The Senate, in the latest round of political maneuvering on a popular campaign issue, Thursday rejected competing Democratic and Republican proposals to prevent student loan rates from doubling to 6.8% in July.
The U.S. Senate unanimously voted to tighten sanctions on Iran on Monday, three days after a dispute over whether to include the threat of American force stalled the legislation.
Congress is reaching a point where it will no longer be able to function at all. Over the past two years, some members of the Republican Party have ramped up the partisan wars on Capitol Hill. They are threatening to bring the legislative process to a standstill.
Top House Republicans attempted to ramp up pressure on Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday with a joint letter demanding the Department of Justice comply with a congressional subpoena for materials on the "Operation Fast and Furious" program.
The GOP-controlled House of Representatives on Friday passed a nearly $643 billion defense bill -- a measure at odds with prior military spending agreements and President Barack Obama's Pentagon plans.
After a high profile political battle this week over legislation to help victims of domestic abuse, its fate appears to be in limbo. And this policy-dispute-turned-election-year-brawl seems to be far from over.
Florida Republican Sandy Adams' personal story could help the GOP in its efforts to woo women voters.
The House of Representatives passed the Republican version of the Violence Against Women Act on Wednesday, despite strong opposition from Democrats.
President Barack Obama and congressional leaders met Wednesday to discuss upcoming budget deadlines, one day after House Speaker John Boehner drew a line in the sand over what could be another bitter showdown between the White House and Congress later this year.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would replace looming Pentagon spending cuts opposed by the GOP with a series of domestic program reductions opposed by congressional Democrats.
The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee has been cleared of allegations that he used his position to engage in insider trading and improperly profit from the 2008 market meltdown.
President Obama targets the youth vote in calling for lower college costs.
The White House said Friday that President Barack Obama would veto a Republican measure passed by the House to extend lower interest rates on federal student loans because it takes money from a health care fund that benefits women.
The House will vote Friday to extend current rates on federally funded college loans for one year, Speaker John Boehner announced on Wednesday in what is seen as an attempt to blunt President Barack Obama's momentum on an issue popular with young voters.
On July 1, the interest rates on student loans subsidized by Uncle Sam will double to 6.8%.
The GOP-controlled House of Representatives on Thursday passed a $46 billion small business tax cut bill -- an election year measure that has virtually no chance of clearing the Democratic-controlled Senate or surviving a presidential veto.
A new poll Tuesday showed voters are willing to give Mitt Romney a fresh look now that he is the certain Republican presidential nominee, and the former Massachusetts governor picked up public backing from the top GOP leaders in the House and Senate.
GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney tells supporters why he thinks the so-called Buffett Rule is not a solid tax plan.
President Obama, while signing the STOCK Act, said there is more that needs to be done to close the deficit of trust.
President Barack Obama signed legislation on Wednesday aimed at restoring Americans' faith in the nation's public institutions at a time they rank at record lows in opinion polls. The act bans insider trading by members of Congress and many executive branch employees.
The House of Representatives passes the GOP leadership's 2013 budget plan 228-191.
With just four days left before the federal money runs out for highway construction projects across the country, House Republicans abruptly postponed a vote on a two-month extension Tuesday, throwing into question how a standoff between Senate Democrats and House Republicans over the transportation bill will get resolved.
With less than two weeks before federal money runs out for transportation projects across the country, a partisan showdown is developing between Senate Democrats and House Republicans over passing a new bill.
A $109 billion transportation bill won approval Wednesday from the Senate but still faces likely political wrangling in the House.
Republican leaders and the White House sent signals Wednesday of possible detente on jobs and energy legislation, but they offered few specifics and congressional Democrats questioned whether any progress would ensue.
The president says that the auto bailouts worked, in an address to the United Auto Workers union in Washington.
A House-Senate conference committee negotiated a compromise on a payroll tax cut extension.
The Senate and the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan deal Friday extending the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits while also avoiding a Medicare fee cut for doctors for the rest of the year.
Rep. Dave Camp and Sen. Max Baucus announce that Congressional negotiators reached a deal to extend the payroll tax cut.
A bipartisan group of congressional negotiators signed off on an agreement Thursday to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits while avoiding a fee cut for Medicare doctors for the rest of the year.
House Speaker John Boehner says a payroll tax agreement with Democrats was the only way to prevent a tax hike.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, defended Wednesday the decision to move forward with a roughly $100 billion payroll tax cut extension that is not paid for, arguing that it was the only way to prevent a tax hike.
In a sharp turnaround, House Republican leaders Monday dropped a key demand that the cost of extending the payroll tax cut be offset by spending cuts elsewhere in the budget.
