Stories by Meredith Shiner:
Aug. 1, 2013
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., succeeded in mustering the votes to kill a spending bill Thursday, drawing sharp rebukes from Democrats.
Aug. 1, 2013
A group of Democratic senators introduced two bills Thursday to change Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts — the same day that members of House and Senate Intelligence committees met with President Barack Obama at the White House to discuss Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act programs.
Aug. 1, 2013
At least it wasn’t one of their colleagues on a spit.
July 31, 2013
A hearing to debate the nation’s decades-old toxic chemical laws turned into a power struggle Wednesday, as Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., tried to hold her ground against a growing coalition that backs a bipartisan compromise to which she was not a party.
July 31, 2013
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., asked the president Wednesday how it was possible that his campaign ran one of the most sophisticated data operations in history but that his administration cannot figure out how to get through the Veterans Affairs backlog to better distribute benefits.
July 31, 2013
Updated 4:04 p.m. | Democrats and their allies lobbied Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska for more than an hour Wednesday to change her vote on the nominee to head up the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the pressure worked.
July 30, 2013
Lawmakers regarded President Barack Obama’s latest attempt to engage them on an economic proposal as largely irrelevant Tuesday, with neither Democrats nor Republicans viewing it as an actual step forward toward breaking their ongoing budget impasse.
July 30, 2013
Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., are hoping to travel to Egypt next week to help assess the situation on the ground and send a “unified message” from the United States that persistent violence without elections would appear more like a “coup,” Graham told reporters Tuesday.
July 29, 2013
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., lifted his hold Monday on the nomination of James B. Comey to head the FBI after the agency sent the senator a letter in response to his concerns about domestic surveillance drones.
July 29, 2013
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took to the floor Monday to reiterate that he does not want to move forward with spending bills funded at sequester levels.
July 29, 2013
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., delivered an emotional farewell on Monday to his friend and former Vietnam War cellmate retired Col. George “Bud” Day, who died over the weekend at the age of 88.
July 26, 2013
Sens. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., and Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, will travel to the district of Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, to hold a forum for the DREAM Act.
July 26, 2013
On this day 24 years ago, a spirited congressman from Illinois named Richard J. Durbin, now the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, delivered what is unquestionably the greatest diatribe to ever grace the House floor — in defense of the wooden bat.
July 25, 2013
Two competing proposals on combating sexual assault in the military could cause further headaches for Democratic leaders, as lawmakers debate how best to manage what has become an epidemic culture of misconduct in the armed services.
July 24, 2013
Sixteen Senate Democrats and one independent broke with the White House on Wednesday to oppose a student loan package they believed would be worse than current law because it would implement a market-based formula with caps higher than current federal loan rates.
July 18, 2013
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said Thursday he has no regrets about speaking his mind to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in a caucus lunch Wednesday, even though his language was a bit salty.
July 18, 2013
No Labels? No extra shirt? Probably a problem. Sorry, Congress.
July 18, 2013
A pesky rat has infiltrated the group house inhabited by Senate Democratic leaders Charles E. Schumer of New York and Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, and owned by Rep. George Miller of California, CQ Roll Call has learned.
July 17, 2013
A bipartisan group of senators reached a tentative agreement to permanently fix federal student loan rates Wednesday evening, following a day of frustration from Republicans and moderate Democrats with what they viewed as liberal slow-walking of a potential deal.
July 17, 2013
Key lawmakers vowed Wednesday to ensure the full Voting Rights Act is restored to full strength, following the Supreme Court’s June decision to strike down part of the law.
July 17, 2013
A meeting of Senate Republicans on Wednesday grew tense as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told his members he could have gotten a better deal on nominations than the one negotiated by rank-and-file Republicans.
July 16, 2013
The bipartisan Senate immigration negotiating group met Tuesday evening with approximately 35 outside groups involved in the policy debate, sources confirmed.
July 16, 2013
Sen. John McCain doesn’t like being called a “maverick.”
July 15, 2013
Hey, if Harry Reid can take a gratuitous knock at the University of Southern California football program, HOH can take a gratuitous shot at the New York Jets, amirite?
July 11, 2013
Senators trying to craft legislation offering a permanent fix to the federal student loan program are in a pickle: Republicans do not want a Congressional Budget Office score that adds to the deficit; Democrats do not want a score that shrinks it.
