U.S. Senate

WASHINGTON — Leading members of the Senate Judiciary Committee said this week they plan to subpoena wealthy businessmen they accuse of trying to influence the U.S. Supreme Court through lavish gifts. They say the businessmen are trying to avoid questions... Read More

WASHINGTON — An energy science expert told a Senate panel Wednesday that emerging technologies could lead the world out of a climate change disaster that might be unavoidable otherwise. “There are solutions,” said Paul M. Dabbar, a Columbia University research... Read More

WASHINGTON — Cybersecurity experts urged a congressional panel Thursday to act quickly to keep pace with threats posed by China’s development of artificial intelligence. The alternative is a U.S. military, business community and technology sector that fall far behind China’s... Read More

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, D-N.J., responded to another indictment filed against him Thursday with more denials as the calls among his fellow Democratic lawmakers for him to resign become more emphatic. The indictment unsealed by the Justice Department... Read More

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate is considering a bill that would force some of the same liabilities faced by brick-and-mortar retailers onto online platforms. The problem is counterfeits. Online retail platforms like eBay and Ali Baba might sell products with... Read More

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate on Tuesday would require the Government Accountability Office to investigate the methods used to sell fentanyl online and assess federal law enforcement efforts to prevent it.  The bill, the Targeting Online... Read More

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has selected Laphonza Butler, a Democratic strategist and adviser to Kamala Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign, to fill the U.S. Senate seat made vacant by the death of Sen. Dianne Feinstein. In choosing Butler... Read More

WASHINGTON — With just over three hours to spare, the Senate last night passed a bipartisan bill to avert a government shutdown, and President Joe Biden signed it just before the midnight deadline. The measure will fund the federal government... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, a centrist Democrat who was elected to the Senate in 1992 in the “Year of the Woman” and broke gender barriers throughout her long career in local and national politics, has died. She... Read More

WASHINGTON — Democrats and Republicans in the Senate reached an agreement Tuesday afternoon on a stopgap spending plan that could keep the government funded through mid-November, but some provisions are not likely to fly with hardliners in the House. The... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and his wife have been indicted on charges of bribery. Federal prosecutors on Friday announced the charges against the 69-year-old Democrat nearly six years after an earlier criminal case against... Read More

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers sought answers Wednesday on how the U.S. financial industry could reap potentially huge benefits from artificial intelligence while avoiding devastating risks. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., summed up the balancing act Congress wants to perform by asking financial... Read More

WASHINGTON — Republican Utah Sen. Mitt Romney announced Wednesday that he will not seek reelection to another term in the Senate in 2024, saying it's time “for a new generation of leaders” to “shape the world they will be living... Read More

WASHINGTON — As the search for bodies continues in Hawaii after last month’s wildfires, a Senate committee on Wednesday discussed how climate change is likely to interfere with the nation’s transportation systems. So far in 2023, the hottest year in... Read More

WASHINGTON — A Senate committee sought verification Thursday from artificial intelligence experts that a U.S. government policy anticipating a surge in funding and security needs for the technology is headed in the right direction. Artificial intelligence refers to the ability... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top defense officials are accusing Republican Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville of jeopardizing America's national security with his hold on roughly 300 military promotions, raising the stakes in a clash over abortion policy that shows no signs of easing. Tuberville brushed... Read More

WASHINGTON — A leading U.S. senator on the Judiciary Committee filed a complaint Monday with the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court that accuses Justice Samuel Alito of ethics violations. Although the complaint focuses partly on trips and gifts... Read More

WASHINGTON — In a letter released Tuesday, Brian Monahan, the attending physician for Congress, said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., does not have a seizure disorder and did not suffer a stroke when he appeared to suddenly go blank... Read More

WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has been medically cleared to “continue with his schedule as planned,” a day after he appeared to freeze up while taking questions from reporters in Covington, Kentucky. In a brief letter, Brian... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — David McCormick had a clear explanation for why his fellow Republican, Dr. Mehmet Oz, lost a critical Pennsylvania Senate seat last year: Voters viewed the daytime television celebrity as an interloper from New Jersey with limited ties to the state... Read More

WASHINGTON — Outside the Senate Budget Committee offices Wednesday, temperatures edged toward the century mark during what meteorologists say is the world’s hottest month in recorded history. Inside, senators juggled ideas during a hearing on how to handle the damage... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday advanced legislation that would mandate the Supreme Court to implement a code of ethics and abide by new standards regarding financial disclosure and case recusal requirements.  In an 11-10 vote along partisan... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will convene next week to markup a new health care bill that would invest $20 billion over the next five years in community health centers and the recruitment and retention... Read More

WASHINGTON — A congressional subcommittee on Tuesday spent hours scrutinizing a $1 billion proposal to create a new golf competition controlled by the PGA Tour, a business plan that inspired controversy due to the involvement of Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Tuesday voted to confirm Xochitl Torres Small as deputy secretary of the Agriculture Department, a much-anticipated outcome that nevertheless took awhile to come to fruition. As previously reported by The Well News, President Joe Biden... Read More

NEW YORK (AP) — A group of Democratic senators is asking the nation's consumer finance watchdog to take action against medical credit cards such as CareCredit, saying use of these cards can result in patients paying much more for their... Read More

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former tech executive Lexi Reese announced Thursday that she is entering California’s 2024 U.S. Senate contest, adding another Democrat to a growing field of candidates that already includes three members of Congress. The Google and Facebook veteran... Read More

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester, Delaware’s lone representative in the U.S. House, announced Wednesday that she is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by fellow Democrat Tom Carper. Blunt Rochester’s announcement came as no surprise,... Read More

WASHINGTON — A civil rights leader on technology policy told a Senate panel Tuesday that artificial intelligence is creating risks to privacy and democracy that the U.S. government has not yet brought under control. She and other witnesses on artificial... Read More

WASHINGTON — One week after hundreds of raging wildfires in Canada blanketed the East Coast of the U.S. in heavy smoke, lawmakers in both the House and Senate are moving to ensure communities are better ready to handle such conditions... Read More