SHELDON WHITEHOUSE

Senate Democrats are trying hard to pressure Republicans into resolving the menacing impasse on the nation's debt ceiling.

The Supreme Court says in a letter to Congress that there is “nothing to suggest” that Justice Samuel Alito violated ethics standards following a report that a 2014 decision he wrote was leaked in advance of its announcement.

The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman is among those urging action in response to a report that a former anti-abortion leader knew in advance the outcome of a 2014 Supreme Court case involving health care coverage of contraception.

President Joe Biden is promising “strong executive action” to combat climate change, despite setbacks that have restricted his ability to regulate carbon emissions and boost clean energy such as wind and solar power.

More than 500 days into his presidency, Joe Biden’s hope for saving the Earth from the devastating effects of climate change may not be dead.

The Supreme Court’s new climate change ruling is likely to hinder the Biden administration’s plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by the end of the decade and make the electric grid carbon-free by 2035.

A Senate hearing on Wednesday is likely to produce fireworks as Republicans and Democrats square off over the role that foundations and nonprofits are playing in elections.

The historic Senate hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who's the first Black woman nominated for the Supreme Court, have been joyful, combative and clarifying.

Ketanji Brown Jackson has held private meetings with almost half the members of the Senate.

Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers called Thursday for restoring the charitable deduction for donors who don’t itemize their taxes, a priority for nonprofits nationwide, but a key senator was noncommittal on the question of whether to support legislation designed to boost payout from foundations and donor-advised funds.

Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson is winning praise from a key Senate Republican.

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson's opposition to President Joe Biden's judicial nominee in Wisconsin has surprised Democrats and is providing the latest test to the Senate tradition of letting home state senators block district court judges from advancing.

Democrats have conflicting views of what they're accomplishing in the 50-50 Senate and of how to take advantage of their control on the chamber.

Two Senate Democrats said Friday they oppose the reappointment of Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve, as President Joe Biden is expected to announce within days who he will pick for the nation’s most powerful economic position.

Scaling back his big government-overhaul plans, President Joe Biden has described a more-limited vision to Democratic lawmakers.

As President Joe Biden visited one disaster site after another this summer he declared climate change “everybody’s crisis.”.

Several U.S. senators are questioning the Food and Drug Administration’s work with a consulting firm that helped businesses sell prescription painkillers during the nation’s overdose crisis.

Senate Democrats from across the party's political spectrum seem near the unanimity they’ll need for the crucial first step toward their $3.5 trillion infrastructure vision.

President Joe Biden’s hope of pouring billions of dollars into green infrastructure investments is running into the political obstacle of winning over Republican votes.

The Supreme Court appears likely to put a stop to California’s practice of collecting the names and addresses of top donors to charities.

The House Democrats charged that Trump incited the violent insurrection, which left five dead, and the former president appeared to side with the rioters on the call. A few hours later, the Senate voted to acquit Trump, 57-43, the majority falling short of the two-thirds needed for conviction. The momentary chaos, and the House Democrats’ eventual retreat on witnesses, was emblematic of the prosecutors’ challenge throughout the trial. But “we overwhelmingly proved our case.”Several senators agreed — three of the seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump had voted not to call witnesses. “The House managers did a masterful job,” he said after the final vote.

Thousands had gathered that day as Congress voted to formally certify President Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in November. Hawley and Cruz led objections in the Senate to Biden’s victory, despite the widespread recognition that the effort would fail. And both senators used their objections for political fundraising,” the Democratic senators said in their letter. Cruz helped force a vote on Biden's victory in Arizona, while Hawley helped force one on Biden's victory in Pennsylvania. “This latest effort is a flagrant abuse of the Senate ethics process and a flagrant attempt to exact partisan revenge."

President Donald Trumps deep imprint on the federal courts is a rare point of agreement about the president across the political spectrum. The three Supreme Court picks could still be on the court at the 21st century’s midpoint, 30 years from now. In Trump’s first two years, they pushed through 30 appellate court judges and 53 district court nominees. “You know, when I got in, we had over 100 federal judges that weren’t appointed," he said. That nominee was Stephen Breyer, now a Supreme Court justice.

(AP Photo/Susan E. Bouchard, File)Rhode Island will now be officially known as ... Rhode Island. Officially, Rhode Island was incorporated as The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations when it declared statehood in 1790. Although the word “Plantations” in Rhode Island’s name does not specifically refer to a place where slaves labored, the measure’s backers insisted it still offends, especially since Rhode Island’s ties to the slave trade are undeniably deep. The formal vote for House speaker, however, won’t happen until January, when the new legislature convenes. Mattiello rose to House speaker in 2014 after then-Speaker Gordon Fox resigned amid a public corruption investigation.

Relying on a slim Senate majority, Trump's Republicans are poised to lock a 6-3 conservative court majority for years to come. A former Notre Dame Law School professor, Barrett would be the only one of her Supreme Court colleagues not groomed in the Ivy League. But Barrett is the most open opponent of abortion nominated to the Supreme Court in decades. Others testifying Thursday included Laura Wolk, the first blind woman to be a law clerk for the Supreme Court, who told senators that Barrett’s encouragement and support were life-changing. “Her brilliance is matched only by her compassion,” said Wolk, who also spent a year as a law clerk for Barrett.

Yes, the Trump administration is asking the high court to throw out the Obama-era healthcare law, and if she is confirmed quickly Barrett could be on the Supreme Court when the court hears the case. Democrats also repeatedly brought up words Barrett wrote in 2017, when she was a law professor, criticizing Chief Justice John Roberts' 2012 opinion saving the Affordable Care Act. Barrett wrote that Roberts had "pushed the Affordable Care Act beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute." But the court could simply “sever” the mandate from the law and leave the rest of the law alone. One other key observer of the case suggested the Affordable Care Act would likely stand.

Yes, the Trump administration is asking the high court to throw out the Obama-era healthcare law, and if she is confirmed quickly Barrett could be on the Supreme Court when the court hears the case. Democrats also repeatedly brought up words Barrett wrote in 2017, when she was a law professor, criticizing Chief Justice John Roberts' 2012 opinion saving the Affordable Care Act. Barrett wrote that Roberts had "pushed the Affordable Care Act beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute." But the court could simply “sever” the mandate from the law and leave the rest of the law alone. One other key observer of the case suggested the Affordable Care Act would likely stand.

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)WASHINGTON – The Latest on the Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett (all times local):5:50 p.m. The Senate Judiciary Committee has wrapped up the first of four days of planned Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett. She warned it’s not just health care that is at risk if Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed. Sen. Michael Lee was present for the start of Senate Judiciary Committee hearings Monday for Barrett. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham opened the hearing by defending holding the hearing so close to the presidential election.

WASHINGTON WASHINGTON (AP) Two Republican-led Senate committees have launched election-year investigations into the Justice Departments Russia probe, resurrecting the issue at the urging of President Donald Trump while reigniting the partisan hostility that comes along with it. In a Senate office building next door, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved its own slate of three dozen subpoenas related to the Russia probe over strong Democratic objections. Speaking on the committees investigation, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, told Johnson that I continue to be concerned that this is politically motivated even as he voted to move ahead. The president has continued to rail against the Russia probe, which he calls a hoax. Among the names on that list is Trumps Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, who was vice president when the Russia probe began.