The Democratic-led House has passed a short-term spending bill to keep government agencies funded at current levels through Dec. 23.

The results of the midterm election are raising questions about the future of American support for Ukraine.

Native American groups in Alabama and North Carolina are hoping that two outgoing U.S. senators can help them achieve something that's been elusive so far: federal recognition as tribes.

House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy warns that Republicans will not write a “blank check” for Ukraine if they win back the House majority.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell says he will “proudly support” legislation to overhaul rules for certifying presidential elections, bolstering a bipartisan effort to revise a 19th century law and avoid another Jan. 6 insurrection.

Sen. Joe Manchin has abandoned his push to speed up the permitting process for energy projects.

More than halfway through a tumultuous primary season, voters have rendered verdicts in a number of contests, many of which featured candidates arguing they best represented a continuation of policies favored by former President Donald Trump.

Donald Trump extended his losing record in Georgia on Tuesday after two Trump-backed U.S. House candidates lost in landslides.

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.

Former President Donald Trump has endorsed Katie Britt in the Republican primary for an Alabama U.S. Senate seat.

Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia has easily dispatched Donald Trump’s hand-picked challenger in a Republican primary that demonstrated the limits of the former president and his conspiracy-fueled politics in a critical swing state.

Alabama’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate is going to a June runoff between Katie Britt and U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks.

Republican Senate hopefuls in Alabama are making last-minute pitches to primary voters in the tight race for the GOP nomination for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Richard Shelby.

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.

Alabama’s Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby is a bitter high-dollar fight between three candidates.

Home-district projects for members of Congress are back, sprinkled across the government-wide $1.5 trillion bill that President Joe Biden signed recently.

Former President Donald Trump has rescinded his endorsement of U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks in Alabama’s Republican primary for Senate, dealing a major blow to the congressman’s campaign.

Former President Donald Trump has told a news outlet that Rep. Mo Brooks, his endorsed candidate in Alabama’s U.S. Senate race, has been disappointing.

The House has approved a massive spending bill anchored by $13.6 billion for battered Ukraine and its European allies.

Congressional leaders have reached a bipartisan deal to provide $13.6 billion to help Ukraine fend off its invasion by Russia and assist European allies coping with the continent's worst refugee crisis since World War II.

In a story published March 4, 2022 about federal COVID-19 funding, The Associated Press erroneously described AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 prophylactic for immunocompromised individuals as a pill, when in fact it is delivered by injection.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has already driven up oil prices, will likely further magnify the high inflation that has engulfed the U.S. economy.

A rift over the Republican National Committee's symbolic vote to censure former President Donald Trump’s House GOP critics has exposed the competing forces fighting to control the party.

Top lawmakers say Democrats and Republicans have finally agreed on a framework for overall defense and domestic spending for this year.

Former President Donald Trump says Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell “does not speak for the Republican Party.”.

Congress has overwhelmingly passed emergency legislation that will bolster security at the Capitol, repay outstanding debts from the violent Jan. 6 insurrection and increase the number of visas for allies who worked alongside Americans in the Afghanistan war.

President Joe Biden has signed emergency legislation that will bolster security at the Capitol, repay outstanding debts from the violent Jan. 6 insurrection and increase the number of visas for allies who worked alongside Americans in the Afghanistan war.

Senate Democrats are proposing $3.7 billion in emergency spending to secure the Capitol, repay outstanding debts from the Jan. 6 insurrection and help the federal government defray costs from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eighty-seven-year-old Chuck Grassley is trying to show Iowans that he’s not just physically ready for an eighth term, but that's he thriving.

President Joe Biden is proposing a $6 trillion budget for next year that’s piled high with new safety net programs for the poor and middle class.

Republican leaders of Congress have been making the trip to Mar-a-Lago to see Donald Trump.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday defended the central bank’s increasing scrutiny of the impact climate change could have on banks, in the wake of criticism by Republican members of Congress that by doing so the Fed is overstepping its mandate.

President Joe Biden has released a $1.5 trillion wish list for his first federal budget.

Former President Donald Trump has endorsed Rep. Mo Brooks in Alabama’s 2022 Senate race, siding with the conservative firebrand who whipped up the crowd before the Capitol riot in January.

