ROSA DELAURO

It's the first time in history that the four leaders of the two congressional spending committees are women.

It’s the first time in history that the four leaders of the two congressional spending committees are women.

The nearly $2 trillion omnibus package making its way through Congress devotes tens of billions of dollars for climate and environmental equity programs.

The bill stands at 4,155 pages.

Congressional lawmakers approved a short-term funding bill in a 224-201 vote, allowing an additional week to work on on a $1.7 trillion spending bill.

Congress faces a midnight Friday deadline to pass a spending bill to prevent a partial government shutdown.

Congress is also expected to pass a short-term funding extension in order to avoid a government shutdown.

Lawmakers leading the negotiations on a bill to fund the federal government for the current fiscal year say they’ve reached agreement on a “framework” that should allow them to complete work on the bill over the next week and avoid a government shutdown.

Seasoned pollster Stan Greenberg warned that Democratic messaging is off ahead of the midterm elections in an interview with Politico.

Some Democrats and Republicans are pushing for legislation that would increase access to information on mammograms and their data in the fight against breast cancer.

President Joe Biden has signed into law a bill that finances the federal government through mid-December and provides another infusion of military and economic aid to Ukraine.

A short-term funding measure unveiled by Democrats would keep federal agencies operating through mid-December.

Sen. Joe Manchin has abandoned his push to speed up the permitting process for energy projects.

The head of the Food and Drug Administration is asking for a review of the agency’s food and tobacco programs.

The Department of Health and Human Services wants to know if the FDA followed its rules and procedures in investigating the contamination of baby formula and recalling it.

But Abbott has said that, after production resumes, it could take about two months before new formula begins arriving in stores. The company's factory has been closed due to contamination problems.

The FDA closed the plant in February — after four infants who drank formula produced there contracted bacterial infections, two of whom died.

The Food and Drug Administration's commissioner says a shuttered baby formula factory could be up and running by next week.

The House is expected to take up the emergency spending measure later this week.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said indictments may be filed over a shortage of infant formula, during a news conference Tuesday

The House will hold hearings on the U.S. baby formula shortage after the closure of an Abbott Nutrition plant sent parents scrambling.

Many questions remain about the shuttered Abbott baby formula plant at the center of a nationwide shortage.

The funding bill follows an agreement between the FDA and Abbott on the steps the formula manufacturer must take to reopen its Michigan plant.

"Time is of the essence — and we cannot afford to wait," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

The bill passed 368 to 57.

Home-district projects for members of Congress are back, sprinkled across the government-wide $1.5 trillion bill that President Joe Biden signed recently.

The House has approved a massive spending bill anchored by $13.6 billion for battered Ukraine and its European allies.

Three Democrats are hoping to provide a legislative lifeline to tenants facing eviction. But the bill faces some steep hurdles in Congress.

Top lawmakers say Democrats and Republicans have finally agreed on a framework for overall defense and domestic spending for this year.

This is the third stopgap spending bill to keep the federal government afloat since October.

The House has approved legislation financing federal agencies for another month.

A top Democrat has unveiled compromise legislation that would keep the government functioning through March 11 and avert a federal shutdown later this month.

The unofficial House Grandma Caucus is pushing hard to continue monthly child tax credit payments to families, which were part of this year's Covid relief bill.

The Senate has passed a stopgap spending bill that avoids a short-term shutdown and funds the federal government through Feb. 18 after leaders defused a partisan standoff over federal vaccine mandates.

President Joe Biden has signed into law the stopgap spending bill that will keep the federal government running through Feb. 18.

he Senate passed a stopgap spending bill Thursday that avoids a short-term shutdown and funds the federal government through Feb. 18.

The Senate passed a stopgap spending bill Thursday that avoids a short-term shutdown and funds the federal government through Feb. 18.

The House passed a bill Thursday that funds the government through Feb. 18 and avoids a short-term shutdown after midnight Friday.

The House passed a bill Thursday that funds the government through Feb. 18 and avoids a short-term shutdown after midnight Friday.

The measure now heads to the Senate, where prospects for quick passage are in doubt ahead of a Friday deadline. A few Republicans have said they'd object to fast-tracking the bill.

The bill funds the government through February 18, and includes $7 billion to held resettle Afghan refugees.

The House Appropriations Committee reached agreement on the spending bill, but some hurdles remain.

