Amid conflicting and heated rhetoric, a political pragmatism began to emerge Sunday as senators prepared for a debate on a sweeping Democratic health care bill.
The U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is unlikely to close by the Obama administration's deadline of January 2010, two senior administration officials said late Friday.
President Obama says that despite signs of economic recovery, the country will not see large-scale job growth until next year.
President Theodore Roosevelt is generally credited with launching a nationwide push for campaign spending reform. Embarrassed by disclosure of secret donations by insurance firms to his 1904 election, he supported congressional efforts to ban corporate dollars in national races.
The Senate's second-ranking Democrat slammed recent town-hall protests over health care on Sunday, insisting they violate "the democratic process," while the Senate's top Republican accused Democrats of "attacking citizens" with such complaints.
Senators, like many in the House, continue to face grilling from constituents concerned about proposed health care legislation before Congress.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell took to the Senate floor Wednesday to blast Democrats for setting a start date on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing.
As the nation's unemployment rate inches toward double-digit territory, the White House insists that job creation is on the way.
Leading Senate Republicans indicated Sunday that a filibuster on Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court is unlikely, though they also promised not to shy away from what they characterized as a troubling judicial record.
The search for a Supreme Court nominee has been trimmed to about half a dozen candidates by top White House officials, and an announcement may come by month's end, two sources close to the selection process tell CNN.
Amid conflicting and heated rhetoric, a political pragmatism began to emerge Sunday as senators prepared for a debate on a sweeping Democratic health care bill.
The U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is unlikely to close by the Obama administration's deadline of January 2010, two senior administration officials said late Friday.
President Obama says that despite signs of economic recovery, the country will not see large-scale job growth until next year.
President Theodore Roosevelt is generally credited with launching a nationwide push for campaign spending reform. Embarrassed by disclosure of secret donations by insurance firms to his 1904 election, he supported congressional efforts to ban corporate dollars in national races.
The Senate's second-ranking Democrat slammed recent town-hall protests over health care on Sunday, insisting they violate "the democratic process," while the Senate's top Republican accused Democrats of "attacking citizens" with such complaints.
Senators, like many in the House, continue to face grilling from constituents concerned about proposed health care legislation before Congress.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell took to the Senate floor Wednesday to blast Democrats for setting a start date on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing.
As the nation's unemployment rate inches toward double-digit territory, the White House insists that job creation is on the way.
Leading Senate Republicans indicated Sunday that a filibuster on Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court is unlikely, though they also promised not to shy away from what they characterized as a troubling judicial record.
The search for a Supreme Court nominee has been trimmed to about half a dozen candidates by top White House officials, and an announcement may come by month's end, two sources close to the selection process tell CNN.
A day after House Democrats rejected the president's funding request to close down the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a senior Senate Democrat said he and other key senators may support the request.
House Republican leader John Boehner released a lengthy Web video Thursday suggesting Democrats are not keeping Americans safe -- part of what GOP sources tell CNN is a renewed political effort to push a historically winning issue for Republicans: national security.
There's little debate that Democrats who run Congress mark President Obama's 100-day milestone with some significant victories.
In that strange intersection of economics and politics, there is a new fashion: Trillion is the new billion.
Despite crushing defeats in the last two elections, Senate Republicans have new "energy and enthusiasm" for winning back the majority, according to their leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
President Obama's economic stimulus plan cleared its first hurdle, but it was hardly the bipartisan victory he hoped for -- not a single House Republican broke ranks to support it.
President-elect Barack Obama is expected to meet with congressional leaders Monday to discuss his proposal for the new economic stimulus plan, which leaders are now referring to as an "economy recovery plan," a Senate Democratic leadership aide said Friday.
President-elect Barack Obama will meet with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Monday to discuss his proposal for the new economic stimulus plan, which leaders are now referring to as an "economy recovery plan," a Senate Democratic leadership aide said Friday.
Democratic lawmakers want to pass a far-reaching bill to save the economy by Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.
Top congressional Republicans cautioned Democrats not to rush through a massive stimulus package that lawmakers hope to send to President-elect Barack Obama shortly after he takes office next month.
The case for a bailout of U.S. automakers came under sharp scrutiny on Tuesday at a congressional hearing that portrayed the Big Three as both short-sighted in their business strategies and central to the economy.
Senate Democrats on Friday said they plan to vote on a bill meant to aid struggling automakers despite vocal opposition from Republicans.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has joined other top Republicans in calling for convicted Sen. Ted Stevens to resign.
Sens. Mitch McConnell and Elizabeth Dole are two top Republicans lawmakers who find themselves fighting to hold on to their Senate seats.
Key members of Congress claimed agreement Thursday, but a meeting with President Bush, the two men fighting to replace him and other congressional leaders broke up with conflicts
Congress will attempt to pass a key energy bill this week, testing its ability to deliver on a promise of action on oil as the Sept. 26 deadline edges closer.
An energy summit is taking place Friday on Capitol Hill and all 100 senators - including the presidential candidates - are invited to attend. But with all the partisan sniping on The Hill, it's hard to tell if a comprehensive energy bill will be signed into law anytime soon.
Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell blames challenger Bruce Lunsford for the increase in the state's gas tax. Michigan Rep. John Dingell pledges to stop price gouging and rein in energy speculators.
Republicans on Wednesday pressured congressional Democrats for a vote to lift a ban on offshore drilling before Congress begins its summer recess.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid surprised Republicans on Monday by offering them a chance to vote this week on four GOP-backed amendments to an energy bill, including one that would expand offshore oil drilling.
