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Tom Coburn cast his final vote as a senator Tuesday night, and was the first to flee the chamber floor, returning to the citizen part of "citizen legislator." By Wednesday afternoon he was back in Oklahoma, driving to his home in Muskogee. (Associated Press)

Tom Coburn rankles Harry Reid in farewell Senate disputes

It takes a certain kind of senator to single-handedly block a bill that supporters say would save veterans from committing suicide. But that's exactly what Sen. Tom Coburn did last week, facing down withering pressure from veterans groups and insinuations from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that he will have the blood of veterans on his hands because he's refusing to let the bill through.

December 17, 2014
A member of the group Border Dreamers marches in support of a U.S. open border policy. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

Dreamers tell GOP presidential hopefuls to stop deportations

Illegal immigrants who gained tentative legal status under President Obama's 2012 amnesty for so-called Dreamers have issued a challenge to would-be 2016 GOP presidential candidates, demanding to know whether the Republicans would deport the Dreamers and their parents.

December 17, 2014
Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, says approving the Keystone XL pipeline will top the Senate agenda in January. Congressional Republicans have been pushing for approval of the pipeline for years. President Obama has resisted because of environmental concerns. (Associated Press Photographs)

Senate clears $81B tax-break package

Congress cleared dozens of special-interest tax breaks late Tuesday as senators rushed to finish business and close up for the year.

December 16, 2014
President Barack Obama speaks to troops at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., Monday, Dec. 15, 2014. President Barack Obama says every American who has served in Afghanistan should be proud of what they've accomplished. Obama is observing the end of combat operations in Afghanistan by visiting U.S. troops at New Jersey's Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. The base has been a launching point for deployments to Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Obama amnesty is unconstitutional, federal judge finds

A federal judge Tuesday ruled parts of President Obama's deportation amnesty to be unconstitutional, with a scathing memo dismantling the White House's legal reasoning and arguing that Mr. Obama tried to steal Congress' lawmaking powers.

December 16, 2014
Sarah R. Saldana

Obama amnesty to be tested by immigration service nominee

The first major showdown over President Obama's deportation amnesty will come Tuesday when the Senate votes on whether to confirm Sarah R. Saldana, the president's pick to run the interior immigration service, who would be charged with seeing through much of his amnesty.

December 15, 2014
During an intense grilling session on Capitol Hill, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson disagreed with President Obama's 2010 assertion that amnesty would lead to a new surge in illegal border crossings from Mexico. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times) ** FILE **

Jeh Johnson: Deportation amnesty allows DHS to get serious about border

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Monday that President Obama's deportation amnesty gives his department a chance to get serious about border security, freeing it up to put more resources on the border instead of tracking illegal immigrants inside the U.S.

December 15, 2014
Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee toured the San Pedro Service Processing Center for immigrants in Los Angeles. The facility was briefly shuttered in 2007 due to Army Corps of Engineers concerns over fire hazards, but it later reopened with remaining issues. (Associated Press)

Department of Homeland Security used hazardous building to process illegals

The Department of Homeland Security has been processing illegal immigrants in a dangerous California building for years despite knowing it to be a deadly fire hazard, the department's inspector general said Friday in a memo that said it had ordered the facility shut down immediately.

December 14, 2014
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas talks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Dec. 12, 2014. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Government shutdown averted: Congress clears short-term funding bill

Congress on Saturday passed a short-term funding bill to keep the government open through the middle of next week while senators work through a string of procedural hurdles that stand in the way of passing the broader $1.1 trillion bill that will fund operations for everything but homeland security through the end of fiscal year 2015.

December 13, 2014
U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents take a person into custody during an immigration sweep in Ontario, California. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

DHS processing illegal immigrants at dangerous facility: audit

The Homeland Security Department has been keeping illegal immigrants detained in a dangerous California building for years despite knowing it to be a deadly fire hazard since 2007, the department's inspector general said Friday in a memo that said it had ordered the facility shut down immediately.

December 12, 2014
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called the bill an insult to her constituents, and while she said her Democratic colleagues were free to vote however they wanted, she would oppose it and urged them to do the same. (Associated Press)

Spending bill in doubt as GOP searches for votes

President Obama had to plead with fellow Democrats on Thursday night to try to avert a looming government shutdown after his troops in the House rejected the $1.1 trillion spending deal to fund the government

December 11, 2014
The Capitol building in Washington, D.C. (Associated Press)

$1 trillion spending bill barely hangs on in first test vote

The $1.1 trillion spending bill narrowly survived its first test Thursday when the House approved rules for debate, bringing the bill to the floor and setting up an afternoon showdown that will expose just how deep the divisions run within the Democratic Party.

December 11, 2014
Nayleth Martinez from Honduras, carries a sign that reads in Spanish, "We need immigration reform now." (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Obama amnesty makes future illegals deportation unlikely

The man who will oversee President Obama's new temporary amnesty said Tuesday that part of the reason for the program was to get the illegal immigrants working on the books, making it economically impossible for them ever to be deported by a future president.

December 10, 2014