The Senate has passed legislation to boost Social Security payments for millions of people.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has been blocked from quickly advancing a bill that would allow local law enforcement agencies to track aerial drones.

The last time Congress passed a law to protect children on the internet was in 1998 — before Facebook, before the iPhone and long before today’s oldest teenagers were born.

Elevated into the national spotlight as former President Donald Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance has carved out a unique role in his short Senate career.

The Senate has approved a $460 billion package of spending bills in time to meet a midnight deadline for avoiding a shutdown of many key federal agencies.

U.S. senators have declined to block the sale of F-16s to Turkey.

Less than a year after Tennessee Republicans tried to expel her from the state House, Democrat Gloria Johnson is seeking another term there while simultaneously waging an uphill campaign for U.S. Senate.

Cruz on Tuesday requested a unanimous consent decision on his AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act. The legislation was blocked by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, who said the mandate on private companies would be an overstep of congressional power.

Sen. Joni Ernst, a Republican from Iowa, was choking on food during a luncheon when fellow Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky performed the Heimlich maneuver on her.

The U.S. government is at risk of losing key tools for preventing terrorists from using drones, chemicals or weapons of mass destruction if Congress doesn’t take action soon.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has approved Jacob Lew to be ambassador to Israel, moving quickly to get him in place during Israel's war with Hamas.

US Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke of New York sent a letter Thursday to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and X CEO Linda Yaccarino expressing “serious concerns” about the emergence of AI-generated political ads on their platforms and asking each to explain any rules they’re crafting to curb the harms to free and fair elections.

When Congress returns this week, Homeland Security officials and those in the chemical industries will be watching to see if a program regulating the chemical sector will be on its agenda.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is urging the Senate to move forward with votes on more than 60 diplomatic nominations, including 38 ambassadors.

The reviews are starting to come in about the debt ceiling agreement reached by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

The Senate has passed legislation to reauthorize federal grants for local fire departments.

Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley has tried to force a Senate vote on legislation that would ban TikTok from operating in the United States.

A U.S. Senate staffer remained hospitalized Tuesday after police say he was attacked leaving a restaurant in Washington this weekend by a man who had been released from federal prison a day earlier.

The Senate has voted overwhelmingly to continue congressional authorization for the use of military force in the global fight against terror, turning back an effort by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul to repeal the 2001 measure.

Abortion rights supporters won in the four states where access was on the ballot.

With the promise of a red wave receding, Republicans are facing the stark reality that any return to power would mean presiding over a narrowly split Congress.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has won a third term, defeating Charles Booker, the first Black Democratic nominee for the Senate in the Bluegrass State.

Democratic Senate candidate Charles Booker is bidding to stop Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky from winning a third term.

With two terms in office, Rand Paul still relishes the role as a political outsider.

U.S. Senator Mike Lee has used a debate with his challenger Monday evening to try to draw a distinction between his record and former President Donald Trump's.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul was the victim of a 2017 attack when his neighbor slammed into him outside his Kentucky home.

While Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear was consoling families displaced by historic flooding in the mountains of eastern Kentucky, Republicans at the state’s premier political event on the other side of the state were campaigning to oust him from office in 2023.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell played a pivotal role in the Senate ratifying NATO membership for Sweden and Finland.

U.S. Senators delivered an overwhelming bipartisan vote ratifying NATO membership for Finland and Sweden.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has given easy bipartisan approval to admitting Finland and Sweden into NATO.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul is accusing Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of cutting a “secret deal” with the White House that fell apart.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, says he plans to retire by the end of President Joe Biden’s term in January 2025.

The White House has dropped plans to nominate an anti-abortion lawyer backed by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell for a federal judgeship in Kentucky.

Katie Britt has won the Republican nomination for Senate in Alabama, defeating six-term Congressman Mo Brooks in a primary runoff after former President Donald Trump endorsed and then un-endorsed him.

The two Republican candidates in Alabama’s U.S. Senate primary runoff on Tuesday can each boast that at one point they had Donald Trump’s endorsement in the race.

A man armed with a machete once broke into Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer’s vacation home in the Caribbean and took $1,000.

A bipartisan group of senators is trying to find a compromise on gun legislation.

Georgia takes center stage in Tuesday’s primary elections as Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger try to fight back challengers endorsed by Donald Trump.

The Senate has whisked a $40 billion package of military, economic and food aid for Ukraine and U.S. allies to final congressional approval.

