Congress

The Senate parliamentarian was never meant to be in the spotlight — let alone an office with political influence. But as Republicans lurch toward a habit of using the filibuster-proof budget reconciliation process to fund key government agencies, they are increasingly putting the fate of the party’s biggest spending priorities in the hands of a […]

Republicans in Congress face two major tasks this week: wrapping up reconciliation 2.0 and renewing a controversial spy powers authority before it expires Friday. The House returns with a final sprint to clear roughly $70 billion for immigration enforcement through President Donald Trump’s term, which GOP leaders are hoping to finish in the first half […]

House lawmakers passed a bill Monday aimed at preventing future executive branch interference in some legislative branch agencies, a year after President Donald Trump fired the librarian of Congress. It would allow House and Senate leaders to appoint the heads of both the Library of Congress and the Government Publishing Office, removing that power from […]

Former Sen. Bob Packwood, whose immense political influence was marred by a major sexual misconduct scandal, died Saturday at the age of 93.  The Oregon Republican served nearly 27 years in the Senate, but resigned in 1995 after the Senate Ethics Committee voted to recommend expelling him for sexual misconduct, abuse of office and obstruction […]

Senate Republicans early Friday could not muster enough votes to move forward on a long-term reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, leaving the key surveillance power, which expires next week, in limbo as both chambers leave the Capitol for the weekend. The Senate voted 47-52 on the motion to proceed to […]

Congress left town this week after the Senate passed Republicans’ high-priority budget reconciliation package for immigration enforcement, while Democrats saw a war powers messaging win in the House. The Senate adjourned in the wee hours of Friday morning following an all-night “vote-a-rama” to pass a nearly $70 billion reconciliation bill for immigration enforcement. The package […]

The House Armed Services Committee approved its fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act late Thursday after a series of politically charged debates about the Iran war, Pentagon acquisition rules, defense spending and vestiges of the Confederacy in the military. After contending with about 900 amendments over the course of 14 hours, the committee approved the […]

The Senate passed a nearly $70 billion reconciliation bill for immigration enforcement early Friday morning after rejecting repeated attempts by members of both parties to prohibit or restrict a Justice Department “anti-weaponization” fund. On a mostly party-line vote of 52-47, the Senate sent to the House a bill designed to fund immigration agencies for the […]

As Democrats in Congress pelt Republicans with repeated war power votes — a strategy to test the party’s support for President Donald Trump’s military action abroad — a foreign policy fissure in the shape of Lebanon took form among their own ranks. More than half of House Democrats voted with Republicans Thursday to tank a […]

Some call them the “YOLO caucus,” the slang term for the phrase “You only live once.”  Others say this is how some members of this growing group of Senate Republicans have always legislated.  Either way, Thursday’s high drama vote-a-rama highlighted the complicated equation of the Senate Republicans’ slim majority and the anxiety over the upcoming […]