Stories by Meredith Shiner:
April 30, 2013
Former GOP vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., now supports the rights of gay Americans to adopt children, though he still believes marriage “is between a man and a woman.”
April 29, 2013
The Obama administration’s strategy for replacing the sequester has always been to rely on public pressure when the automatic spending cuts start to sting.
April 25, 2013
The Obama administration continued its outreach to Republicans Thursday, part of its elusive quest to strike a grand bargain on the deficit, by dispatching top emissaries to the Hill for lunchtime meetings.
April 24, 2013
Sen. Rob Portman has his first opportunity to support gay rights legislation on Thursday, when a bipartisan group of senators plans to reintroduce the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
April 23, 2013
Liberals may have cheered when Montana Sen. Max Baucus announced he would retire in 2014 and give up his stranglehold on the Senate Finance Committee gavel. But the likely ascent of Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden to the top of the committee creates its own problems for Democrats.
April 22, 2013
President Barack Obama has invited all 20 of the historic class of women senators to dine at the White House Tuesday night, senators and the White House schedule confirmed.
April 22, 2013
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is running a campaign-style press operation to push an immigration overhaul, a fitting move for a politician who needs it to bolster a rumored 2016 presidential bid.
April 22, 2013
With one hearing down, another in full swing Monday and one more to go, the Senate Judiciary Committee is the first crucible for a comprehensive immigration overhaul bill. And in that cauldron will be the heat-bringing Republicans who likely will do everything in their power to stop the legislation from passing, trying to puncture holes in a delicate agreement forged by a bipartisan group of eight senators.
April 17, 2013
President Barack Obama has barnstormed the country promising action on gun control legislation, and on Wednesday the Senate acted — to vote down the heart of the bill.
April 17, 2013
Senate Democrats are still unclear on exactly how to proceed, procedurally, with gun legislation, with many key measures that would have been the heart of the bill failing Wednesday, sources said.
April 17, 2013
The Senate on Wednesday failed to advance a bipartisan background check proposal that Democrats had hoped would be the core of any bill.
April 16, 2013
Emotional pleas from former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and her husband, Mark Kelly, on Tuesday tugged at senators both for and against a bipartisan proposal on background checks for gun purchases. It’s not clear whether they turned any votes, however, as negotiators were still scrambling to clear a 60-vote hurdle necessary for passage.
April 15, 2013
A Senate vote on a measure to expand the nation’s background check system has been pushed back, likely to late this week or early next week, according to a source tracking the negotiations.
April 15, 2013
New Jersey Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg “hopes” to return to Washington this week to provide crucial votes for Democrats looking to advance gun control legislation.
April 14, 2013
If it wasn’t already clear the 2014 cycle had begun for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, last week made it crystal.
April 11, 2013
For three years, Republicans called on Senate Democrats to do a budget via regular order. Now that they’ve done so, neither side is enthusiastic about moving forward with a process to merge the House and Senate documents.
April 10, 2013
When Democrats needed a partner to strike a deal with on a gun background check bill, Republican Sen. Patrick J. Toomey made a politically savvy move that could pay dividends both in future talks with Democrats and back home in Pennsylvania.
April 10, 2013
Four senators may have signed on to a gun background check deal Wednesday, but only two showed up for the news conference — in part because Pennsylvania GOP Sen. Patrick J. Toomey’s public support for the bill hinged on not having to stand next to Democratic Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York.
April 10, 2013
Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., and House Budget Chairman Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., are in negotiations over how to proceed to a conference committee with budgets approved by both chambers, according to multiple Senate Democratic aides familiar with the talks.
April 9, 2013
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced Tuesday that he will hold a test vote on a gun package, as negotiators neared an agreement on background check language that would be the legislative core of the bill.
April 8, 2013
Congressional Democrats continue to be baffled by — and frustrated with — the White House’s legislative strategy, with many aides questioning the wisdom of offering a compromise budget before negotiations have even begun.
April 3, 2013
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has vowed to bring a gun package to the floor after recess, but according to sources following the issue, negotiators are still haggling over details on provisions that once seemed less controversial.
April 2, 2013
Sen. Mark S. Kirk, R-Ill., announced his support for gay marriage on Tuesday, becoming only the second Republican senator to do so and the most recent of a large wave of other politicians.
March 29, 2013
Top Republicans, including Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio, are beginning to condemn fellow GOP Rep. Don Young of Alaska for his use of a racial slur to describe Latino workers.
March 29, 2013
Facing pressure from his own leaders, Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, finally issued an apology Friday for using a racial epithet to describe Hispanic laborers in an interview published Thursday with a home-state radio station.
