Senate
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California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, a tenacious liberal whose election to the Senate in 1992 heralded a new era for women at the upper reaches of political power, announced Thursday she will not seek re-election to a new term next year.
January 09, 2015 -
We've gone through the first 400 bills in the new Congress to pull out those you'll want to watch, from a measure to kick political appointees out of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan to three that embrace across-the-board spending cuts.
January 08, 2015 -
By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The new 114th Congress counts more minorities and women than ever, although lawmakers remain overwhelmingly white and male in the Republican-controlled House and Senate. A record 104…
January 06, 2015 -
By ERICA WERNER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress’ approval rating hovers around 15 percent, but there’s one group of people excited about the institution: the newly elected lawmakers who are about to join its…
January 06, 2015 -
President Barack Obama signed Congress' $1.1 trillion spending bill on Tuesday, putting an official end to the last-minute negotiations for the fiscal year 2015 budget - at least for now.
December 17, 2014 -
WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided Senate has confirmed President Barack Obama’s pick to head the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The 55-39 vote Tuesday elevates Sarah Saldana, now the U.S. attorney in Dallas, to…
December 16, 2014 -
The Postal Service Board of Governors says it will keep working, even though it doesn't have enough members for a quorum.
December 16, 2014 -
The spending bill for the rest of fiscal 2015 -- except for the Homeland Security Department -- is on President Obama's desk, waiting for his signature. Congress was supposed to be gone by now; but, the Senate is still in session, and they may not leave for a while. David Hawkings is Senior Editor at Roll Call and writes the Hawkings Here blog. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he described the confirmation parade the Senate is on.
December 15, 2014 -
Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) says "bipartisanship is not extinct" in his farewell speech to Congress. Wastebook author Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) says oversight is a duty that many senators continue to ignore.
December 15, 2014 -
By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s pick to head the Social Security Administration has run into more trouble after Senate Democrats canceled a procedural vote on her nomination. Obama nominated…
December 15, 2014 -
By DONNA CASSATA Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress on Friday sent President Barack Obama a massive defense policy bill that endorses his stepped-up military campaign of air strikes and training of Iraqis and moderate…
December 13, 2014 -
The Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act is still attached to the 2015 Defense authorization bill the House passed and the Senate will debate this week. The latest version of FITARA looks a bit different than the original. Still, the new bill would hand civilian agency CIOs more authority, prioritize hiring of specialty IT experts and maximize use of data centers. Trey Hodgkins is Senior Vice President of Public Sector at the Information Technology Alliance for Public Sector, a division of the Information Technology Industry Council. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to discuss what we can expect from the compromise version of FITARA.
December 08, 2014 -
The big national defense authorization bill is moving through Congress. It passed the House yesterday, and the Senate is expected to take it up next week. In purely military spending terms, the bill is a mixed bag. Some programs and platforms get plus-ups, others get cuts. Todd Harrison is a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. He's been studying the bill, and joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to analyze the bill's winners and losers.
December 05, 2014 -
An amendment to the Freedom of Information Act appeared to sail through the Senate. The goal is to hold agencies more accountable for disclosing records and create a more uniform system for the public to file FOIA requests. The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill unanimously. Sean Vitka, federal policy manager at the Sunlight Foundation, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with analysis of what the bill would do.
November 25, 2014 -
Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) promises to avoid another government shutdown. Lawmakers have until mid-December to turn that promise into reality. Or not. It's a good idea to be prepared. The Government Accountability Office reviewed how agencies handled last year's lapse in appropriations. Yvonne Jones, the agency's director of Strategic Issues, explained the findings on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin.
November 24, 2014