Legislative budget talks blew up Friday, as the House, the Senate and Gov. Ron DeSantis tangle over tax cuts.

Senators have confirmed a veteran of U.S.-Asian engagement and security as the State Department’s second-ranking diplomat.

It’s a big year for congressional elections, and already it’s known there will be some attrition with candidates who won’t mount reelection bids in 2024.

A federal judge has rejected a request from Oregon Republican state senators who boycotted the Legislature to be allowed on the ballot after their terms end.

Five women state senators from South Carolina who formed a bipartisan coalition to filibuster a near-total abortion ban in their state have been chosen to receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award this year.

A group of Democratic senators is asking the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to take action against medical credit cards such as CareCredit, saying the cards’ deferred interest features are confusing and often lead to consumers paying high interest rates after a promotional period has ended.

California lawmakers have voted to make vasectomies cheaper for men.

A bipartisan group of senators is eyeing an infrastructure deal with $579 billion in new spending as part of a $1 trillion total package.

The final vote in former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial was vastly different than the first vote in 2020, when Senators voted down party lines, nearly 50/50. In the second trial in early February, seven Republican Senators voted to find Trump guilty, still not nearly enough to reach the two-thirds majority necessary for conviction but still far more than in 2020. [TRENDING: HOA charges family $927 for trash on curb | Doctor faces hate crime charge in social distancing attack | Mandatory vaccines for first responders?] “Remember, two of those seven aren’t running for re-election, one is up in 2022,” Clark said. Ad“I think the Republican Party is skewing older and losing voters, we’ve seen this since the election, where tens of thousands of Republicans have switched their registration to Democratic or Independent,” Clark said.

The duo were the architects of the $1.8 trillion CARES Act, the landmark relief bill passed in March. Here are the top issues for the end-stage COVID-19 relief talks. ___JOBLESS BENEFITSThe CARES Act created a $600 per-week bonus COVID-19 unemployment benefit that sustained household incomes and consumer demand during the springtime shutdowns. House Democrats support the idea, but it is unpopular with many Senate Republicans and was left out of a scaled-back Senate GOP plan. ___LIABILITY SHIELDBusinesses reopening during the pandemic have for months been seeking a shield against lawsuits claiming negligence for COVID-19 outbreaks.

I think we’re both interested in getting an outcome, both on the omnibus and on a coronavirus package,” McConnell said. Some conservatives, including Republicans from COVID hotspots like North Dakota and Iowa, said they were comfortable with an aid package carrying the almost $1 trillion price tag. Added Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.: “There’s a bipartisan package for $908 billion that will really help people." Biden is supporting an additional aid package that's as large as possible now. Any relief package would be attached to a $1.4 trillion year-end spending bill required to avert a government shutdown next weekend.

Biden said the developing aid package "wouldn’t be the answer, but it would be the immediate help for a lot of things.” He wants a relief bill to pass Congress now, with more aid to come next year. He has acknowledged that another infusion of aid to states and local governments, a key Pelosi demand, probably will pass eventually. His top deputy, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said GOP leaders might agree to merging the bipartisan proposal with McConnell's bill. Any relief package would be attached to a $1.4 trillion year-end spending bill required to avert a government shutdown next weekend. Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin struggled over a relief bill for weeks before the November election, discussing legislation of up to $2 trillion.