Stories by Humberto Sanchez:
Jan. 30, 2013
Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said the debate on comprehensive immigration overhaul legislation could take three to four weeks once it hits the Senate floor.
Jan. 30, 2013
An immigration policy rewrite may be President Barack Obama’s top priority, but Senate Republicans are warning that if he tries to influence Congress too much, the delicate talks could run aground.
Jan. 29, 2013
Texas Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz are keeping a relatively low profile on immigration changes as they grapple with splits in the Texas GOP base over the issue.
Jan. 29, 2013
Updated 1:17 p.m. | The founder and director of a grass-roots conservative group said he expects Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, to face a primary challenge. Cornyn is up for re-election in 2014.
Jan. 28, 2013
An immigration overhaul appears to be the one item on President Barack Obama’s second-term agenda moving on the fast track — with a bipartisan framework in the Senate, leaders in both parties on board and inexorable electoral math at its back.
Jan. 28, 2013
Senators behind a bipartisan immigration overhaul declared their efforts to craft legislation “a major breakthrough” and hope to pass it by this summer.
Jan. 25, 2013
A bipartisan group of six senators is expected to release an outline for an immigration overhaul next week, at the same time that President Barack Obama will begin his own public push on the issue.
Jan. 25, 2013
Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Friday met with President Obama, who reiterated his pledge to push for passage of immigration legislation this year.
Jan. 23, 2013
Democratic senators favoring the most robust overhaul of the chamber’s filibuster rules do not have the votes to enact a “talking filibuster,” even with a simple majority, according to the top Democratic vote-counter.
Jan. 22, 2013
In an effort to lay down a marker for the first phase of their agenda, Senate Democrats have announced the first 10 measures of the new Congress, including anti-school violence proposals and immigration reform legislation.
Jan. 22, 2013
Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong is not a high priority for the new leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Jan. 18, 2013
Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn on Friday wrote to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. about the possibility of prosecutorial misconduct in the Justice Department’s case against Reddit co-founder Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide last week.
Jan. 14, 2013
Sen. John Cornyn has always relished and excelled in the role of attack dog, and now that the Texas Republican has been installed as his party’s chief antagonist in the Senate, he’s come out swinging.
Jan. 14, 2013
The new No. 2 Republican in the Senate says that if history is any judge, the chamber’s leaders will likely work out a deal and not pull the trigger on the “nuclear option” to change the Senate rules with a simple majority vote.
Jan. 2, 2013
Senate Democratic and Republican leaders hope to avoid a legislative standoff on the first day of the 113th Congress by delaying any debate on filibuster rules changes until after the president’s inauguration ceremony on Jan. 21.
Jan. 1, 2013
House Republican leaders are proceeding with two options on a fiscal cliff deal passed by the Senate early Tuesday morning, with members expecting to vote Tuesday night.
Dec. 30, 2012
President Barack Obama on Sunday sought to ratchet up the pressure on Congress to pass an eleventh hour legislative package to limit the effect of tax increases set to take effect Jan. 1.
Dec. 28, 2012
A bipartisan group of eight senators Friday offered a proposal to change some of the chamber’s rules in order to make it more productive and avert Democratic leaders’ threat to overhaul the filibuster.
Dec. 21, 2012
Earmark opponents couldn’t help but feel a little satisfied this week when Democratic Sens. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont and Tom Harkin of Iowa turned down the previously much sought after post of Appropriations chairman.
Dec. 20, 2012
The decisions by Democratic Sens. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont and Tom Harkin of Iowa to forgo taking over the Appropriations Committee in favor of keeping their current committee gavels could be a sign that the once-vaunted panel is losing its clout.
Dec. 19, 2012
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont will remain chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee rather than asserting his seniority on the Appropriations Committee.
Dec. 19, 2012
Sen. Charles E. Schumer signaled Wednesday that a post-Christmas Senate session to handle any agreement on a package to avert the fiscal cliff is becoming inevitable.
Dec. 18, 2012
Sen. Max Baucus, a Democrat from Montana, avid hunter-fisherman and darling of the National Rifle Association, on Tuesday said he would support the creation of a special commission to explore solutions and a legislative response to the mass shooting in Connecticut last week.
Dec. 17, 2012
Republicans praised fellow conservative Rep. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who will fill the Senate seat opening next year with the resignation of tea party favorite Jim DeMint. They also downplayed the fact that Scott will become the first African-American GOP senator in more than 30 years.
Dec. 13, 2012
The text of an emergency spending bill to help pay for recovery from superstorm Sandy could surface as early as tonight, according to one senior appropriator.