Yellen and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell say more needs to be done to limit the damage from the coronavirus pandemic and promote a full economic recovery. AdResponding to a question from Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., Yellen said the persistence of low interest rates have changed her views on federal debt. Lower rates have made it easier for the federal government to cover the interest costs on the debt, she said. Under questioning from Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Yellen said Congress should allot more money to the IRS so the tax collection agency could reduce tax evasion. Ad“The tax gap is huge,” Yellen said, “and I think we would have a fairer tax system and collect more tax revenue without the need to raise (tax) rates if we resourced the IRS properly.”

The north Alabama Republican announced his entry into the race at an event with former Trump adviser Stephen Miller. And as President Trump can vouch, I don't cut and run. “Nobody has had President Trump’s back more over the last four years than Mo Brooks. Your vote for Mo Brooks will allow him to carry on the America First agenda," Miller said as he gave his support to Brooks. Some carried signs reading “Traitor Mo has got to go” and that “Mo Brooks words incited violence."

But that hope dimmed when word came Saturday before the trial resumed that Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell would vote to acquit Trump. If Trump were convicted, the Senate could take a second vote to ban him from running for office again. AdA look at the Republicans whom Democrats are eyeing as they make final arguments in the case:THE FREQUENT TRUMP CRITICSRepublican Sens. AdThree other GOP senators have said they will not run again in two years, potentially freeing them up to vote against Trump and anger base voters in the party. The Republican leader’s views are closely watched and carry sway among GOP senators, and his decision on Trump is likely to influence others weighing their votes.

If Trump were convicted, the Senate could take a second vote to ban him from running for office again. While none of them are locks to vote for conviction, they have joined with Democrats twice to vote against GOP efforts to dismiss the trial. AdHEADED OUTPennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, who is retiring from the Senate in 2022, has also voted twice with Democrats to move forward with the trial. All three voted to dismiss the trial, but Portman says he still has an open mind about conviction. EYES ON McCONNELLSenate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has twice voted to dismiss the trial, indicating he will ultimately vote to acquit.

What to watch as the trial kicks off:FIRST, AN EFFORT TO DISMISSTuesday’s proceedings will begin with a debate to dismiss the trial before it even begins. The effort to dismiss is expected to fail, allowing arguments in the trial to begin on Wednesday. They point to an 1876 impeachment trial of a secretary of war who had resigned and note that Trump was impeached before he left office. But the managers can ask for a Senate vote on calling witnesses if they so choose. A (LESS) CAPTIVE AUDIENCEAs they were last year, at Trump’s first impeachment trial, senators are expected to listen to every word of the arguments before they cast their votes.

FILE-In this Jan. 29, 2005, file photo, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., speaks during the panel "A Reality Check on the US Economy" at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Shelby is the fourth Senate Republican to announce his retirement, following Sens. “Few people have had a more consequential impact on our state than Senator Richard Shelby,” said Alabama Gov. Leahy said Alabama was losing a “strong champion.”“A fifth-generation Alabamian, Senator Shelby is a true statesmen, and a man of his word. Brooks said he will either run for reelection to his own seat or the Senate seat in 2022.

“I would say that is his greatest accomplishment, to get money allocated to the state for many different projects,” former Alabama Republican Party Chairman Bill Armistead said. Still, the GOP primary could serve as a microcosm of the larger national tug of war over the direction of the Republican Party. While Shelby has amassed a conservative voting record, the measured Republican senator has not embraced the bombastic populist style of Trump and Trump-like candidates. I don’t think there is anyone who has meant more to the state of Alabama in that position in my lifetime,” former Gov. ___This story has been edited to correct that Bill Armistead is the former chairman of the Alabama Republican Party.

The Senate's longest-serving member, 80-year-old Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy, was taken to a hospital Tuesday evening for observation after not feeling well, a spokesman said. Now, Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont is stepping into one of his most visible and physically grueling roles: presiding over former President Donald Trump's second Senate impeachment trial. “I had some muscle spasms," Leahy, 80, told reporters the morning after feeling ill in his Capitol office. Carle, Leahy's spokesperson, said Senate leaders have been discussing the trial process, and it is “likely to be limited in duration.” Trump's first impeachment trial lasted almost three weeks. Leahy will preside as Senate president pro tempore, a largely ceremonial post that usually goes to the majority party's longest-serving member.

