Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration will start canceling student loans for some borrowers in February as part of a new repayment plan that's taking effect nearly six months ahead of schedule. Loan forgiveness was originally set to begin in July under... Read More

WASHINGTON — A nationwide outcry against crime that hurts small businesses reached Congress Thursday, where lawmakers and congressional witnesses called for a law enforcement crackdown. Thefts cost retail stores $112 billion in 2022, according to the National Retail Federation. Preliminary... Read More

WASHINGTON — Officials from media organizations made a plea to a Senate panel Wednesday for help to protect local news from being exploited by the artificial intelligence used by internet platforms. Local news outlets produce the stories that appear in... Read More

WASHINGTON — House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., announced Friday that he has successfully completed chemotherapy treatments for a form of blood cancer known as multiple myeloma, and is undergoing a stem cell transplant today. The statement released by Scalise’s... Read More

WASHINGTON — Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., a nine-term congressman representing one of the most Republican-friendly districts in the state, said Friday that he won’t run for reelection in 2024. His announcement means that all three seats in Colorado’s congressional delegation... Read More

WASHINGTON — Former U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, who heroically defended the building against insurrectionist rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, and whose harrowing account of that day riveted the House select committee investigating the siege, is running for Congress.... Read More

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine set the special election dates for the vacancy in the state’s 6th Congressional District caused by the earlier-than-expected departure of Republican Rep. Bill Johnson. The scheduled upcoming elections will include a partisan primary... Read More

WASHINGTON — This never should have happened. That was the sentiment expressed by the attorney for the family of trailblazing Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, who announced Thursday that they are suing the rehabilitation center in which she spent her... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court on Tuesday threw out the 2022 conviction of former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., after concluding federal prosecutors brought the charges in the wrong location. Fortenberry, who represented Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District from 2005... Read More

WASHINGTON — A mandate that the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs use two existing programs to help service members leaving the armed forces overcome risk factors for suicide would cost a modest $500,000 through 2028, the Congressional Budget Office... Read More

WASHINGTON — Before leaving town for Christmas recess, the House passed a comprehensive health care package aimed at forcing pharmacy benefit managers and hospitals to meet price transparency standards. The vote on Dec. 11 was 320-71, with 39 Republicans and... Read More

WASHINGTON — U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell is facing an official complaint by a conservative member of Congress who accuses her of ethics violations for her statements during the Women's White Collar Defense Association awards banquet on Nov. 28 in... Read More

WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday passed the annual National Defense Authorization Act, overcoming the opposition of staunch conservatives who bemoaned the fact many of the “wins” they felt they achieved last summer in the guise of hardline amendments were... Read More

TOMPKINSVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Rep. James Comer, a multimillionaire farmer, boasts of being one of the largest landholders near his rural Kentucky hometown, and he has meticulously documented nearly all of his landholdings on congressional financial disclosure documents – roughly 1,600... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Biden-Harris administration on Wednesday urged Congress to fully fund the WIC nutrition assistance program come January, warning that the failure to address a much-anticipated budgetary shortfall would jeopardize the health and safety of millions of mothers, babies... Read More

WASHINGTON — A congressional panel on Wednesday examined whether the Biden administration should do more to stop the flow of money Iran secretly uses to support terrorists. Top of the list was the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas against unsuspecting... Read More

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — There were no hecklers outside the federal courthouse in Central Islip on Tuesday as George Santos and attorney Joseph Murray arrived for a morning status hearing on his 23-count federal fraud trial. And the only question... Read More

WASHINGTON — A congressional panel took another look Tuesday at the choice for a new FBI headquarters that critics of the site selection describe as suspicious. “The American people smell a rat here,” said Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., during the... Read More

WASHINGTON — The House Freedom Caucus has elected Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., to serve as its next chairman, despite the concerns of at least one board member that his take-no-prisoners style may not augur well in a future House where... Read More

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. George Santos ' lawyer expressed optimism about plea negotiations in Santos' criminal fraud case Tuesday, successfully fending off prosecutors' attempts to speed up the the ousted congressman’s trial. In Santos' first court appearance since he was expelled... Read More

WASHINGTON — Rudy Salas, Derek Tran and Mondaire Jones, each of whom is running in a key battleground district in the 2024 congressional elections, received the endorsement on Tuesday of the New Democrat Coalition Action Fund. The fund is the... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The university presidents called before a congressional hearing on antisemitism last week had more in common than strife on their campuses: The leaders of the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard and MIT were all women who were relatively new in... Read More

WASHINGTON — It was a matter of preserving consumers’ choice in the face of federal mandates. That’s how Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., explained his vote last week in favor of the Choice in Automobile Retail Sales Act, even as the... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Senate and House Armed Services committees announced Thursday that they’ve reached an agreement on the FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, jettisoning some, but not all, of the controversial amendments added by House Republicans last summer. Sens.... Read More

WASHINGTON — The United States needs to innovate fast or fall behind in the international race to develop artificial intelligence, industry executives told Congress Wednesday. The U.S. government took what one witness at the congressional hearing called “a big step”... Read More

WASHINGTON — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has introduced legislation in the House aimed at reinstating pilots who were fired or forced to resign due to COVID-19 vaccination mandates. A companion bill is being sponsored in the Senate by Sen.... Read More

WASHINGTON — Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., ousted from that position just two months ago by hard-right members of his own party, announced Wednesday that he will retire from Congress at the end of the month. “I have decided... Read More

ALBANY, N.Y. — The special election to replace disgraced former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., will be held on Feb. 13, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday evening. As previously reported by The Well News, Santos was expelled from the... Read More

WASHINGTON — The House will vote next week on formally authorizing its impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said during a briefing with reporters Tuesday morning, saying Republicans have “no choice” but to push ahead in... Read More

WASHINGTON — Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., who served as speaker pro tempore during one of the most unique periods of crisis in the history of the House of Representatives, said Tuesday that he will not seek reelection to the chamber... Read More