a fight with Republicans that could bring partisan tensions to a climax in the evenly split Senate and... Read More

WASHINGTON -- The turmoil former President Donald Trump kicked up over integrity of the vote last November continued Wednesday with a Senate reform proposal that would turn states’ rights to control elections on their heads. The Senate is considering a... Read More

WASHINGTON - Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., is looking to get ahead of what could be a prolonged debate over infrastructure priorities and has proposed streamlining and expediting the permitting process to get projects moving faster. Davis is the prime sponsor... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fresh off passage of the COVID-19 relief bill, President Joe Biden is assembling the next big White House priority, a sweeping $3 trillion package of investments on infrastructure and domestic needs.Biden huddled privately late Monday with Senate... Read More

WASHINGTON - Rep. Filemón Vela, D-Texas, announced Monday he will not seek reelection in 2022, becoming the second House Democrat to announce their retirement in what could be a difficult cycle for the majority party. Earlier this month, Rep. Ann... Read More

WASHINGTON -- The tumultuous legacy left by rioters during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol carried through into a congressional hearing Monday on statehood for the District of Columbia. The mayor wanted to call in the National Guard... Read More