U.S. Senate

WASHINGTON — If rechargeable batteries leading the switch away from gasoline-powered vehicles are impressive, electrical industry executives told a Senate panel Thursday they haven’t seen anything yet. They say they are developing new technologies that will generate more electricity than... Read More

WASHINGTON — Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., can use campaign funds to pay for the cost of reasonable cybersecurity measures to protect her home network, the Federal Election Commission announced on Friday. The decision came in response to an advisory opinion... Read More

WASHINGTON — A letter to Commissioner Chris Magnus of Customs and Border Protection revealed the agency gathers data from Americans’ phones, laptops and other electronic devices in what they call a “border search,” potentially storing that information for years. “Innocent... Read More

WASHINGTON — Married same-sex couples who fear the U.S. Supreme Court could void their right to be married the same way it voided a woman’s right to have an abortion will have to wait a little longer for peace of... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Upending the political debate, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced a nationwide abortion ban Tuesday, sending shockwaves through both parties and igniting fresh debate on a fraught issue weeks before the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress. Graham's own Republican... Read More

WASHINGTON — A former Twitter computer security manager revealed broad mishandling of private data at the social media platform during a Senate hearing Tuesday. He said the lax security endangered the private information of users and potentially of national security.... Read More

WASHINGTON — Senators are urging the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to shut down its “Orwellian data-gathering efforts,” according to a letter sent by Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Tuesday. The senators reference multiple reports, including one... Read More

 WASHINGTON — Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. is seeking to close a loophole in the nation’s gun laws that allows gun dealers with revoked licenses to “convert” their inventory into “personal collections” which they can then sell without conducting background checks.... Read More

WASHINGTON — It was smoke and more smoke that consumed a Senate hearing Wednesday on how to prepare for wildfires and whether to grant limited exceptions to the Clean Air Act. The four bills discussed at the Senate Environment and... Read More

WASHINGTON — Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and 11 of his colleagues urged federal health care officials to track and address racial disparities in the nation’s public health response to the monkeypox virus. In a letter to the heads of the... Read More

KENNESAW, Ga. (AP) — Republican Herschel Walker has plenty to say about how his Democratic rival, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, does his job in Washington. But Walker is considerably less revealing about what he’d do with the role himself. A former football star... Read More

WASHINGTON — Looking fresh and relaxed from a week vacationing in Kiawah Island, South Carolina, President Joe Biden returned to the White House this afternoon to sign the so-called Inflation Reduction Act and deliver on what he’s called the “final... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — After a moment when hopes dimmed that the United States could become an international leader on climate change, legislation that Congress is poised to approve could rejuvenate the country’s reputation and bolster its efforts to push other... Read More

WASHINGTON — “It wasn’t on the scoreboard one month ago,” Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., marveled when talking to reporters over the weekend, but in just a matter of days a budget reconciliation bill long presumed dead was suddenly a “historic”... Read More

WASHINGTON — A proposed $35 monthly cap on the price of insulin failed to win approval in the huge economic tax and spending package the Senate passed Sunday. Republicans succeeded in removing the cap by inserting an amendment into the... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats pushed their election-year economic package to Senate passage Sunday, a hard-fought compromise less ambitious than President Joe Biden’s original domestic vision but one that still meets deep-rooted party goals of slowing global warming, moderating pharmaceutical costs and taxing immense corporations. The estimated $740 billion... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats have agreed to eleventh-hour changes to their marquee economic legislation, they announced late Thursday, clearing the major impediment to pushing one of President Joe Biden’s paramount election-year priorities through the chamber in coming days. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema,... Read More

WASHINGTON — Scientists revived suspicions Wednesday that COVID-19 escaped from a Chinese lab during a Senate hearing where lawmakers discussed methods for preventing additional pandemics. Their main concern was “gain-of-function” methods that biochemists discovered about 20 years ago. Gain-of-function refers... Read More

WASHINGTON — Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., finally got a chance to talk to Sen. Krysten Sinema, D-Ariz., Tuesday about the slimmed down reconciliation bill he negotiated with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., last week, but the way forward is... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve is bemoaning a new monthly report showing the highest inflation rate since 1982 while housing advocates in the Senate Tuesday said the result could mean more families living in cars. A day earlier was the... Read More

WASHINGTON — Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., on Thursday rejected assertions he somehow reversed course in coming to terms with Democratic leaders on a reconciliation package now called the Inflation Reduction Act. “A reversal to me is going backwards, and I've... Read More

WASHINGTON  — Two new bills aiming to protect children’s privacy rights on the internet passed out of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Wednesday. Both bills passed through the committee and moved to a possible vote for the... Read More

WASHINGTON — In a stunning and wholly unexpected turn of events, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced Wednesday that he’d struck a deal with Democratic leaders in the Senate and would now support climate and tax measures he’d previously rejected. It... Read More

WASHINGTON — The desperation wrought this summer by record heat and drought across parts of the United States were obvious during a Senate hearing Wednesday on how to capture and reuse greenhouse gases. Only a few years ago, carbon capture... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday voted 64-33 to pass the $280 billion legislation that aims to rebuild the U.S. semiconductor chip manufacturing industry and create a renewed investment in research and development. “Future generations will look back on the... Read More

WASHINGTON — Only days after the Justice Department announced successful prosecutions of drug runners and seizures of huge stashes of illegal opioids, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said what was on everyone’s mind at a Senate hearing Tuesday. “I think we... Read More

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators proposed new legislation on Wednesday that would update the 135-year-old Electoral Count Act and prevent future attempts to meddle with the outcome of a federal election like those that played out after the... Read More

WASHINGTON — In something of a stunner, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., told Democratic party leaders on Thursday that he could not support funding for climate or energy programs in a proposed “slimmed down” reconciliation bill that had been the subject... Read More

WASHINGTON — Drones might be good for the economy and recreation but they’re creating new security threats that require prompt law enforcement action, according to witnesses at a Senate hearing Thursday. Otherwise, a commercial aviation disaster, increased drug smuggling or... Read More

WASHINGTON — Amazon sent footage from Ring cameras to law enforcement officials 11 times so far in 2022 without notifying the owners, according to a letter the company sent to Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. “As stated in Ring's law enforcement... Read More