The 12 members of Congress on the deficit reduction committee have my deepest admiration and respect. They face probably the greatest challenge they've ever faced or ever will, at least in political life!
In Tennessee, $269,000 was spent on a sanctuary for white squirrels. A Chevrolet Corvette simulator destined for a Kentucky museum cost $200,000. A Roman bath house in West Virginia was renovated for $160,000.
The Senate on Thursday passed a bill to fund the Federal Aviation Administration through January, preventing a second shutdown of the agency that regulates air transportation.
Rep. Tom Coburn says the postal service is operating on a failed business model and wants to slash jobs to make it efficient.
There might still be a chance to depolarize the political debate over the debt ceiling and deficit reduction.
President Obama gave a boost Tuesday to a bipartisan Senate plan to slash the nation's debt by about $3.7 trillion over the next ten years.
CNN's John King takes a close look at two scenarios for prioritizing federal dollars if the debt ceiling isn't raised.
Members of a bipartisan group of senators who worked for months to forge an agreement to make deep reductions in the federal debt will unveil a plan to slash trillions of dollars off that debt over the next 10 years.
It took U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn six months to realize the Gang of Six was dead on arrival. It took me 15 minutes.
Ethanol subsidies are still alive and kickin'.
Sen. Tom Coburn, a staunch conservative from Oklahoma, triggered a heated debate among conservatives when he acknowledged that tax increases might be necessary if Congress really wants to reduce the deficit.
A leading Senate conservative said Sunday he can accept tax reform that increases overall tax revenue as part of a comprehensive deficit reduction plan.
Friday was the 155th day the federal government has operated without a budget, and some lawmakers spent it arguing over nickels and dimes.
The U.S. government could save tens of billions of dollars a year by streamlining a bloated federal bureaucracy, according to a report Tuesday from the Government Accountability Office.
The push to come up with a plan to reduce national debt got a bipartisan bear hug in the Senate on Tuesday.
Will Tuesday be "Date Night" in Congress for President Barack Obama's State of the Union address?
In a symbolic gesture toward more civil political discourse, Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer and Republican Sen. Tom Coburn said Sunday they will sit together at the upcoming State of the Union address.
A new political reality hits Washington next week, with the first split Congress since 2002 raising questions about whether the bipartisan cooperation of the recently concluded lame-duck session can continue.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs talks about the role Republicans need to play in 2011.
John Feal, 9/11 first responder, FealGood Foundation, talks about Congress passing the 9/11 first responders bill.
A compromise bill to provide free medical treatment and compensation to first responders of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack won final approval Wednesday from the House and Senate, sending it to President Barack Obama to be signed into law.
In September, Pat Buck emphasized the importance of food safety after her grandson died from E. coli poisoning.
A sweeping food safety bill that passed the House and Senate earlier this year before stalling because of a legislative technicality now will likely die because Republicans object to giving it quick approval in the waning days of the congressional session, Senate leadership aides on both sides of the aisle said Friday.
The final vote on the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform Commission's report serves as a concrete example of the disconnect between main street and Washington as well as the dysfunctional state of our current political system.
A controversial plan by a presidential commission to slash $4 trillion in federal debt has drawn strong bipartisan support as the panel held its final vote on Friday.
Republican Sens. Tom Coburn and Mike Crapo say they'll back the recommendations of the President's debt commission plan.
The Senate voted Tuesday against taking up a measure that would have imposed a two-year ban on legislative earmarks, a practice that critics have called an example of wasteful spending.
The GOP caucus in the Senate agreed Tuesday night to ban earmarks, a policy House Republicans already have in place and are expected to keep in the new Congress.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says he will back a ban on controversial spending items.
Senate Democrats learned this year how difficult it was to pass bills over a determined GOP minority. Now they are bracing for possible legislative gridlock as Republicans are poised to pick up several seats in Tuesday's election.
Tea Party Express Chairwoman Amy Kremer gives her outlook on American Morning on the eve of midterm elections.
One egg farmer asserted his fifth amendment rights while the other fielded tense questions from congressional leaders.
The owner of one farm at the center of a massive egg recall apologized to anyone who may have been sickened by his product Wednesday, while another refused to answer questions about conditions at his operation.
Senators McCain and Coburn release a report on the stimulus, pointing out what they call misguided spending.
Monkeys on cocaine. New windows for a closed visitor's center. Modern dance as a tool for software development.
Monkeys on cocaine. New windows for a closed visitor's center. Modern dance as a tool for software development.
