Sean Lengell

Rep. Upton: Payroll tax cut a win for everybody

GOP Rep. Fred Upton says President Obama isn't the only one who can claim a political victory from an extension of the payroll tax holiday and renewed unemployment benefits, stating that Republicans pushed just as hard as the president and his Democratic allies for the package.

February 17, 2012

Congressional leaders sign off on payroll-tax deal

Congressional leaders signed off on a final deal Thursday to extend the payroll-tax cuts and enhanced unemployment benefits through the rest of this year, setting up fights in both chambers as they struggle to convince rank-and-file lawmakers in both parties to support an agreement few like.

February 16, 2012

Boehner must sell payroll-tax cut deal

House Republican leaders spent Wednesday trying to finalize a payroll-tax cut deal with Democrats and also sell the agreement to reluctant members of their own party, hoping to avoid the embarrassment of losing a large chunk of their caucus in an eventual floor vote.

February 15, 2012

Transportation bill divides House GOP

House Republican leaders have scrambled to repackage their transportation bill after a hard push by Speaker John A. Boehner failed to sell the measure to many reluctant members of his party.

February 14, 2012

House GOP has backup plan to extend payroll-tax cut

As the clock winds down before the payroll-tax holiday expires at the end of the month, House Republicans on Monday introduced a backup plan in case a congressional committee that is supposed to broker a deal fails to meet its deadline.

February 13, 2012

Palin: Conservatives must rally to defeat Obama

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Saturday called on conservatives to unify behind the eventual Republican presidential nominee to help right a "sinking ship" captained by President Obama.

February 11, 2012

Bachmann says Obama tolerates radical Islamists

In one of her first speeches since dropping out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination, Rep. Michele Bachmann on Thursday ripped President Obama's foreign policy agenda, saying the White House has fostered the spread of radical pro-Islamists and offended key ally Israel.

February 9, 2012

Forum hears rallying cry against birth-control rule

Disdain for President Obama's controversial new mandate that religious institutions pay for their workers' birth control emerged as a unifying rally cry at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington on Thursday, suggesting Republicans will hit the president hard on the issue during this year's presidential campaign.

February 9, 2012

House passes bill giving president line-item veto

The House has taken the unusual move of agreeing to cede some of its highly guarded purse string power to the White House, voting Wednesday to give the president a modified line-item veto on spending bills.

February 8, 2012

Closed-door payroll-tax holiday deals now the norm

Bitterly divided Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill aren't making much progress publicly on a legislative deal that would extend the national payroll-tax holiday, continue unemployment benefits to the long-term jobless and grant full payments to doctors who treat Medicare patients.

February 7, 2012

Congress approves long-term FAA funding bill

After more than four years of delays and almost two-dozen stopgap extensions, Congress on Monday approved a long-term Federal Aviation Administration funding bill that will lead to major upgrades of the nation's decades-old air traffic control system and other safety measures.

February 6, 2012

Road, rail bill hailed, scorned

A House Republican's transportation bill aimed at dealing with the nation's crumbling road, bridge and rail systems has been attacked not only by Democrats but some conservatives and government watchdogs who say it amounts to another government stimulus package.

February 5, 2012