The House Appropriations Committee reached agreement on the spending bill, but some hurdles remain.

The House struck a deal to prevent a government shutdown, but the funding bill could face opposition in the Senate.

Women — and some men — in Congress have been fighting for government child care assistance for almost 80 years.

Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, who was elected in 1992 as a self described “mom in tennis shoes,” has been fighting for paid family and medical leave for decades.

President Joe Biden and leading Democratic lawmakers, including Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet and Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, have been fighting to make permanent a child tax credit that would give families at least $300 a month per child.

This month, the Treasury Department distributed more than $15 billion in payments to families of 61 million children.

The president floated a briefer extension of child tax credits, but some senior Democrats are calling it a "missed opportunity" to support families.

The House has overwhelming passed legislation to provide funding for Israel’s missile defense system.

President Joe Biden has met with Democrats from the House and Senate as Congress works to bridge party divisions over his big $3.5 trillion “build back better” agenda.

The government faces a shutdown if it can't pass more funding by the end of the month.

The House has approved legislation to fund the government, suspend its borrowing limit and provide federal disaster and refugee aid.

A bipartisan proposal in the U.S. House would ban the farming of mink fur in the United States in an effort to stem possible mutations of the coronavirus.

Dan Riffle's tweet was in response to a letter, led by Ocasio-Cortez, calling for a budget increase among House offices in order to pay staffers more.

Earmarks were banished from Congress over a decade ago, but the funding for lawmakers' pet projects is marking a sudden return.

By a razor-thin margin, the House approved $1.9B to bolster U.S. Capitol security, but Senate Republicans called for a "pause" to study details.

The House has narrowly approved $1.9 billion to fortify the Capitol after the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The House has voted to create an independent commission on the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, sending the legislation to an uncertain future in the Senate as Republican leaders work to stop a bipartisan investigation that is opposed by former President Donald Trump.

The head of the House Appropriations Committee proposes $1.9 billion in emergency spending to beef up Capitol security after the Jan. 6 riot.

The Capitol Police force was hurt by inadequate intelligence gathering ahead of the Jan. 6 siege at the U.S. Capitol.

President Joe Biden couldn’t get everything he wanted into his own $1.8 trillion families plan.

The Biden administration is expanding a program to feed up to 34 million schoolchildren during the summer months.

The House passed the Paycheck Fairness Act on Thursday, which aims to decrease the gender wage gap.

House Republicans narrowly voted Wednesday, March 17, to allow their members to seek earmarks under certain conditions, making a clean break from a decade-long ban against seeking money for specific projects back home. Scott Applewhite, File)WASHINGTON – House Republicans narrowly voted Wednesday to allow their members to seek earmarks under certain conditions, making a clean break from a decade-long ban against seeking money for specific projects back home. The 102-84 vote changes the party's internal rules and allows Republicans to join the Democratic House majority as it puts in place a new process for earmarks in spending and transportation bills. “I think members here know what’s most important about what’s going on in their district, not Biden,” McCarthy said. Rep. Ted Budd, R-N.C., said that even if Republicans and Democrats start requesting earmarks for local projects in future bills, he will not participate.

A dirty word for many Republicans is making the rounds on Capitol Hill -- earmarks. It's a question that's vexing Republicans as they consider whether to join a Democratic push to revive earmarks, the much-maligned practice where lawmakers direct federal spending to a specific project or institution back home. Democratic appropriators in the House see a solution and are proposing a revamped process allowing lawmakers to submit public requests for “community project funding” in federal spending bills. The ranking Republican on the committee, Rep. Sam Graves of Missouri, said earmarks would not increase the amount of money spent in a bill. “That’s something I feel pretty strongly about.”Norman worries that earmarks would be used to entice Republicans to vote for bills with expensive price tags.

(Senate Television via AP)WASHINGTON – The massive coronavirus relief plan making its way to President Joe Biden’s desk includes a plan to temporarily raise the child tax credit that could end up permanently changing the way the country deals with child poverty. The American Rescue Plan, expected to receive final approval this week, temporarily raises the child tax credit, now at a maximum of $2,000, to as much as $3,600 per child annually. Indeed, Biden himself told House Democrats during a private call last week that he supports legislation that would permanently increase the child tax credit to $3,000 per child. That's the case made by some Republican lawmakers in offering an alternative to the Biden proposal. Because the benefit currently expires after a year, the Biden plan essentially creates a potential fiscal cliff for child poverty.

