WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The controversial "Volcker rule" to curb risky trading by banks got a boost in the Senate on Wednesday, as two Democrats introduced a bill that would enact and expand the rule.
Senators Jeff Merkley and Carl Levin introduced their bill on the rule, which was first proposed in ...More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican senator who held up action earlier this month on a bill to renew jobless benefits faced more criticism on Wednesday for blocking approval of President Barack Obama's nominee to be U.S. ambassador to the World Trade Organization.
Senator Jim Bunning, a Kentucky Republican, has ...More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New laws enacted by Myanmar's military government make a mockery of democracy and ensure that elections due later this year will be a farce, the United States said on Wednesday.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the election measures, which set strict limits on political participation ...More
NEW YORK (Reuters) - With Governor David Paterson enveloped in scandal, New York's lieutenant governor is leading the notoriously difficult budget process and freeing up his boss to fight for his political life, experts say.
Richard Ravitch, who would assume the top job should Paterson be brought down by inquiries ...More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the House of Representatives moved on Wednesday to limit the ability of lawmakers to tuck pet projects into spending bills amid mounting election-year ethics concerns.
Top Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee said the new rules prohibit lawmakers from steering money to for-profit companies through the ...More
RIYADH (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah for support lobbying for U.N. sanctions against Iran on Wednesday and discussed ways to boost the kingdom's air and missile defenses.
The United States is leading a push for the U.N. Security Council to impose ...More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate on Wednesday passed a $149 billion package of jobless aid and tax breaks, as Democrats continued efforts to lower the 9.7 percent unemployment rate before congressional elections in November.
The measure, approved by a vote of 62 to 36, now heads to the House of ...More
BOSTON (Reuters) - Scott Brown, the Republican whose surprise victory in the Senate race in Massachusetts rocked the political landscape, has signed a deal to write his memoirs, the publisher HarperCollins said on Wednesday.
Brown, 50, became in January the first Republican to represent Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate for ...More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a test of congressional support for President Barack Obama's new Afghanistan strategy, lawmakers are set to vote on Wednesday on a resolution that would direct him to pull U.S. forces out of the war.
The resolution by liberal Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich is not expected ...More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius ratcheted up the pressure on health insurance companies on Wednesday, urging them to forgo short-term profits and stop fighting President Barack Obama's health reform plans.
"You can choose to take the millions of dollars you have stored away for your next ...More
