Congress

WASHINGTON - The Senate voted to advance a stopgap spending bill Tuesday night, the penultimate step to avoiding a government shutdown at midnight Wednesday. The vote to limit debate on the measure paves the way for a final vote in... Read More

WASHINGTON – The Democratic Blue Dog Coalition announced its support for an emergency funding bill to help municipalities withstand the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The legislation, introduced in the House by Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., provides $500 billion... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers and witnesses at a congressional hearing Tuesday urged greater vigilance of police departments to weed out officers with White supremacist tendencies. They said the White supremacists create a risk of inflaming racial tensions in a way that... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Congressional Budget Office recently released two new outlook reports. These projections are an update of the U.S. deficit, debt, spending, and revenue over the next decade and beyond, given current laws in place. The pair of reports... Read More

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump nominated U.S. Circuit Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court Saturday afternoon, capping a dramatic first-term reshaping of the federal judiciary that he hopes will provide a needed boost to his re-election effort. Barrett,... Read More

WASHINGTON - An 18-month effort to make Congress work better and retain staff more effectively came to an end Thursday, when the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress announced its final list of recommendations. Created by an overwhelming... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Congressional Democrats used a hearing on climate change Thursday to advocate for pending clean energy bills that would revamp a big swath of federal regulations. Record-setting wildfires in western states and hurricanes along the Gulf Coast are adding... Read More

WASHINGTON - In their recent report of Capitol Hill staffing issues, authors Alexandra Furnas and Timothy LaPira paint a harrowing picture of a culture that basically pushes its best resource -- its people -- to the private sector and away... Read More

WASHINGTON - Thanks to its woefully low pay and long hours, Capitol Hill is proving to be a "funnel" to lucrative jobs in lobbying, leaving congressional offices in a perpetual state of brain drain, a new report has found. Published... Read More

WASHINGTON – In its second report ranking members of the U.S. House of Representatives for their votes on legislation related to toxic chemicals, the Environmental Working Group Action Fund presented Rep. Antonio Delgado, D-N.Y., with a perfect score. Much of... Read More

WASHINGTON -- A congressional panel sought assurances Wednesday that veterans’ claims of illnesses from exposure to toxins in the Middle East will be addressed promptly. A House Veterans Affairs subcommittee was responding to a National Academy of Sciences report this... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Economists warned Congress Tuesday of long-term damage to the U.S. economy if the coronavirus pandemic is not brought under control soon. They cautioned during two separate congressional hearings that the slow improvement to the economy since the pandemic... Read More

WASHINGTON — The House will vote Tuesday on a short-term funding bill written by majority Democrats without support from Republicans, increasing the odds of a partial government shutdown in less than 10 days when current spending authority expires. The Democrats’... Read More

WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is refusing to back down from what is sure to be an intense fight over who will fill the Supreme Court seat now vacant after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.... Read More

WASHINGTON — Emergency expansions to Unemployment Insurance provided critical support to workers across the country during the early months of the pandemic. But the major component of these expansions, an additional $600 in weekly benefits, expired at the end of... Read More

WASHINGTON — House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Thursday dodged a question on whether he will bring a motion to vacate to remove Speaker Nancy Pelosi from her post, an effort the Freedom Caucus was urging him to pursue. “I... Read More

WASHINGTON — Some House Democrats are keeping pressure on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring a new coronavirus relief bill up for a vote next week as they look to signal to voters that the party is pursuing a deal... Read More

WASHINGTON — Florida Republican Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott want to make sure there is plenty of time for wasting away again in Margaritaville in the sunlight this winter. If they get their way, revelers in Key West, Florida,... Read More

WASHINGTON - Tom Wickham is stepping down as parliamentarian of the House of Representatives at the end of the month, and will be replaced by Jason Smith, his current deputy parliamentarian. In announcing the change, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.,... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Congress discussed proposals Wednesday to switch the United States to 100% clean energy as Western governors confronting out-of-control wildfires demand action on global warming. A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee is trying to figure out a way to... Read More

WASHINGTON – A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation that would authorize the president to posthumously award U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Alwyn Cashe the Medal of Honor. Cashe was injured in October 2005 while deployed in Iraq when the... Read More

WASHINGTON - The House passed the Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act (EIEA), legislation on Wednesday that will restore students’ and parents’ right to hold schools accountable for racial discrimination under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The... Read More

WASHINGTON - Rep. Anthony Brindisi, D-N.Y., served as moderator last week at a Blue Dog Coalition forum exploring the issue of mental health and addiction in the U.S. and how to deal with it. Brindisi, the coalition's co-chair, has been... Read More

A House committee issued a scathing report Wednesday questioning whether Boeing and government regulators have recognized the problems that caused two deadly 737 Max jet crashes and whether either will be willing to make significant changes to fix them. Staff... Read More

WASHINGTON - Today, the House of Representatives passed the Strength in Diversity Act 2020, legislation that will provide funding for voluntary desegregation initiatives across the country. The Strength in Diversity Act was brought to the House by Rep. Marcia Fudge,... Read More

WASHINGTON - The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday demanded Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar shed light on how his department has handled coronavirus-related reports. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., sent a strongly worded letter... Read More

WASHINGTON - A bipartisan group of 50 centrist lawmakers on Tuesday unveiled a $1.5 trillion proposal they hope will end the current stalemate over new relief to bolster the coronavirus battered economy. The Problem Solvers Caucus, led by co-chairs Reps.... Read More

WASHINGTON -- A congressional resolution that started Monday as a condemnation of hate crimes against Asians quickly turned into a dispute over who should be blamed for the devastation caused by coronavirus. Democrats blamed President Donald Trump for mishandling the... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Scientists updated a congressional committee Friday on how the U.S. Energy Department is helping to develop a cure and vaccine for COVID-19. They said Energy Department supercomputers are unlocking mysteries about the structure of the virus as they... Read More

WASHINGTON - It wasn't unexpected. Counterfeits and knockoffs are all around us, from sneakers to handbags and even cures for the common cold. But a surge in demand for personal protection equipment, not to mention tobacco, alcohol and cleaning products,... Read More