Sean Lengell

GOP’s rising stars point to future

When Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor addressed an audience at the Republican National Convention four years ago, the setting was a midafternoon ice cream reception - and he wasn't even the main speaker.

August 29, 2008

Giuliani warns of union vote

Republicans are aggressively courting blue-collar votes by adding a plank to their policy platform that demands workers retain the right to unionize through secret-ballot elections. One of the party's iconic law-and-order figures warned on Wednesday that Democratic efforts to change the labor voting system would leave workers vulnerable to corruption and intimidation.

August 28, 2008

Ailing Kennedy ignites DNC with emotion

Leave it to a Kennedy to steal his own show.

August 26, 2008

Clinton urges supporters to back Obama

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton Monday morning tried to dismiss any lingering doubt she doesn't fully support Barack Obama's Democratic presidential nomination, urging the delegates she won during her tough and occasionally contentious primary to back the Illinois senator.

August 25, 2008

GOP senator chides peers

In a rare public display of intraparty frustration, the leader of Senate Republicans' election efforts accused party colleagues Friday of failing to contribute enough money to fight races nationwide.

August 23, 2008

Anti-GOP wave endangers N.H. senator’s re-election

Sen. John E. Sununu is in serious political trouble, and it's largely no fault of his own.

August 21, 2008

GOP builds strength for drilling clash

The Senate Republicans who are trying to force Congress to lift restrictions on offshore drilling say they have 38 senators backing their efforts to force a showdown — one that could shut down the government.

August 18, 2008

Detroit mayor barred from leaving state

A judge Thursday dashed embattled Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's brief hope of attending the Democratic National Convention by barring him from leaving Michigan, just hours after another judge had lifted his travel restrictions.

August 15, 2008

Utah goes to shorter workweek

The weekend comes a day early for most Utah state employees, thanks to a new, cost-saving four-day workweek that is garnering attention from other locales and younger employees eager to improve their quality of life.

August 12, 2008

House GOP raps energy impasse

House Republicans say they will continue to interrupt their summer break this week to hold daily protests at the Capitol in their ongoing push to expand domestic oil drilling, insisting the "American people are with us."

August 11, 2008

Senator critical of AIDS conferees

A leading critic in Congress of government waste says a U.S. delegation attending an international AIDS conference in Mexico City is “wasteful and extravagant spending,” and that the trip's cost should have been spent on health programs here at home.

August 7, 2008

Senate Democrats seek to block Bush

In the Senate, where lawmakers routinely drone for hours and all-night filibusters are the stuff of legends, Tuesday's session could've been timed with a stopwatch.

August 6, 2008

GOP: Lift drilling ban or risk shutdown

The showdown on Capitol Hill over expanding offshore drilling could lead to a threatened government shutdown when Congress returns from its five-week summer break in early September.

August 4, 2008

Lieberman skeptical of Obama drilling stance

Sen. Joe Lieberman said Sunday that Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama's decision to embrace limited offshore drilling was halfhearted and loaded with caveats and he predicted the senator from Illinois would find a reason to change his position again if he had to vote on the issue.

August 4, 2008

Obama accepts offshore drilling

Sen. Barack Obama on Friday withdrew his opposition to additional offshore oil drilling, essentially embracing his rival's energy stance, which is credited in part with pumping up Sen. John McCain's poll numbers.

August 2, 2008

Energy compromise elusive as recess looms

Lawmakers failed again Wednesday to reach a compromise on how to address the rising cost of gasoline, with no deal in sight before Congress adjourns for its five-week summer break on Friday.

July 31, 2008

Stevens indicted in probe of gifts

Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, the longest serving Republican in the Senate, was indicted Tuesday on seven felony counts of concealing more than $250,000 in gifts from an oil services company that lobbied him.

July 30, 2008

Coburn’s spending block rallies Senate GOP

Senate Republicans rallied around Sen. Tom Coburn's crusade against excessive government spending by blocking a package of bills aimed at a variety of social programs, saying Democratic leaders first must address the country's energy problems before Congress leaves for its summer break.

July 29, 2008

Congress sends mortgage bailout to Bush

Congress on Saturday passed a landmark mortgage rescue plan that is expected to help hundreds of thousands of struggling homeowners, but lawmakers remain stalled on how to temper skyrocketing energy prices.

July 27, 2008

Mortgage bailout nears final passage

A landmark housing bill crafted to aid hundreds of thousands homeowners facing foreclosure and to buttress the mortgage market cleared a final procedural hurdle Friday and is expected to get final congressional approval Saturday.

July 26, 2008