U.S. Senate

WASHINGTON — Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, of New York, said Tuesday that he is placing a hold on all political nominees for positions in the Justice Department in response to President Donald Trump’s planned acceptance of a luxury jet... Read More

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was meeting last week with representatives from a teachers union in his home state when things quickly devolved. Before long, Fetterman began repeating himself, shouting and questioning why “everybody is mad at... Read More

WASHINGTON — The chances are dimming for Trump supporter Ed Martin to win Senate confirmation as the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Martin is currently the interim U.S. attorney. His term expires May 20. Republicans who normally endorse... Read More

WASHINGTON — Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., weighed into the ongoing controversy over the Trump administration’s scuttling of the Empire Wind offshore wind project off the coast of New York state. “I have a call into the head of... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Donald Trump faces significant pushback from federal judges, a new poll shows U.S. adults are more likely to believe the president is the one overstepping his power rather than the courts -- although Republicans largely think the... Read More

WASHINGTON — Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the second-ranking Democrat in the chamber, announced Wednesday that he will not seek reelection next year, saying in a social media post “it’s time to pass the torch.” Durbin, who is now 80, was... Read More

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan Senate bill, the Co-Location Energy Act, would streamline permitting for future wind and solar energy projects by allowing them to be co-located on federal land with existing oil and gas leases. “Our clean energy future is... Read More

PENSACOLA, Fla. — The first lawsuit was filed Thursday to oppose President Donald Trump's tariffs on China in a growing tide of protests against his administration. The New Civil Liberties Alliance filed the lawsuit on behalf of a small Florida... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday evening approved a measure that would block some of the tariffs President Donald Trump has imposed on Canada, with a quartet of Republicans voting with their Democratic colleagues. Prior to the vote, Sen. Mark... Read More

WASHINGTON — A group of Democratic senators is pushing for a vote on Wednesday on a measure they hope will begin the process of unravelling the “made-up emergency” President Donald Trump has used to impose significant tariffs on Canadian imports.... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker held the Senate floor with a marathon speech that lasted all night and into Tuesday afternoon in a feat of endurance to show Democrats’ objections to President Donald Trump’s sweeping actions. Booker took to... Read More

WASHINGTON — A Senate panel demanded answers from the Federal Aviation Administration Thursday about why thousands of warnings about near misses between Army helicopters and commercial aircraft at Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C., were largely ignored before a Jan.... Read More

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate passed stopgap legislation Friday to keep the federal government funded through Sept. 30 and to avoid a shutdown that would have further damaged a precarious U.S. economy. The legislation includes $7 billion in funding cuts... Read More

SAUGATUCK, Mich. (AP) — Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is set to announce that he will not seek an open U.S. Senate seat in Michigan, a move that leaves the door wide open for him to seek a much bigger role as... Read More

WARREN, Mich. (AP) — Bernie Sanders is standing alone on the back of a pickup truck shouting into a bullhorn. He's facing several hundred ecstatic voters huddled outside a suburban Detroit high school — the group that did not fit... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican senators pushed a $340 billion budget framework to passage early Friday, chugging through an all-night session and Democratic opposition in a step toward unleashing money the Trump administration says it needs for mass deportations and border security that top their agenda. The... Read More

WASHINGTON — Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced Thursday that he will not seek reelection next year, ending a political career that saw him rise to become one of the capital's leading power brokers. “Seven times, my fellow Kentuckians have sent... Read More

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Some believe the Democratic Party's next savior is living here, huddled with family, in the relative obscurity of a small city on the shores of Lake Michigan. Pete Buttigieg has yet to decide if that's a... Read More

WASHINGTON — Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., on Monday blasted Trump administration efforts to close the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, calling the move, which picked up steam this weekend, a “scam” and a “payoff to the rich guys who invested in... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Senate Finance Committee voted Tuesday morning to advance Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to be the nation’s next Health and Human Services secretary. The 14-13, party-line vote now sets up a final confirmation vote on the floor... Read More

WASHINGTON — FBI director nominee Kash Patel told a Senate committee Thursday he would not target investigations at people for political reasons but avoided directly answering questions about his previous provocative statements. Patel is President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead... Read More

WASHINGTON — On a day loaded with events related to the incoming second Trump administration, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Friday named Lt. Gov. Jon Husted to fill the Senate seat being vacated by Vice President-elect JD Vance. “This is... Read More

WASHINGTON — Democrats accused Pamela Bondi of evasiveness but Republicans strongly supported her during her Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday as nominee to become U.S. attorney general. By the end of the hearing, there was wide agreement on the Senate Judiciary... Read More

WASHINGTON — Pete Hegseth ran headlong into skepticism from Democrats Tuesday as he pledged during a Senate hearing to reorganize the Defense Department by appointing leaders who merit their promotions rather than getting their jobs for political correctness. Hegseth is... Read More

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump has moved so fast in picking high-profile Cabinet nominees and filling other key positions that it’s sometimes easy to forget that no one has had a Senate confirmation hearing yet. That ends bright and early... Read More

WASHINGTON — The nation’s largest Medicare Advantage insurers have been boosting their profits by denying prior authorization requests for post-acute care, such as stays in a nursing facility, at far higher rates than they did for other types of care,... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump's pick for intelligence chief, Tulsi Gabbard, faced fresh scrutiny Monday on Capitol Hill about her proximity to Russian-ally Syria amid the sudden collapse of that country's hardline Assad rule. Gabbard ignored shouted questions about her 2017 visit to war-torn Syria as she ducked into... Read More

WASHINGTON — Jennifer Hemingway will be the next Senate sergeant at arms and Jackie Barber will be its next secretary of the chamber, when it reopens for business in January, Sen. John Thune announced Thursday evening. Thune, the incoming Senate... Read More

WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Wednesday took the Food and Drug Administration to task for failing to curb the corporate greed he says has led to an epidemic of obesity and diabetes across the U.S. Sanders, who chairs... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for Defense Secretary, spent a second day on Capitol Hill, meeting privately with Republican senators amid rising questions about his ability to effectively lead the Pentagon. Hegseth told reporters Tuesday that he was planning... Read More