As Congress confronts a possible government shutdown, it's also weighing the Trump administration's willingness to simply halt federal spending — even when it's against the law.

The Senate has confirmed former Trump lawyer Emil Bove for a lifetime appointment as a federal appeals court judge.

The Federal Reserve is expected to leave its short-term interest rate unchanged on Wednesday for the fifth straight meeting, a move that will likely underscore the deep divide between how Chair Jerome Powell and President Donald Trump see the economy.

Faith leaders across the U.S. are hoping a bipartisan bill in Congress might finally provide relief to an immigration issue that has been vexing them for more than two years.

The Senate has narrowly voted to begin considering the nomination of former Trump lawyer Emil Bove for a lifetime appointment as a federal appeals court judge.

When House Speaker Mike Johnson gifted to President Donald Trump the gavel used to enact the Republicans' tax breaks and spending bill, it was a memorable moment at the White House.

In Alaska, a public radio station general manager took a moment from a busy day warning her community about a possible tsunami for a special task — sending a text message to Sen. Lisa Murkowski urging her to vote against a measure to strip federal funding of NPR and PBS.

The House has approved President Donald Trump’s request to claw back about $9 billion for public broadcasting and foreign aid.

The Justice Department has fired Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI director James Comey and a prosecutor in the federal cases against Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jeffrey Epstein.

Native American radio stations could face shutdowns if Congress cuts over $1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Senate Republicans have advanced President Donald Trump’s request to cancel some $9 billion in previously approved spending.

The House has passed the massive tax and spending cuts package that President Donald Trump calls “beautiful,” getting it to his desk a day before the July 4 deadline that he had set.

An empty hospital in Williamston, North Carolina, offers an evocative illustration of why Republican Sen. Thom Tillis would buck his party and its leaders to vote down President Trump’s signature domestic policy package.

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska convinced Senate leaders to change their massive tax and spending cuts package to benefit her state and eventually voted for the legislation, ensuring its passage.

The Trump administration is withholding more than $6 billion in federal grants for after-school and summer programs, English language instruction, adult literacy and more.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune says Republicans “got the job done” in passing President Donald Trump’s big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts.

Possible changes to President Donald Trump’s big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts are being considered, though most of the amendments are expected to fail.

Republicans and Democrats on a key Senate panel are challenging the merits of cancelling billions of dollars in spending for foreign aid and public media, as requested by President Donald Trump.

Senate Democrats were shaken to the core after seeing videos of officers aggressively pushing California Sen. Alex Padilla out of a news conference with the Homeland Security secretary and eventually restraining him on the floor outside the room.

The Senate has set an ambitious timeline to pass President Donald Trump’s sweeping legislation to cut taxes and spending.

Only six months into the job, Senate Majority Leader John Thune faces a massive challenge as he tries to quickly pass President Donald Trump’s sprawling tax and spending cuts package.

President Donald Trump wants his “big, beautiful” bill of tax breaks and spending cuts on his desk to be signed into law by Independence Day.

House Republicans are jubilant about muscling through President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax and immigration package by a single vote.

The U.S. Senate will move this week to block California from enforcing a series of vehicle emissions standards that are tougher than the federal government’s, including first-in-the-nation rules phasing out the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035.

President Donald Trump says he is naming Secretary of State Marco Rubio as acting national security adviser to replace Mike Waltz, whom he is nominating as United Nations ambassador.

Senate Republicans have narrowly voted down a Democratic resolution that would have blocked global tariffs announced by Donald Trump earlier this month, giving the president a modest win Wednesday as lawmakers in both parties have remained skeptical of his trade agenda.

Republicans narrowly got their budget plan over the finish line this week.

House Republicans have narrowly approved their budget framework.

House Republicans have abruptly postponed a late evening vote on their budget framework as grave misgivings from conservative GOP lawmakers threw it in flux.

House Speaker Mike Johnson finds himself in a familiar jam, with conservative Republican holdouts stalling action on President Donald Trump’s “big” bill of tax breaks and spending reductions.

The political battle lines are drawn for a debate in Washington and beyond over a Republican budget plan that’s a cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda.

The Trump administration has laid off the entire staff of a $4.1 billion program that helps low-income households nationwide pay for heat.

The Senate has passed a resolution that would thwart President Donald Trump’s ability to impose tariffs on Canada.

The Senate has swiftly approved legislation that would allow the District of Columbia to keep its budget intact.

Democrats in Washington are trying to sound optimistic following Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen's announcement she won't seek reelection in New Hampshire in 2026.

President Donald Trump’s trade war against America’s three biggest trading partners drew immediate retaliation from Mexico, Canada and China.

President Donald Trump’s firing of Gen. CQ Brown Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is drawing mixed reactions on Capitol Hill.

The Trump administration is restoring jobs for dozens of fired National Park Service employees and hiring nearly 3,000 additional seasonal workers, following an uproar over an aggressive plan to downsize the agency.

New FBI Director Kash Patel has told senior officials that he plans to relocate 1,000 employees from Washington to field offices around the country and move an additional 500 to a bureau facility in Huntsville, Alabama.

No longer in charge, Sen. Mitch McConnell has been speaking his mind.

While Democrats have been speaking out against President Donald Trump's federal cuts, Republicans are just beginning to stir.

Vocal vaccine skeptic and activist lawyer Robert F.

President Donald Trump’s most controversial Cabinet nominees have flooded the zone in back-to-back-to-back confirmation hearings.

The most obvious shift from Joe Biden to Donald Trump has been the flood of talking from the White House.

Robert F.

Pete Hegseth has been sworn as the nation’s 29th secretary of defense.