Rep. Spencer Bachus, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, acknowledged Friday that he is under investigation for possible violations of insider trading laws, but insisted he will be cleared.
Aiming to restore voters' faith in Congress, the Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill Thursday that makes clear it's illegal for members of Congress, their staffs and many executive-branch employees to trade stocks and other securities based on inside information learned on the job.
Peter Schweizer, "Throw Them All Out" author, explains insider trading by members of Congress and the pending Senate bill.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords receives a standing ovation prior to Tuesday's State of the Union Address.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who moved the nation with an improbable comeback after a gunman shot her in the head last year, formally resigned Wednesday in an emotional appearance in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The fight over extending a payroll tax cut and long-term unemployment benefits resumes Tuesday as Congress returns to work after its winter break.
Rep. Jeb Hensarling tells CNN's Erin Burnett the Democrats are stalling the payroll tax vote.
President Barack Obama announced Monday that White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley is stepping down and will be replaced by Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew.
CNN's Jessica Yellin recaps the White House's announcement that Chief of Staff Bill Daley is stepping down.
House Democratic leaders went to the House floor Friday morning in an effort to embarrass House Republicans for not coming back to work right after the holidays.
President Barack Obama signed a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut Friday, ending what had been a heated political stalemate and sealing a hard-fought win for Democrats on an issue -- taxes -- that has historically favored the GOP.
After signing the payroll tax cut extension, President Obama thanks Americans for their patience and persistence.
A compromise measure to extend the payroll tax cut for two months comes before the House and Senate on Friday after Speaker John Boehner dropped his opposition under mounting pressure from the White House, congressional Democrats and fellow Republicans.
So it looks like the payroll tax holiday will continue after all.
The payroll tax impasse becomes a showdown between President Obama and Speaker Boehner. CNN's Dana Bash has the latest.
President Barack Obama is expected to make a statement Thursday on the partisan standoff over how best to extend the expiring payroll tax cut, according to the White House.
In the world of the U.S. Congress, appointing a conference committee is one option for the House and Senate to resolve their differences when each chamber has passed its own version of legislation.
The congressional impasse over extending the payroll tax cut became a showdown Tuesday between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner.
President Obama calls on House Republicans to bring a Senate-approved payroll tax-cut extension to a vote.
House Speaker John Boehner says the payroll tax cut bill is now up to the president and Democrats.
At the end of another long and confusing day of political wrangling over extending the payroll tax cut, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi asked a question on everybody's mind.
House Speaker John Boehner said Sunday that he opposed a temporary extension of a payroll tax cut, saying the two-month plan passed by the Senate "is just kicking the can down the road."
On Erin Burnett OutFront, Sen. John Thune announced a deal that extends payroll tax cuts for two months.
A compromise spending bill to keep the government funded for the rest of the fiscal year won approval Friday from the House of Representatives, the first step toward averting a partial government shutdown at midnight.
Press Secretary Jay Carney says the administration is optimistic about the passage of the payroll tax cut extension.
In the first sign of progress in days of stalemate over the payroll tax extension and a government funding bill, House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell met privately for about an hour in the Capitol Wednesday night.
White House press secretary Jay Carney says payroll tax cuts would negatively impact less than 1% of small businesses.
Ensuring a pre-holiday collision course with the Senate, House Republicans Friday ignored criticism from President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats and formally unveiled a bill that extends the payroll tax cut and benefits for jobless Americans, but ties those items to a provision that clears a path toward approving the Keystone XL pipeline.
Setting up a showdown with the White House and Senate Democrats, House Republican leaders Thursday proceeded with plans to vote next week on a proposal to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits while easing the path for approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
Senators Collins and McCaskill propose bipartisan payroll tax cut plan
The Senate on Thursday failed to muster the 60 votes needed to confirm President Obama's pick to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has become the symbol of the administration's efforts to rein in Wall Street excess.
All kinds of ideas are flying around Capitol Hill about how to extend the payroll tax cut set to expire at the end of the year, but a long-standing battle over tax increases and divisions among congressional Republicans have prevented any from gaining traction so far.
Is insider trading by members of Congress legal? How common is it? What's being done about it?
Rep. Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, won't seek re-election in 2012, CNN's Mark Preston reports.
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, a prominent 16-term liberal Democrat from Massachusetts and arch-enemy of political conservatives nationwide, announced Monday that he does not intend to seek re-election in 2012.
Members of Congress's so-called super committee huddled in small groups behind closed doors on Capitol Hill on Friday, battling growing pessimism over their seeming inability to meet a now-imminent deadline for a bipartisan deficit reduction deal.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi fired back Sunday at a CBS News' "60 Minutes" report that highlighted several instances of what it suggested could be "soft corruption."
