WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators are ready to offer students a better deal on their college loans this fall, but future classes could see higher interest rates.
The Senate could vote as early as Thursday on a bipartisan compromise that heads off a costly increase for returning students.
14. Student loan deal seems on edge of falling apart - Friday, June 21, 2013
WASHINGTON (AP) — Efforts to keep interest rates on new student loans from doubling appeared to be falling apart Wednesday as the Democratic leader of the Senate declared a bipartisan proposal unacceptable.
15. Lawmakers try to save student loan deal - Friday, June 21, 2013
WASHINGTON (AP) — A handful of senators struggled Thursday to hold together a bipartisan deal to keep student loan rates from doubling on July 1 while their colleagues traded political barbs with little more than a week to go before the deadline.
16. Senate passes farm bill, moving debate to House - Friday, June 7, 2013
WASHINGTON (AP) — The last time Congress passed a farm bill, Democrats had control of the House and the food stamp program was about half the size it is today.
That was five years ago.
Conservatives calling for an overhaul of the domestic food aid program will try to trim the nation's nearly $80 billion grocery bill when the House weighs in on farm legislation in a few weeks. The Senate overwhelmingly voted Monday to expand farm subsidies and make small cuts to food stamps in a five-year, half-trillion dollar measure. But passage in the House isn't expected to be so easy — or so bipartisan.
17. Senate panel ready to OK gun background checks - Friday, March 8, 2013
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are ready to muscle expanded background checks and other gun curbs through a Senate committee, giving President Barack Obama an initial if temporary victory on one of his top priorities.
18. Lawmakers: Obama wooing might break budget logjam - Friday, March 8, 2013
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican lawmakers said Sunday they welcome President Barack Obama's courtship and suggested the fresh engagement between the White House and Congress might help yield solutions to the stubborn budget battle that puts Americans' jobs at risk.
19. Obama presses on with GOP charm offensive - Friday, March 8, 2013
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama pressed on with his Republican charm offensive Thursday, holding a White House lunch with House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan in an effort to soften the ground for potential talks on a long-term deficit reduction deal.
20. Efforts to avoid gov't shutdown move to Senate - Friday, March 1, 2013
WASHINGTON (AP) — Efforts to stave off a late March government shutdown shifted to the Senate after House Republicans swiftly passed legislation to keep federal agencies running, while also easing some of the effects of $85 billion in budget cuts.
21. Critics complain Sandy aid tied to other projects - Friday, January 11, 2013
WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservatives and watchdog groups are mounting a "not-so-fast" campaign against a $50.7 billion Superstorm Sandy aid package that Northeastern governors and lawmakers hope to push through the House this coming week.
22. 2016 politics on display as Congress ends term - Friday, December 28, 2012
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Paul Ryan, the GOP's 2012 vice presidential candidate, voted for the "fiscal cliff" compromise that raised taxes on the wealthiest Americans. Republican Sens. Marco Rubio and Rand Paul voted against it. And Vice President Joe Biden helped broker the deal with GOP leaders in the Senate.
23. Obama, Boehner discuss 'fiscal cliff' stalemate - Friday, December 7, 2012
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner met at the White House to discuss the "fiscal cliff," while rank-and-file Republicans stepped forward with what they called pragmatic ideas to break the stalemate.
24. Jobs bill for vets bogs down in Senate - Friday, September 14, 2012
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans blocked legislation Wednesday that would have established a $1 billion jobs program putting veterans back to work tending to the country's federal lands and bolstering local police and fire departments.
25. Senate panel revives dozens of tax breaks - Friday, August 3, 2012
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate's tax-writing panel voted to renew dozens of tax breaks for businesses like biodiesel and wind energy producers, even as the GOP-controlled House trumpeted symbolic legislation to erase them and create a new tax code with lower rates and fewer special interest tax breaks.
26. Gov't report: Tax cheats getting paid by Medicaid - Friday, July 27, 2012
WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of Medicaid health care service providers still got paid by the government even though they owed hundreds of millions of dollars in federal taxes, congressional investigators say. A legal technicality is making it harder for the IRS to collect.
