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Opinion: 5 Big Challenges Facing the New Congress

Members of the 112th Congress take their seats today, bringing a new Republican majority to the House and a reduced Democratic majority to the Senate. The legislators, new and old, face a daunting set of political and policy problems, from working with each other to addressing the troubled economy. Here are five of the...

Senate Clears Hurdle for Small-Business Measure

(Sept. 14) -- Senate Democrats cracked a months-long GOP filibuster of a bill to provide new loans and tax breaks for small businesses after two Republicans broke with their party to back a measure President Barack Obama has promoted as one of his top economic priorities. Republican Sens. George Voinovich of Ohio and...

Reform Advocate Speaks Up Against 'Silent Filibuster'

WASHINGTON (July 28) -- Talk about life imitating art: If Sen. Frank Lautenberg has his way, the Senate will operate a little more like it does in the movies. Brandishing an iconic poster of Jimmy Stewart in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," the New Jersey Democrat spoke briefly before the Senate Rules and Administration...

Senate Approves Jobless Benefits for Millions

WASHINGTON (July 21) -- State unemployment agencies are gearing up to resume sending unemployment payments to millions of people as Congress moves to ship President Barack Obama a measure to restore lapsed benefits. After months of increasingly bitter stalemate, the Senate passed the measure Wednesday by a 59-39 vote....

Unemployment Benefits Expire: What It Means

A bill to continue an unemployment benefits extension, which was put in place earlier this year in response to the recession, was defeated in Senate last night. Millions of unemployed Americans will feel the result of the vote as soon as the end of the week. The current unemployment rate is 9.7 percent, far above the...

Background on filibuster

A filibuster is a type of parliamentary procedure where an individual extends debate, allowing a lone member to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal.

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