The Senate has confirmed Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary, putting the South Dakota governor in charge of a sprawling agency that is essential to national security and President Donald Trump’s plans to clamp down on illegal immigration.

The Senate has confirmed Pete Hegseth as the nation’s defense secretary in a dramatic late-night vote.

President Donald Trump is threatening to withhold federal disaster aid for wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles unless California leaders change the state’s approach on its management of water.

President Donald Trump unleashed an unprecedented barrage of executive orders after taking office this week.

Many Republicans on Capitol Hill do not agree with President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon and commute sentences for more than 1,500 people charged with crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

President Donald Trump has defended his decision to pardon people convicted of assaulting police officers during the attack on the Capitol and suggests there could be a place in U.S. politics for the Proud Boys extremist group, quickly evoking some of the controversies of his first term.

A president’s inaugural address is a time-honored spectacle: A makeshift grandstand is erected next to the Capitol and hundreds of thousands people line the National Mall.

The Senate has passed a bill that would require federal authorities to detain migrants accused of theft and violent crimes.

The Senate has confirmed Marco Rubio as secretary of state, giving President Donald Trump the first member of his Cabinet.

When Donald Trump arrived in Washington in 2017 on the eve of his first inauguration, he was a stranger to most in town.

The Senate is set for an Inauguration Day vote on legislation that would require federal authorities to detain migrants accused of theft and violent crimes.

One by one, President-elect Donald Trump's hoped-for Cabinet is falling into place.

Pete Hegseth vows to bring “warrior culture’” to the military if confirmed as President-elect Donald Trump’s defense secretary pick.

Newly in the minority, Democrats voted with Republicans on Thursday to advance legislation that would require federal authorities to detain unauthorized immigrants who have been accused of certain crimes — signaling that they will try and find spots to work with President-elect Donald Trump while simultaneously trying to block much of his agenda.

President-elect Donald Trump has raised more than $170 million for his upcoming inauguration, a record amount as tech executives and big donors have eagerly written large checks.

President-elect Donald Trump emerged from a lengthy Capitol Hill meeting with Senate Republicans with no set strategy for tackling his legislative priorities.

Some lawmakers emotionally recalled the violence.

President Joe Biden is set to sign into law a measure that boosts Social Security payments for current and former public employees.

Mike Johnson was reelected as House speaker on a single vote.

New Senate Majority Leader John Thune is kicking off the new session with a promise to preserve the filibuster, saying in his first floor speech as leader that his priority will be to “ensure the Senate stays the Senate.”.

Republican Mike Johnson has narrowly won reelection to the House speakership on a dramatic first-ballot vote, overcoming hard-right GOP holdouts in a tense standoff.

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense is expected to face his first public questioning from U.S. senators on Jan. 14.

Robert F.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is still suffering from the effects of a fall in the Senate earlier this week and is missing votes on Thursday due to leg stiffness, according to his office.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell fell and sprained his wrist while walking out of a GOP luncheon on Tuesday, the latest in a series of medical incidents for him in recent years.

As California’s newest senator, Democrat Adam Schiff says he’s not going to shy away from familiar territory — opposing Donald Trump when he feels it is necessary.

Nearly 100 former senior U.S. diplomats and intelligence and national security officials have asked Senate leaders to schedule closed-door hearings to allow for a full review of the government’s files on former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

President-elect Donald Trump has dialed in to what was described as a “love fest” with Senate Republicans.

Senate Democrats reelected Chuck Schumer as party leader on Tuesday as the party moves into a deeply uncertain time, with no real consensus on a strategy as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Washington Commanders controlling owner Josh Harris have met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill as efforts push forward to secure access to the RFK Stadium site in the District of Columbia.

Sen. Mitch McConnell says he will lead a subcommittee overseeing defense spending as he carves out new roles once he relinquishes his long-running post as Senate Republican leader.

As President-elect Donald Trump digs in on his pick of Matt Gaetz for attorney general, Republican senators are divided over how much information they will demand to move his confirmation — and how much to push back on Trump as he demands that they quickly rubber stamp his Cabinet once he takes office in January.

After a resounding election victory, President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans say they have a mandate to govern.

Just hours after Republican Sen. John Thune was elected as the incoming Senate majority leader, President-elect Donald Trump presented him with one of his first tests — an announcement that he intends to nominate House Republican Matt Gaetz as attorney general.

Cornyn has for years signaled he wanted to succeed his close ally GOP leader Mitch McConnell. He lost in a vote decided by the Republican members of the Senate.

It was the first seriously contested Senate Republican leadership election in decades.

Sen. John Thune has won an internal election among Republican senators to become the chamber’s next majority leader.

Days before Senate Republicans pick their new leader, President-elect Donald Trump is pressuring the candidates to change Senate rules and give him more power to appoint unconfirmed nominees.

House Republican leaders are projecting confidence that they will keep control of the U.S. House.

Senate Republicans vying to replace longtime leader Mitch McConnell have been crossing the country to campaign and fundraise for colleagues, making their final arguments before an important upcoming Senate vote.

Sen. John Thune of South Dakota is competing intensely to become the next Republican leader in the Senate.

Republicans have blocked for a second time this year legislation to establish a nationwide right to in vitro fertilization, arguing that the vote is an election-year stunt after Democrats forced a vote on the issue.

Senate Republicans have blocked legislation designed to protect women’s access to contraception.

South Dakota Republicans’ tug-of-war over their party identity continues in Tuesday’s election, with district-level primaries the main event.

Florida Sen. Rick Scott says he will run for Senate Republican leader when Mitch McConnell steps down from the post, becoming the third Republican in the race.