27. Republicans block confirmation of Oklahoma judge - Friday, July 27, 2012
WASHINGTON (AP) — Carrying out their threat to block appeals court nominees as the fall elections approach, Senate Republicans on Monday blocked confirmation of a U.S. appeals court nominee from Oklahoma despite his bipartisan support.
28. Bipartisan effort leads to Senate OK of farm bill - Friday, June 22, 2012
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Thursday completed a five-year, half-trillion-dollar farm bill that cuts farm subsidies and land conservation spending by about $2 billion a year but largely protects sugar growers and some 46 million food stamp beneficiaries.
29. Tennessee's Cooper, bipartisan group offers alternative to GOP budget - Friday, March 23, 2012
WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan budget plan to cut the deficit by $4 trillion over 10 years with a mix of new tax revenues and spending cuts across the federal budget is headed for a House vote, but it is likely to be rejected by Republicans against higher hikes and Democrats opposed to curbs on Medicare and Social Security benefits.
30. Insider trading ban sent to White House - Friday, March 23, 2012
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Thursday sent President Barack Obama a scaled-down bill to explicitly ban members of Congress, the president and thousands of other federal workers from profiting from nonpublic information learned on the job.
31. FACT CHECK: GOP lawmakers spin funding tall tales - Friday, October 28, 2011
WASHINGTON (AP) — It's an outrageous tale: The federal government spends one out of every $10 in transportation aid on wasteful projects such as refurbishing a giant roadside coffee pot and constructing turtle tunnels.
32. Senator blocks pipeline safety bill on principle - Friday, September 23, 2011
WASHINGTON (AP) — A senator who opposes federal regulation on philosophical grounds is single-handedly blocking legislation that would strengthen safety rules for oil and gas pipelines, a bill that even the pipeline industry and companies in his own state support.
33. Senate extends aviation, highway programs - Friday, September 16, 2011
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate passed a bill Thursday temporarily extending federal aviation and highway programs, averting another shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration, after a Republican senator abruptly dropped his campaign to block passage of the measure.
34. Obama to sign patent overhaul bill - Friday, September 16, 2011
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will sign the America Invents Act on Friday, the first significant change in patent law since 1952.
The president will travel to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Va., for the ceremony. He'll also watch demonstrations of several student projects.
35. Senate procedural snarl could shutdown FAA again - Friday, September 9, 2011
WASHINGTON (AP) — A single Republican senator's objections plus a procedural snarl could force another partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration at the end of this week, potentially putting thousands of workers out of jobs and depriving the government of $30 million a day in uncollected airline ticket taxes.
36. Senate passes bill to overhaul patent system - Friday, September 9, 2011
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress gave President Barack 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.
37. GOP: Rural air subsidy must be cut to Jackson, other cities - Friday, August 19, 2011
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Republicans are warning Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood he must cut subsidies for air service to 10 rural communities unless he can show it would be too difficult for residents to reach a larger airport.
38. Charter, cargo airlines target pilot safety rule - Friday, August 12, 2011
WASHINGTON (AP) — Amid fierce opposition from charter and cargo airlines, as well as alarms raised by Pentagon officials, the Obama administration has delayed new safety rules aimed at preventing airline pilots from becoming so exhausted that they make dangerous mistakes.
39. Senate to take up bill to end partial FAA shutdown - Friday, August 5, 2011
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is poised to pass legislation ending a two-week partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration that has cost the government about $400 million in uncollected airline ticket taxes and idled thousands of workers.
40. Defense facing cuts up to $850 billion over decade - Friday, July 29, 2011
WASHINGTON (AP) — A military fighting three wars is staring down budget cuts of up to $850 billion over a decade, some of the deepest reductions since the end of the Cold War.
Yet under the compromise struck by President Barack Obama and congressional leaders to avert the nation's first-ever financial default, the near-term impact on the troops, aircraft, ships and weapons may be far less onerous than Republicans and Democrats fear.
41. Coburn proposes $9 trillion deficit cut measure - Friday, July 15, 2011
WASHINGTON (AP) — One of the Senate's staunchest budget-cutters has unveiled a massive plan to reduce the deficit by $9 trillion over the coming decade.
Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn is proposing to gradually raise the age at which people can claim their full Social Security benefits to 70 and cut farm subsidies and the popular Medicare program. He also proposes that some veterans pay more for medical care and prescription drugs.