U.S. Congress News

WASHINGTON - Congress returns for its midsummer session Monday with a Senate supermajority not super enough for President Barack Obama's top priorities to pass without Republican support.

WASHINGTON - A civil rights group on whose board Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor served filed racial bias lawsuits over employment examinations that resemble a Connecticut case in which she ruled against white firefighters, documents released by the Senate show.

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee signaled anew Friday that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor will be questioned about lawsuits charging racial bias during her tenure on the board of a Latino legal advocacy group.

WASHINGTON - First you paid to insure your car. Soon you may have to add health insurance premiums to that stack of monthly bills as well.

WASHINGTON - South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint is defending the ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and says the rule of law is working in Honduras.

PHILADELPHIA - A former Pennsylvania state senator convicted of a multimillion-dollar fraud is seeking a new trial on corruption charges, alleging the jury was tainted.

WASHINGTON - In a slap at President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton will headline a fundraiser for a New York congresswoman challenging White House-backed Sen. Kristen Gillibrand in the state's Democratic primary.

PITTSBURGH - Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney is making his first official trip as U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, one day after being sworn in by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Revised health overhaul legislation under development in the Senate would result in insurance coverage for 97 percent of Americans, leaders of a key committee said Thursday, though the total cost is still unknown.

WASHINGTON - The jokes about Minnesota's prolonged recount can finally stop, just in time for Democrats to secure a reliable vote from a former funny man.

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The man who lost the 1998 Minnesota governor's race to pro wrestler Jesse Ventura now holds the distinction of losing his U.S. Senate seat to former "Saturday Night Live" comedian Al Franken.

Republicans say Democrat Al Franken's victory in the long-contested Minnesota Senate race opens a new line of attack against Democrats for 2010.

WASHINGTON - New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney has decided to challenge Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in the state's Democratic primary, setting the stage for a potentially costly and contentious fight that other congressional Democrats have avoided.

WASHINGTON - One of the principal authors of health care legislation taking shape in the House accused drug companies and other medical providers Wednesday of stealing, and said they are now offering concessions in the hopes the bill that emerges will not demand too much of them.

WASHINGTON - Thirty-seven U.S. senators are asking Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet to release a dissident Roman Catholic priest serving prison and house arrest terms totaling 13 years.

WASHINGTON - Hardly a bank bailout hearing goes by in Congress without a lawmaker raising a question on behalf of constituent banks that have applied for federal assistance from the government's financial bailout fund.

WASHINGTON - Al Franken's victory in the marathon Minnesota Senate race gives Democrats control of 60 seats, the number needed to overcome any Republican filibuster aimed at blocking elements of President Barack Obama's ambitious agenda.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York senators must stay in Albany over the U.S. Independence Day holiday for extraordinary sessions, according to a decision on Wednesday by the governor, trying again to get warring lawmakers to pick a leader and finally enact bills.