STENY HOYER

“It is crucial to me that any proposal in Congress to decolonize Puerto Rico be informed and led by Puerto Ricans,” said Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, which oversees affairs in U.S. territories. The proposal would commit Congress to accept Puerto Rico into the United States as the 51st state if voters on the island approved it. “For far too long, the people of Puerto Rico have been excluded from the full promise of American democracy and self-determination that our nation has always championed,” the Maryland Democrat said. Puerto Rico Gov. ___Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

“It is crucial to me that any proposal in Congress to decolonize Puerto Rico be informed and led by Puerto Ricans,” said Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, which oversees affairs in U.S. territories. The proposal would commit Congress to accept Puerto Rico into the United States as the 51st state if voters on the island approved it. Puerto Rico Gov. “Many of us are not in agreement about how that future should be, but we all accept that the decision should belong to the people of Puerto Rico,” she said. ___Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The U.S. House has passed a bill that would allow Puerto Rico to hold the first-ever binding referendum on whether to become a state or gain some sort of independence.

The U.S. House passed a bill Thursday that would allow Puerto Rico to hold the first-ever binding referendum on whether to become a state or gain some sort of independence, in a last-ditch effort that stands little chance of passing the Senate. “It is crucial to me that any proposal in Congress to decolonize Puerto Rico be informed and led by Puerto Ricans,” said Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, which oversees affairs in U.S. territories. The proposal would commit Congress to accept Puerto Rico into the United States as the 51st state if voters on the island approved it.

WASHINGTON — (AP) — The House passed legislation Wednesday that calls for removing from the Capitol a bust of the U.S. Supreme Court justice who wrote the infamous 1857 Dred Scott decision that held African-Americans were not citizens. The bust of Roger B. Taney, the nation's fifth chief justice, sits inside the entrance to the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the U.S. Capitol. The legislation also commissions a bust of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall to be placed somewhere in the Capitol. The notorious Dred Scott decision held that Blacks were not citizens and therefore had no right to sue in federal court. Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., led the effort in the House to remove the Taney bust.

The bust of a U.S. Supreme Court justice who wrote an infamous decision on slavery could soon be leaving the Capitol.

The House passed legislation Wednesday that calls for removing from the Capitol a bust of the U.S. Supreme Court justice who wrote the infamous 1857 Dred Scott decision that held African-Americans were not citizens. The bust of Roger B. Taney, the nation's fifth chief justice, sits inside the entrance to the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the U.S. Capitol. Taney led the court in that period, from 1836 to 1864.

The COVID-19 vaccine mandate for members of the U.S. military would be rescinded under the annual defense bill heading for a vote this week in Congress.

The White House state dinner honoring French President Emmanuel Macron was a who's who of Democratic elite featuring the biggest names in Hollywood, media and business.

House Democrats unanimously chose Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina for a new role in party leadership next year.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., was unanimously elected on Wednesday as the next leader of the House Democratic Caucus. The 52-year-old Brooklyn native, who succeeds 82-year-old House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , will be the first Black and first nonwhite party leader in Congress. In 2018 he defeated Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., to become chair of the House Democratic Caucus, making him the fifth-ranking member of the Democratic leadership in the chamber. In 2002, Pelosi became the first woman elected as a party leader in Congress. Shortly after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., was elected in 2018, a group closely allied with the congresswoman discussed recruiting a primary challenger to run against Jeffries.

New York congressman Hakeem Jeffries has been elected House Democratic leader and will become in the new year the first Black American to lead a major political party in Congress.

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

President Joe Biden is calling on Congress to pass legislation to intervene and block a railroad strike before next month’s deadline in the stalled contract talks.

Lawmakers face a long list of legislative items they must address before the end of the 117th Congress.

I think the biggest change in the institution is how confrontational Republicans have become," Hoyer recently told The Washington Post.

Republicans nominated House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to become Speaker of the House but it’s far from clear that he can attain the votes.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Majority Whip James Clyburn said that Democrats will focus on the future as Republicans are set to take the majority,

A day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced she would step aside, congressman Hakeem Jeffries of New York has announced his history-making bid to become the first Black person to helm a major political party in Congress as leader of the House Democrats.

