STENY HOYER

Facing stubbornly high gas prices that average about $5 a gallon nationwide, President Joe Biden has urged Congress to suspend federal gasoline and diesel taxes for three months.

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol is pressing pause on its hearings for next week and picking them up again in July. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the chairman of the committee, told reporters Wednesday that the committee would hold off on the two final hearings it had planned for…

The Biden administration foresees unnecessary deaths if lawmakers don’t approve billions of dollars more to brace for the pandemic’s next wave.

The House’s top law enforcement official says members of Congress should be barred from carrying firearms anywhere in the Capitol or its surrounding office buildings and grounds.

The Puerto Rico Status Act would create and fund a process by which residents of the island would take a binding vote to determine the island's status.

A group of mostly Democratic congress members is proposing a binding plebiscite to decide whether Puerto Rico should become a state or gain some sort of independence.

Brazilian environmental and Indigenous organizations are urging the United States to fund forest protection initiatives that directly involve forest peoples.

The amount is more than double the $14 billion in support authorized so far to respond to the Russian invasion, a senior administration officials told reporters Thursday.

The Senate voted to revoke Russia's "most favored nation" trade status, an economic downgrade that opens the possibility of tariffs on Moscow.

A compromise $10 billion measure buttressing the government’s COVID-19 defenses has stalled in the Senate.

President Joe Biden has signed into law plans for a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. Postal Service.

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 bill decriminalizing marijuana and letting states set their own policies on pot.

The House of Representatives could vote on the Securing a Strong Retirement Act, or Secure Act 2.0, as early as Tuesday.

Congressional leaders have reached a bipartisan deal to provide $13.6 billion to help Ukraine fend off its invasion by Russia and assist European allies coping with the continent's worst refugee crisis since World War II.

Vice President Kamala Harris is in Selma, Alabama, to mark the anniversary of a defining moment in the fight for equal voting rights.

President Joe Biden is signaling an election year shift to the center to help protect fragile Democratic majorities in Congress, even as key voices across his party’s sprawling political coalition threaten revolt.

Congressional Democrats and Republicans are showing signs of support for providing $6.4 billion or more in aid to Ukraine and its European neighbors.

A senior Republican lawmaker has apologized for using an expletive when Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio asked him to put his mask on while in the Capitol.

The 82-year-old representative said he is vaccinated and boosted.

President Joe Biden will appear in Pittsburgh on Friday as an opening step in a broader campaign to promote the White House’s achievements in key states before the midterm elections.

President Joe Biden has visited the bridge in Pittsburgh that collapsed just hours before his previously scheduled trip to promote his infrastructure package — a new law that aims to prevent just such disasters.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney has made a surprise appearance in the House in a show of support for his daughter, Rep. Liz Cheney.

Democratic leaders are pressing ahead on President Joe Biden’s big domestic policy bill.

The House passed a key procedural vote to line up eventual passage of President Biden's signature social safety net and climate change bill.

Top Democrats have abruptly postponed an expected House vote on their 10-year, $1.85 trillion social and environment measure.

The new version now contains a provision that had been dropped, paid leave, and also includes a tax break for wealthier Americans.

Democrats in the House appear on the verge of advancing President Joe Biden’s $1.85 trillion-and-growing domestic policy package.

The new version now contains a provision that had been dropped, paid leave, and also includes a tax break for wealthier Americans.

Democrats say they have sealed a deal to lower pharmaceutical drug costs for most older Americans as part of President Joe Biden’s sweeping $1.75 trillion domestic proposal.

Democrats say they only have a handful of issues to resolve before they can strike a deal on Biden's social safety net and climate plan.

Hoyer is hopeful about reaching a framework as Democrats try to resolve sticking points over what to include in Biden's economic plan and how to pay for it.

Scaling back his big government-overhaul plans, President Joe Biden has described a more-limited vision to Democratic lawmakers.

The House has approved a short-term hike to the nation’s debt limit.

The measure now goes to the House, which is slated to vote on it next week.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says he will not again help Democrats extend the government’s borrowing authority.