Signs of Republican resistance are mounting over a $40 billion aid package to Ukraine.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and a delegation of GOP senators are due to visit Helsinki on Monday for talks with Finland’s president as the previously neutral Nordic nation bordering Russia seeks NATO membership.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell says senators who visited Ukraine on Saturday have reaffirmed that the U.S. will back Ukraine until it wins its war with Russia.

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul is defying leaders of both parties and has single-handedly delayed until next week Senate approval of an additional $40 billion to help Ukraine and its allies withstand Russia’s three-month old invasion.

High-profile surrogates for Republicans running in Ohio’s hotly contested Senate primary are fanning out across the state ahead of Tuesday’s election.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul has promised to wage a vigorous review into the origins of the coronavirus if Republicans retake the Senate and he lands a committee chairmanship.

Louisville's mayoral race is taking place in a city roiled by racial tension, a spike in gun violence and deep misgivings many harbor about the Louisville police department.

The next House speaker could very well hail from California, but if Republicans take control, that leader won't come from the part of the state represented by the current speaker, Democrat Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco.

Moments before the Senate began Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation vote to become the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, the chamber filled with the swell of history.

Legislation punishing Russia for the war in Ukraine is finally getting a vote in the U.S. Senate.

Congress has overwhelmingly voted to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and ban the importation of its oil, ratcheting up the U.S. response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine amid reports of atrocities.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is endorsing former Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel in the heated Republican primary for the open U.S. Senate seat in the Midwestern battleground.

Dozens of Black Democratic candidates are seeking office in heavily Republican states that former President Donald Trump won easily in 2020.

A Senate committee has approved a bipartisan blueprint to overhaul the nation’s public health system, applying the lessons of COVID-19 to future outbreaks through a new chain of command, a stronger medical supply chain, and clearer crisis communications.

The Canadians who have disrupted trade with the U.S. and occupied downtown Ottawa for nearly three weeks have been cheered and funded by American right-wing activists and conservative politicians who also oppose vaccine mandates and the country’s liberal leader.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is drawing criticism for comments he made shortly before the GOP blocked a federal elections bill, when he said that “African American” voters cast ballots at similar rates to “Americans.”.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert, angrily accused a senator Tuesday of making false accusations that are leading to threats against him.

The Senate has rejected a bid to stop a U.S. arms sale to Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Anthony Fauci is blasting Sen. Ted Cruz for suggesting that Fauci be investigated for statements he made about COVID-19.

Roger Marshall won't let people forget he’s a doctor.

When Ford revealed plans to ramp up its commitment to the electric vehicle sector, the automaker chose two states where Republican leaders have vilified the push for green energy and defended fossil fuels.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul waited more than a year to disclose that his wife bought stock in a company that makes a COVID-19 treatment.

YouTube has suspended U.S. Sen. Rand Paul for seven days after the Kentucky Republican posted a misleading video suggesting face masks don't prevent infection by COVID-19.

The U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says he's hopeful that the Food and Drug Administration will give full approval to the coronavirus vaccine by month’s end.

The midsummer race for Ohio’s traditionally Republican 15th Congressional District wouldn’t typically get much national attention.

The nation’s top infectious disease expert is warning that more “pain and suffering” is ahead as COVID-19 cases climb again and officials plead with unvaccinated Americans to get inoculated.

Federal prosecutors in Maryland say a man has been arrested and charged with sending emails that threatened to harm and kill Dr. Anthony Fauci, National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins, and their families.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says the United States is in an “unnecessary predicament” of soaring COVID-19 cases fueled by unvaccinated Americans and the virulent delta variant.

A recurring clash between the government’s top infectious disease doctor and a U.S. senator has erupted again on Capitol Hill, with each accusing the other of lying.

South Korea has reported a new daily high for coronavirus cases, putting pressure on authorities to extend their toughest distancing rules.

Democrat Charles Booker has launched another campaign for the U.S. Senate from Kentucky.

Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul is keeping up his complaints about the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. Education Department on Wednesday expanded its interpretation of federal sex protections to include transgender and gay students.

The Senate has overwhelmingly approved legislation aiming to boost semiconductor production in the U.S. The bill is a bid to protect economic and national security in the face of growing international competition, most notably from China.

