Topic - Patrick J. Leahy

• 

  Obama pokes fun during Alfalfa dinner for capital elites

  President Obama told some jokes and poked a little fun at himself as he addressed the Alfalfa Club dinner, an exclusive annual black-tie get-together of some of the capital's movers and shakers.

• 

  Detainee deal could get Obama's veto

  President Obama's senior advisers are recommending he veto a massive defense-policy bill over language governing the treatment and prosecution of terrorism suspects.

• 

  Senators strike deal on interrogations of terrorism suspects

  The top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee broke with President Obama Tuesday and struck a deal with Republicans on the contentious issue of handling and prosecuting terrorism-suspect detainees, clearing the way for the defense-policy bill to be voted on next week.

• 

  Little will on Capitol Hill to alter Constitution

  With no fanfare, the country in August quietly passed a peculiar milestone: The 14,746th day since Congress last proposed a successful amendment to the Constitution, officially becoming the second-longest such dry spell in history and raising questions about when, if ever, the next amendment will pass.

• 

  Senate panel OKs repeal of DOMA on party-line vote

  The Senate Judiciary Committee took the unprecedented step Thursday of voting to repeal a federal law that defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman and allows states to disregard same-sex unions from other states.

• 

  Senate panel OKs repeal of Defense of Marriage Act

  The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to repeal a federal law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, but the legislation lacks the votes for passage in either house.

• Inside Politics

  Senate lawmakers on Thursday put off a much-anticipated debate on a bill to repeal the law that forbids recognition of gay marriage at the federal level.

• 

  Vote on federal marriage law repeal put off

  Lawmakers on Thursday put off a much-anticipated debate on a bill to repeal the law that forbids recognition of gay marriage at the federal level.

• Inside Politics

  The widow of a Florida tabloid photo editor who died in the 2001 anthrax mailings has reached a settlement in her $50 million lawsuit against the U.S. government.

• 

  Senate Dems begin push to repeal federal marriage law

  Senate Democrats next week will begin a push to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law that defines marriage for federal purposes and, to date, has meant states don't have to recognize gay marriages performed in other states.

• 

  Napolitano tells panel 400,000 deported in year

  Homeland Security Secretary Janet A. Napolitano says her department has the resources to deport about 400,000 aliens each year, and the new guidance her department issued will only change the makeup of who gets deported.

• Inside Politics

  Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta says the Pentagon will need to make difficult budget cuts to find more than $450 billion in savings, and the cuts may include lawmakers' pet projects or weapons programs in their regions.

• 

  Hearings for ATF nominee not moving fast or furiously

  Stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee for nearly 11 months, the nomination of veteran ATF agent Andrew Traver to become the new permanent director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has little chance of being scheduled for confirmation hearings anytime soon.

• Obama gets overhaul of patent system for signature

  Congress gave President Obama's drive to promote jobs growth a boost Thursday by presenting him with a major overhaul of the patent system that the president has sought as a means to spur innovation and put more people back to work.

• 

  'Fast and Furious' weapons found at more violent crime scenes

  Weapons purchased during ATF's controversial "Fast and Furious" undercover investigation, which included the sale to "straw buyers" of hundreds of AK-47 assault rifles, have turned up at a dozen violent crime scenes across the Southwest, the Justice Department told a Senate committee.

More Stories →