The Senate passed a massive bipartisan infrastructure bill and an even larger budget blueprint that would pave the way for historic changes in the U.S., but getting the packages to President Biden’s desk will still require balancing competing factions among congressional Democrats. Read more»

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is planning to bring a comprehensive voting rights package to the Senate for a vote when the chamber returns next month after Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas blocked an attempt to advance the “For the People Act” for Senate debate. Read more»

“Traditional” Medicare does not cover many benefits used overwhelmingly by its beneficiaries, including most vision, dental and hearing care - and drug coverage is available only by purchasing a separate insurance plan - but Democrats in Congress plan to try to change that. Read more»

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed a sweeping bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure package, a milestone for one of President Joe Biden’s priorities after months of negotiation led by and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Rob Portman of Ohio. Read more»

The U.S. Department of Education announced that it will extend the freeze on student loan repayments through the end of January 2022, a pause that was initiated by the Trump administration in 2020, and it was set to expire on Oct. 1. Read more»

Senate Democrats issued their budget Monday for a $3.5 trillion package that pours funding into social programs, climate change initiatives and free education, queuing up a widely expected maneuver toward passage without GOP support. Read more»

Democrats racing to vote on the massive Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, after the Senate finally unveiled the 2,702-page bill late Sunday, strode into some quicksand from Republicans less worried about the timeline as the August recess looms. Read more»

House Democrats plan to unveil the John Lewis Voting Rights and Advancement Act - named after the late Georgia civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis - on Aug. 6, the same date that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Read more»

In a contentious meeting that distilled a weeks-long fight, the U.S. Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee deadlocked 10-10 along party lines Thursday on approving Tracy Stone-Manning’s nomination as head of the Bureau of Land Management. Read more»

After weeks of negotiations between the White House and Senate on President Joe Biden's proposal to beef up U.S. infrastructure, a test vote gauging willingness to debate the $1 trillion package failed. Read more»

In the days leading up to the Senate vote on the House-passed elections bill, Republicans offered several misleading talking points about the Democratic bill, and made other statements that required more context. Read more»

U.S. Senate Republicans shut down efforts to open debate on a sweeping elections reform and voting rights bill brought to the Senate floor by Democrats Tuesday night. Read more»

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema faces scrutiny following comments made earlier this week by President Joe Biden about “two members of the Senate who vote more with my Republican friends” and her absence from a major procedural vote last week on establishing a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection in the U.S. Capitol. Read more»

Senate Republicans on Friday blocked consideration of a bill creating a bipartisan, independent commission to investigate what happened leading up to and during the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol; Arizona Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema was among the senators who skipped the vote. Read more»

Georgia’s Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was condemned by politicians from both sides for remarks she made comparing the wearing of masks and vaccination logos to the persecution and murder of Jews by Nazis during the Holocaust. Read more»