Congress: Congressional News, Schedule, Votes & More - The Washington Post

Export-Import Bank reauthorized by Senate

Rosalind S. Helderman — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:26:00 EST

On Tuesday, Congress accomplished something relatively rare: It passed a piece of legislation and sent it to the president for his signature.

On a broad bipartisan vote of 78 to 20, the Senate voted Tuesday to extend the life of the U.S. Export-Import Bank and expand its authority to make loans to U.S. exporters.

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Ryan budget still an issue in congressional races

Ed O’Keefe — Sun, 13 May 2012 18:11:00 EST

CICERO, N.Y. —Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle (R-N.Y.) is exasperated as she concludes her opening remarks and reaches for a piece of paper on the podium.

“I don’t know who was handing out this literature,” she says, “but I think we’ve got to talk about this a little bit.”

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Senate campaign in Florida off to a sluggish start

Rosalind S. Helderman — Sat, 12 May 2012 18:09:00 EST

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Here in the land of hanging chads, where a recent poll shows the presidential race in a dead heat, you might expect incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson to be feeling some reelection pressure.

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Defense spending plan puts Rep. Buck McKeon, Leon Panetta at odds

Walter Pincus — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:59:57 EST

Debate has broken out over the nearly $4 billion in increased defense spending that the Republican-led House Armed Services Committee added to the Obama administration request in the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill, pitting the panel’s chairman, Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.), against Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta.

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Republicans seek to add more in defense spending

Walter Pincus — Mon, 7 May 2012 19:20:00 EST

House Republicans on Monday spelled out some funding increases they are seeking in defense programs above the amounts President Obama requested in the fiscal 2013 Pentagon budget, including an additional $1 billion for Israeli anti-missile defense systems.

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Mon, 7 May 2012 19:20:00 EST

Lawmaker circulates proposal to hold attorney general in contempt of Congress

Sari Horwitz — Thu, 3 May 2012 20:22:00 EST

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) circulated a proposal Thursday to hold Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in contempt of Congress, accusing Holder of failing to cooperate with a congressional inquiry into the botched gun-trafficking operation called Fast and Furious.

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Greg Sargent: GOP Senator pressures House Republicans on Violence Against Women Act

Greg Sargent — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:51:00 EST

It’s been widely reported that house Republicans are in a difficult spot over the Violence Against Women Act, at a time when the battle over the female vote has intensified between the parties.

Now, with a high stakes vote on a version of the measure set for later today, things could get a bit harder: A female Republican Senator is joining with Democrats to call on House Republicans to drop their opposition to the Democratic version of the bill, which extends protections to same sex couples.

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Obama warns Republicans over debt ceiling fight

David Nakamura — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:37:40 EST

President Obama warned congressional leaders on Wednesday that he would not tolerate a replay of the bitter debt ceiling fight of last summer that nearly put the United States in default and led to the nation’s first ever credit-rating downgrade.

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Jonathan Bernstein: The four reasons the Nebraska Senate race matters — a lot

Jonathan Bernstein — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:39:00 EST

You wouldn’t know it from watching the cable networks, but what happened yesterday in Nebraska’s Republican Senate primary, where no-name State Senator Deb Fischer defeated state Attorney General Jon Bruning, is a major story, with several nationally important implications. Here are four of the most critical.

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Is Obama losing young adults?

Josh Hicks — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:00:00 EST

“The unemployment rate for Americans 18-29 is 11.6%.”

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Laurie Kellman — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:48:34 EST

House Republicans are revising their proposal to renew the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, but not enough to satisfy President Obama and other Democrats intent on preserving their lead among female voters in this volatile election year.

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