Voting mostly along party lines, the U.S. Senate on March 24, confirmed Levine to be assistant secretary of health. She becomes the first openly transgender federal official to win Senate confirmation. (Caroline Brehman/Pool via AP, File)Voting mostly along party lines, the U.S. Senate has confirmed former Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine to be the nation’s assistant secretary of health. She is the first openly transgender federal official to win Senate confirmation. She won confirmation by the Republican-majority Pennsylvania Senate.

Voting mostly along party lines, the U.S. Senate on March 24, confirmed Levine to be assistant secretary of health. She becomes the first openly transgender federal official to win Senate confirmation. (Caroline Brehman/Pool via AP, File)Voting mostly along party lines, the U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed former Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine to be the nation’s assistant secretary of health. She is the first openly transgender federal official to win Senate confirmation. She won confirmation by the Republican-majority Pennsylvania Senate.

FILE - In this Feb. 3, 2021, file photo, Education Secretary nominee Miguel Cardona testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee during his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Senate has confirmed him as Education Secretary on March 1. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool, File)The Senate voted Monday to confirm Miguel Cardona as education secretary, clearing his way to lead President Joe Biden’s effort to reopen the nation’s schools amid the coronavirus pandemic. AdCardona, who gained attention for his efforts to reopen schools in Connecticut, has vowed to make it his top priority to reopen schools. In an increasingly fractionalized world of education, Cardona has vowed to be a unifier.

Most of them ultimately voted to acquit, doubting whether Trump was fully responsible or if impeachment is the appropriate response. In closing arguments, lead defender Michael van der Veen emphasized an argument that Republican senators also embraced: that it was all a “phony impeachment show trial.”“Mr. Within a week Biden was inaugurated, Trump was gone and Pelosi sent the article of impeachment to the Senate days later, launching the proceedings. Several Republican senators voted to consider witnesses. At the same time, this year's trial carried similar warnings from the prosecutors that Trump must be held accountable because he has shown repeatedly he has no bounds.

Trump's lawyers made an abbreviated presentation that used less than three of their allotted 16 hours. But in trying to draw that equivalency, the defenders minimized Trump's months-long efforts to undermine the election results and his urging of followers to do the same. On Friday, as defense lawyers repeated their own videos over and over, some Democrats chuckled and whispered among themselves as many of their faces flashed on the screen. Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet said it felt like the lawyers were “erecting straw men to then take them down rather than deal with the facts." Trump's lawyers say that goal only underscores the “hatred” Democrats feel for Trump.

NEW SURVEILLANCE FOOTAGETo reconstruct the siege for senators, Democrats aired never-before-seen security footage from inside the Capitol that showed the attack unfolding. “Vice President Pence had the courage to stand against the president, tell the American public the truth and uphold our Constitution. Many Republicans had been appalled by Trump's treatment of his most loyal soldier during his final days in office. AdREPUBLICANS HOLD FIRMThere appears little chance enough Republicans will break with Democrats to convict Trump at the end of the trial. The video evidence was “nothing new here, for me, at the end of the day,” said Hawley, who maintains the trial is unconstitutional.

Reporters vie for a response from Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, as Senators take a dinner break while arguments continue in former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – For 90 tense minutes, members of the Senate relived the horror. The rioters were “58 steps” from senators at one point, impeachment manager Eric Swalwell told them. Senators were silent afterward, some sitting quietly and alone, as if to process it all. He walked out of the room in the middle of the presentation, as impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett detailed the threats to Pence’s life.

NEW SURVEILLANCE FOOTAGETo reconstruct the siege for senators, Democrats aired never-before-seen security footage from inside the Capitol that showed the attack unfolding. Ad“Vice President Pence had the courage to stand against the president, tell the American public the truth and uphold our Constitution. Many Republicans had been appalled by Trump's treatment of his most loyal soldier during his final days in office. REPUBLICANS HOLD FIRMThere appears little chance enough Republicans will break with Democrats to convict Trump at the end of the trial. AdThe video evidence was “nothing new here, for me, at the end of the day,” said Hawley, who maintains the trial is unconstitutional.

Even Trump’s backers in the Senate winced, several saying his lawyers were not helpful to his case. In a key early test, senators rejected an effort by Trump's allies to halt the trial, instead affirming the Senate’s authority under the Constitution to decide the case. On the vote, six Republicans joined with Democrats pursue the trial, just one more than on a similar vote last week. Trump's second impeachment trial is expected to diverge from the lengthy, complicated affair of a year ago. This time, Trump's “stop the steal” rally rhetoric and the storming of the Capitol played out for the world to see.