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal has taken herself out of the running for Democratic leadership in the next Congress.

“I will not seek reelection to Democratic leadership in the next Congress,” Pelosi, 82, said in a speech on the House floor. “For me, the hour's come for a new generation to lead.”In 2002, Pelosi became the first woman elected as a party leader in Congress. Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., the second-ranking Democrat in the House behind Pelosi, said Thursday he will also step down from his leadership role. According to news reports, both Pelosi — the first woman elected as a party leader in Congress and first woman elected speaker of the House — and Hoyer will back Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., to succeed her as the next leader of the Democratic caucus. If elected, Jeffries who would be the first Black and first non-white party leader in Congress.

House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries is believed to be the leading candidate to replace House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as Democratic leader after her decision to step down, which she announced from the well of the House Thursday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she won't seek a leadership role in the new Congress.

Congress is returning to an extremely volatile post-election landscape.

With control of the House still hanging in the balance, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is staying mum on her future plans.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi is urging House Democrats to donate more money to the party's campaign arm as polls show Republicans surging ahead of Election Day.

A congressional district in Michigan that includes Grand Rapids hasn't had a Democratic House member in decades.

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene once was shunned as a political pariah for her extremist rhetoric.

The Senate Tuesday advanced a bill to keep the government funded into December after stripping an energy permitting reform proposal from Sen. Joe Manchin.

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy is rolling out his party's Trump-like midterm election agenda.

Sen. Joe Manchin on Tuesday railed against what he called “revenge politics″ being used against him, as liberals in the House and Senate team up with Republicans to oppose his plan to speed permits for natural gas pipelines and other energy projects.

"We believed we were going to win from Jan. 6 on – well, even November of last year on," the House speaker told Punchbowl News.

The House has approved wide-ranging legislation aimed at helping communities in the West cope with increasingly severe wildfires and drought — fueled by climate change — that have caused billions of dollars of damage to homes and businesses in recent years.

Bestselling author Wes Moore has won the Democratic primary for Maryland governor.

A far-right Maryland legislator endorsed by former President Donald Trump has won the Republican primary for governor.

The Republican race for Maryland governor in Tuesday’s primary election pits a candidate backed by outgoing Gov. Larry Hogan against a rival endorsed by Donald Trump.

Facing stubbornly high gas prices that average about $5 a gallon nationwide, President Joe Biden has urged Congress to suspend federal gasoline and diesel taxes for three months.

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol is pressing pause on its hearings for next week and picking them up again in July. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the chairman of the committee, told reporters Wednesday that the committee would hold off on the two final hearings it had planned for…

The Biden administration foresees unnecessary deaths if lawmakers don’t approve billions of dollars more to brace for the pandemic’s next wave.

Congress Lawmakers Guns FILE - Members of the U.S. Capitol Police Board, from left, Senate Sergeant at Arms Karen Gibson, House Sergeant at Arms William Walker, and Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger, arrive to meet with reporters ahead of the one-year mark of the Jan. 6 attack, at the Capitol in Washington, on Jan. 4, 2022. Walker says members of Congress should be barred from carrying firearms anywhere in the Capitol or its surrounding office buildings and grounds. House Sergeant at Arms William J. Walker voiced his opinion a day after a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers in a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school. “The Capitol Complex should be a place where no one carries a firearm unless they are actively engaged in law enforcement" or protecting officials or dignitaries, Walker wrote in a letter. While members are allowed to have guns in their offices, Walker wrote that additional restrictions apply.

The House’s top law enforcement official says members of Congress should be barred from carrying firearms anywhere in the Capitol or its surrounding office buildings and grounds.

The Puerto Rico Status Act would create and fund a process by which residents of the island would take a binding vote to determine the island's status.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — (AP) — A group of Democratic congress members, including the House majority leader, on Thursday proposed a binding plebiscite to decide whether Puerto Rico should become a state or gain some sort of independence. The draft proposal unveiled at an online news conference would commit Congress to accepting Puerto Rico into the United States if voters on the island approve it. “Nobody can deny that the current status of Puerto Rico is undemocratic,” said Gov. The backers said the next step is to hold public hearings in Puerto Rico on the proposed bill prior to its introduction. The proposal comes at a time when Puerto Rico is trying to emerge from a lengthy bankruptcy and recover from the devastation left by Hurricane Maria in 2017.