The U.S. House passed a bill Thursday that would amend the health care law to bar federal funding for health plans that provide abortion services.
A bill that will penalize China for allegedly manipulating its currency to gain a trade advantage is headed for a vote in the U.S. Senate Tuesday, adding pressure on China to appreciate the yuan.
Rep. John Boehner and Sen. Harry Reid discuss their views on legislation aimed against China.
A bill that will penalize China for allegedly manipulating its currency to gain a trade advantage is headed for a vote in the U.S. Senate Tuesday, adding pressure on China to appreciate the yuan.
President Barack Obama blasted a top congressional Republican Tuesday for announcing that the GOP-controlled House of Representatives will not bring the administration's $447 billion jobs bill to a vote, calling the decision another setback for an already shaky economy.
President Obama sent trade deals with Colombia, South Korea and Panama to Congress Monday afternoon, and the House is expected to vote on them as early as next week.
The House of Representatives is expected to take action Thursday on a bipartisan agreement ending a dispute over disaster relief spending that threatened to cause a partial shutdown of the government by the end of the week.
The Senate reached a bipartisan agreement to end a dispute over disaster relief spending. Kate Bolduan reports.
The standoff continues Monday between the House and the Senate over emergency funding, which is holding up a short-term spending measure to keep government running into the new fiscal year that begins this weekend.
The Democratic-controlled Senate rejected a House GOP temporary spending bill Friday, inching the federal government closer to yet another potential shutdown and risking the loss of sorely needed disaster recovery funds.
Republican leaders will propose cutting more spending to balance the amount of additional disaster relief money in a short-term government spending measure defeated earlier by the House, two Republican sources told CNN on Thursday.
What is the first step toward making a disaster plan that could save your life? FEMA Director Craig Fugate explains.
In a major blow to the Republican leadership, the U.S. House on Wednesday defeated a temporary spending measure that would have required spending cuts to offset additional money for federal disaster relief efforts.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday he's not sure a potential government shutdown at the end of the month can be avoided because of a stand-off between the House and Senate over how much to spend on disaster relief.
High school students chanted "pass this bill" to a rousing speech Tuesday by President Barack Obama touting his $447 billion jobs plan, while senior administration officials said the push for Congress to approve the legislation would last months.
President Barack Obama said Monday his $447 billion jobs plan is a common-sense approach needed right away, but House Republican leaders said they opposed Obama's intention to pay for it by ending tax relief for corporations and the wealthy.
The House majority leader strikes a milder tone but still disagrees with Obama on how to create jobs.
As it considers President Barack Obama's $447 billion jobs plan, many members of a divided Congress appeared Friday to be in a compromising mood, seemingly eager to placate voters sick of infighting and inaction when it comes to jump-starting the economy.
Striking a conciliatory tone the day before President Barack Obama comes to Capitol Hill to reveal his jobs plan, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor left the door open to working with him on some of the proposals he's expected to present in his address to a joint session of Congress Thursday evening.
Will it be the super committee, or the super-secret committee?
Rep. Nancy Pelosi's picks for the 'super committee' complete the 12-member debt panel
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday appointed Reps. James Clyburn, Xavier Becerra and Chris Van Hollen to the special congressional committee on deficit reduction, completing selection of the 12-member bipartisan panel created under last week's debt ceiling agreement.
Republican leaders on Wednesday named fiscal conservatives for their six picks for a new congressional "super committee" charged with crafting a plan to reduce the country's mounting deficits.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said Tuesday that he would appoint Sen. Patty Murray, Sen. Max Baucus of Montana and Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts to the congressional "super committee," charged with crafting a plan to cut the country's deficit.
Some Republicans love to talk about "job-destroying" progressive policies, but hate to own up to their own trickle-down ways. It's not that hard to get specific about the tepid economic recovery and all the Republican-backed policies that are destroying jobs though. Let me tell you about one we almost experienced.
The House and Senate broker a bipartisan compromise to keep FAA employees from getting furloughed.
President Obama makes remarks after the Senate passes the debt bill, saying this is only "the first step."
President Barack Obama on Tuesday signed into law a last-minute compromise plan to raise the nation's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, narrowly averting what could have been an unprecedented default with calamitous economic consequences.
President Barack Obama on Tuesday signed a compromise plan raising the nation's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, averting what could have been an unprecedented national default.
The House approved a last-minute deal to raise the debt ceiling on Monday that will impose sweeping spending cuts, while narrowly averting an unprecedented national default.
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