In the early days of President Donald Trump’s second term, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski had openly challenged or rebuked him at least three times.

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

Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, paid $50,000 to the woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017.

The Senate has advanced the nomination of Pete Hegseth as President Donald Trump’s defense secretary.

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.

Some current and former defense leaders and veterans are questioning whether Pete Hegseth would be able to enforce discipline in the ranks if the Senate confirms him as President-elect Donald Trump's defense secretary.

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

The fate of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet is still unclear after Republican senators spent much of December carefully dodging questions.

The Senate has passed legislation to boost Social Security payments for millions of people.

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Defense Department said he had a “wonderful conversation” with Maine Sen. Susan Collins on Wednesday as he still pushing to win enough votes for confirmation and said he will not back down after allegations of excessive drinking and sexual misconduct.

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spent a second day on Capitol Hill meeting privately with Republican senators.

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

President-elect Donald Trump’s allies on Capitol Hill are rallying around Pete Hegseth, Trump’s Pentagon pick.

Former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz's nomination for attorney general is being met with a variety of reactions from Republicans, including cautious reservation, praise and pointed criticism.

Sen. Susan Collins didn’t vote for Donald Trump for president in 2016 or 2020, and the third time will not be the charm.

The Senate will pursue a spending increase next year of about 3.4% for defense and 2.7% increase for non-defense programs under a bipartisan agreement reached by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Senate Republicans have blocked bipartisan legislation that would have outlawed bump stocks after the Supreme Court struck down a ban on the rapid-fire gun accessory.

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

Many Democrats campaigning for the Senate this year say they support suspending the filibuster rule to pass nationwide abortion protections.

Federal law enforcement officials have brought charges against a man accused of creating an illicit marijuana-growing operation off the beaten path in rural Maine.

Linda L.

Lawmakers have introduced a $1.2 trillion spending package that sets the stage for avoiding a partial government shutdown for several key federal agencies this weekend.

Politicians are closing in on the required number of votes needed to pass federal legislation that requires AM radios in every new car.

President Joe Biden has signed into law a package of spending bills passed by the Senate in time to avoid a shutdown of many key federal agencies.

The Senate has approved a $460 billion package of spending bills in time to meet a midnight deadline for avoiding a shutdown of many key federal agencies.

A Virginia man has been arrested on charges that he stormed the U.S. Capitol while wearing a Captain America backpack and stole items from senators’ desks on the Senate floor during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.

Austan Goolsbee, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, suggested that the economy appears to be on what he calls the “golden path,” another term for what economists often term a “soft landing,” in which the Fed would curb inflation without causing a deep recession.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are urging an increasingly divided Congress to immediately send major aid to both Israel and Ukraine.

In tributes to Sen. Dianne Feinstein after her death, her female colleagues talked about her indomitable, fierce intelligence and how she had paved the way for so many women.

The stuffy Senate is now a bit less formal.

The United States is at risk of another damaging government shutdown, potentially as soon as the end of September.

Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a Democratic measure to revive the Equal Rights Amendment, dealing yet another blow to supporters who have pushed for more than five decades to amend the Constitution to prohibit discrimination based on sex.

The Senate has rejected a Republican effort to reverse a Department of Veterans Affairs policy that would expand some abortion services to veterans regardless of state laws, a victory for President Joe Biden and Democrats who say the services are necessary medical care.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin is seeking a third term in battleground Wisconsin.

It’s the first time in history that the four leaders of the two congressional spending committees are women.

The House and the Senate are set to pass an overhaul of the Electoral Count Act, the arcane election law that then-President Donald Trump tried to subvert after his 2020 election defeat.

Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona says she has switched her registration to independent.

Passing legislation to protect same-sex marriages in the Senate was a monthslong effort, building on a decadeslong push.

Legislation that ensures same-sex and interracial marriages are recognized as legal unions appears headed for final approval and President Joe Biden’s signature.

The Senate has passed landmark bipartisan legislation to protect same-sex marriages.

The Senate is set to vote Tuesday on legislation to protect same-sex and interracial marriages, putting Congress one step closer to ensuring that such unions are enshrined in federal law.

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.

Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has been reelected as Republican leader, quashing a challenge from Sen. Rick Scott of Florida.

Legislation to protect same-sex and interracial marriages has crossed a major Senate hurdle, putting Congress on track to take the historic step of ensuring that such unions are enshrined in federal law.

In liberal Rhode Island, Republican Allan Fung stands a chance of flipping a U.S. House seat and possibly helping his party gain control of the chamber.

U.S. Senator Mike Lee has used a debate with his challenger Monday evening to try to draw a distinction between his record and former President Donald Trump's.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell says he will “proudly support” legislation to overhaul rules for certifying presidential elections, bolstering a bipartisan effort to revise a 19th century law and avoid another Jan. 6 insurrection.

The Federal Reserve will have to keep boosting its benchmark interest rate to a point that raises unemployment and gets inflation down from unusually high levels.

Members of Congress have officially objected to the results in four of the last six presidential elections.

House Democrats are voting this week on changes to a 19th century law for certifying presidential elections.

Democrats are punting a vote to protect same-sex and interracial marriages until after the November midterm elections, pulling back just days after Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed to put the Senate on the record on the issue “in the coming weeks.”.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says the Senate will vote on legislation to protect same-sex marriage “in the coming weeks” as a bipartisan group backing the bill is tweaking it to gain Republican support.

When Diane Swonk first attended the Federal Reserve’s annual economic conference in Jackson Hole in the late 1990s, there was a happy hour for women who attended the event.