JAMES MCGOVERN

A procedural vote Wednesday in the House showed unified Republican support in moving to oust Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Lawmakers no longer have to walk through metal detectors before gaining access to the House floor.

Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy is introducing a proposed amendment to the $1.7 trillion dollar spending bill that would bar the Department of Justice from using its funds to enforce the Respect for Marriage Act.

A delegation of at least three U.S. lawmakers has visited Havana and met with Cuba’s government this week

Congress is moving urgently to head off the looming U.S. rail strike.

A tropic storm and absences of VIP guests are casting a shadow over a financial conference meant to help Hong Kong restore its image as a financial hub and destination for business travel.

President Joe Biden has signed into law a bill that finances the federal government through mid-December and provides another infusion of military and economic aid to Ukraine.

President Joe Biden sought out a deceased congresswoman during his remarks at a hunger conference Wednesday.

Guatemalan officials have arrested a prominent newspaper editor who has overseen investigations into corruption.

President Joe Biden is vowing to help American farmers try to ease a global spike in food prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The House has approved a resolution that will pave the way for letting congressional staff join a union and engage in collective bargaining.

The House has emphatically approved a fresh $40 billion Ukraine aid package that beefs up President Joe Biden’s initial request.

A top-level U.S. congressional delegation led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is in Poland after a surprise weekend visit to Ukraine undertaken in extraordinary secrecy.

Three dozen House Democrats say Saudi Arabia is being a bad strategic partner.

Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews before flying to Brussels for meetings with NATO and G7 ministers, Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Russia's attrocities in Bucha were "a deliberate campaign to kill, to torture, to rape." (April 5)

The House has approved a massive spending bill anchored by $13.6 billion for battered Ukraine and its European allies.

Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, one of former President Donald Trump’s closest allies in Congress, has rejected a request for an interview by the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

The House has delivered its first formal response to Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert's anti-Muslim remarks by passing a bill to tackle Islamophobia worldwide.

The Pentagon will increase housing payments for troops in key areas and look into ways to combat hunger across the force,.

It’s a hidden crisis that's existed for years inside one of the most well-funded institutions on the planet and has only worsened during the coronavirus pandemic.

Many progressives have started lining up behind an emerging social and environment bill that’s neither as big nor as bold as they’d wanted.

With only hours to spare, President Joe Biden signed legislation to avoid a partial federal shutdown and keep the government funded through Dec. 3.

Congressional Democrats are fighting over trillions of dollars, their paramount policy goals and perhaps their political fate.

Several House Democrats have called on House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy to apologize to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or resign after audio surfaced of him saying at a fundraiser over the weekend that it would be “hard not to hit her” with a gavel if he’s sworn in as speaker after the 2022 midterm elections.

FILE - In this Feb. 4, 2021, file photo, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. One problem in resuming fully in-person operations at the Capitol is the lack of vaccinations for thousands of staff to the 435 House members. Give me a break.”It’s clear that Democrats are more emotionally spent than House Republicans, who bolstered their ranks in the last election despite Trump's loss. In February, the House voted to remove Greene from her committee assignments because of her lengthy history of outrageous social media posts and other actions. AdWhile security fencing is set to be removed from the Capitol, metal detectors remain stationed outside the House chamber after some Republican lawmakers pledged to bring their firearms onto the House floor.

Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – Senate leaders and moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin struck a deal late Friday over emergency jobless benefits, breaking a logjam that had stalled the party's showpiece $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill. AdMore significantly, the jobless benefits agreement suggested it was just a matter of time until the Senate passes the bill. The House approved a relief bill last weekend that included $400 weekly jobless benefits — on top of regular state payments — through August. Republicans criticized the overall relief bill as a liberal spend-fest that ignores that growing numbers of vaccinations and signs of a stirring economy suggest that the twin crises are easing. AdIn another late bargain that satisfied moderates, Biden and Senate Democrats agreed Wednesday to make some higher earners ineligible for the direct checks to individuals.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)WASHINGTON – A fiercely divided House tossed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene off both her committees Thursday, an unprecedented punishment that Democrats said she’d earned by spreading hateful and violent conspiracy theories. Though Trump left the White House two week ago, his devoted followers are numerous among the party’s voters, and he and Greene are allies. Even social media stars like Greene could find it harder to define themselves without the spotlights that committees provide. Thune said House Republicans needed to issue a “really strong” rebuke of Greene’s conspiratorial formulations. The House resolution punishing Greene was barely over a page.

Whenever it starts, the impeachment trial will force a further reckoning for the Republican Party and the senators who largely stood by Trump throughout his presidency and allowed him to spread false attacks against the 2020 election. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is open to considering impeachment, having told associates he is done with Trump, but he has not signaled how he would vote. At least four Republican senators have publicly expressed concerns about Trump’s actions, but others have signaled their preference to move on. Under Senate procedure, the trial is to start soon after the House delivers the article of impeachment. After Trump’s first impeachment, in 2019, she withheld the articles for some time to set the stage for the Senate action.

Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. Minutes later, Pence was taken from the Senate chamber to a secret location and police announced the lockdown of the Capitol. Even before the mob reached sealed doors of the House chamber, Capitol Police pulled Pelosi away from the podium, she told “60 Minutes.”“I said, ‘No, I want to be here,’”she said. Back in the House chamber, a woman in the balcony was seen and heard screaming. When they breached the abandoned Senate chamber, they milled around, rummaged through papers, sat at desks and took videos and pictures.

Minutes later, Pence was taken from the Senate chamber to a secret location and police announced the lockdown of the Capitol. Even before the mob reached sealed doors of the House chamber, Capitol Police pulled Pelosi away from the podium, she told “60 Minutes.”“I said, ‘No, I want to be here,’”she said. Back in the House chamber, a woman in the balcony was seen and heard screaming. When they breached the abandoned Senate chamber, they milled around, rummaged through papers, sat at desks and took videos and pictures. These domestic terrorists were in the People’s House, desecrating the People’s House, destroying the People’s House.”___Associated Press writers Dustin Weaver in Washington and Michael Casey in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.

The rules changes come as Democrats hold a bare majority in the House of fewer than a half-dozen seats, significantly smaller than over the past two years. Also, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is beginning what promises to be her fourth and final term as leader of the chamber. Understanding the bundle of changes requires a dive into the arcane world of House rules and parliamentary maneuvering. The Democratic-imposed rules continue a years-long trend of eroding the powers of the House minority through revisions enacted every two years. “It is all designed to take away the voice of 48 percent of this House chamber,” said Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La.

WASHINGTON – There's little doubt that Nancy Pelosi will be reelected House speaker when the new Congress convenes Sunday. It could take a high-wire act for her to get there, largely thanks to the pandemic. “Yeah, I do,” Pelosi told a reporter this week when asked if she had the votes wrapped up. Miller-Meeks is certain to vote against Pelosi to be speaker. “It’s extraordinarily tricky” for Pelosi, said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., an 18-year congressional veteran.

WASHINGTON – There's little doubt that Nancy Pelosi will be reelected House speaker when the new Congress convenes Sunday. It could take a high-wire act for her to get there, largely thanks to the pandemic. “Yeah, I do,” Pelosi told a reporter this week when asked if she had the votes wrapped up. Miller-Meeks is certain to vote against Pelosi to be speaker. “It’s extraordinarily tricky” for Pelosi, said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., an 18-year congressional veteran.

(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)WASHINGTON – Congress passed a $900 billion pandemic relief package that would finally deliver long-sought cash to businesses and individuals and resources to vaccinate a nation confronting a frightening surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths. The bill approved Monday night went to President Donald Trump for his signature, which was expected in the coming days. The relief package, unveiled Monday afternoon, sped through the House and Senate in a matter of hours. The bill combines coronavirus-fighting funds with financial relief for individuals and businesses. Democrats and Senate Republicans prevailed in a bid to use bookkeeping maneuvers to squeeze $12.5 billion more for domestic programs into the legislation.

(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)WASHINGTON – The $900 billion pandemic relief package that was rushed through Congress Monday created a familiar year-end conundrum for lawmakers: It was a bill too big to fail, and also too big to read. The Senate Historical Office says it's the longest bill they could find record of passing Congress. The bill was released at 2 p.m., just hours before the House and Senate began voting on it. Also in the bill: hundreds of unrelated legislative items negotiated by leadership to win support from various constituencies. “Members of Congress need to see & read the bills we are expected to vote on.

FILE - In this Dec. 3, 2018, file photo, people line up at the Artux City Vocational Skills Education Training Service Center at the Kunshan Industrial Park in Artux in western China's Xinjiang region. The Associated Press has found that the Chinese government is carrying out a birth control program aimed at Uighurs, Kazakhs and other largely Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. Chinas repression in Tibet, the status of the exiled Dali Lama, and its treatment of ethnic minorities spurred violent protests ahead of Beijings 2008 Olympics. China is host to the 2022 Winter Olympics with rumblings of a boycott and calls to remove the games from Beijing because of widespread human rights violations. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)WASHINGTON – For the second time in two weeks, the House on Wednesday approved a bill aimed at cracking down on U.S. imports of goods made with the forced labor of detained ethnic minorities in China. Its passage follows approval last week of a bill aimed at barring U.S. imports of goods produced in the vast Xinjiang region of northwestern China on the presumption that they were likely made with forced labor. “If America does not speak out for human rights in China because of commercial interest, we lose all moral authority to speak about human rights anywhere in the world,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a floor speech last week. While the U.S. has long banned imports made with forced labor, traditional human rights monitoring efforts are thwarted in tightly controlled regions such as in northwestern China, Wexton and other lawmakers said. It calls the camps vocational training centers and denies allegations by U.S. officials and human rights groups that the camps amount to modern slavery.