House impeachment managers have walked two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas across the Capitol to the Senate, forcing senators to convene a trial.

Speaker Mike Johnson will not send the House’s articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate this week as previously planned.

Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso says he'll run for the No. 2 spot in the Senate Republican conference after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell leaves at the end of the year.

South Dakota Sen. John Thune is entering the race to be the next Republican leader of the U.S. Senate after Sen. Mitch McConnell steps away from the post in November.

The flow of millions of small parcels into the U.S. from China thanks to the explosive growth of online shopping has caught the attention of Congress.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn has informed his colleagues that he intends to run for Senate Republican leader.

Congress has ended the threat of a government shutdown until after the holidays.

Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces a political standoff when the House resumes this week.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell appeared to briefly freeze up and was unable to answer a question from a reporter at an event in Kentucky on Wednesday.

Congress responded to the fiery train derailment in eastern Ohio earlier this year with bipartisan alarm at railroad crashes causing potential disasters.

Congress is trying to figure out how best to respond to the abrupt failure of two U.S. banks.

The office of Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman says he has checked himself into the hospital for clinical depression.

Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman is in Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to seek treatment for clinical depression.

After disappointing results in this year's elections, Republicans are reevaluating their antipathy to mail voting.

Donald Trump is betting he can win his way back to the White House by reviving the outsider appeal that fueled his success in 2016.

Republicans are engaged in a round of finger-pointing as both parties sift through the results of Democrats’ stronger-than-expected showing in the midterm elections.

Former President Donald Trump has launched another run for the presidency, promising supporters he will “make America great and glorious again.”.

Former President Donald Trump is moving forward with his planned Tuesday announcement, pressing on with a third presidential run.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem described the U.S. border with Mexico as a “war zone” last year when she sent dozens of state National Guard troops there.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell says he believes his party now has a 50-50 shot of getting the chamber back less than six weeks away from the midterm elections.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham has introduced a bill calling for a nationwide abortion ban.

Republicans see inflation, taxes and immigration as Democratic weak spots worth attacking in the upcoming battle over an economic package the Democrats want to push through the Senate.

After 13 years, at least three crashes, dozens of scams and Ponzi schemes and hundreds of billions of dollars made and evaporated, cryptocurrencies finally have the full attention of Congress.

One month into his presidency, Joe Biden made clear his distaste for even naming the man he'd ousted from the Oval Office.

The Senate has unexpectedly launched a new push to protect same-sex marriage in federal law.

President Joe Biden signed legislation Thursday meant to make shipping goods across oceans cheaper.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has won the Republican primary for another term, defeating a former legislative leader who accused her of using the office to mount a 2024 White House bid.

Primary elections in seven states Tuesday will set the stage for U.S. House and Senate battles this fall that will play into control of Congress.

The gunman who killed 19 elementary school children and two teachers in Texas added to the state's grim recent history of mass shootings.

Final congressional approval of a $40 billion Ukraine aid bill seems certain within days.

Lawmakers are working toward a compromise on President Joe Biden’s $33 billion Ukraine aid request that they hope to have ready as soon as next week.

A Senate hearing on Wednesday is likely to produce fireworks as Republicans and Democrats square off over the role that foundations and nonprofits are playing in elections.

A compromise $10 billion measure buttressing the government’s COVID-19 defenses has stalled in the Senate.

Legislation punishing Russia for the war in Ukraine is finally getting a vote in the U.S. Senate.

Republicans have blocked a Democratic attempt to begin Senate debate on a $10 billion COVID-19 compromise that is just a day old.

Congressional leaders have reached a bipartisan deal to provide $13.6 billion to help Ukraine fend off its invasion by Russia and assist European allies coping with the continent's worst refugee crisis since World War II.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says proposed U.S. aid for Ukraine and its European allies has grown beyond $12 billion.

Senate Democrats and Republicans each want to flash election-year signals that they’re helping families struggling with rising costs and the two-year-old pandemic.

In a story published Feb. 10, 2022, The Associated Press reported that U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker’s therapist, Jerry Mungadze, holds a doctorate in philosophy.

Voting legislation that Democrats and civil rights groups argue is vital for protecting democracy has collapsed.

U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota has repeatedly made it clear that former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election in a fair process.

Democrats are mounting an impassioned bid to overhaul Senate rules that stand in the way of their sweeping voting legislation.

U.S. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota is seeking reelection to a fourth term in 2022.

South Dakota political candidates are revving into full campaign mode this week, with one big exception — Republican Sen. John Thune.

As President Joe Biden announces two more ambassador nominees, the White House and Democrats are warning that maneuvering by some Senate Republicans to block all but a small fraction of Biden’s diplomatic and other national security appointees is doing serious harm to U.S. diplomatic efforts around the globe.

It’s one of the most far-reaching of all the federal aid programs launched during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says he will not again help Democrats extend the government’s borrowing authority.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is looking to speed up consideration of a nearly $1 trillion bipartisan national infrastructure package.

The Senate has advanced a roughly $1 trillion infrastructure plan with a bipartisan group of senators helping it clear one more hurdle on Friday.

President Joe Biden has leapt back into the Senate’s up-and-down efforts to clinch a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure deal.

Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is known for doing the unthinkable in Washington — spending time with Republicans.

Congressional bargainers say they’ve agreed to a bipartisan framework for overhauling policing procedures.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will confer with White House officials on next steps for President Joe Biden’s $4 trillion infrastructure plans.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is providing assurances to Congress the recent jump in inflation is being watched very closely by the Biden administration, but said again that such increases appear temporary.

Some lawmakers are trying to stop 144 American cities from losing their designations as “metropolitan areas.”.