The held vote comes as Democrats remain divided over a separate but politically linked larger spending measure.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House is still on track to hold a vote on President Joe Biden's bipartisan infrastructure bill Thursday.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer tried to pass the bill with a simple majority vote of 50, rather than the 60 that is usually required for Senate bills.

Pressure is mounting on President Joe Biden to trim back his $3.5 trillion federal government overhaul to win over holdout fellow Democrats.

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

Top Democrats are planning House votes next week on a budget resolution that would clear a path for future passage of the party's ambitious plans for social and environment programs.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is facing a fresh hurdle to passing President Joe Biden’s multitrillion-dollar domestic policy aspirations.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is conceding that Democrats face a tough pathway to delivering a $3.5 trillion package for family, health and environment programs to President Joe Biden’s desk.

President Joe Biden has leapt back into the Senate’s up-and-down efforts to clinch a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure deal.

President Joe Biden on Monday announced that some Americans experiencing long-term effects of Covid may qualify for disability resources and protections from the federal government.

House votes 285-120 to remove Confederate and pro-slavery statues from the U.S. Capitol

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will confer with White House officials on next steps for President Joe Biden’s $4 trillion infrastructure plans.

The willingness of top Democrats, including Steny Hoyer, to criticize AIPAC reflects the growing schism in the party over US-Israeli relations.

The Senate passed the bill with an overwhelming and bipartisan majority last month.

When Rep. Maxine Waters urged people to be “confrontational” in the pursuit of justice for George Floyd, advocates for racial equity heard a leading Black voice in the nation's long march toward civil rights.

The legislation was first introduced in 1989. The committee's debate was long and often heated. And prospects for final passage remain poor.

The legislation was first introduced in 1989. The committee's debate was long and often heated. And prospects for final passage remain poor.

New details from the deadly riot of Jan. 6 are in a previously undisclosed document prepared by the Pentagon for internal use.

The bill is likely to stall in the Senate.

The bill is likely stall in the Senate.

House Democrats aim to pass the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill on Wednesday so President Joe Biden can sign it by the weekend. Biden aims to sign the legislation in time to beat a Sunday deadline to renew unemployment aid programs. Democrats will likely pass the package without Republican votes, as the GOP questions the need for nearly $2 trillion more in federal spending. On Tuesday, House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters he is "110% confident that the votes exist to pass" the plan. The legislation extends a $300 per week jobless benefit boost and programs expanding unemployment aid to millions more Americans through Sept. 6.

1, a sweeping government and elections reform bill and a key legislative priority for the Democratic majority. The House also passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, though the vote was initially scheduled for Thursday. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer released an updated schedule showing the House would vote on the George Floyd measure Wednesday night instead of Thursday, enabling the House to wrap up its workweek a day early and to not be in session Thursday. After the House vote, civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump tweeted, "On behalf of George Floyd's family, we are deeply gratified and grateful for US House leadership. Some Democrats argue that it is important to eliminate the filibuster particularly so that voting rights legislation can be passed, such as the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would restore provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act struck down by the Supreme Court.

1, a sweeping government and elections reform bill and a key legislative priority for the Democratic majority. The House also passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, though the vote was initially scheduled for Thursday. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer released an updated schedule showing the House would vote on the George Floyd measure Wednesday night instead of Thursday, enabling the House to wrap up its workweek a day early and to not be in session Thursday. After the House vote, civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump tweeted, "On behalf of George Floyd's family, we are deeply gratified and grateful for US House leadership. Some Democrats argue that it is important to eliminate the filibuster particularly so that voting rights legislation can be passed, such as the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would restore provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act struck down by the Supreme Court.

But lawmakers and advocates are racing to capitalize on House rules that allow any bill to bypass lengthy committee hearings if brought forward by April 1. Senate Republicans are now threatening similar delays. Ad“We’ll be fighting this in every way that we can,” Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said about the COVID-19 package. McConnell wants Senate Republicans to vote in lockstep against the virus aid, calling it a bloated liberal wish list, following the lead of House Republicans who gave it zero support. That leaves Democrats negotiating with themselves on the COVID-19 package, with Biden warning they won’t like every aspect as he courts centrists.

