Congress

WASHINGTON - House and Senate Democrats proposed a sweeping overhaul of police oversight and procedures Monday, the first legislative response to mass protests that have gripped the nation in the wake of the death of an unarmed black man while... Read More

WASHINGTON - Congress moved closer Thursday to approving economic sanctions against China for its interference with Hong Kong’s independence. Most Democrats and Republicans on a Senate committee joined in saying the United States must take action to condemn China’s plan... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — A sweeping overhaul of police oversight and procedures is being proposed by Democrats in response to the deaths of black Americans at the hands of law enforcement, according to a draft outline obtained by The Associated Press. The Justice... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Senate impasse over a widely backed bill to designate lynching as a federal hate crime boiled over on Thursday in an emotional debate cast against a backdrop of widespread protests over police treatment of African Americans.... Read More

WASHINGTON - Maryland's Democratic Sens. Benjamin Cardin and Chris Van Hollen on Wednesday introduced legislation in their chamber to replace the bust of Roger B. Taney, author of the Supreme Court's racist Dred Scott decision, currently on display in the... Read More

WASHINGTON - Eagles founder and co-songwriter Don Henley urged a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday to stand by the side of artists he contends have been catastrophically harmed by a safe harbor provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. When it... Read More

WASHINGTON - The New Democrat Coalition, an alliance of centrist Democrats in Congress, condemned racially motivated police violence on Wednesday in the wake of nationwide unrest following the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minnesota. “The... Read More

WASHINGTON - The further move this week by cities to reopen as coronavirus infections subside is raising concerns about a resurgence of the disease, particularly in jails. The worries were heightened by protests this week against police brutality that drew... Read More

WASHINGTON - House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on Friday released the updated plan for conducting congressional business into the summer. The plan and calendar emailed members states that the focus for June will be on having the House committees hold... Read More

WASHINGTON - Long-term care is a topic that hits close to home for many. Nursing homes and facilities providing care for people 65 and older are often crowded and understaffed, and care for seniors is even more complicated in the... Read More

WASHINGTON - In an overwhelmingly bipartisan fashion, the House on Thursday passed legislation providing struggling small businesses with greater flexibility in using coronavirus relief loans. The bill, which amends the Paycheck Protection Program enacted in March, passed by a vote... Read More

WASHINGTON - Medical and social welfare witnesses told a congressional committee Wednesday that ethnic minorities need an increased effort to protect them from the devastation of coronavirus. They are dying or losing their jobs in some locations at almost twice... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Legislation extending surveillance authorities the FBI sees as vital in fighting terrorism was thrown into doubt as President Donald Trump threatened a veto and Republican leaders and top liberal Democrats said they would oppose it. House Democratic... Read More

WASHINGTON - House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, along with 20 other Republican lawmakers sued House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Tuesday night in a bid to block the first proxy votes in congressional history. The House is returning to Washington Wednesday to... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress held a virtual discussion late last week on the challenges faced by district staff working remotely and the steps federal agencies can take to protect staffers as they return to... Read More

WASHINGTON - House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and several ranking House Democrats introduced legislation on Friday to protect inspectors general across the executive branch from being fired as a result of political retaliation. The Inspector General Independence Act would... Read More

WASHINGTON - A bipartisan bill introduced in both the House and Senate this week would create a flexible, $4,000 skills training credit for workers who have lost their job due to the coronavirus outbreak. The Skills Renewal Act affords these... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Senate has left town for its annual Memorial Day recess with no agreement in sight on a fourth coronavirus economic relief bill and a schedule that suggests a new stimulus won't be done until July. Last week,... Read More

WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., accused Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday of "deliberately misleading" the public about House remote voting rules adopted by the chamber last week. Speaking on the floor of the Senate on Thursday,... Read More

WASHINGTON - Unemployment among the nation's travel sector workers has reached 51% heading into the Memorial Day weekend, as Americans continue to refrain from resuming their normal lives in the face of the slowly easing coronavirus pandemic, according to data... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Experts say that injecting federal money into America’s higher education system amid the coronavirus crisis could unintentionally lead to more profiteering in the industry. The pandemic has taken a significant toll on U.S. colleges and universities, shutting down... Read More

WASHINGTON — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has requested $1.2 billion in emergency funding due to a drastic decline in green card and other visa applications that could drain its fee-based coffers by this summer, the agency said Monday. USCIS,... Read More

WASHINGTON - Both Congress and the American public will "suffer grave and irreparable injury" if there continues to be a delay in the release of grand jury testimony from the Robert Mueller investigation, lawyers for the House Judiciary Committee said... Read More

WASHINGTON - A bipartisan, bicameral effort is underway to provide hundreds of billions in funding to state and local governments reeling from the budgetary hit they've taken due to the coronavirus outbreak. The House bill introduced Monday by Reps. Josh... Read More

WASHINGTON - If there's a simple way to sum up the message Rep. Kendra Horn delivered to her colleagues and constituents during the marathon session of the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday, it was that enough is enough. In... Read More

For Rep. Anthony Brindisi, D-N.Y., the sentiments of those he was elected to serve have become a familiar refrain over the course of the coronavirus emergency. "Folks are anxious to reopen the economy, of course, but mostly, I think they're... Read More

WASHINGTON - A whistleblower on the Trump administration’s response to coronavirus warned Congress Thursday that threats from the disease are greater than most government officials are willing to admit. The pandemic will “get worse and be prolonged” without a better... Read More

WASHINGTON — House Democrats are plowing ahead with a Friday vote on a $3 trillion-plus coronavirus relief measure, arguing the urgency to act outweighs concerns among rank-and-file lawmakers that the “bold” package described by party leaders isn’t bold enough. Several... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday easily passed an amended bill to revive and increase oversight of surveillance powers. Senators voted, 80-16, to pass the measure before finishing up work on Capitol Hill for the week. Under a previous agreement,... Read More

WASHINGTON - Despite the rancor one hears consistently on cable news and in the Twittersphere, bipartisanship is alive and well among rank and file members of Congress, according to a new survey conducted by The Lugar Center and the McCourt... Read More