Senate Republicans have an internal memo from the Department of Homeland Security that they say shows the Obama administration "conspiring" and "scheming" to allow millions of illegal immigrants to stay and work in the United States.
Frustrated Democrats went to the Senate floor Friday to seek Republican approval for a long list of administration nominees currently blocked by controversial secret holds placed by GOP senators.
North Central West Virginia Airport boasts quick check-ins, free, accessible parking and a convenient baggage claim.
Small airports are cashing in on federal tax dollars by giving away free flights. CNN's Drew Griffin reports.
Extended unemployment benefits will temporarily expire for thousands of Americans on Monday because the Senate went on its spring recess without approving a one-month deadline extension.
CNN's Chuck Conder talks with two highly educated Census workers and why they took the temporary jobs.
Extended jobless benefits will run out for at least 212,000 Americans out of work after April 5 because the Senate closed up shop Friday afternoon without a deal to extend filing deadlines.
On the eve of a two-week spring recess, the Senate found itself embroiled again over the issue of a short-term extension of unemployment benefits and other programs.
President Obama presented a revamped health care reform proposal on Wednesday that may incorporate, according to the White House, a series of Republican ideas that the caucus has advocated in the past.
It is the quintessential Napa Valley experience.
CNN's Randi Kaye reports on the Napa Wine Train, which has been criticized for allegedly receiving stimulus funds.
Charlie Simpson He's no Wyclef Jean or George Clooney, but that hasn't stopped the British 7-year-old from raising more than £136,000 ($220,000) for victims of the Haiti earthquake.
The congressional health care debate stalled briefly Wednesday as Senate Republicans insisted that a 767-page mega-amendment be read out loud in its entirety.
A handful of Republican senators have proposed a constitutional amendment to limit how long a person may serve in Congress.
Town hall meetings continued Thursday with more members of Congress facing an onslaught of tough questions about health care reform plans.
Rick Sanchez talks with Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn about health care and the "birther" movement.
Health care plan
updated: Wed Jul 22 2009 19:58:00
CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser has the latest on President Obama's health care reform plan.
Republican Sen. Tom Coburn says Judge Sonia Sotomayor may have "splainin'" to do under a hypothetical gun case.
If you ask each of the 435 members of the House of Representatives whether they believe in cutting government waste, I'm willing to bet they'll all say yes.
Biologist Matt Aresco has been carrying a big burden for years.
Gun rights advocates found an unlikely ally in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives on Wednesday as lawmakers passed a measure allowing concealed, loaded firearms to be carried in national parks.
What do guns have to do with credit cards?
A massive spending bill that funds the U.S. government for the rest of the budget year passed the Senate on Tuesday despite complaints about nearly $8 billion in what critics called "pork-barrel" projects.
Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair has appointed controversial former CIA Director John Deutch to serve on an advisory panel reviewing the intelligence community's technical capabilities.
State and federal investigators said Tuesday that they spent the past two days gathering evidence in the last documented mass lynching in the United States: a grisly slaying of four people that has remained unsolved for more than six decades.
Senate negotiators said they reached a tentative
agreement on a key obstacle to one of the most ambitious federal health
initiatives ever, a $50 billion act to combat AIDS, malaria and
tuberculosis in Africa and other countries
The Senate voted Thursday to seek a federal investigation into a 2005 earmark on a highway funding bill that was altered after Congress approved the measure but before President Bush signed it.
FSB: Senate grills SBAupdated: Fri Nov 02 2007 13:01:00
The Small Business Administration took quite a beating on Capitol Hill today. A Senate oversight committee held a hearing on how the agency measures success. Meanwhile Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) introduced a bill that would force the agency to improve its data collection.
The Democrats claim their new ethics bill fulfills a campaign promise to clean up Congress. But some Republicans say there are too many loopholes
Immigration and the '08 race
Here are some facts from tonight's broadcast that you might find interesting.
The identity of the blogosphere's "secret senator" has been revealed.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist introduced a bill Thursday to expand funding for embryonic stem cell research and said it would be debated and voted on in July.
Sen. Tom Coburn, playing his familiar role of skunk at the Sunday school picnic, is arguing that massive federal spending in the wake of Hurricane Katrina must entail some sacrifice.
Dr. Tom Coburn, a U.S. senator from Oklahoma for less than four months, last week was up to old tricks he started playing in the House a decade ago.
Dr. Tom Coburn, the plainspoken obstetrician from Muskogee, Oklahoma, was back in Washington briefly last week.
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