Top Democratic leaders in the House are pushing President Biden to nominate Shalanda Young to be director of the Office of Management and Budget, after Neera Tanden withdrew her nomination for the post on Tuesday, concluding there was "no path forward" to be confirmed. Young, Mr. Biden's nominee for deputy director of the agency, is a Democratic staff director for the House Appropriations Committee and well-respected on both sides of the aisle. In a joint statement, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said they "take great pride in recommending Shalanda Young as Director of the Office of Management and Budget." "You'll get my support, maybe for both jobs," GOP Senator Lindsey Graham told Young. It was also unclear whether Tanden would get support from Senator Bernie Sanders, a frequent critic of hers, or Senator Kyrsten Sinema.

Shalanda D. Young, nominee to be deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, is sworn into her Senate Budget Committee confirmation in Dirksen Building on Tuesday, March 2, 2021. House Democratic leaders endorsed Shalanda Young on Wednesday for director of the Office of Management and Budget. The move by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn came a day after President Joe Biden withdrew his nomination of Neera Tanden for OMB director at her request. Young is Biden's pick for deputy budget director and a former top Democratic aide on the House Appropriations Committee. Tanden, president of left-leaning think tank Center for American Progress, drew pushback during her confirmation process over her prior critical remarks of lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle.

A $300 per week unemployment insurance enhancement and programs extending jobless benefits to millions more Americans formally expire on that day. Democrats aim to pass their $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan next week and send it to President Joe Biden 's desk for his signature. Senate Democrats still have to keep all of their members on board to get the bill through the chamber this week. Biden was set to nudge Senate Democrats toward approving the legislation when he called into a meeting with the caucus on Tuesday afternoon. Some Democrats believe Congress needs to do more to provide direct relief after passage of the $1.9 trillion plan.

House Democrats plan to pass their $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill on Friday as lawmakers try to prevent unemployment lifelines from expiring next month. "The American people strongly support this bill, and we are moving swiftly to see it enacted into law," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said in a statement posted to Twitter on Tuesday night. It also puts $20 billion into Covid-19 vaccinations, $50 billion into testing, and $350 billion into state, local and tribal government relief. Democrats have moved to pass the legislation on their own through budget reconciliation, which requires a simple majority in a Senate divided 50-50 by party. They have argued they cannot wait to ease economic pain while they try to strike a deal with the GOP.

On Tuesday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer , D-Md., told lawmakers to prepare to work through Feb. 26 and into the ensuing weekend in order to pass the relief bill. The Senate on Saturday acquitted Trump of inciting an insurrection against the government after five days of proceedings. With former President Donald Trump 's second impeachment trial behind them, Democrats are moving to pass another coronavirus relief package within weeks. The bill includes a proposal to gradually hike the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025. If the Senate passes a different bill than the House does, representatives would have to reconvene to approve the legislation again.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., goes back to her office after speaking on the floor of the House Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)WASHINGTON – Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene lashed out Friday at “morons” in both parties who voted to kick her off her committees, a day after the House meted out the unprecedented punishment that Democrats said she’d earned by spreading hateful and violent conspiracy theories. Underscoring the political vise her inflammatory commentary has clamped her party into, all but 11 Republicans voted against the Democratic move on Thursday but none rose to defend her lengthy history of outrageous social media posts. Even social media stars like Greene could find it harder to define themselves without the spotlights that committees provide. That chamber’s minority leader, Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., this week called Greene’s words a “cancer” on the GOP and country.

The House will vote Thursday on a resolution to strip Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., of her committee assignments, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., met with Greene on Tuesday evening in his Capitol office. "The Rules Committee will meet this afternoon, and the House will vote on the resolution tomorrow," Hoyer said. A spokesman for the minority leader told NBC News that McCarthy would discuss the matter with lawmakers later Wednesday. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., this week condemned Greene's "loony lies and conspiracy theories," calling them "cancer for the Republican Party and our country."

It comes as House Democrats moved Monday to strip Greene of her committee assignments if Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., refuses to do so himself. One suggested shooting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the head. Last week, Pelosi pressed House Republicans to take action. A spokesperson for the Republican leader declined to comment Monday. AdAlthough it’s not certain he will take action against Greene, McCarthy has punished members of the House Republican caucus before.

