Massachusetts Congressman Edward Markey, the first candidate to jump into the race for the Senate seat that will become vacant when, as expected, John Kerry is confirmed as Secretary of State, has twice passed on chances to make a bid...
Read more »Third Time the Charm for Markey?
McConnell, Reid at Fiscal Standoff: `You Can’t Legislate with Yourself’
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell says his party has “bent over backwards… stepped way, way out of our comfort zone,” in negotiations with Democrats over taxes and spending. And now a year-end deadline looms. “Here we are, once again, at...
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Photograph by Win McNamee/Getty Images
Speaker of the House John Boehner
Reid: Boehner’s `Dictatorship’ Stalled
Updated with McConnell spokesman at 11:10 am EST The temperature outside in Washington today is chilly. Indoors it’s boiling. “If we go over the cliff… it could have been avoided by a single vote” of the House, Senate Majority Leader...
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Photograph by Alex Wong/Getty Images
A Yellow Pages Caucus was formed in Feb. 2012 to try to open up bidding for services performed by the government that can be done by private contractors.
Contractor Pay Cap Reduction Killed
U.S. lawmakers may be looking to reduce the nation’s deficit, but they won’t be taking pay away from employees who work for the government’s army of contractors. Congress has decided to keep reimbursing federal contractors as much as $763,000 annually...
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Photograph by Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
U.S. President Barack Obama (L) nominated Senator John Kerry to be the next secretary of state, at the White House on Dec. 21, 2012 in Washington, D.C.
Kerry Can’t Do It All: Picking Someone to Preside
President Barack Obama joked about a procedural quirk that lies ahead when he chose Senator John Kerry as his nominee for secretary of state. “I guess you won’t be able to actually appear and preside at the same time,” Obama...
Read more »Elizabeth Warren PAC Seeks to `Level the Playing Field’
During her winning Senate campaign, Elizabeth Warren frequently said she would work to “level the playing field” for middle-class families hurt by the excesses of Wall Street and Washington lobbyists. Now the Massachusetts Democrat, a onetime adviser to President Barack...
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Photograph by Win McNamee/Getty Images
President Barack Obama speaks on ongoing 'fiscal cliff' negotiations with Republican members of Congress on Dec. 19, 2012 in Washington.
Obama: Middle Class Awaits Action — Calls on Congress to Compromise
President Barack Obama, framing the fiscal debate in Washington as a question of protecting the middle class, asked members of Congress today to spend the coming holiday break thinking of their obligations to the American public. “Over the last few...
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Photograph by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Chuck Hagel on Capitol Hill.
Hagel Grilling Before Any Nomination
Written with Laura Litvan Chuck Hagel is getting a grilling even before President Barack Obama says whether he’ll nominate the former Nebraska senator for secretary of defense. The Republican’s past comments opposing the troop surge during the Iraq war, questioning...
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Photograph by Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images
Rep. Diana DeGette, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi hold a news conference on banning high-capacity clips in the Capitol on Dec. 19, 2012.
House Democrats Gun-Shy on Guns?
As House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California led her colleagues in calling for restoring the assault weapons ban and restrictions on high-capacity ammunition magazines, she was asked about why she didn’t take such actions when Democrats controlled the White...
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Photograph by Tom Williams/Roll Call/Getty Images
Sens. Ted Stevens, left, and Daniel Inouye make their way to the Senate subway.
Inouye-Stevens Bond: A Washington Rarity
They were among the oddest of congressional couples. Yet the friendship between Sen. Daniel Inouye, the Hawaii Democrat who died yesterday at a Maryland hospital, and Sen. Ted Stevens, the Alaska Republican who perished in a plane crash in August...
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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.