A group of mostly Democratic congress members is proposing a binding plebiscite to decide whether Puerto Rico should become a state or gain some sort of independence.

US Brazil Forest Fund FILE - Indigenous people take part in a march during the 18th annual Free Land Indigenous Camp, in Brasilia, Brazil, Wednesday, April 13, 2022. The Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon also signed on. During his presidency, Amazon deforestation hit a 15-year high, which followed a 22% jump from the prior year, according to official data published in November. The Brazilian Amazon lost an area of rainforest roughly the size of the U.S. state of Connecticut in just the 12 months preceding July 2021. Since then, the Amazon Fund has supported only projects approved before Bolsonaro was elected.

US Brazil Forest Fund FILE - Indigenous people take part in a march during the 18th annual Free Land Indigenous Camp, in Brasilia, Brazil, Wednesday, April 13, 2022. The Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon also signed on. During his presidency, Amazon deforestation hit a 15-year high, which followed a 22% jump from the prior year, according to official data published in November. The Brazilian Amazon lost an area of rainforest roughly the size of the U.S. state of Connecticut in just the 12 months preceding July 2021. Since then, the Amazon Fund has supported only projects approved before Bolsonaro was elected.

Brazilian environmental and Indigenous organizations are urging the United States to fund forest protection initiatives that directly involve forest peoples.

The amount is more than double the $14 billion in support authorized so far to respond to the Russian invasion, a senior administration officials told reporters Thursday.

Biden Postal Service President Joe Biden signs the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, April 6, 2022. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., Annette Taylor, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., and Rep. Brenda Lawrence, D-Mich. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (Susan Walsh)WASHINGTON — (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tested positive for COVID-19, a day after appearing unmasked at a White House event with President Joe Biden. Pelosi received a positive test result for COVID-19 and is currently asymptomatic, her spokesman Drew Hammill said Thursday in a tweet. “The Speaker is fully vaccinated and boosted, and is thankful for the robust protection the vaccine has provided,” Hammill said. Pelosi will “quarantine consistent with CDC guidance, and encourages everyone to get vaccinated, boosted and test regularly,” he said.

The Senate voted to revoke Russia's "most favored nation" trade status, an economic downgrade that opens the possibility of tariffs on Moscow.

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

Biden Postal Service President Joe Biden signs the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, April 6, 2022. Postal Service meant to shore up the popular but beleaguered agency's financial future and cement six-days-a-week mail delivery was signed into law Wednesday by President Joe Biden. Officials had repeatedly warned that without congressional action, the Postal Service would run out of cash by 2024. “The Postal Service is central to our economy and essential to rural America,” Biden said. Biden said that rule had “stretched the Postal Service's finances almost to the breaking point."

President Joe Biden has signed into law plans for a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. Postal Service.

Home-district projects for members of Congress are back, sprinkled across the government-wide $1.5 trillion bill that President Joe Biden signed recently.

Congress Marijuana FILE - House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., speaks to members of the media during a news conference in Washington, on Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021. A bill decriminalizing marijuana has passed the U.S. House. Democratic lawmakers said the nation's federal prohibition on marijuana has had particularly devastating consequences for minority communities. That would mirror what happened when a similar House-passed measure removing marijuana from the list of federally-controlled substances went nowhere in the Senate two years ago. The measure would require federal courts to expunge prior marijuana convictions and conduct resentencing hearings for those completing their sentences.

The House has approved a bill decriminalizing marijuana and letting states set their own policies on pot.

The House of Representatives could vote on the Securing a Strong Retirement Act, or Secure Act 2.0, as early as Tuesday.

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.

Vice President Kamala Harris is in Selma, Alabama, to mark the anniversary of a defining moment in the fight for equal voting rights.

