WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is asking Congress to unleash a torrent of emergency economic aid to help people through the financial pain of the coronavirus crisis, with sizable checks directly to Americans as part of the deal. Trump wants checks out to the public within two weeks, Treasury Secretary...
White House Seeks $850B Economic Stimulus Amid Virus Crisis
WASHINGTON — The White House was asking Congress on Tuesday to approve a sweeping emergency stimulus package to help businesses and taxpayers cope with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. It's the most far-reaching economic rescue package since the Great Recession of 2008. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin planned to...
Buckle Up: What to Watch as Impeachment Trial Takes off
WASHINGTON — Senators like to float above messy politics in what's known by some as the dignified “upper chamber," home of Congress' cooler heads and lofty rhetoric. But as a court of President Donald Trump's impeachment, the Senate beginning Tuesday might seem more like the economy cabin of an oversold flight...
Senate Opens to Hear Articles of Impeachment Against Trump
WASHINGTON — The Senate opens its historic proceedings against President Donald Trump on Thursday with a formal reading of the charges by House prosecutors, followed by the arrival at the Capitol of Chief Justice John Roberts, who will swear in all 100 senators as jurors for only the third impeachment...
Ahead of Impeachment Trial, Trump Suggests Not Having It
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says the Senate should simply dismiss the impeachment case against him, an extraordinary suggestion as the House prepares to transmit the charges to the chamber for the historic trial. The Republican president is giving mixed messages ahead of the House's landmark vote that will launch...
McConnell: GOP will Start Impeachment Trial, Delay Witnesses
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he has secured the Republican votes needed to start President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial and postpone a decision on witnesses or documents that Democrats want. McConnell is expected to launch the trial as soon as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sends the articles of...
Border Wall, Impeachment Battle Imperil Budget Progress
WASHINGTON — The Senate passed a long-overdue, $209 billion bundle of bipartisan spending bills Thursday, but a bitter fight over funding demanded by President Donald Trump for border fencing imperils broader Capitol Hill efforts to advance $1.4 trillion worth of annual Cabinet agency budgets. The 84-9 vote sends the measure...
Trump Likens House Impeachment Inquiry to 'A Lynching'
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump triggered outrage Tuesday by comparing the Democrat-led impeachment inquiry to a lynching, assigning the horrors of a deadly and racist chapter in U.S. history to a process laid out in the Constitution. "That is one word no president ought to apply to himself," said Democratic Rep. James...
Congress Returns to McConnell’s Legislative ‘Graveyard’
WASHINGTON — Facing criticism that the Senate has become little more than what one member calls an "expensive lunch club," Congress returns for the fall session Monday with pressure mounting on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to address gun violence, election security and other issues. The Kentucky Republican has promised...
McConnell Says He’s Waiting on Trump to Chart Path on Guns
WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans are waiting for the White House to chart a path forward on gun violence legislation, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday, effectively putting the burden on President Donald Trump to decide the GOP's legislative response to the spate of mass shootings that included another deadly attack...