In this Jan. 27, 2021, photo, President Joe Biden speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. Democrats in the House and Senate are operating as though they know they are borrowed time. Schumer said he drew from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's advice to “act big” to weather the COVID-19 economic crisis. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, a former White House budget director under George W. Bush, wants a deeper accounting of what funds remain from the $900 billion coronavirus aid package from December. “The risks of going too small dramatically outweigh the risks of going too big,” said Gene Sperling, a former director of the White House National Economic Council, who signed the letter.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., speaks during a news conference calling for the removal of a bust from the Capitol of Chief Justice Roger Taney in Washington on Monday, March 9, 2020. Democrats have started to lay the groundwork to pass the next coronavirus relief package without Republican votes as GOP lawmakers criticize the cost of President Joe Biden's rescue plan. The thorny process would allow Democrats to pass a pandemic aid bill by a simple majority vote in the Senate with no Republican support. She added that "we hope and expect" Republicans will back an aid bill, but "Democrats will not take any tools off the table." The House majority leader told lawmakers he could change the schedule again before March 14 to allow time to renew programs to boost unemployed workers during the pandemic.

The Democratic-led House of Representatives on Saturday sent a letter to FBI Director Chris Wray and other agency chiefs seeking information on the intelligence and security failures that led up to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 that forced lawmakers into hiding. Four House committee chairs signed onto the letter, which called for documents and briefings from the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, the National Counterterrorism Center and the Director of National Intelligence on what was known ahead of the attack. "This still-emerging story is one of astounding bravery by some U.S. Capitol Police and other officers; of staggering treachery by violent criminals; and of apparent and high-level failures — in particular, with respect to intelligence and security preparedness," the committees wrote. The letter was signed by Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Homeland Security Committee Chair Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. and Oversight Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. The inspectors general of the Department of Justice, Defense, Homeland Security and Interior have launched reviews of their agency's actions connected to the attack.

3 House Republican had already broken with the president on everything from mask-wearing during the coronavirus pandemic to pulling back American troops in Afghanistan. Defying Trump also carried the historical weight of coming from the daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, a conservative force in Washington for decades. On a conference call with home-state reporters after Trump's impeachment, Cheney defended her decision saying, “I will continue to talk to and hear from my constituents all over Wyoming. Other top members of her own party have begun clamoring for Cheney to quit — or be voted out of — her post as chairwoman of the House Republican Conference. “I’m not judging anybody on this,” said Utah Republican Rep. John Curtis.

(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)Members of the National Guard relax in the Capitol Visitor Center on Wednesday. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)Members of the National Guard sleep on the floor of the Capitol Rotunda. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)National Guard members have breakfast on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday morning. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)AdvertisementMore visual journalism from the Los Angeles Times

National Guard troops protected Congress on Wednesday as the House of Representatives moved to impeach President Donald Trump for inciting a violent mob that invaded the U.S. Capitol complex a week earlier. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., meets with a National Guard troop, on the East Entrance of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on January 13, 2021. Oliver Contreras | APPelosi tweeted Wednesday about her speaking to the National Guard troops. "It was my privilege today to personally thank members of the National Guard who are working protect our nation's Capitol. The acting police chief of Washington said more than 20,000 National Guard troops are expected to be in the District of Columbia on Jan. 20 for Biden's inauguration that day.

The House looked all but certain to charge the president with high crimes and misdemeanors after Pence rejected the 25th Amendment route. Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday night he will not try to remove President Donald Trump from office, shortly before the House passed a measure calling on him and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment. The 25th Amendment measure passed by the House does not compel Pence and Cabinet secretaries to take action. Democrats introduced competing versions of impeachment articles on Monday. "If he won't resign and Vice President Pence and the Cabinet won't invoke the 25th Amendment, he will be impeached by the House.

The House is trying to push the vice president and Cabinet to act even more quickly to remove President Donald Trump from office. Democrats are set to pass a resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke constitutional authority under the 25th Amendment to oust Trump. Trump, meanwhile, warned the lawmakers off impeachment and suggested it was the drive to oust him that was dividing the country. Trump faces a single charge — “incitement of insurrection” — in the impeachment resolution after the most serious and deadly domestic incursion at the Capitol in the nation’s history. Trump was impeached by the House in 2019 over dealings with Ukraine and acquitted in 2020 by the Senate.