The Senate's longest-serving member, 80-year-old Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy, was taken to a hospital Tuesday evening for observation after not feeling well, a spokesman said. Now, Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont is stepping into one of his most visible and physically grueling roles: presiding over former President Donald Trump's second Senate impeachment trial. “I had some muscle spasms," Leahy, 80, told reporters the morning after feeling ill in his Capitol office. Carle, Leahy's spokesperson, said Senate leaders have been discussing the trial process, and it is “likely to be limited in duration.” Trump's first impeachment trial lasted almost three weeks. Leahy will preside as Senate president pro tempore, a largely ceremonial post that usually goes to the majority party's longest-serving member.

The 343-67 vote sent the one-week bill to the Senate, where it's expected to easily pass before a deadline of midnight Friday to avert a partial government shutdown. meanwhile, are placing their bets on a bipartisan group of senators who are trying to iron out a $908 billion package. “The bipartisan group provided a good foundation kind of a place to start from. And hopefully, the negotiations are real negotiations on what can ultimately pass the House, the Senate, and get signed," Thune said. President-elect Joe Biden is pressing for as much pandemic relief as possible, though he's not directly involved in the talks.

(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)WASHINGTON – Republicans controlling the Senate unveiled a government-wide, $1.4 trillion spending bill on Tuesday, a largely bipartisan measure that faces uncertain odds during this period of post-election tumult in Washington. Success depends on getting the signature of Trump, however, whose unpredictability and toxic relationships with Democrats threaten to doom the effort. The recent history of lame-duck sessions conducted as the White House is turning over has been that unfinished spending bills get kicked into the next year, with existing funding simply left on auto-pilot. At issue is the roughly one-third of the federal budget that is written annually by Congress under a time-tested bipartisan process. “By and large, these bills are the product of bipartisan cooperation among members of the committee," Shelby said in a statement.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows speaks with reporters at the White House, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020, in Washington. President Donald Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, accused Pelosi of slow-walking the talks. Pelosi remains optimistic, even after Washington was blanketed with media reports that McConnell, R-Ky., has warned the White House against sealing a $2 trillion or so relief deal with Pelosi before the election. “We haven’t seen a lot of action from Speaker Pelosi,” Meadows said. Lame-duck sessions during White House changeovers in 2008 and 2016 didn't deliver much.

(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)WASHINGTON A GOP coronavirus relief package faces dire prospects in a Senate test vote, and negotiators involved in recent efforts to strike a deal that could pass before the November election say they see little reason for hope. Democrats have indicated they will shelve the Republican measure as insufficient, leaving lawmakers at an impasse. Unless something really broke through, its not going to happen, said Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Set aside $31 billion for a coronavirus vaccine, $16 billion for virus testing and $15 billion to help child care providers reopen. The GOP bill also lacks money for election security that lawmakers from both parties have supported.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he was optimistic that Republicans would deliver strong support vote for the GOP's $500 billion slimmed-down COVID-19 rescue package in a test vote Thursday. Democrats have indicated they will shelve the Republican measure as insufficient, leaving lawmakers at an impasse. The Republican measure headed for a test vote Thursday would:provide $105 billion to help schools reopen. set aside $31 billion for a coronavirus vaccine, $16 billion for virus testing and $15 billion to help child care providers reopen. The GOP bill also lacks money for election security that lawmakers from both parties have supported.

Friday's expiration of the $600 jobless benefit sent Republicans controlling the Senate scrambling to respond. But Democrats have so far rejected a piecemeal approach, saying the next relief bill needs to move as a complete package. Any short-term jobless benefits extension of less than $600 per week is likely to be a nonstarter with them. Democrats countered with a plan to extend the $600 benefit through January. Both ideas predictably failed, as did an effort by Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., to extend the $600 benefit for just one week.

