It's not your imagination: Our dysfunctional divided Congress is the least productive and least popular in recent history.
Something remarkable is happening Wednesday. A large swath of the Internet is blacking out in protest of two controversial copyright bills being considered in Congress. Major Web juggernauts such as Google and Wikipedia, some graduate schools and a number of start-ups and prominent advocates are participating in what is expected to be the largest organized online protests in more than a decade.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -- a point of pride in the Obama administration's efforts to reform Wall Street -- faces a key test in the Senate on Thursday over whether it will have a director with real power.
Senate Republicans voted Tuesday to filibuster President Barack Obama's nominee to fill a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, because they complained she is too liberal and would be an activist on the bench.
CNN's John King looks at Democratic reaction to Rep. Anthony Weiner's sexting scandal.
For weeks, the political conversation has been about Rep. Anthony Wiener. Republicans were indignant. Democrats were furious and frustrated. The media was obsessed with every picture that emerged of the pugnacious legislator, who resigned from Congress on Thursday.
Liberal demagogue or mainstream intellectual? The Senate faces a Thursday showdown to force a floor vote on what could be President Barack Obama's most controversial judicial nominee.
A Senate Republican vow to block any nominee to lead the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau gives President Obama no choice but to appoint a head of that agency during congressional recess, a top House Democrat said Wednesday.
President Barack Obama on Thursday appeared to rule out acting on his own to implement some provisions of an immigration reform bill that failed to win congressional approval last year.
National groups flock to Wisconsin in a battle over union power. CNN's Casey Wian reports.
Democratic state legislators have begun fleeing their respective capitals as if the plague has broken out. Perhaps they see it that way. Republicanism has gone viral, and it seems that no state is safe, no matter how unionized.
Senate Democrats explore the idea of ending or changing the filibuster. CNN's Brianna Keilar reports.
Top Democratic and Republican senators, negotiating proposed reforms of the use of filibusters and other legislative stalling tactics, are close to an agreement on modest changes to curb the practices but not eliminate them altogether, two Senate aides said.
Senate Democrats on Wednesday introduced legislation that would tighten rules on the use of the filibuster in the legislative chamber.
CNN's Dan Lothian reports on the challenges and priorities President Obama faces as he returns to work in 2011.
As the new Congress convenes Wednesday, the initial focus for Republicans, fresh off their 2010 midterm election victories, will start off symbolic with the legislative meat to be served shortly after.
Suddenly no one is talking about Congress as the "broken branch" of government any more.
With the last few days of the year blowing by like the gusty snowfall that's piled up in the whiteout Northeast, it's time to clean out the mailbag in preparation for 2011. The new year will waste no time in bringing the action, as Saturday night's UFC 125 has a bunch of promising matchups. But if my e-mail in box is any indication, fans aren't quite ready to move on from the deeds and misdeeds of 2010.
Failing to repeal the law prohibiting openly gay and lesbian people from serving in the military leaves the services vulnerable to the possibility the courts will order an immediate and likely chaotic end to the policy, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters Friday.
CNN's Anderson Cooper looks into why the Senate rejected a Democratic bid to open debate on "don't ask, don't tell."
Gay rights groups have planned a rally near the U.S. Capitol at noon Friday to urge lawmakers to work through the winter holiday to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy banning openly gay and lesbian soldiers from military service.
Senate Democrats failed Thursday to win a procedural vote to open debate on a bill that would provide medical benefits and compensation for emergency workers who were first on the scene of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The bid to repeal the policy on gays in the military fails 57 to 40.
The Senate on Thursday rejected a Democratic bid to open debate on repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy banning openly gay and lesbian soldiers from military service, possibly killing any chance for it to get passed in the current congressional session.
Pop star Lady Gaga will headline a rally in Portland, Maine, on Monday calling on the state's two Republican senators to vote yes on taking up a defense bill that includes authorization to repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy toward gay and lesbian servicemembers.
Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, talk about Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan.
Leading senators on the Judiciary Committee signaled a contentious hearing starting Monday on Elena Kagan's Supreme Court nomination, with some Republicans saying a GOP filibuster was possible.
The top-ranking Senate Republican refused Sunday to rule out a filibuster against Elena Kagan's confirmation to the Supreme Court.
Senate Democrats failed Thursday to overcome a Republican filibuster of a bill to extend unemployment benefits and prevent Medicare doctors from having their reimbursements cut.
Republicans end their fillibuster on Wall Street reform but still disagree with Democrats over how to best protect consumers.
Whatever happened to bonus rage?
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee lashed out at Senate Republicans on Tuesday for holding up confirmation votes on President Obama's judicial nominees.
CNN's Supreme Court Producer Bill Mears on whether the process to replace Justice Stevens will be messy or partisan.
President Obama talks about the qualities he will be looking for in the next Supreme Court justice.
Party of no? When it comes to Supreme Court nominations, the GOP is a flock of baby lambs compared with their opposites on the Democratic side.
President Obama on Monday tore into private health insurers for recent rate hikes, taking a more aggressive rhetorical turn as he pushes for final congressional passage of his top domestic priority.
President Obama takes on the health insurance industry during remarks at Arcadia University in Pennsylvania.
© 2013 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|