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U.S. Democratic Party

Hagel pick test of Senate on presidential choices
In the middle of a bitter fight over a Republican president's nominee for defense secretary, a former White House occupant pleaded with senators to ...
GOP eyes new election laws
After back-to-back presidential losses, Republicans in key states want to change the rules to make it easier for them to win. From Wisconsin to ...
House Democrats want to repeal debt ceiling
House Democrats are pushing legislation to repeal the federal debt ceiling, saying the borrowing limit has no practical purpose and has come to be ...
House approves $50.5 billion in Sandy aid
More than 10 weeks after Superstorm Sandy brutalized parts of the heavily populated Northeast, the House approved $50.5 billion in emergency relief ...
Shifting landscape as Brown mulls Mass. Senate run
Scott Brown was a little-known Republican state senator who shocked Massachusetts Democrats three years ago by winning a U.S. Senate seat in a special ...
Sen. Jay Rockefeller to retire after 5 terms
After nearly three decades in the U.S. Senate, Democrat Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia said Friday he was ready to retire, calling his unrelenting ...
White House says 'no backup plan' to debt ceiling
The White House is dismissing suggestions to sidestep Congress to meet the nation's debt obligations, declaring that it is Congress' responsibility ...
New day, new lawmakers, same Ill. pension fight
New day. New lawmakers. Same old pension-reform dispute. Illinois legislators failed to deliver a solution Tuesday to a ballooning, $96 billion ...
Wisconsin Assembly's all-nighters targeted
To young people, pulling an all-nighter usually involves lots of caffeine and staying up to study. To the Wisconsin state Assembly, it's an ...
Column: In Washington, compromise's embers flicker
Every election year, they become the popular ones, the celebrities with the power to hire or fire politicians. Then, when actual governing begins, ...
Gay marriage remains a tough sell in Illinois
The stalling of Illinois' gay-marriage push — at least for now — shows the difficulty of approving legislation to legalize it, even with a nudge from ...
House adopts GOP rules after partisan debate
The House on Thursday adopted Republican-written rules for the chamber that reflect the party's efforts to cut spending, stop government regulations ...
Face of the new Congress
Politically, the 113th Congress that was sworn in Thursday won't be much of a change from the less-than-stellar 112th Congress it replaces: Democrats ...
Dems want House vote on Senate-passed 'cliff' deal
House Democratic leaders are pressing Speaker John Boehner to let the House vote on the Senate-approved bipartisan compromise that would avert much ...
Senate approves fiscal cliff legislation 89-8
Hours past a self-imposed deadline for action, the Senate passed legislation early New Year's Day to neutralize a fiscal cliff combination of ...
Doctors: Blood clot located in Clinton's head
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton developed a blood clot in her head but did not suffer a stroke or neurological damage, her doctors said ...
Fiscal 'cliff' deal proving elusive
A Capitol Hill deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" was proving elusive Sunday as a deadline to avert tax hikes on virtually every American worker and ...
GOP governors walk balance beam on health law
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who made a fortune as a health care executive, long opposed President Barack Obama's remake of the health insurance market.
Over the fiscal cliff: Soft or hard landing?
Efforts to save the nation from going over a year-end "fiscal cliff" were still in disarray as lawmakers returned to the Capitol to confront the ...
Senate approves $60.4 billion Sandy aid bill
The Senate on Friday approved a $60.4 billion emergency spending aid package for victims of Hurricane Sandy that had been backed by Senate Democrats.
Biden swears in Schatz as new senator for Hawaii
Brian Schatz symbolized a generational change in Hawaii's Senate delegation, taking the hand of his new colleague, 88-year-old Sen. Daniel Akaka, ...
In polarized nation, Iowa finds itself oddly split
Republicans and Democrats in state capitals across the country are talking ambitiously about what they'll do next year with the unchecked power they ...
Japan's Cabinet resigns to make way for new PM
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's Cabinet resigned Wednesday to clear the way for a vote in parliament to formally install the nation's new leader, ...
Some urge Boehner: let Dems pass fiscal cliff bill
In case the public weren't frustrated enough over Congress' failure to resolve the "fiscal cliff," consider this: lawmakers probably could enact a ...