As top White House negotiators return to Capitol Hill on Tuesday the leverage is apparent: They are meeting at House Speaker Nancy Pelosis office. It's unclear whether any agreement can be reached between Congress and President Donald Trump before Friday's deadline for expiring aid. Democrats have shown flickers of willingness to curb the federal aid, but are refusing to go that low. We have to do what's right for the American people, Pelosi said late Monday after meeting with the White House negotiators. As bipartisan talks unfold, the White House is now suggesting a narrower relief package may be all that's possible with Friday's approaching deadlines.

While Senate Republicans struggled to roll out their own $1 trillion proposal, Pelosi implored the White House and GOP lawmakers to stop the infighting and come to the negotiating table with Democrats. Our priority, our objective, should be restarting the economy.As bipartisan talks unfold, the White House is now suggesting a narrower relief package may be all that's possible with Friday's approaching deadlines. Pelosi has resisted tackling a relief package in piecemeal fashion, arguing that broader aid is needed for Americans. She panned the Trump administrations desire to reduce the $600 weekly unemployment aid to ensure no more than 70% of prepandemic wages. Friday is also the end of a federal eviction moratorium on millions of rental units that the White House said it wants to extend in some fashion.

FILE - In this Nov. 1, 2017, file photo, traffic along Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington streaks past the Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters building. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters he opposes inclusion of the FBI money and all other measures not related to the government's response to the virus. More than 150,000 Americans have died from coronavirus, millions are unemployed ... and Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump are more concerned about protecting Trump Hotel. "Some of the Virginia people want to build in Virginia and Maryland Democrats want the new FBI building built there,'' he said Tuesday before McConnell spoke, citing an earlier, failed proposal to move the FBI building from downtown Washington. Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham said he did not know why money for the FBI building was included in the virus relief bill.

The Republican measure includes billions for F-35 fighters, Apache helicopters and infantry carriers sought by Washingtons powerful defense lobby. The $8 billion weapons procurement package is part of a $29.4 billion defense portion of the GOP's $1 trillion coronavirus response measure, a White House-backed package released Monday. Providing that money now would help build headroom into the annual defense funding bill that Congress plans to write later this year. The weapons bazaar galled Democrats whose votes will be required to pass the bill amid widespread divisions inside the Senate GOP conference on the measure. It instead delivered informal requests to the powerful lawmakers like Shelby who sit atop the defense funding panel, aides say.

On Friday, the House passed a $259 billion funding bill for foreign aid and the Interior, Agriculture, and Veterans Affairs departments along party lines. The measure is the first annual spending measure to pass either the House or Senate this year, but it has scant chance of becoming law, serving instead as a springboard for negotiations down the line. And if Trump loses the election, Democrats are likely to wait until the Biden administration is in place before wrapping up the annual bills, which fund the annual operations of federal Cabinet agencies. The Senate Appropriations panel canceled plans for drafting its 12 annual bills after Democrats served notice they would offer amendments on COVID relief and policing reform that Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., deemed too politically troublesome. As a result, Congress is likely to return to Washington in September to handle a stopgap funding bill that would last until December to prevent a campaign season government shutdown.

The committee's support would move Shelton's nomination to the full Senate, which would have until the end of the year to confirm or reject it. Late Monday, Sen. John Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana, said he would support Shelton's nomination, essentially guaranteeing that she would win the votes of all 13 GOP senators on the committee. Toomey said he would support Shelton after she had reassured him that she would not seek to lower the value of the dollar. Since Shelton's hearing in February, the coronavirus pandemic has plunged the U.S. economy into its worst downturn since the Depression. In addition to Shelton, Trump has nominated Christopher Waller, research director at the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, for a second vacancy on the seven-member Fed board.

But Sessions took special care when discussing the matter that dominated and ultimately doomed his comeback attempt. Sessions was the first sitting senator to endorse Trump in the 2016 primary campaign, but even that didnt necessarily mean Trump had the approval of a heavyweight. Sessions, once Alabama attorney general and a U.S. attorney under President Ronald Reagan, had been elected to the Senate in 1996. Yet in Trump, Sessions finally found his vessel. And despite all the brow beating, Sessions said Trump and those issues remain the right path for the GOP and the country.