President Joe Biden is signaling an election year shift to the center to help protect fragile Democratic majorities in Congress, even as key voices across his party’s sprawling political coalition threaten revolt.

Congressional Democrats and Republicans are showing signs of support for providing $6.4 billion or more in aid to Ukraine and its European neighbors.

A senior Republican lawmaker has apologized for using an expletive when Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio asked him to put his mask on while in the Capitol.

Steny Hoyer U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer confirmed via social media on Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022, that he has contracted COVID-19. Hoyer, D-Maryland, is pictured in this Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012, file photo when he served as House Minority Whip. (Evan Vucci/AP)WASHINGTON — U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer confirmed via social media on Tuesday that he has contracted COVID-19. Read my full statement: pic.twitter.com/ef9mMRZ8hc — Steny Hoyer (@LeaderHoyer) February 1, 2022Hoyer’s diagnosis comes the same day that cumulative U.S. COVID-19 cases topped 75 million. >> Related: Coronavirus: Total US COVID-19 cases top 75 millionMore coronavirus pandemic coverage:>> Coronavirus: How long between exposure to the virus and the start of symptoms?

The 82-year-old representative said he is vaccinated and boosted.

President Joe Biden will appear in Pittsburgh on Friday as an opening step in a broader campaign to promote the White House’s achievements in key states before the midterm elections.

President Joe Biden has visited the bridge in Pittsburgh that collapsed just hours before his previously scheduled trip to promote his infrastructure package — a new law that aims to prevent just such disasters.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney has made a surprise appearance in the House in a show of support for his daughter, Rep. Liz Cheney.

Congress Budget Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters following a Democratic strategy meeting, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. Republicans are refusing to support Biden's larger bill, leaving Democrats to pass it on their own with just a few votes to spare in the House and none in the evenly-split 50-50 Senate. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Biden's bill “will only exacerbate, only make worse, inflation.”But for Democrats, doing nothing appears to be a worse political option. Prospects for passing Biden's bill in the House have been close before, only to be dashed amid party infighting as progressives pushed for action but more conservative Democrats hit the brakes. The debate had tied the bill to the slimmer infrastructure measure, but now that Biden has signed that bill into law, the focus is back on his bigger bill.

Republicans are refusing to support Biden's larger bill, leaving Democrats to pass it on their own with just a few votes to spare in the House and none in the evenly-split 50-50 Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Biden's bill “will only exacerbate, only make worse, inflation.”But for Democrats, doing nothing appears to be a worse political option. Prospects for passing Biden's bill in the House have been close before, only to be dashed amid party infighting as progressives pushed for action but more conservative Democrats hit the brakes. The debate had tied the bill to the slimmer infrastructure measure, but now that Biden has signed that bill into law, the focus is back on his bigger bill. Hoyer said the House could vote as soon as Thursday, though it could shift to Friday or Saturday.

Democratic leaders are pressing ahead on President Joe Biden’s big domestic policy bill.

The House passed a key procedural vote to line up eventual passage of President Biden's signature social safety net and climate change bill.

Simply freeing up the infrastructure measure for final congressional approval was a like a burst of adrenaline for Democrats. But in an evening breakthrough brokered by Biden and House leaders, the moderates later agreed to back that bill if CBO's estimates are consistent with preliminary numbers that White House and congressional tax analysts have provided. Instead, Biden spoke to House leaders, moderates and progressives, said a White House official who described the conversations on condition of anonymity. Among those Biden reached was Jayapal, whose caucus has been at the forefront of delaying the infrastructure measure for leverage. When the infrastructure measure cleared the Senate, its GOP supporters even included Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Congress Budget Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., accompanied by House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., left and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer D-Md. Under the agreement, brokered by Biden and top Democrats, progressives would end their roadblock against the package of road, water and other projects. But under the circumstances, simply freeing up the infrastructure measure for final congressional approval was a like a burst of adrenaline for Democrats. Those setbacks have made party leaders impatient to produce impactful legislation and demonstrate that they know how to govern. That’s been hard, in part because of Democrats’ slender majorities, with bitter internal divisions forcing House leaders to miss several self-imposed deadlines for votes.