(Senate Television via AP)WASHINGTON – The massive coronavirus relief plan making its way to President Joe Biden’s desk includes a plan to temporarily raise the child tax credit that could end up permanently changing the way the country deals with child poverty. The American Rescue Plan, expected to receive final approval this week, temporarily raises the child tax credit, now at a maximum of $2,000, to as much as $3,600 per child annually. Indeed, Biden himself told House Democrats during a private call last week that he supports legislation that would permanently increase the child tax credit to $3,000 per child. That's the case made by some Republican lawmakers in offering an alternative to the Biden proposal. Because the benefit currently expires after a year, the Biden plan essentially creates a potential fiscal cliff for child poverty.

Less than three weeks into his presidency, Biden has declared that vanquishing the virus and resuscitating the economy are his top priorities. AdHouse Education and Labor Committee Democrats also previewed their plans Monday. Couples who make up to $150,000 would be entitled to $2,800 relief payments, which would gradually diminish and fully disappear for those earning $200,000. Biden has said he will not allow the per-person payments to fall below $1,400 but has indicated flexibility on the income thresholds. A federal law known as COBRA already allows them to temporarily keep their old employer’s health plan, but they typically have to pay prohibitively high premiums.

The price needs to be weighed against the heavy cost that child poverty imposes on society, said Hilary Hoynes, a UC Berkeley economist and expert on poverty. AdvertisementCutting child poverty would create additional “benefits to society, and the benefits can be quite large,” Hoynes said. Plans for expanded child payments have had bipartisan support — at least in theory. In a Senate speech last week, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) cited child payments as an issue on which Republicans and the administration might cooperate. “The expansion of the child tax credit will be permanent.”

This undated image provided by the United States Capitol Police shows U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021, of injuries sustained during the riot at the Capitol. One Capitol Police officer, Brian Sicknick, died Thursday night from injuries suffered during the riot. Another disturbing video shows a bloodied police officer screaming for help as he’s crushed by protesters inside the Capitol building. Still, the riot — and Sicknick's death — focused renewed attention on Capitol Police, a force of more than 2,300 officers and civilian employees that protects the Capitol, lawmakers, staff and visitors. Gus Papathanasiou, chairman of the Capitol Police Officers’ Union, said he was “incredibly proud of the individual officers whose actions protected the lives of hundreds of members of Congress and their staff.”Once the breach of the Capitol building was inevitable, officers prioritized lives over property, leading people to safety, he said.

Trump initially requested $2.5 billion, with much of that coming from previously appropriated funds. New York states confirmed coronavirus cases have doubled to 22, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Thursday. Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell said the legislation will provide $11.5 million to help her states health department respond to the crisis. The money to fight coronavirus includes over $3 billion for research and development of vaccines, test kits and medical treatments. Besides dispatching money throughout the United States, the bill approved by Congress also would provide for low-interest federal loans to businesses affected by a coronavirus outbreak.

A man in a face mask rides the subway in Manhattan, New York City, after further cases of coronavirus were confirmed in New York, U.S., March 5, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew KellyA Senate vote would follow House passage of the legislation on Wednesday, 415-2. The money to fight coronavirus includes over $3 billion for research and development of vaccines, test kits and medical treatments. Another $2.2 billion would aid public health activities on prevention, preparedness and response to outbreaks. The funding bill moving through Congress also would provide for low-interest federal loans to businesses affected by a coronavirus outbreak.

The GOALS Act would block federal funding for the 2026 Men's World Cup which will be hosted, jointly, by Canada, Mexico and the U.S. until the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) pays the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (USWNT) "fair and equitable wages." The World Cup is over, but the fight for equal compensation on the field continues. Earlier in July, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin introduced a bill that would ban federal funding for the 2026 Men's World Cup until the USSF pays the women's and men's team equitably. U.S. viewership of the 2019 Women's World Cup final was 22% higher than the 2018 men's final, according to a statement from Fox Sports. The USWNT's lawsuit states that the Women's National Team Player's Association (WNTPA) has proposed a revenue-sharing model, describing a proposal that would tie player compensation to revenue generated by the women's national team for USSF, which the men's national team supports.