Sean Lengell

Debt panel facing CBO heat

The bipartisan supercommittee's proposal for addressing the nation's debt woes is due two weeks from Wednesday, but the panel already has hit a deadline that Congress' official scorekeeper says should be met to ensure the numbers add up.

November 8, 2011

Schumer predicts supercommittee will fail

The Senate's No. 3 Democrat said Monday he thinks the supercommittee won't reach its goal of finding significant budget savings, saying Republicans' unwillingness to compromise is to blame.

November 7, 2011

Redistricting sets up tussles for many congressional seats

The last time California redrew its congressional districts, Republicans and Democrats cut a deal to preserve all the incumbents, essentially erasing the country's biggest electoral fishing ground from the map in 2002.

November 6, 2011

Debt panel’s inactivity stirs unease on Hill

As pressure mounts on the congressional supercommittee to reach a debt-reduction deal, Capitol Hill lawmakers - from House leaders to rank-and-file members - appeared less than confident Thursday the panel would make its Thanksgiving deadline.

November 3, 2011

Experienced deficit cutters urge supercommittee to triple its goal

The co-chairmen of two past deficit reduction panels warned the congressional supercommittee on Tuesday that the nation could face economic turmoil unless it went "big" and more than tripled its minimum goal of finding $1.2 trillion in government savings.

November 1, 2011

Bipartisan House group tells debt panel to ‘go big’

Pressure on the congressional debt-reduction supercommittee to "go big" is growing, as a bipartisan group of House members is urging the panel to find savings far beyond its $1.5 trillion goal.

October 30, 2011

Divergent debt plans highlight partisan divide

Two very different debt-reduction proposals leaked to the media this week show that Democrats and Republicans on the supercommittee are still miles apart on a deal, as the clock ticks down toward a Thanksgiving deadline for a unified plan.

October 27, 2011

Supercommittee stays opaque

The congressional debt-reduction panel met publicly for the first time in more than a month Wednesday but offered little public evidence of making progress as the clock ticks toward a Thanksgiving deadline.

October 26, 2011

Democrats don’t prefer automatic debt cuts

The House's No. 2 Democrat says the nation will suffer if the congressional debt reduction committee fails and mandatory spending cuts kick in, staking a position that the panel must reach its goal of finding ways to slash $1.5 trillion from the federal debt.

October 25, 2011

Calls for debt panel to ‘go big’ get louder

Calls for the congressional debt reduction supercommittee to "go big" are amping up, as financial and government analysts say the panel's aim of finding more than $1 trillion in savings may not be enough to steady the nation's wobbly economy.

October 24, 2011

Debt-cuts panel gets conflicting Hill input

The congressional "supercommittee" — the bipartisan group of 12 House and Senate members tasked with finding ways to slash the federal debt — has been flooded with often conflicting suggestions from colleagues eager to tell the panel how to do its job.

October 18, 2011

South Korean president hails trade deal, U.S. partnership

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak personally thanked Congress Thursday for ratifying a long-awaited free trade agreement between the U.S. and his country the day before, saying the deal strengthened what already was "one of the closest, most important economic relationships in the world."

October 13, 2011

Obama vows to continue fight for jobs bill

President Obama vowed Wednesday he "will not take no for an answer" from Republican senators who stood unified against his $447 billion jobs bill, as Democratic leaders regrouped and moved forward with a Plan B.

October 12, 2011

Boehner still defiant on China currency bill

The speaker's opposition clouds the measure's chances of getting a vote in the GOP-controlled House.

October 12, 2011

Senate OKs measure to hit China on valuation

Legislation designed to punish China for its currency valuation passed the Senate on Tuesday with bipartisan support, though the top Republican in the House has vowed to kill the bill.

October 11, 2011

Supporters push Paul to straw poll triumph

Rep. Ron Paul easily won a Republican presidential candidate straw poll Saturday at the conservative Values Voter Summit in Washington, while two of the most popular candidates in the race — Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney — finished near the bottom.

October 8, 2011

Romney woos conservatives : ‘I will not surrender America’s role’

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, hoping to boost his lackluster image among conservatives, evoked a message filled with God and country themes before an influential gathering of conservative voters Saturday.

October 8, 2011

Bachmann: U.S. could lose ‘superpower’ status

Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann said President Obama's handling of the economy has pushed the United States to the brink of losing its role as a superpower, a scenario she said would undermine the country's military strength and compromise national security.

October 7, 2011

Cain, Gingrich: Same goal, different tones

Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich have a singular mission: to win the Republican Party's presidential nomination and defeat President Obama next year. But in back-to-back speeches Friday at a gathering of conservative activists in Washington, the two Georgians took widely divergent approaches to spread their message.

October 7, 2011