Richard Shelby

WASHINGTON — A NASA plan to send astronauts to an asteroid was met with skepticism Wednesday when NASA Chief Charlie Bolden presented the idea to top space officials in Congress — though their doubts may not be enough to sink the program. The...

In addition to having a hand on the nation's checkbook, Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski is reaping a political reward from her new assignment as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee: a significant increase in campaign cash. The Maryland Democrat, who...

Let me begin this column with an apology. Once a week, I pick an important issue and offer my reasoned analysis, based on the facts, of what it all means and how we should react. But there are times when the intellect fails and the heart and gut take...

WASHINGTON -- The gun bill was going down, but Sen. Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat who reached a compromise to try to save it, went to the Senate floor Wednesday morning to give it one more try. In an unorthodox tactic, he appealed directly...

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a capital city on edge, letters sent to President Barack Obama and a Mississippi senator tested positive for poisonous ricin in preliminary checks, and authorities chased a stream of reports Wednesday of other suspicious-looking...

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - The FBI has identified a Mississippi man suspected of mailing letters containing poisonous ricin as 45-year-old Paul Kevin Curtis. FBI Special Agent in Charge Daniel McMullen said Curtis was arrested Wednesday afternoon at his...

WASHINGTON - National Farmers Union (NFU) signed a coalition letter on March 13 urging opposition to a policy rider in the Senate version of the Fiscal Year 2013 Continuing Resolution that would rescind regulations that help ensure fair markets for...

WASHINGTON – Fifteen GOP senators called on President Obama to withdraw Chuck Hagel’s nomination to lead the Pentagon, even as support from another Republican increased the likelihood he will be confirmed when Congress returns from recess next...

WASHINGTON – Senators from both parties are expressing enthusiasm for pushing a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s immigration system. But while immigration politics appears to have changed in the wake of sweeping Republican rejection...

WASHINGTON -- President Obama nominated Mary Jo White to be the new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying her track record as a hard-nosed prosecutor means she won't be easily intimidated as Wall Street's new top watchdog. "You don't...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republicans in Congress who took the politically risky step of voting to raise taxes now find themselves trying to fend off potential primary challenges next year from angry conservatives. These lawmakers wasted little time...

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Two U.S. senators, Richard Shelby of Alabama and Dan Coats of Indiana, have placed a friendly wager on the outcome of the national championship football game between Alabama and Notre Dame. Shelby announced Friday that if...