WASHINGTON – House Democrats are going back to the drawing board on a huge COVID-19 relief bill, paring back the measure in an attempt to jump-start negotiations with the Trump administration. The Democratic-controlled chamber could also pass the $2 trillion-plus measure next week if talks fall through to demonstrate that the party isn't giving up on passing virus relief before the election. The chamber passed a $3.4 trillion rescue measure in May but Republicans dismissed the measure as bloated and unrealistic. Republicans reacted coolly, especially at the prospect of a partisan floor vote if the effort doesn't spark constructive talks. Thursday's developments come as moderate “front line" Democrats in competitive reelection races have been pressing leaders like Pelosi to become more flexible.

WASHINGTON – A bipartisan bill aimed at keeping goods out of the U.S. that are made with the forced labor of detained ethnic minorities in China passed overwhelmingly Tuesday in the House of Representatives despite concerns about the potential effects on global commerce. The House voted 406-3 to declare that any goods produced in the vast Xinjiang region of northwestern China are presumptively made with the forced labor of detained Uighurs and other ethnic minorities, and therefore banned from being imported to the U.S. Imports made with forced labor have been banned since 1930 to ensure fair trade. The bill passed Tuesday would go further, shifting the burden to any company that operates in Xinjiang or buys goods from there to prove their goods are not tainted. Republicans and Democrats have been vocal in their condemnation of China over the treatment of Uighurs and other ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region.

To mark Wednesday's history-making moment, House Republicans sued to stop the majority party from going ahead. Democrats have pushed a $3 trillion-plus measure through the House, but negotiations with the GOP-controlled Senate and White House have yet to begin. Senate Republicans are divided on the next steps and are wary of another round of negotiations where Democrats and the White House call the shots. The new proxy vote system was pushed so the House could work from home, as many other Americans are doing. Approved by House Democrats earlier this month, it allows a lawmaker to formally ask a colleague to vote on his or her behalf.

From now on, lawmakers will be allowed to cast House floor votes by proxy without being present as the Constitution requires. A single lawmaker can carry 10 proxy votes to the chamber. House lawmakers will be able to draft bills, conduct oversight and even issue subpoenas from the comfort of their homes. But Republicans warn there will be legal challenges to legislation passed during this period, questioning the constitutional legitimacy of proxy votes. Proxy votes had been allowed in committees, but that ended decades ago.

The House approved Friday a package of historic rules changes so Congress can keep functioning even while it's partly closed. Under the new rules, House lawmakers will no longer be required to travel to Washington to participate in floor votes. House lawmakers will be able to draft bills, conduct oversight and even issue subpoenas from the comfort of their homes. A key Trump ally, McCarthy argues if other Americans are at work, Congress should be, too. But Republicans warn there will be legal challenges to legislation passed during this period, questioning the constitutional legitimacy of proxy votes.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives has slowed the advancing of its bill to address the coronavirus outbreak on Thursday to consider proposals made by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. But at the start of a committee meeting on Thursday, he said they had not heard from President Donald Trumps administration. As the meeting progressed, he said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had talked to Mnuchin and lawmakers needed to pause to review his suggestions. Pelosi had said on Thursday that the Democrats sweeping bill to address the coronavirus outbreak would move forward, and that lawmakers were having ongoing conversations with the Republican administration. The top Republican on the Rules Committee, Tom Cole, had said that the bill, as written, would probably not make it to Trump to sign into law.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives has slowed the advancing of its bill to address the coronavirus outbreak on Thursday to consider proposals made by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. But at the start of a committee meeting on Thursday, he said they had not heard from President Donald Trumps administration. As the meeting progressed, he said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had talked to Mnuchin and lawmakers needed to pause to review his suggestions. Pelosi had said on Thursday that the Democrats sweeping bill to address the coronavirus outbreak would move forward, and that lawmakers were having ongoing conversations with the Republican administration. The top Republican on the Rules Committee, Tom Cole, had said that the bill, as written, would probably not make it to Trump to sign into law.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019. House Democrats on Tuesday released the text of a resolution outlining the procedures for conducting the impeachment probe into President Donald Trump. The eight-page resolution, submitted Tuesday by Rules Committee Chairman James McGovern, D-Mass., directs Democrat-led House panels to "continue their ongoing investigations" as part of the inquiry into "whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach" Trump. Read the full resolution here. Please check back for updates.