Sen. Mark Kirk, an Illinois Republican, yesterday announced his support for Penny Pritzker, the Chicago businesswoman, philanthropist and Hyatt Hotels heiress who is President Barack Obama’s nominee for Commerce secretary. Kirk said he and Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, will introduce Pritzker...
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Photograph by Win McNamee/Getty Images
An Environmental Protection Agency contractor collects water samples for testing on May 31, 2010 near the point where the South Pass of the Mississippi River meets the Gulf of Mexico near Venice, Louisiana.
Are EPA Permits Germane to the Farm Bill?
Look for some conversation in the Senate today about whether more than 100 amendments dealing with Environmental Protection Agency permitting authority are germane to the farm bill. Bloomberg BNA’s LaTrina Antoine and Amena H. Saiyid report that Democrat Kay Hagan...
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Photograph by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Ford trucks at a dealership in Colma, California.
Detroit Automakers Offer More Octane for Economy
The most aggressive economic stimulus in the Federal Reserve’s 100-year history has the wheels turning for Detroit automakers. Cheaper borrowing costs and rising stock portfolio values are giving Americans the confidence to make big-ticket purchases. It’s welcome news for a...
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Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W. Va., arrives in the Senate Reception Room before the 'Vote-A-Rama' on amendments to the budget resolution on March 22, 2013.
Rockefeller, Kerkorian Help DSCC Raise $3.54 Million
Sen. Jay Rockefeller isn’t seeking re-election next year, though the wealthy West Virginia Democrat is still using some of his personal fortune to help his party’s prospects in the midterm election. Rockefeller donated the maximum $32,400 to the Democratic Senatorial...
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Photograph by Mel Evans/AP Photo
New Jersey Sen. Barbara Buono greets supporters on Feb. 2, 2013, as she officially kicks off her campaign for New Jersey governor with a rally in New Brunswick.
Buono Hits Christie With First TV Ad in New Jersey Race
Barbara Buono, the New Jersey Democrat waging a long-shot campaign to unseat Gov. Chris Christie, will launch her first television ad this week as she seeks to compete with the popular and well-funded Republican. Buono, 59, will spend over $1...
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Photograph by Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Graduating students listen as President Barack Obama delivers the commencement address at Morehouse College on May 19, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Student Spending’s First Drop Since 1977
By Oliver Staley Public spending per student on U.S. education fell in fiscal 2011, the first annual decline since at least 1977, as tax revenue dried up. The U.S. spent an average $10,560 per student in public schools in 2011,...
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Photograph by Justin Lane/EPA/Corbis
The National Debt Clock and an estimate of the Untied States' national debt, as well as an estimate of each family's share of that amount, on Dec. 31, 2012, in New York City.
Bloomberg by the Numbers: $16.699 Trillion
That’s the U.S. debt ceiling as of Monday, according to the Treasury Department. It’s the first number the Treasury has released since President Barack Obama signed a suspension of the limit in early February, Bloomberg’s Ian Katz and Kasia Klimasinska report....
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Photograph by Pete Marovich/Bloomberg
Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, questions a witness during a Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing in Washington, D.C., on May 21, 2013. Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook defended his company's use of offshore tax shelters before U.S. senators who castigated the most-valuable technology company for avoiding $9 billion and more in payments.
Paul Echoes White House in Opposition to Arming Syrians
A small corner of hell may be freezing over. Sen. Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican and fierce Obama administration critic, today opposed a bill to provide arms to Syrian rebels with an argument that could have come straight from the...
Read more »House Republicans Tweet For Keystone
House Republicans aren’t leaving it to lawmaking to get the Keystone XL pipeline built: They’re also turning to social media. The House Energy and Commerce Committee has started the Twitter feed @KXLFiles in recent days, according to committee spokeswoman Charlotte Baker. The first-person feed...
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Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller, left, and former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman confer during a break in testimony before the Senate Finance Committee May 21, 2013 in Washington, DC.
Watchdog Group Files Second Lawsuit Against IRS
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has again sued the Internal Revenue Service over its regulation of nonprofits incorporated under Section 501(c)(4) of the tax code. The watchdog group is asking the U.S. District Court to direct the IRS to draft...
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Contributors
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Al Hunt
is a columnist for Bloomberg View and host of the weekly show "Political Capital with Al Hunt" on Bloomberg TV. -
Mark Silva
is deputy managing editor for government news in Washington and editor of Political Capital. He has covered the White House and national politics. -
Emma Fidel
is political editor for Bloomberg.com in Washington. She previously covered financial regulation as a Bloomberg intern. -
Don Frederick
edits political and government coverage for Bloomberg News. He previously worked for more than a decade at the Los Angeles Times' Washington bureau. -
Gregory Giroux
analyzes elections, financing of congressional and presidential elections, political advertising and demographics in Bloomberg's Washington Bureau. -
Julie Bykowicz
covers the influence of money and lobbying in Washington, and covered the state legislature and city crime for the Baltimore Sun for 10 years. -
Jonathan Salant
covers campaign finance and lobbying in Washington. He was president of the National Press Club and started in Washington in 1987. -
Richard Rubin
covers federal tax policy. He worked at Congressional Quarterly and The Charlotte Observer before joining Bloomberg News in 2010. -
Julie Hirschfeld Davis
is a senior political reporter for the Washington Bureau. She covered the 2012 campaign for Bloomberg News and previously covered the White House for the Baltimore Sun. -
Lisa Lerer
covers the White House and covered the 2012 campaign for Bloomberg News. She covered Congress, lobbying and the 2008 campaign for Politico. -
John McCormick
is a national political reporter looking forward to the 2016 presidential campaign, which will be the fifth he's covered. He's also reported for The Des Moines Register and Chicago Tribune. -
Julianna Goldman
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Television. -
Hans Nichols
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Television. -
Margaret Talev
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and covered the White House for McClatchy Newspapers. She has covered California and Florida politics. -
Cary O'Reilly
is Editor at Large at Bloomberg First Word and is Washington Daybook columnist for Bloomberg Government and Bloomberg News.