With the Washington Monument in the background, people attend a rally in support of President Donald Trump on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. The announcement comes after thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol last week as legislators were meeting to vote to certify Biden’s electoral win. The State Department is investigating what appears to be a “prank” after its website suggested President Donald Trump’s term would end Monday evening. It comes days after thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to stop the congressional certification of Biden’s victory. The National Park Service is shutting down public access to the Washington Monument until Jan. 24, citing threats surrounding Joe Biden’s inauguration.

Democrats introduced an article of impeachment Monday that charges Trump with high crimes and misdemeanors for whipping up an insurrection and disrupting the peaceful transfer of power. The chamber will take two separate steps to try to spur Trump's removal, according to the office of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. Reps. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., David Cicilline, D-R.I., and Ted Lieu, D-Calif., led the drafting of impeachment article, though it is unclear whether the House will ultimately consider that measure or a separate one. In a statement Monday, she said the House wants Pence to respond "within 24 hours after passage" of the resolution. The House will likely vote to impeach Trump only a few days before President-elect Joe Biden will take office one week from Wednesday.

The rules changes come as Democrats hold a bare majority in the House of fewer than a half-dozen seats, significantly smaller than over the past two years. Also, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is beginning what promises to be her fourth and final term as leader of the chamber. Understanding the bundle of changes requires a dive into the arcane world of House rules and parliamentary maneuvering. The Democratic-imposed rules continue a years-long trend of eroding the powers of the House minority through revisions enacted every two years. “It is all designed to take away the voice of 48 percent of this House chamber,” said Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La.

The congressional Republican leaders have been left almost speechless by Trump’s year-end scorching of their work. Instead, Washington is now hurtling toward a crisis with COVID aid about to collapse, as the president is at his Mar-a-Lago club. Many have opposed larger $2,000 checks as too costly and poorly targeted. Even if the House is able to approve Trump's $2,000 checks on Monday, that measure would likely die in the GOP-controlled Senate, which is due back in session on Tuesday. The year-end package Trump railed against as a “disgrace” is the product of months of work.

Lawmakers from both parties have urged Trump to sign the bill as is. "The best way out of this is for the president to sign the bill, and I still hope that's what he decides to do," Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. "It took us a long time to get to where we are, I think reopening that bill would be a mistake." A senior Senate Republican aide told NBC News that the bill was being flown to Palm Beach, Florida, where Trump is spending Christmas. One of the president's demands included bigger stimulus checks of $2,000 instead of $600.

House Republicans on Thursday blocked a Democratic attempt to pass $2,000 direct payments to Americans, as the fate of the massive coronavirus relief package passed by Congress earlier in the week hangs in the balance. The Democrats moved to increase the size of the checks after President Donald Trump threatened to oppose the $2 trillion pandemic aid and federal funding bill because it included only $600 in direct payments rather than $2,000. Trying to cap the plan's cost, most of Trump's Republican Party sought $600 in direct payments rather than the $1,200 passed in the CARES Act in March. In criticizing the year-end legislation, Trump also pointed to foreign aid spending — which Washington includes in funding bills every year. Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., offered the proposal from the House floor, but was blocked because the measure was not approved by House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

Washington — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday said Democrats and Republicans have "finalized a deal" on a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package. The disagreement threatened to derail talks over the massive $900 billion relief bill, which includes direct payments to taxpayers, expanded unemployment benefits and hundreds of billions of dollars in pandemic-related aid. The House and Senate convened Sunday afternoon and could vote on a relief and funding package by the end of the day. That extension expires at midnight Sunday, meaning lawmakers would need to extend the deadline further if votes on the relief bill stretch into Monday. Leaders are hoping to combine the relief bill with the larger year-long $1.4 trillion spending package.

