U.S. Senate

WASHINGTON — A bill introduced in the Senate on Wednesday would establish a first-of-its kind $30 million pilot grant program to provide funding to community-based mental wellness and resilience programs in communities bearing the brunt of the climate crisis. Introduced... Read More

WASHINGTON — “Kyrsten is independent; that’s how she’s always been,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Friday morning as D.C. continued to chew over the news that Sen. Krysten Sinema had decided to quit the Democratic Party. But in... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona announced Friday that she now has registered as an independent, but she does not plan to caucus with Republicans, ensuring Democrats will retain their narrow voting majority in the Senate. Sinema,... Read More

WASHINGTON — A Senate committee on Thursday nearly eliminated uncertainties about whether the government will regulate the cryptocurrency industry soon as lawmakers reviewed the collapse of digital financial firm FTX. FTX’s cryptocurrency exchange held assets of more than 1 million... Read More

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia voters have cast more than 1 million ballots ahead of the Dec. 6 U.S. Senate runoff between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker, with Warnock looking to juice an apparent Democratic head start in early... Read More

WASHINGTON — A group of U.S. senators led by Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said they will oppose passage of this year’s defense spending authorization unless the chamber votes to repeal the current COVID-19 vaccine mandate for... Read More

WASHINGTON — A Senate committee tried to tweak the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law Wednesday to make sure the government is getting a good deal with its record investment to boost the economy. The five-year program won wide approval during... Read More

WASHINGTON — A Senate panel showed a cynical attitude toward a proposed $24.6 billion merger of major grocery chains Kroger Co. and Albertsons Cos. during a hearing Tuesday. The chief executive officers promised consumers would benefit if the Federal Trade... Read More

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a moderate Republican, has twice withstood challenges from more conservative factions of her party; more than a decade ago, she mounted a historical write-in campaign to beat a tea party favorite, and... Read More

WASHINGTON — When you’re Taylor Swift, things get noticed — even in the halls of Congress. Just days after the reigning pop superstar scored six wins at the 2022 American Music Awards, the Senate subcommittee that handles antitrust and consumer... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats have secured their majority in the Senate for the next two years. But holding on to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock’s seat in Georgia’s runoff next month could be crucial to their success. If Warnock wins the runoff against Republican Herschel Walker,... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trailing badly in his Arizona Senate race as votes poured in, Republican Blake Masters went on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News program and assigned blame to one person: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. “You know what else is incompetent, Tucker? The... Read More

WASHINGTON — A bill that would protect same-sex and interracial marriages cleared a major hurdle in the Senate on Wednesday after 12 Republicans joined every Democrat in the chamber in voting to proceed with consideration of enshrining those unions under... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Staring down the prospect of divided government in the next Congress, Senate Democrats are moving forward with legislation this week to protect same sex and interracial marriages. It’s a vote that’s “as personal as it gets,” Senate Majority Leader... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is returning to an extremely volatile post-election landscape, with control of the House still undecided, party leadership in flux and a potentially consequential lame-duck session with legislation on gay marriage, Ukraine and government funding. Newly elected members... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — There was no violence. Many candidates who denied the legitimacy of previous elections lost and quietly conceded. And few listened when former President Donald Trump tried to stoke baseless allegations of electoral fraud. For a moment, at least, there's... Read More

WASHINGTON — Just hours after Chief Justice John Roberts handed former President Donald Trump a temporary victory in one of his legal battles, a member of Trump’s inner circle on Tuesday found the high court far less accommodating. In an... Read More

NEW YORK — Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., is under federal criminal investigation again in an apparent revival of accusations he took bribes to steer contracts to an eye doctor who donated to his campaign.  Menendez was indicted and put on... Read More

ATLANTA (AP) — Herschel Walker campaigns for the U.S. Senate as a champion of free enterprise and advocate for the mentally ill, felons and others at the margins of society. And the Georgia Republican has called for policies that blend those priorities.... Read More

WASHINGTON — Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has asked the Supreme Court to block a lower court order forcing him to testify before a grand jury about former President Donald Trump’s alleged interference in the 2020 election in Georgia. In a... Read More

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan and Republican JD Vance deflected accusations of being political lapdogs to their parties Monday, as they met in a heated second debate for Ohio's open U.S. Senate seat. Vance used the... Read More

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Democrats across Ohio are pleading for help in the state's Senate contest, afraid they may lose a winnable election unless national party leaders make major investments in the coming days. So far, the most powerful groups in Democratic... Read More

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — As Sheila Armstrong grew emotional in recounting how her brother and nephew were killed in Philadelphia, Dr. Mehmet Oz — sitting next to her inside a Black church, their chairs arranged a bit like his former daytime TV show... Read More

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Democrats predicted abortion would be Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s saving grace. But inside Nevada's crowded union halls, across its sun-scorched desert towns and on the buzzing Las Vegas strip, there are signs that outrage over the Supreme Court’s... Read More

NEW YORK (AP) — Incidents of fraud and scams are occurring more often on the popular peer-to-peer payment service Zelle, according to a report issued Monday by the office of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, giving the public its first glimpse into... Read More

WASHINGTON — A Senate panel raised the possibility Wednesday of extending U.S. jurisdiction against Russian military personnel to hold them personally accountable for war crimes in Ukraine. Current federal law allows the Justice Department to prosecute war criminals only if... Read More

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan resolution introduced late last week would authorize the placement of a national memorial commemorating fallen journalists on Independence Avenue, between the Voice of America building and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. The effort... Read More

WASHINGTON — A Senate committee on Tuesday voted to send a proposal to a final vote that seeks to avoid the kind of disputes that led to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The rioters were trying... Read More

WASHINGTON — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on Tuesday that he supports the Electoral Count Reform Act, which aims to protect future elections from attempts at disruption like those that transpired at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.... Read More

WASHINGTON — Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., bowed to the inevitable on Tuesday and requested that his permitting reform bill be removed from the stopgap spending bill currently before the Senate. Manchin had sought a vote on the bill, which would... Read More