New York Gov. Paterson to Name Rep. Gillibrand to Clinton’s Former U.S. Senate Seat

Gillibrand, elected in 2006, represents the state’s 20th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. She is the first Democrat to represent the district since 1978 — and the first female representative of the district.  Governor Paterson is scheduled to formally announce his pick Friday.
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Caroline Kennedy Withdraws Senate Seat Bid

Caroline Kennedy has asked New York Governor David Paterson to remove her from consideration for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton, a spokesman said.  “I informed Governor Paterson today that for personal reasons I am withdrawing my name from consideration for the United States Senate,” Kennedy said in an e-mail sent early today [...]

Coleman Running Out of Options in Minnesota Race

The counting of improperly rejected absentee ballots will probably increase Democratic challenger Al Franken’s lead over incumbent GOP Sen. Norm Coleman according to a new analysis of voting trends, effectively relegating Coleman to filing lawsuits considered unlikely to reverse the outcome of the election.
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Blagojevich to name Burris to Senate

Gov. Rod Blagojevich is expected today to name former Illinois Atty. Gen. Roland Burris to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.  The action comes despite warnings by Democratic Senate leaders that they would not seat anyone appointed by the disgraced governor who faces criminal charges of trying to sell the post, sources familiar [...]

Democrats Gain as Stevens Loses Race

Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, convicted last month on federal ethics charges, lost his bid for a seventh term as final ballots were counted on Tuesday, giving Democrats at least 58 seats in the Senate for the first years of the Obama administration.
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Lieberman can still help Dems, Reid says

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Sunday he’s still trying to keep Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman within the Democratic caucus despite anger over Lieberman’s support of Republican presidential nominee John McCain.  While he has opposed Democratic efforts to end the war in Iraq, “Joe Lieberman votes with me a lot more than a lot of [...]

Senate Republicans Block Bill to Restrict Torture

Senate Republicans blocked a bill Friday that would restrict the interrogation methods the CIA can use against terrorism suspects.
The legislation, part of a measure authorizing the government’s intelligence activities for 2008, had been approved a day earlier by the House and sent to the Senate for what was supposed to be final action. The bill [...]

Senate Backs Freeze on Tax Without Cost Offsets

Trying to find a way out of a sticky tax problem, the Senate on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to prevent the alternative minimum tax from hitting millions of middle-class Americans without replacing the $50 billion that would be lost.
The move represented a bitter retreat for Senate Democrats who, in taking over Congress this year, pledged to [...]

Reid aims to block recess appointments

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in a showdown with the White House over executive branch nominations, Friday refused to formally adjourn the chamber for a planned two-week Thanksgiving break to thwart President Bush’s ability to make recess appointments.
Rather than taking a full break, Reid employed a rarely used parliamentary tactic of scheduling “pro forma” [...]