Full coverage of Congress, including the House of Represenatives and the U.S. Senate. The Washington Post and washingtonpost.com provide analysis of Capitol Hill.
URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/politics/congress/index.html?nav=rss_politics/congress
Updated: 1 hour 58 min ago
Conservative Federalist Society Can Expect Its Status to Shrink
Last year, there was a candlelight dinner at sold-out, shut-down Union Station to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Federalist Society, with President Bush on stage and three Supreme Court justices in the audience.
Categories: News
Obama's Once-Disciplined Team Springs Leaks During Transition
Barack Obama was famously able to impose discipline and control over his presidential campaign, but it didn't take long for him to discover that running a transition is something quite different.
Categories: News
Homeland Security Pick Napolitano Praised by Left and Right Alike
President-elect Barack Obama's pending selection of Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) as secretary of homeland security was greeted yesterday as a sign that the new Democratic administration will fundamentally change the tone of the nation's post-Sept. 11 approach to domestic security.
Categories: News
As Sen. Stevens Says Goodbye, So Do Old Bulls, to an Era
There, for a final time at his Senate desk, stood Ted Stevens: longest-serving Republican senator in U.S. history, shepherd of Alaska statehood, convicted felon.
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Unconvinced Congress Tables Auto Decision
With two of Detroit's Big Three automakers teetering on the brink of collapse, congressional leaders yesterday refused to advance a proposal for a federal bailout, saying auto industry executives had failed to persuade lawmakers that they would make good use of the money.
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Detroit Automakers Lose Staunch Ally as Waxman Ousts Dingell on Key Committee
If beleaguered U.S. automakers did not have enough problems, Michigan Rep. John D. Dingell, their greatest congressional champion, was dethroned yesterday as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee by Rep. Henry A. Waxman of California, an advocate of stiff measures against global war...
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CIA Withheld Details On Downing, IG Says
An internal CIA probe has concluded that agency officials deliberately misled Congress, the White House and federal prosecutors about key details of the 2001 downing of an airplane carrying U.S. missionaries in Peru, according to a senior lawmaker who called yesterday for a new criminal inquiry i...
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Stevens Bids Farewell to Senate
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) bade an emotional farewell to the Senate today, telling colleagues a day after conceding defeat in his reelection bid that he will return to his home state and try to restore his reputation following his conviction last month on federal corruption charges.
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For McCain, A Subdued Return to Capitol Hill
He has returned to where he did not wish to return. Back to walking the spotted white marble corridors of the Russell Senate Office Building. Back to Room 241, which says "Senator John McCain -- Arizona" on the door, and where a trickle of people stroll in on this morning in hopes of getting his...
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Bill Clinton Agrees to Disclose Names of Foundation Donors
Bill Clinton has agreed to a series of concessions requested by officials representing Barack Obama's presidential transition team, moving his wife one step closer to potentially becoming the next secretary of state.
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Thomas Daschle to Be Nominated as Secretary of Health and Human Services
Thomas A. Daschle, a former Senate majority leader and a confidant of President-elect Barack Obama, will be nominated as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and will take on a broader role as the administration's health policy chief, said several sources close to the transition...
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House Democratic Panel Recommends Waxman for Energy Chairmanship; Boehner Reelected Minority Leader
By a narrow margin, a House Democratic advisory committee recommended Rep. Henry A. Waxman (Calif.) to be the next chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, rejecting the current chairman, Rep. John D. Dingell (Mich.), who has been a longtime ally of the now-struggling auto industry.
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Senate Moving Quickly on Confirmation of Bailout Watchdog
Nearly every aspect of the Treasury Department's $700 billion bailout program has sparked fierce debate except for one: the need to establish a strong watchdog agency as swiftly as possible.
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Republicans Point to Attorney General Candidate Holder's Role in Clinton Pardons
The Republican National Committee yesterday highlighted the role of attorney general candidate Eric H. Holder Jr. in controversial 2001 pardons, but GOP senators avoided direct attacks on Barack Obama's leading choice to lead the Justice Department.
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A Skeptical Outsider Becomes Bush's 'Wartime General'
Second of two articles The pressure on Henry M. Paulson Jr. in early September was greater than at any other time during his tenure as Treasury secretary. As he pored over the books of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, he discovered that they were about to collapse and that the financia...
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Sen. Ted Stevens Loses Reelection Bid
Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (D) defeated Sen. Ted Stevens, ending the tenure of the longest-serving Republican in Senate history, after the counting of more ballots yesterday gave him a larger lead than the number of votes still untallied, Alaska elections officials said.
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Former Prosecutor Eric Holder Called Obama's Top Pick for Attorney General
Eric H. Holder Jr., a former Justice Department official who was President-elect Barack Obama's campaign co-chairman, is the leading candidate to serve as the next U.S. attorney general, according to Democratic sources familiar with the choice.
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Lawmakers Blast Paulson's Management of Bailout
Lawmakers accused Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. yesterday of haphazardly managing the $700 billion financial rescue, as fault lines widened over what the government should try next to contain the fallout of the financial crisis.
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Automakers Press High-Stakes Plea for Aid
The chieftains of Detroit's Big Three automakers made a desperate appeal to skeptical lawmakers yesterday for $25 billion in emergency loans to forestall the possible collapse of the domestic auto industry, offering to cut their own salaries in exchange for government aid.
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Senate Democrats Allow Lieberman to Retain Key Chairmanship
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) easily won a vote yesterday to remain chairman of a key committee and will stay in the Senate Democratic caucus despite his high-profile criticism of President-elect Barack Obama and his support of Sen. John McCain during the presidential campaign.
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Did You Know?
The wealthiest 10 percent of the U.S. population - 12 million Upper Middle Class, Affluent, Super Affluent and Wealthy households (35% of the estimated 105,480,101 American households in 2000) – generate fully 50 percent of all U.S. retail spending, and account for $4.1 trillion in annual consumption.
Source: The Annual Survey of Affluence and Wealth in America 2007
By The Way...
Secret Service Code Names:
Barack Obama - Renegade
Michelle Obama - Renaissance
John McCain Accepts the Republican Party Nomination
Watch the historic speech...
Watch the historic speech...