US Political News and Commentary | Government Coverage
The group, dubbed the Illegals, was accused of being tasked by the Russian intelligence agency SVR to enter the United States, assume false identities and become deep-cover Americans, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Their goal was to become sufficiently Americanized such that they could gather information about the United States for Russia and can successfully [...]
The 5-4 ruling could ultimately make it easier for individuals to own handguns in a country that already has the worlds highest civilian gun ownership rate. Some 90 million Americans own an estimated 200 million guns.
Splitting along conservative and liberal lines, the nations highest court extended its landmark 2008 rulingthat individual Americans have a constitutional [...]
There are significant changes that must be made in order for this free trade agreement to gain broad congressional support, Representative Louise Slaughter, a leader of trade-wary Democrats warned on Monday in a statement.
Obama, after a meeting with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Saturday, said he wanted to resolve problems blocking the trade deal [...]
Byrds spokesman Jesse Jacobs said the 92-year-old senator was initially admitted to a Washington-area hospital late last week for what doctors thought was a heat-related illness.
However, upon further examination by his doctors, other conditions have developed which has resulted in his condition being described as serious, Jacobs said in a statement.
Byrd was first elected to [...]
But at least a few members of the opposition party are expected to join Democrats and approve his nomination of Kagan, 50, to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, 90, the courts leading liberal.
Senator Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee that will hold the hearings, made it clear that Kagan can [...]
Barring any unforeseen bombshells, the former Harvard law school dean, who has served in the last two Democratic administrations, will likely win approval with bipartisan support.
While President Barack Obama has faced a Republican wall of opposition much of this election year, at least a few members of the opposition party are expected to join Democrats [...]
He issued the statement after negotiators from the Senate and House of Representatives emerged from a marathon session early Friday morning with a final compromise on a bill that would bring about the most sweeping financial rules revamp since the 1930s.
The legislation would set up a new financial consumer watchdog, create a protocol for dismantling [...]
Cash-poor states could shift more of the costs for social programs, such as childrens health and welfare plans, to localitiesjust when they can least afford it.
Counties, villages, cities and the like typically get 60 percent of their revenue from their own property taxes and the states, Goldman Sachs said.
But the housing markets fragile state and [...]
The bill, the most sweeping financial rules revamp since the 1930s, is headed toward final congressional approval next week although implementation will be bogged down for months in regulatory rule-making.
The legislation would set up a new financial consumer watchdog, create a protocol for dismantling troubled financial firms and mandate higher bank capital standards, all in [...]
The House of Representatives passed the bill 408-8 and sent it to President Barack Obama for signing into law. The Senate had approved it 99-0 earlier in the day.
Congress wants to pressure Tehran into curbing its nuclear program, which Washington suspects is aimed at making a bomb.
U.S. lawmakers from both parties have been pushing for [...]