U.S. Senate

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, led a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. (Screenshot from U.S. Senate webcast)

Gun violence as a public health crisis explored by U.S. Senate Democrats

BY: - November 29, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats on Tuesday discussed how to treat gun violence as a public health crisis, in hopes of building upon last year’s federal gun safety legislation. “Across the country, gun violence is a public health epidemic,” Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin, the chairman of the committee, said in his opening remarks. […]

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, nominee for Social Security commissioner, July 19, 2023. (Photo courtesy of the Executive Office of the Governor of Maryland.)

U.S. Senate panel advances former Maryland governor’s nomination to lead Social Security

BY: - November 29, 2023

WASHINGTON — Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley moved one step closer Tuesday to becoming the next Social Security commissioner, a role that would become increasingly difficult as the program inches closer to insolvency during the next decade. The U.S. Senate Finance Committee voted 17-10 to send O’Malley’s nomination to the floor, though it’s not clear […]

Congress sends stopgap spending bill to Biden’s desk, averting shutdown for now

BY: - November 17, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. senators voted 87-11 to approve legislation Wednesday that would fund the government into next year, clearing the measure for President Joe Biden’s signature. The stopgap spending bill, sometimes called a continuing resolution or CR, would fund part of the government until mid-January and the rest of the programs within the annual appropriations […]

A student loan application. Getty Images.

Attempt to kill Biden student debt relief plan tied to income fails in U.S. Senate

BY: - November 17, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans on Wednesday night failed to garner enough votes to block a new Biden administration rule on an income-driven repayment plan for federal student loans. The resolution did not pass, 49-50. Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia was the sole Democrat who joined Republicans in backing the resolution. Sen. Tim […]

Oklahoma senator challenges Teamsters president to fight at U.S. Senate hearing

BY: - November 15, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican, challenged the head of the Teamsters union to a physical fight at a U.S. Senate hearing Tuesday intended to showcase how labor unions are making families’ lives better. The tense confrontation at the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing stemmed from acrimonious posts on […]

The U.S. Supreme Court released a new ethics code on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023 but Sen. Dick Durbin, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the new rules “fall short of what we could and should expect when a Supreme Court issues a code of conduct.” (Al Drago/Getty Images)

U.S. Supreme Court unveils new ethics code, but critics say it doesn’t go far enough

BY: - November 14, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court released a new ethics code Monday, just days before the Democrat-led U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary again attempts to subpoena two high-profile GOP donors following revelations that justices accepted undisclosed luxury trips and engaged in other potential conflicts of interest. Despite the headlines and the committee’s springtime request that Chief Justice John […]

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, right, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, left testify during a hearing before the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Nov. 8, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Biden administration, senators divided on how to move ahead on border security

BY: - November 9, 2023

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas were at odds Wednesday on how lawmakers should improve border security, as they wrestle with how to handle a White House request for emergency spending. Mayorkas, speaking to the Senate Appropriations Committee, pointed to a sweeping proposal President Joe Biden released early in his […]

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. left, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., right, walk with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the U.S. Capitol Building on Sept. 21, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Biden administration warns of dangers of turning down Ukraine aid as GOP voices doubts

BY: - November 9, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. senators from both parties and administration officials sounded the alarm Wednesday on the path forward for Ukraine amid dwindling U.S. humanitarian, economic development and security assistance and as Congress risks a government shutdown in less than 10 days. During a hearing before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Department of State and […]

U.S. Senate panel debates how to protect children on social media platforms

BY: - November 8, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. senators at a Tuesday hearing pushed for bipartisan legislation to protect children online. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law heard testimony from whistleblower Arturo Bejar, who served as Facebook’s director of engineering for protect and care from 2009 to 2015. Committee members discussed paths forward for holding […]

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin testify during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill Oct. 31, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Ukraine and Israel aid must be bound together, two Cabinet secretaries tell U.S. Senate

BY: - November 1, 2023

WASHINGTON — Congress must approve funding for both Israel and Ukraine if it wants to avoid being dragged into a direct conflict with Russia or emboldening terrorist organizations, two top Biden administration officials told senators Tuesday. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken both testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee that there […]

Tuberville blockade on military nominees could be evaded by tweak in U.S. Senate rules

BY: - October 30, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democrats are mulling a strategy to bypass Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s months-long hold on hundreds of military promotions in protest of a Pentagon abortion policy that was authorized in the aftermath of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The Alabama Republican has been refusing to join other senators in the routine action of promoting large groups […]

Jack Lew, President Joe Biden’s nominee to be the U.S. ambassador to Israel, testifies during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on Oct. 18, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

U.S. Senate committee advances Biden pick for Israel ambassador

BY: - October 26, 2023

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee advanced Wednesday the nomination of Jacob J. Lew, President Joe Biden’s choice to be U.S. ambassador to Israel. The panel voted 12-9 to approve the nomination of Lew, a former Treasury secretary and White House chief of staff under President Barack Obama. Kentucky Republican Rand Paul was the only […]