The Senate has passed a stopgap spending bill that avoids a short-term shutdown and funds the federal government through Feb. 18, after leaders defused a partisan standoff over federal vaccine mandates. The measure now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.
The Senate’s willingness to confirm a president’s nominees took a downward turn during Donald Trump’s first year in office. And it has only gotten worse for President Joe Biden.
Indiana is welcoming a historic milestone as the first African American U.S. attorneys to serve in the Hoosier State were confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Thursday night.
With only hours to spare, President Joe Biden signed legislation to avoid a partial federal shutdown and keep the government funded through Dec. 3. Congress had passed the bill earlier Thursday.
Congress is trying to avert one crisis while staving off another with the Senate poised to approve legislation that would fund the federal government into early December.
It’s a consequential week for President Joe Biden’s agenda, as Democratic leaders delicately trim back his $3.5 trillion “Build Back Better” package to win over remaining lawmakers and work to quickly pass legislation to avoid a federal shutdown.
The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary on Thursday approved the U.S. attorney nominees for the Northern and Southern districts of Indiana on a voice vote with none of the senators opposing the Hoosier lawyers.
The two nominees for the U.S. attorney positions in the Northern and Southern districts of Indiana are scheduled for a vote Thursday in the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, moving the Hoosier State closer to filling the top federal lawyer seats that have been vacant since late 2020.
Thousands of voting rights advocates rallied across the country Saturday to call for sweeping federal laws that would wipe out voting restrictions advancing in some Republican-controlled states that could make it harder to cast a ballot.
A Democratic senator said the U.S. Justice Department needs to look into whether the algorithm-powered police technologies it funds contribute to racial bias in law enforcement and lead to wrongful arrests.
The Democratic mayor of Hammond has started a campaign to challenge Republican Todd Young’s reelection bid in Indiana’s U.S. Senate election next year. Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. filed with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday to begin raising money for a Senate race.
Capitol police officers testified Tuesday about their experiences during the Jan. 6 insurrection.
A committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection opened its first hearing Tuesday with a focus on the law enforcement officers who were attacked and beaten as the rioters broke into the building — an effort to put a human face on the violence of the day.
The Senate’s top Democrat is backing a bill that would strike down a longstanding federal prohibition on marijuana, embracing a proposal that has slim chance of becoming law yet demonstrates growing public support for decriminalizing the drug.
As congressional Democrats gear up for another bruising legislative push to expand voting rights, much of their attention has quietly focused on a small yet crucial voting bloc with the power to scuttle their plans: the nine Supreme Court justices.
Several dozen voting rights supporters came to downtown Indianapolis on Tuesday to push for the passage of S.1, the For the People Act of 2021. They gathered in front of the district offices of Sens. Todd Young and Mike Braun to promote what they see as a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity to strengthen the right to vote.
A new committee to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol would have 13 members and the power to subpoena witnesses, according to legislation released by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The House is expected to vote on the bill this week.
In a 53-40 vote Thursday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Candace Jackson-Akiwumi to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, making her the first person of color to sit on that bench since Judge Ann Claire Williams, the first person of color to join that court, retired in 2018.
The Democrats’ expansive elections and voting bill is all but certain to be rejected in a key test vote in the Senate, providing a dramatic example of Republicans’ use of the filibuster to block legislation and forcing hard questions for Democrats over next steps.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is on the brink of success in her yearslong campaign to get sexual assault cases removed from the military chain of command. But getting over the finish line may depend on whether she can overcome wariness about broader changes she’s seeking to the military justice system.