If politicians can't agree to renew credits for businesses that create renewable power, both the economy and the environment will suffer
Now 67 and living in northeastern Kentucky, the man who played Billy Bear in "48 Hours" and was killed by an alien in "Predator" admits his action-movie days are behind him
The Senate on Monday voted to debate a Democratic-backed bill to dramatically cut harmful greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Senate Democrats Tuesday shelved a bill to modernize the aging air traffic control system, improve safety inspections of commercial airlines and ensure passengers stranded on delayed flights get adequate food and water.
Senate Republicans blocked a bill Wednesday that would make it easier for people to sue over pay discrimination, an effort to roll back a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that limited such cases.
Though lawmakers have vowed to confront the deepening mortgage crisis, Senate leaders are locked in a procedural stalemate over how to take up a homeowner relief bill.
President Bush, before meeting with the congressional leadership on Tuesday, said "common ground" could be reached on an economic stimulus package.
Two House Democratic leaders aggressively pushed back Tuesday at the Bush administration's claims the Pentagon will run out of money soon because Congress failed to pass a war funding bill before its Thanksgiving recess.
Senators on Friday weren't able to muster enough support to bring dueling war-funding bills to a final vote, possibly ending debate on the issue until next year.
The total economic impact of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is estimated at $1.6 trillion by 2009, a congressional committee said in a report released Tuesday.
Thanks to scandal and retirements, the GOP must now worry that Democrats could gain a filibuster-proof majority in 2008
Republican senators on Friday were again able to block a Democratic amendment that would set "definite timelines" for bringing home American combat forces from Iraq.
Democrats are disappointed they have been unable to force President Bush to change course in Iraq, but they will keep pushing -- with or without Republican help, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday.
Senate Democratic leaders are revising proposals to end the Iraq war in hopes that a compromise with wavering Republicans can be found, Democratic leadership sources said Friday.
Embattled Idaho Sen. Larry Craig will not resign if he's able to get the disorderly conduct case against him dismissed in the next 25 days, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday.
Sen. Larry Craig is reconsidering his decision to resign after his arrest in a Minnesota airport sex sting and may still fight for his Senate seat, his spokesman said Tuesday evening.
Frustrated by Republican efforts to block votes on bringing American combat troops home from Iraq, Senate Democratic leaders rolled out sleeping cots Tuesday for an all-night debate on the war.
As Congress begins voting on the controversial bill, the White House and the G.O.P. trade jabs -- and spin
The Senate immigration compromise was effectively killed Thursday, failing to pass a critical procedural hurdle.
Here are some facts from tonight's broadcast that you might find interesting.
Senators pushing a new immigration policy appealed Sunday to wavering supporters ahead of renewed debate on securing the borders and dealing with 12 million undocumented immigrants
The Senate should wrap up work on a sweeping overhaul of U.S. immigration laws before July 4, but its odds of passage remain uncertain, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday.
These are some facts from tonight's show that you might find interesting.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's plan to make the U.S. Capitol complex more environmentally friendly is being hampered by the reluctance of lawmakers from coal-producing states to implement changes at the complex's coal-burning power plant.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday failed to override President Bush's veto of a $124 billion war spending bill that included a deadline for U.S. troops to pull out of Iraq.
The Senate Thursday passed the Iraq war spending bill that included language that will increase the federal minimum wage for the first time in 10 years.
Defying President Bush, the Democratic-led Senate on Tuesday turned back a Republican attempt to remove a call for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq from a $124 billion war-spending bill.
House Democrats on Wednesday continued to work on a compromise plan for the Iraq war that would try to bridge differences within the party after backing away from legislation that would set conditions on war funding.
Senate leaders said Tuesday they will hold off debating a repeal of the 2002 Iraq war authorization, possibly due to divisions that have emerged in the Democratic caucus over how to proceed on addressing the war in Iraq.
Senate Democrats failed to garner the 60 votes they needed to consider a nonbinding resolution opposing President Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq.
Seven Republican senators, who support a resolution that opposes sending more troops to Iraq, are considering political tactics to force debate on the measure, which stalled in the Senate this week.
Senate Republicans used a procedural maneuver Monday to keep Democratic leaders from moving forward with a nonbinding resolution opposing President Bush's plan to increase troop levels in Iraq.
The Democrats are taking control of Congress and one of their key agenda items in the "first 100 hours" is boosting the minimum wage. But while a passage in the House is near-certain, passage in the Senate and ultimately the White House may require concessions in the form of tax cuts and regulation-reduction.
Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott, ousted from the top Senate Republican leadership job four years ago because of remarks considered racially insensitive, won election to the No. 2 post Wednesday for the minority GOP in the next Congress.
The Senate began debate Monday on a proposed constitutional amendment that would prohibit the desecration of the American flag, the latest in a series of election-year votes pushed by the chamber's Republican leaders.
The chief of Amnesty International USA alleged Sunday that the Guantanamo Bay detention camp is part of a worldwide network of U.S. jails, some of them secret, where prisoners are mistreated and even killed.
Leading senators gathered Sunday evening at Majority Leader Bill Frist's home for what his Democratic counterpart described as a social occasion -- a get-together held in the shadow of a looming showdown over President Bush's judicial nominees.
Did President Bush's speech Monday night on Iraq's future give lawmakers what they wanted to hear? Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky shared their thoughts with CNN's Paula Zahn following the speech.
Top GOP leaders said Wednesday they oppose the release of hundreds of fresh images showing the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, saying they could compromise the prosecution of those soldiers implicated in the acts and further inflame tensions in Iraq.
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