Top Democrats have abruptly postponed an expected House vote on their 10-year, $1.85 trillion social and environment measure.

The new version now contains a provision that had been dropped, paid leave, and also includes a tax break for wealthier Americans.

Democrats in the House appear on the verge of advancing President Joe Biden’s $1.85 trillion-and-growing domestic policy package.

The new version now contains a provision that had been dropped, paid leave, and also includes a tax break for wealthier Americans.

Democrats say they have sealed a deal to lower pharmaceutical drug costs for most older Americans as part of President Joe Biden’s sweeping $1.75 trillion domestic proposal.

Democrats say they only have a handful of issues to resolve before they can strike a deal on Biden's social safety net and climate plan.

Hoyer is hopeful about reaching a framework as Democrats try to resolve sticking points over what to include in Biden's economic plan and how to pay for it.

Scaling back his big government-overhaul plans, President Joe Biden has described a more-limited vision to Democratic lawmakers.

The House has approved a short-term hike to the nation’s debt limit.

The measure now goes to the House, which is slated to vote on it next week.

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

The held vote comes as Democrats remain divided over a separate but politically linked larger spending measure.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House is still on track to hold a vote on President Joe Biden's bipartisan infrastructure bill Thursday.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer tried to pass the bill with a simple majority vote of 50, rather than the 60 that is usually required for Senate bills.

Pressure is mounting on President Joe Biden to trim back his $3.5 trillion federal government overhaul to win over holdout fellow Democrats.

The House has overwhelming passed legislation to provide funding for Israel’s missile defense system.

Rushing to prevent that dire outcome, the Democratic-led House passed the measure Tuesday night by a party-line vote of 220-211. Backed by the White House, the Democratic leaders pushed the package to approval at a time of great uncertainty in Congress. There has been a flurry of outreach from the White House to Democrats on Capitol Hill, and Biden himself was given a call sheet of lawmakers to cajole. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., according to a White House official familiar with the calls and granted anonymity to discuss them. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has promised a Sept. 27 vote on the companion $1 trillion bill of public works projects that has already passed the Senate.

President Joe Biden has met with Democrats from the House and Senate as Congress works to bridge party divisions over his big $3.5 trillion “build back better” agenda.

The House has approved legislation to fund the government, suspend its borrowing limit and provide federal disaster and refugee aid.

Pelosi House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks at a press event regarding the Emergency Rental Assistance program in San Francisco, Tuesday, Aug. 10,2021. Nine centrists have threatened to vote against their own party's budget blueprint, enough to defeat it in the closely divided House. The budget's congressional approval would prevent Republicans from killing the subsequent $3.5 trillion bill, probably this fall, from bill-killing Senate filibusters. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., also made clear that a final vote on the public works bill would wait until the larger $3.5 trillion measure progresses. The Senate approved the infrastructure measure last week in a bipartisan vote.

Top Democrats are planning House votes next week on a budget resolution that would clear a path for future passage of the party's ambitious plans for social and environment programs.

Pelosi House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks at a press event regarding the Emergency Rental Assistance program in San Francisco, Tuesday, Aug. 10,2021. The budget's congressional approval would prevent Republicans from killing the subsequent $3.5 trillion bill, probably this fall, from bill-killing Senate filibusters. The Senate approved the infrastructure measure last week in a bipartisan vote. In a letter late Monday, DeFazio said Democrats could fix that by rallying behind the budget resolution. He said the budget's approval would let them put their own infrastructure projects into the separate $3.5 trillion measure, he wrote.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is facing a fresh hurdle to passing President Joe Biden’s multi-trillion dollar domestic policy aspirations.

President Joe Biden on Monday announced that some Americans experiencing long-term effects of Covid may qualify for disability resources and protections from the federal government.

House votes 285-120 to remove Confederate and pro-slavery statues from the U.S. Capitol

The willingness of top Democrats, including Steny Hoyer, to criticize AIPAC reflects the growing schism in the party over US-Israeli relations.

The Senate passed the bill with an overwhelming and bipartisan majority last month.