Congress

The Senate is expected to take up the so-called “minibus” next week.

President Donald Trump lashed out at the five Republican senators who voted to advance legislation that would constrain his war powers in Venezuela on Thursday. The GOP lawmakers — Rand Paul of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Todd Young of Indiana and Josh Hawley of Missouri — joined with the chamber’s entire slate of Democrats to tee up a vote that could compel Trump to seek the approval of Congress before taking any additional military action in Venezuela. The president, who is looking to wield his foreign policy powers to reassert greater U.S. control over the […]

Five Senate Republicans joined with Democratic lawmakers in a surprise rebuke of President Donald Trump Thursday, voting to advance legislation that would force the commander in chief to seek Congress’ OK before taking any additional military action in Venezuela. Trump attacked the lawmakers in a Truth Social post after the procedural vote, saying they "should never be elected to office again" and that the measure they supported "greatly hampers American Self Defense and National Security." Here’s a closer look at each of the GOP lawmakers and how they explained their votes: Rand Paul of Kentucky: Paul was a co-sponsor of […]

House Republicans are summoning top health insurance executives to testify on Capitol Hill this month as part of a broader effort to examine health care costs, a move that comes weeks after enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits expired Dec. 31. The hearing announcement comes amid Democrat criticism that Republicans allowed the enhanced ACA subsidies to lapse — a decision they argue is burdening Americans who relied on the enhanced tax credits to help them afford Obamacare premiums. It also comes amid pressure from President Donald Trump, who urged House Republicans earlier this week to tackle health care affordability. “Alarm […]

In an emotional nine-minute-long speech, Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer said goodbye to the institution where he has spent over four decades — and expressed fears for its future. The 86-year-old Democratic former majority leader walked through his career and a path to Congress that started in the late 1950s as a University of Maryland undergrad before announcing his 23rd term would be his last. He then delivered a warning, telling colleagues gathered on the House floor that he was “deeply concerned that this House is not living up to the founders’ goals.” “I fear that America is heading not toward […]

The secretary of State has used his old relationships to help sell the administration’s audacious strategy for the Americas.

The former second-ranking House Democrat has held his seat since 1981.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will subpoena Les Wexner, the longtime friend and client of Jeffrey Epstein, along with two men who worked for the late convicted sex offender. It was the culmination of a flurry of subpoena requests Wednesday from rank-and-file members of the panel, several of which were ultimately approved. The committee also voted to subpoena Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn — Epstein’s lawyer and accountant, respectively. It shows how the House Oversight Committee could continue to find itself at the center of efforts to re-investigate the Epstein case as the Justice Department presides over a […]

Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday after meeting with President Donald Trump that the Senate could vote as soon as next week to impose new sanctions aimed at pressuring Russia to end its war with Ukraine. “After a very productive meeting today with President Trump on a variety of issues, he greenlit the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that I have been working on for months with Senator [Richard] Blumenthal and many others,” Graham (R-S.C.) said in a statement, referring to the Connecticut Democrat who coauthored the long-stalled legislation. Asked about Graham's remarks, a White House official said Trump supports the legislation. […]

The minibus is headed toward double-barrel final House votes Thursday before moving to the Senate.

Speaker Mike Johnson has invited President Donald Trump to deliver his State of the Union address to Congress on Feb. 24. The speech comes as Trump is working to address key cost of living issues, leading military intervention in Venezuela and threatening to seize Greenland. Trump's last address to Congress in March 2025 devolved into heckling and protests from Democrats.

Congressional lawmakers from both parties are signaling that despite President Donald Trump's assertion that he will control the money gained from selling Venezuelan oil turned over to the United States, they’ll want to check the books. Democrats said they were appalled by the Trump administration’s plans to sell Venezuelan oil “indefinitely” and control the revenue, suggesting it would amount to a takeover of the country’s fledgling oil industry. “It’s an insane plan,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told POLITICO coming out of a briefing Wednesday with Trump administration officials on Venezuela. “They are proposing to steal Venezuela's oil at gunpoint forever […]

Plans to kill one Democratic earmark and split the three-bill package up may keep hopes for passage alive.

A bipartisan Senate group is nearing an agreement to revive lapsed Obamacare subsidies, with a key negotiator saying the group could release draft legislation early next week. The deal being discussed by the senators would reestablish the enhanced tax credits that expired Jan. 1 for two years, with new restrictions including minimum premium payments and income caps. The developing agreement would pair that with new cost-sharing reduction measures and expanding access to health savings accounts. Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), a key negotiator, said Wednesday that legislative text could be finalized “realistically, probably Monday.” Two other people granted anonymity to disclose […]

House Democrats are making a fresh attempt to rein in President Donald Trump on Venezuela, plotting to force a vote on a war powers resolution in the coming weeks. The resolution is likely to be similar to one that was introduced last year as the military began to marshal forces in the Caribbean. That measure was narrowly defeated in the GOP-controlled House. Democrats are hopeful they can garner more support from Republicans following the weekend operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the top Rules Committee Democrat who co-authored the original measure, said he envisioned […]

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is donating $400,000 to 23 state Democratic parties in an effort to fund Democratic infrastructure ahead of the 2026 midterms. In an interview, the Massachusetts Democrat called the “early money” investment “crucial” for state parties. She’s urging fellow Democrats to follow her lead on donating now because “the best time to do it is January, not waiting until next October.” The 23 states are ones with competitive congressional or statewide races in the 2026 midterms, and include Maine, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas. “They need the resources to build out infrastructure that all of our Democratic candidates […]

The start of the second session of the 119th Congress isn’t going as planned for House Republicans. First, the GOP Conference’s long-planned, day-long policy retreat Tuesday at the Kennedy Center — intended to build unity around a legislative agenda in a midterm election year — was shaken by news of Rep. Doug LaMalfa’s (R-Calif.) unexpected death and Rep. Jim Baird’s (R-Ind.) hospitalization from a car accident. It brought into stark relief the major math challenges House Republicans now face. LaMalfa’s passing brings the balance of the House to 218-213. And as long as Baird is out recovering, Speaker Mike Johnson […]

Top appropriators on Capitol Hill are seeking to tighten limits around how much money DHS can shift between accounts as they finalize funding bills ahead of the Jan. 30 shutdown deadline. Rep. Mark Amodei, the Nevada Republican who chairs the DHS funding panel, told reporters Tuesday night that House and Senate appropriators are crafting their spending measure to make it “harder to make the money mobile.” The effort comes as the Trump administration has spent the past year testing the limits of its power to disregard congressional intent and reprogram billions of dollars between accounts. “We did a bunch of […]

The new Republican-led panel tasked with investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack will hold its first hearing next week, Rep. Barry Loudermilk said in an interview Tuesday — the five-year anniversary of the event. The Georgia Republican, who is the chair of the select subcommittee, said his panel was still ironing out its list of witnesses, but he anticipated the focus would be the pipe bombs left at the Democratic and Republican National Committee headquarters the day before the riots at the Capitol. “It’s gonna be sometime next week,” Loudermilk said. “We’re gonna be really looking at the pipe […]

Speaker Mike Johnson Tuesday evening swatted down the idea of any U.S. military action to take over Greenland, just after the White House said President Donald Trump wanted to acquire the territory and would not take military action off the table. “No, I don't think that's appropriate,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday evening. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Tuesday that "utilizing the U.S. Military is always an option at the Commander in Chief’s disposal." The speaker, who said he hadn't seen the statement, appeared to not believe the White House would make such a comment. Johnson […]