U.S. Senate

WASHINGTON - Republican Sen. Tim Scott, of South Carolina, will deliver the GOP’s response to President Joe Biden’s address to a joint session of Congress next Wednesday. In announcing Scott’s selection, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell described the South Carolinian... Read More

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (AP) — Rodney Muterspaw figures J.D. Vance has already shown he's got what it takes to be a U.S. senator.  Vance, the "Hillbilly Elegy" author and a fellow Middletown native, broke out of poverty and family chaos and... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is poised to start debate on legislation confronting the rise of potential hate crimes against Asian Americans, a growing problem during the coronavirus crisis that will also test whether the chamber can push past partisanship... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats in Congress are trying to pass the first major gun control legislation in more than two decades with the support of President Joe Biden, who said Thursday that it is "long past time" to do so.... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — With the Senate split 50-50, leaders of the Democratic majority are looking for ways to advance their priorities and President Joe Biden's agenda  around the typical 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a filibuster  by opponents. This week,... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — With an appeal to think big, President Joe Biden is promoting his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan directly to Americans, summoning public support to push past the Republicans lining up against the massive effort they sum up as... Read More

WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans have painted their Democratic colleagues’ push for election reform legislation as a devastating grab for power ahead of its consideration for passage in the Senate.  The bill, entitled the “For the People Act of 2021,” seeks... 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 – Sens. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., are urging their colleagues to support legislation that would address looming cuts to Medicare by redirecting a portion of the recently passed $1.9 trillion dollar COVID relief bill. The Protecting... Read More

WASHINGTON-  The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing Tuesday on common sense gun prevention after two mass shootings occurred in Atlanta and Boulder this past week.  Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., started the hearing with a moment of silence and a... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell warned ominously Tuesday of a "scorched earth" landscape if Democrats use their new majority to bring an end to the Senate filibuster  in hopes of muscling legislation supporting President Joe Biden's agenda... Read More

 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Monday confirmed New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland as interior secretary, making her the first Native American to lead a Cabinet department and the first to lead the federal agency that has wielded influence over... Read More

WASHINGTON – “It’s not supposed to be that way …” the chorus of an old Willie Nelson song begins. It is a melody a lot of Republicans on Capitol Hill may be finding all too familiar. Five months removed from... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Senate confirmed Judge Merrick Garland to serve as the nation's next attorney general on Wednesday, with strong, bipartisan showing of support. When the vote was over, the man once denied a U.S. Supreme Court seat due to... Read More

WASHINGTON – Is Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell working behind the scenes with allies in the Kentucky legislature to assure he’s replaced by a Republican should he decide to retire?  That’s been the speculation since the filling of Senate Bill... Read More

WASHINGTON - Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., surprised many on Capitol Hill Monday by announcing he will not seek a third term in the U.S. Senate. Blunt was widely expected to seek a third term in 2022, but in a video... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate steered on Friday toward a voting marathon on Democrats' $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill after enduring an extraordinary half-day holdup forced by a Republican foe of President Joe Biden's top legislative priority. The chamber planned... Read More

WASHINGTON - For the first time in its history, the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms office will be led by a team composed entirely of women. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer announced Wednesday that retired Army Lt. Gen. Karen Gibson will be the... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Democrats agreed to tighten eligibility limits for stimulus checks, bowing to party moderates as leaders prepared to move their $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill through the Senate. At the same time, the White... Read More

WASHINGTON - Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen has been selected to chair the Women's Senate Network for the 2022 cycle, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee announced Wednesday. Rosen, a computer programmer until she was elected to represent Nevada's 3rd congressional district... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden's pick to head the Office of Management and Budget, Neera Tanden, has withdrawn her nomination after she faced opposition from key Democratic and Republican senators for her controversial tweets.  Her withdrawal marks the first... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats' hopes of including a minimum wage increase in their $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill seemed all but dead as the Senate prepared to debate its own version of the House-passed aid package.  Four days after the... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are ready to shove a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package through the House on Friday, despite a setback that means a minimum wage boost is unlikely to be in the final version that reaches President Joe... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden's nominee for attorney general, will appear for his confirmation hearing vowing to prioritize civil rights, combat extremist attacks and ensure the Justice Department remains politically independent.Garland, a federal appeals court judge who... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chilling security video of last month's deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, including of rioters searching menacingly for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence, has become a key exhibit in Donald Trump's impeachment trial... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump fumed that his attorneys' performance on the opening day of his second impeachment trial was a disaster, as allies and Republican senators questioned the strategy and some called for yet another shakeup to... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate launches Donald Trump's historic second impeachment trial on Tuesday, with lawyers for the former president insisting he is not guilty of inciting mob violence at the Capitol to overturn the election while prosecutors say he... Read More

About Padilla:  Alex Padilla, California’s then-secretary of state, was appointed to fill the Senate seat held by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in late December 2020.  Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s selection of Padilla, a longtime friend and political ally, ended months of jockeying for the appointment among Democratic factions across the state.  It also... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The legal sparring around Donald Trump's impeachment trial is underway, with briefs filed this week laying out radically different positions ahead of next week's Senate trial. House prosecutors and the former president's defense team are putting forward their arguments... Read More

WASHINGTON -- A Senate committee reviewed U.S. progress toward reducing climate change Wednesday to determine whether the nation is ready for President Joe Biden’s executive orders on environmental policy. The witnesses and senators spent much of their time discussing emissions... Read More