While acquittal is likely, the trial will test the nation's attitude toward his brand of presidential power, the Democrats' resolve in pursuing him and the loyalty of Trump's Republican allies defending him. Trump's defenders are preparing to challenge both the constitutionality of the trial and any suggestion that he was to blame for the insurrection. The trial was set to break Friday evening for the Jewish Sabbath at the request of Trump's defense team, and resume Sunday. Trump's second impeachment trial is expected to diverge from the lengthy, complicated affair of a year ago. Initially repulsed by the graphic images of the attack, a number of Republican senators have cooled their criticism as the intervening weeks have provided some distance.

AdMany senators including Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell immediately denounced the violence and pointed a finger of blame at Trump. Those partisan divisions appear to be hardening ahead of Trump’s trial, a sign of his continuing grip on the GOP. On Sunday, Wicker described Trump's impeachment trial as a “meaningless messaging partisan exercise." Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont will preside over the trial as Senate president pro tempore. Forty-four Republican senators sided with Paul and voted to oppose holding an impeachment trial at all.

House Democrats are busy preparing their formal case against the former president for inciting an insurrection, with arguments starting the week of Feb. 8. A week later, on Jan. 13, the Democratic-led House impeached Trump with the backing of 10 Republicans. She said that five is probably “a high mark on what you’re going to see for Republican support” for convicting Trump at trial. Some said the censure resolution was too late because Democrats had rejected GOP suggestions of censure before the House voted to impeach. “I guess if we can censure former presidents, then when Republicans get in charge, we can censure Barack Obama or Democrats can censure George Bush."

Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn at a Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in 2018. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz joined with most of their Republican colleagues on Tuesday to support a measure that would have declared the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump as unconstitutional. The point of order, raised by U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, had the backing of most other Republican senators. Supporters of Trump overtook the Capitol — including the U.S. Senate chamber — and killed one Capitol Police officer. The House impeachment managers — de facto prosecutors — will have to convince at least 17 Republican senators to join the expected unanimous Democratic vote in convicting Trump.

Late Tuesday, the presiding officer at the trial, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., was taken to the hospital for observation after not feeling well at his office, spokesman David Carle said in a statement. The vote means the trial on Trump's impeachment will begin as scheduled the week of Feb. 8. The vote shows that “they've got a long ways to go to prove it,” Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst said of House Democrats' charge. “You’re asking me to vote in a trial that by itself on its own is not constitutionally allowed?” he asked. Instead, Leahy, who serves in the largely ceremonial role of Senate president pro tempore, was sworn in on Tuesday.

Pratt, who has warned that systemic political corruption is a threat to U.S. democracy, is ridiculing President Trump's pardons, including those issued to convicted Republican campaign operatives and members of Congress. "It's not surprising that a criminal like Trump pardons other criminals," Judge Pratt of the Southern District of Iowa said Monday, Dec. 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall File)IOWA CITY, Iowa – A federal judge in Iowa who has warned against political corruption is ridiculing President Donald Trump’s pardons, including those issued to convicted Republican campaign operatives and former members of Congress. “It’s not surprising that a criminal like Trump pardons other criminals,” senior U.S. District Judge Robert Pratt of the Southern District of Iowa told The Associated Press in a brief phone interview Monday. Trump also pardons turkeys — this year two from Iowa — annually before Thanksgiving.

FILE - In this Thursday, June 27, 2019 file photo, Paul Manafort arrives in court in New York. President Trump's former campaign manager is to be arraigned on state mortgage fraud charges. Manafort, who led Trump's campaign during a pivotal period in 2016 before being ousted over his ties to Ukraine, was among the first people charged as part of Mueller’s investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Though the charges against Manafort did not concern the central thrust of Mueller's mandate — whether the Trump campaign and Russia colluded to tip the election — he was nonetheless a pivotal figure in the investigation. Trump and the elder Kushner knew each other from real estate circles and their children were married in 2009.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020, in Washington. Trump commuted his sentence in July just days before he was scheduled to report to federal prison. A White House news release praised the men as “model prisoners,” who had earned support and praise from other inmates. She was in the White House when Trump signed the overhaul measure, known as the First Step Act, into law. Black was a co-defendant in the case and was also convicted; Trump previously pardoned him.