Washington — President Trump has signed a continuing resolution that will extend government funding through Sunday to allow negotiations over a government spending measure and a coronavirus relief bill to continue. Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Friday there would be no vote on the spending measure or the relief bill on Saturday. Lawmakers also wish to append a coronavirus relief bill to this omnibus measure, and congressional leaders are still negotiating that deal. The need to pass a relief bill is just as urgent as an overarching government spending bill. Meanwhile, top lawmakers have insisted for days that they are nearing a deal on a relief bill, even as time is running out to come to an agreement.

Washington — President Trump has signed a continuing resolution that will extend government funding through Sunday to allow negotiations over a government spending measure and a coronavirus relief bill to continue. Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Friday there would be no vote on the spending measure or the relief bill on Saturday. Lawmakers also wish to append a coronavirus relief bill to this omnibus measure, and congressional leaders are still negotiating that deal. The need to pass a relief bill is just as urgent as an overarching government spending bill. Meanwhile, top lawmakers have insisted for days that they are nearing a deal on a relief bill, even as time is running out to come to an agreement.

FILE - In this Sept. 17, 2020, file photo, House Majority Whip James Clyburn, of S.C., speaks during a news conference about COVID-19, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Pelosi will start the Biden era with a narrow majority, 222-211, with a few races still undecided. Biden's first pick from the House, Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., would join the administration quickly once the president-elect is inaugurated Jan. 20, Clyburn said. Democrats are already deep into political soul-searching after a dismal November outcome for House Democrats. The danger zone was close enough that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer warned Biden last month off taking any more Democrats from his ranks.

With over 1 in 10 Americans going without enough to eat, the $13 billion Congressional leaders allocated for food assistance in the latest Covid-19 relief package can't come soon enough. Lawmakers are still negotiating a $900 billion pandemic rescue package this week, which is set to include $13 billion in funding for food assistance programs. And although there is not a limit on the length of time households with children can receive SNAP benefits, single adults are limited to 36 months. About 25.3 million Americans total reported currently receiving SNAP benefits in the latest Census Household Pulse survey. In New York City, City Harvest has rescued and delivered 64 million pounds of food since July, a 125% year-over-year increase.

Stocks slipped from record highs in volatile trading on Friday as lawmakers struggled to bridge differences on additional coronavirus stimulus measures. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 124.32 points, or 0.4%, to 30,179.05. The S&P 500 dipped 0.4%, or 13.07 points, to 3,709.41, snapping a three-day winning streak. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Friday that the negotiations "remain productive." Last-minute disputes preventing Congress from passing a relief deal include direct payments, small business loans and a boost to unemployment insurance.

FILE - In this July 7, 2020 file photo, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Richard Wilkie speaks at the National Press Club in Washington. Confronted with a sexual assault allegation at a veterans hospital, Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie repeatedly sought to discredit the female congressional staffer who made the complaint. The groups pressed Trump to act in the last weeks of his administration since Wilkie had refused to accept responsibility and was refusing to resign. Wilkie and other senior officials had declined to fully cooperate with the investigation by VA Inspector General Michael Missal. Wilkie is Trump’s second VA secretary after David Shulkin was fired in 2018.

McConnell is playing a strong hand in the lame-duck session and is pressuring Democrats to drop a much-sought $160 billion state and local government aid package. McConnell says he'll drop a demand for provisions shielding businesses from COVID-19-related lawsuits, a key priority, if Democrats agree to drop the $160 billion state and local aid package. “We’ve got to get people a lifeline.”Manchin is an architect of a bipartisan $748 billion aid package that is aimed at serving as a template for the leadership talks. A state and local aid package was part of the almost $2 trillion CARES Act that passed the Senate unanimously in March. The $150 billion aid package to states and large cities evoked little controversy then, but many Republicans are adamantly against the idea now, though any additional aid would also go to smaller municipalities left out of the prior round.

This should not be Congress’ last COVID relief bill, but it is a strong compromise that deserves support from both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate," said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. The Kentucky Republican is pressing a lowest-common-denominator approach that would drop the lawsuit shield idea for now if Democrats agree to drop a $160 billion state and local aid package. Several Democrats appeared at the bipartisan news conference endorsing the $748 billion package. One is a $748 billion aid package containing money for struggling businesses, the unemployed, schools and vaccine distribution. Negotiations on the $1.4 trillion catchall spending bill are “essentially finished," said a congressional aide participating in the talks.

