{First, a cheap plug for my blog Senate Guru.} This past Monday, the Minnesota Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Republican Norm Coleman's appeal of Senator-elect Al Franken's victory. Some estimates put the release of the Court's decision at around two ...Read More
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Vice President Joe Biden told Iowa Democrats on Saturday that the Senate handed the president a big victory with its decision to move forward with debate on sweeping legislation to overhaul the nation's health care system.
"Tonight ...Read More
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate Democratic leader says Congress is closer than ever to overhauling the nation's health care system. At a Capitol Hill rally, Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday that the $848 billion, 10-year bill he unveiled hours earlier ...Read More
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday confirmed U.S. District Judge David Hamilton for the Chicago-based federal appeals court, approving a nominee targeted by conservatives as a liberal activist. Hamilton was approved on a 59-39 vote and became the eighth of President ...Read More
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is putting a former chief of naval operations and former Army secretary in charge of a Pentagon inquiry into the Fort Hood shootings.
"It is prudent to determine immediately whether there are internal weaknesses or procedural shortcomings ...Read More
WASHINGTON -After months of maneuvering, the Senate stands at the brink of a historic battle over health care with President Barack Obama and his allies on one side and Republicans, outnumbered but unflinching, on the other. "Now it's America's turn, and ...Read More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. senators vowed on Wednesday not to interfere with a criminal probe of the Fort Hood shootings but said they must move ahead with their own hearing into the rampage.
Joe Lieberman, an independent who heads the ...Read More
What was once the central political battleground for addressing global warming in the United States may be making a comeback. While President Obama and Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill continue to focus on legislation covering greenhouse gas emissions across broad sections ...Read More
WASHINGTON—The Senate is marking a new milestone Wednesday when West Virginia Sen. Robert C. Byrd becomes the longest-serving lawmaker in congressional history.
"I look forward to serving you for the next 56 years and 320 days," Byrd said in a statement ...Read More
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Tuesday adopted the latest in a continuing series of major budget increases to provide medical care for veterans. Story continues below ↓ The move came as the Senate passed, by a rare 100-0 vote, a $134 billion ...Read More
Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Banking Committee ChairmanChristopher Dodd said the Senate may pass legislation regulatingbank overdraft fees that goes beyond consumer protections theFederal Reserve announced last week. The banking panel held a hearing today on legislation thatwould prohibit financial companies from ...Read More
New York state legislators remain far apart on a plan to erase the state’s $3.2 billion budget gap. Gov. David Paterson had called an emergency special session for Nov. 16-17, in an effort to prod legislators to finish bargaining a budget-balancing ...Read More
Lou Dobbs guaranteed Bill O'Reilly Monday that he is going to "remain in the public arena," and suggested that the only factor that made his brand of "advocacy journalism" unacceptable at CNN was the arrival of the Obama administration into ...Read More
Barack Obama's admission that next month's crucial climate talks in Copenhagen will not provide a legally binding treaty is the best thing – and the worst thing – the world needed to hear.
On the positive side, the leader of the ...Read More
What are the biggest mistakes both parties have made on healthcare? The Democrats: President Obama and Harry Reid early on sent a signal that they might use a process called reconciliation, a process which would limit debate to twenty hours total ...Read More
WASHINGTON - Two leading health care interest groups, representing insurers and big business, struck a more conciliatory, even optimistic tone on the health care overhaul yesterday, emphasizing their support of the overall goal of increasing coverage and containing costs even ...Read More
SO NOW Representative Mike Capuano says he would not vote for a health insurance bill that lacks abortion coverage. His vote last week for just such a bill was merely intended to push the matter to the Senate, which may ...Read More
After the House passed a sweeping health-care bill over the weekend, President Barack Obama called on the Senate to "take the baton and bring this effort to the finish line." He's right. Lawmakers still have a long way to go to ...Read More
Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. senators will work to completea bipartisan legislative “framework” to combat climate changebefore global meetings in Copenhagen next month on a new treatyto curb global warming, Senator Joe Lieberman said. Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, said he’s workingwith ...Read More
One of Congress's foremost champions of abortion rights said on Monday that the Senate did not have the votes to add a more restrictive anti-abortion amendment to health care reform legislation.
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said that 60 votes would be ...Read More
In a sign that the abortion dispute that nearly derailed the House health care bill will play a critical role in the Senate, a key Democratic senator said Tuesday that he won't vote for an overhaul if the bill does ...Read More