(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)WASHINGTON – Congress passed a $900 billion pandemic relief package that would finally deliver long-sought cash to businesses and individuals and resources to vaccinate a nation confronting a frightening surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths. The bill approved Monday night went to President Donald Trump for his signature, which was expected in the coming days. The relief package, unveiled Monday afternoon, sped through the House and Senate in a matter of hours. The bill combines coronavirus-fighting funds with financial relief for individuals and businesses. Democrats and Senate Republicans prevailed in a bid to use bookkeeping maneuvers to squeeze $12.5 billion more for domestic programs into the legislation.

Trump has vowed to veto the bill unless lawmakers impose limits on social media companies he claims were biased against him during the election. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, in a rare break with Trump, urged passage of the measure despite Trump's threat to veto it. The Democratic-controlled House overwhelmingly approved the defense bill on Tuesday, defying Trump’s veto threat and setting up a possible showdown with the Republican president in the waning days of his administration. It follows Trump’s bid over the summer to sabotage the package with a veto threat over Confederate base names. If he does veto the defense bill, Congress could cut short its Christmas recess to hold override votes.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, speaks during a news conference following a weekly meeting with the Senate Republican caucus, Tuesday, Dec. 8. Paul said he would drop his objection if GOP leaders allowed a final vote on the National Defense Authorization Act on Monday. 2 Senate Republican, said he thought Paul — who has provoked government shutdowns before — was using the time-crunch for maximum leverage to remove the provision on troop withdrawals. A procedural vote on the defense bill was expected Friday, setting the stage for final votes on the defense bill and the stopgap spending measure later in the day. If he does veto the defense bill, Congress could cut short its Christmas recess to hold override votes, senior House members said.

But on Wednesday the effort to turn back the arms sales failed to reach the 51-vote majority needed for passage. The Senate will take up the broader defense bill soon. Israeli officials have previously expressed some concern about an F-35 sale. Even after Wednesday's setback, Congress is poised to approve the sweeping annual defense bill despite Trump's objections. Trump has warned he would veto the bill over a provision to study stripping the names of Confederate leaders from U.S. military bases.

A member of the cleaning staff sprays The James Brady Briefing Room of the White House, Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

A member of the cleaning staff sprays The James Brady Briefing Room of the White House, Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, in Washington. CNN's Kaitlan Collins said it was “irresponsible, at best.”“It’s frustrating,” said Jonathan Karl, ABC News White House correspondent. “The only people who have habitually not followed that rule have been that White House staff,” Karl said. For example, the White House arranged to increase the buffer zone between the audience at Trump rallies and journalists. But at the White House, Ryan said she is concerned for fellow reporters.

Hours after President Donald Trump announced he had tested positive for the coronavirus, Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee revealed he too had been infected with the disease. Trump disclosed that he and first lady Melania Trump had tested positive overnight; Lee tweeted his own diagnosis mid-morning Friday. It's unclear when and how the Utah Republican caught the virus, but Lee said he had tested negative ahead of the Saturday visit to the White House. Lee previously self-quarantined for two weeks in late March and April, after his colleague Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky tested positive for the coronavirus. Lee rode back to Utah then with fellow Utah Sen. Mitt Romney on a plane chartered by the former presidential candidate.

AUSTIN, Texas – Former GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul posted a picture of himself in a hospital Friday but said he was OK after video circulated online of him struggling to speak during an interview. The 85-year-old former Texas congressman, who ran for president three times, posted a picture on Facebook showing him smiling in a hospital gown and giving a thumbs-up. The post came after a video took off on social media showing Paul having trouble speaking during an appearance on his livestreamed show “Ron Paul Liberty Report.” The video cuts away to the interviewer as Paul struggles. Paul is the father of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., whose office did not immediately return a message Friday. He faced an electorate frustrated by a weak economy and two wars, and saw his once outsider views become more mainstream.

FILE - In this Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020, file photo, Vice President Mike Pence speaks at a campaign event on the grounds of Kuharchik Construction, Inc., in Exeter, Pa. Labor Day kicks off the unofficial start to fall election campaign. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

The hosts of the fundraiser, Caryn and Michael Borland, have shared QAnon memes and retweeted posts from QAnon accounts, their social media activity shows. The baseless conspiracy theory posits that Trump is fighting entrenched enemies in the government and also involves satanism and child sex trafficking. While many Republicans have dismissed QAnon, the fundraiser is another sign of how the conspiracy theory is gaining a foothold in the party. Representatives for the Trump campaign didn't immediately comment on the fundraiser. They posed for photos from the White House South Lawn, including one that shows Michael Alfaro, a Trump fundraiser from Illinois, in the foreground.