U.S. Senate

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

WASHINGTON — As Congress returns from its Fourth of July break, one familiar face won’t be making an appearance on Capitol Hill. That’s because Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has tested positive for COVID-19. In a statement released Sunday,... Read More

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate easily approved a bipartisan gun control bill Thursday night, setting the stage for final approval on Friday in the House of what many are calling the government's most decisive response ever to the rash of... Read More

WASHINGTON — Senators reached an agreement on Tuesday night to advance bipartisan legislation aimed at curbing violent offenders’ access to firearms. The legislation passed an initial procedural process in the Senate after 14 Republicans joined all 48 Democrats and two... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Thursday on the Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022, a bill that addresses health care for veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxic substances during military service.  The vote count... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facebook on Monday removed a campaign video by Republican Missouri U.S. Senate candidate Eric Greitens that shows him brandishing a shotgun and declaring that he's hunting RINOs, or Republicans In Name Only. In the ad, Greitens, a... Read More

WASHINGTON — Instead of peeping through a hole to see who is at the door, it’s more common for Americans to check their phone and see a video feed from their door when a package is dropped off, food is... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Senate adjourned Friday morning without any action taken on its proposed bipartisan gun safety framework, throwing cold water on the hopes that a deal would be reached before the chamber’s state work period recess. The members currently... Read More

WASHINGTON — Health experts told a Senate panel Thursday the drop in COVID-19 infections in the past few months should not lull them into complacency as the potentially deadly virus continues to mutate. Without additional preparation, the nation’s health care... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions voted on Tuesday to advance legislation that will reauthorize a number of important U.S. Food and Drug Administration user fee programs. “This is the most important, comprehensive FDA legislation... Read More

WASHINGTON — Thousands rallied under a mostly overcast sky on the National Mall on Saturday to demand Congress pass new gun control measures after a recent rash of deadly mass shootings. The peaceful protest in Washington was just one of... Read More

WASHINGTON — Next winter looks bleak for Europe without prompt assistance from the United States as war in Ukraine depletes energy sources, a State Department official told senators Thursday. Until the war started almost four months ago, about 27% of... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wide-ranging bipartisan legislation unveiled Tuesday would regulate cryptocurrencies and other digital assets following a series of high-profile busts and failures. It’s unclear, though, whether the bill proposed by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., can clear Congress,... Read More

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Recounting began Friday in the too-close-to-call Republican primary contest for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, with barely 900 votes separating celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz and former hedge fund CEO David McCormick. Montour County began the... Read More