Paul said on the Senate floor that he opposes provisions in the defense bill that would limit President Donald Trump's ability to draw down U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Germany. Paul said he would drop his objection if GOP leaders allowed a final vote on the National Defense Authorization Act on Monday. 2 Senate Republican, said he thought Paul — who has provoked government shutdowns before — was using the time-crunch for maximum leverage to remove the provision on troop withdrawals. A procedural vote on the defense bill was expected Friday, setting the stage for final votes on the defense bill and the stopgap spending measure later in the day. If he does veto the defense bill, Congress could cut short its Christmas recess to hold override votes, senior House members said.

Politico first reported the Kentucky Republican's plan to brush aside the plan, which members of his caucus have helped to craft. It remains unclear what kind of package could garner the support of both the GOP-controlled Senate and Democratic-held House. He contended McConnell has tried to trip up those talks in favor of a plan that includes only policies Republicans support. Earlier Thursday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told CNBC that he thinks Congress can reach a deal by next week. Mnuchin briefed both McCarthy and McConnell on the White House's latest relief plan before he presented it to Pelosi this week.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, speaks during a news conference following a weekly meeting with the Senate Republican caucus, Tuesday, Dec. 8. Paul said he would drop his objection if GOP leaders allowed a final vote on the National Defense Authorization Act on Monday. 2 Senate Republican, said he thought Paul — who has provoked government shutdowns before — was using the time-crunch for maximum leverage to remove the provision on troop withdrawals. A procedural vote on the defense bill was expected Friday, setting the stage for final votes on the defense bill and the stopgap spending measure later in the day. If he does veto the defense bill, Congress could cut short its Christmas recess to hold override votes, senior House members said.

Congress aims to extend government funding for an additional week while lawmakers try to scrape together spending and coronavirus relief packages, Republican and Democratic leaders said Monday. Funding will lapse on Saturday if Congress cannot approve a spending bill. Congressional leaders previously signaled they wanted to tie aid provisions to a funding proposal. Kevin Lemarque | ReutersThe Senate and House lawmakers aim to release a more detailed outline of their $908 billion aid proposal on Monday as they prepare legislative text. Democratic leaders have backed the plan as the basis for an emergency relief bill.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to use a $908 billion bipartisan coronavirus stimulus plan as the basis for relief talks as Congress scrambles to send aid to Americans before the end of the year. "While we made a new offer to Leader McConnell and Leader McCarthy on Monday, in the spirit of compromise we believe the bipartisan framework introduced by Senators yesterday should be used as the basis for immediate bipartisan, bicameral negotiations," Schumer and Pelosi said. Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., was set to speak to McConnell on Wednesday about a pandemic relief measure. McConnell then rejected it and offered his own, smaller plan that he said had President Donald Trump's support. Pelosi and Schumer did not offer their unequivocal endorsement of the proposal.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that President Donald Trump's coronavirus diagnosis could change the shape of talks toward an evasive stimulus deal. "This kind of changes the dynamic because here [Republicans] see the reality of what we have been saying all along. During a monthslong tug of war over how much money to inject into pandemic relief, Pelosi has repeatedly argued the GOP does not understand the gravity of the Covid-19 outbreak. Writing to House Democrats on Friday, Pelosi said "our negotiations with the [Trump administration] continue, and I am hopeful we can reach agreement" despite "significant disagreement in key areas." Despite the impasse, Pelosi took a significant step Friday in saying the House could pass a standalone bill to send airlines aid money to help cover payroll.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 35.20 points, or 0.1%, to 27,816.90 after jumping 250 points earlier in the day. The S&P 500 rose 0.5%, or 17.80 points, to 3,380.80, while the Nasdaq Composite outperformed, gaining 1.4%, or 159.00 points, to 11,326.51. Earlier Thursday, Pelosi said she is "hoping" the House will vote on its stimulus bill Thursday. The S&P 500 fell 3.9% for the month, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.2%. The S&P 500 rose 8.5% in the quarter for its sixth positive quarter in seven and the index is up 5% for the year.