U.S. Congress News

WASHINGTON - A top-ranking American warned Congress Wednesday that the military situation in Afghanistan likely will "get harder before it gets easier." Full Story »

WASHINGTON - Petraeus says Afghanistan no worse off than Iraq was when he took command there in 2007. Full Story »

BOSTON - A state senator's victory in the Republican primary for the special election to fill the late Edward M. Kennedy's Senate seat gives the Massachusetts GOP something it's sorely missed: a place in the political spotlight. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - A top official of the Bowl Championship Series says there are more important things for Congress to worry about than pressing for a playoff system for college football. Full Story »

Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Democrat Martha Coakley will square off against Republican Scott Brown in a special election early next year in Massachusetts for the late Edward Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat. Full Story »

Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. House of Representatives begins debate today on legislation giving regulators power to shrink risky Wall Street firms as the financial services industry steps up a fight to scale back parts of the proposal. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - Congressional negotiators sealed agreement Tuesday night on sweeping spending legislation that boosts housing and heating subsidies but curbs President Barack Obama's requests for aid to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The House of Representatives passed a bill creating an independent commission to review 28 years and billions of dollars spent on drug-fighting programs in Latin America. Full Story »

Martha Coakley won the Democratic primary in the Massachusetts Senate special election, putting her on track to assume the seat long held by the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and become the state's first woman senator. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - Sen. Harry Reid's move to scuttle a fellow Democrat's effort to toughen abortion restrictions in the health care bill was the plain pragmatism of a majority leader who knows where the votes are — and faces a tough re-election next year. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US House of Representatives Tuesday adopted a bill asking the US president to report to Congress on incitement to anti-American violence on television networks in the Middle East. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Senate on Tuesday rejected an anti-abortion amendment to a health care reform bill, splitting the Democrats and complicating the chances of getting a 60-vote majority to pass the measure. Full Story »

The 54-45 roll call Tuesday by which the Senate rejected an effort to stiffen abortion restrictions in the health care bill. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate rejected on Tuesday an attempt to tighten restrictions on abortion coverage in a healthcare overhaul, threatening a crucial Democrat's support for passage of the final bill. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States and Russia are both intent on reaching agreement on a successor to the START I treaty but it must be "ratifiable" by the US Senate, the head of the US military said Tuesday. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - The general in charge of the war in Afghanistan says capturing Osama bin Laden is the ultimate key to defeating the al-Qaida terror network. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - The general in charge of the war in Afghanistan is telling Congress that President Barack Obama's new war strategy is achievable and that combat force levels can be reduced starting in the summer of 2011. Full Story »

The Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee will vote Dec. 17 on Ben S. Bernanke's nomination to a second term as Federal Reserve chairman, likely opening the path to Senate floor consideration of the former Princeton economics professor. Full Story »