Senate GOP battles over spending strategy
Senate Republicans are battling over their year-end spending strategy — a second chapter of a brawl between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and rebellious conservatives that began after Election Day. McConnell on Tuesday made his opinion publicly clear in the fight, saying there was “widespread agreement” among himself, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Democratic leaders on the need to pass an omnibus spending bill. That puts him on a collision course with National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Rick Scott (R-Fla.)
Read MoreBiden steps up the jabs against Trump
President Biden is taking on his former rival Donald Trump, seeking to frame the 2024 presidential election as a contest between them before he announces whether he will actually seek reelection. Since the midterm elections, when Democrats were able to hold off an expected Republican wave to retain the Senate, a more confident Biden has poked Trump and Republicans regularly. The swipes have been particularly noteworthy in recent days as speculation mounts over whether Biden, bolstered by those midterm successes himself, will seek another term. Tru
Read MoreMcCarthy Speaker quest leaves balancing act on national security
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is toeing a delicate line on national security issues in the lame-duck session as he seeks to win enough votes on the House floor to win the Speakership in January. McCarthy is torn between competing factions of the GOP as he weighs a series of moves targeting the Biden administration and other Washington Democrats in the next Congress — all while trying to convince conservative GOP lawmakers to back him for Speaker. He’s vowed to boot California Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell off the House Intelligence Comm
Read MoreHere are the 12 Senate Republicans who helped pass same-sex marriage bill
Twelve Senate Republicans on Tuesday supported final approval of a bill securing federal protections for same-sex marriage, allowing it to surpass the 60-vote threshold needed for passage. The Republicans in the upper chamber who backed the bill were Sens. Susan Collins (Maine); Lisa Murkowski (Alaska); Rob Portman (Ohio); Thom Tillis (N.C.); Mitt Romney (Utah); Roy Blunt (Mo.); Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.); Richard Burr (N.C.); Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.); Dan Sullivan (Alaska); Joni Ernst (Iowa); and Todd Young (Ind.). The GOP senators’ support came as no surprise since the
Read MoreBiden, Congress race to avert economy-shaking railroad strike
A potential railroad strike has thrown President Biden a holiday curveball and pushed Congress into crisis mode, scrambling to finalize a federal fix to stave off an economy-rattling freight shutdown at the end of next week. Biden hosted the top four congressional leaders at the White House on Tuesday, less than a day after he’d urged Congress to break the impasse between rail companies and unionized employees that’s threatened to freeze much of the nation’s freight system on Dec. 9. Shortly after the gathering, House Democratic leaders said they’d rush a resolution to t
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