Harry Reid can rightly claim to be making history. If he passes health care reform, he'll depend on a series of historic "firsts." It'd be the first time Congress had passed a major new entitlement program without bipartisan support; it'd be the first time it passed such a program without popular support; and the first time it passed such a program without knowing or particularly caring what's in it. ...more

December 19, 2009

Senate Republicans vowed Wednesday to use every available tactic to delay voting on the health care bill, as Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., scrambled to unify Democrats in support of the legislation. ...more

December 17, 2009

CHICAGO (AP) — Gov. Pat Quinn and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin today tried to build support and counter criticism of a proposal to sell a prison in rural northwestern Illinois to the federal government to house Guantanamo Bay detainees and other inmates. ...more

November 15, 2009

Disagreement among Senate Democrats over how many homeowners should qualify for court-ordered mortgage relief has stalled a key part of President Barack Obama's foreclosure prevention plan on Capitol Hill. ...more

March 14, 2009

Barack Obama on Tuesday abruptly abandoned his nomination fight for Tom Daschle and a second major appointee who failed to pay all their taxes, fearing a lingering ethics dispute would undercut his claims to moral high ground and cripple his presidency in just its second week. "I screwed up," Obama declared. ...more

February 3, 2009

Roland Burris, appointed to the U.S. Senate by impeached Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, said he is sending his lawyers to Washington today to meet with Senate officials and expects to take his seat later this week. ...more

January 12, 2009

Congressional Democrats said Sunday that President-elect Barack Obama probably will have to wait until next month before getting the chance to sign an economic aid bill his team once hoped would be on his desk by his swearing-in Jan. 20. ...more

January 5, 2009

If confirmed as attorney general, Eric Holder may have to consider removing himself from overseeing the Chicago corruption probe that ensnared Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, legal experts say. ...more

December 14, 2008

Under mounting pressure to act, the Bush administration said Friday it was ready to step in and prevent the U.S. auto industry from collapsing after the Senate refused to pass a rescue bill endorsed by the White House and congressional Democrats. The most obvious source of help was the Wall Street bailout fund. ...more

December 12, 2008

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich could still appoint someone to fill Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat despite charges that he tried to barter it away for cash or a plum job in what prosecutors call "a political corruption crime spree." ...more

December 10, 2008