Marco Rubio, GOP Senators Won’t Let Elizabeth Warren Read a Coretta Scott King Letter

Elizabeth Warren stepped onto the Senate floor last night with a simple plan: Read a letter by the late civil rights icon Coretta Scott King criticizing attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions. Given Sessions' incendiary record on racial justice, King's opinion was quite relevant to the debate on whether he should be America's top law enforcement official.

A 21st-century Glass-Steagall? It’s called the Volcker Rule

During the presidential campaign, then-candidate Donald Trump called for a 21st-century Glass-Steagall Act. While that Depression-era law required the complete separation of commercial and investment banking, it is unclear exactly what now-President Trumps envisions in a modern version.

Warren violates arcane rule, sparking Senate dustup

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has earned a rare rebuke by the Senate for quoting Coretta Scott King on the Senate floor. The Massachusetts Democrat ran afoul of the chamber's arcane rules by reading a three-decade-old letter from Dr. Martin Luther King's widow that dated to Sen. Jeff Sessions' failed judicial nomination three decades ago.

Most Americans don’t want “religious freedom” laws…

A majority of Americans oppose denying services to LGBT individuals in the name of religion, according to a new poll from the . Sixty-one percent of respondents were against giving faith-based groups or private individuals the religious exemption to, say, refuse to cater a lesbian wedding, or to refuse to sign the marriage certificates of same-sex couples, as Kim Davis, a clerk in Rowan County, Ky., made national headlines for doing in 2015.

Bipartisan US lawmakers urge Trump to sanction Venezuela

A bipartisan group of 34 U.S. lawmakers has sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to step up pressure on Venezuela's government by immediately sanctioning officials responsible for corruption and human rights abuses, The Associated Press has learned. The letter was partly prompted by an AP investigation, which it cites, that found corruption in Venezuela's food imports.

Republicans vote to rebuke Elizabeth Warren, saying she impugned Sessions’s character

In a Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017 file photo, Senate Armed Services Committee member Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. questions Defense Secretary-designate James Mattis on Capitol Hill in Washington, during the committee's confirmation hearing for Mattis.

As Trump fears fraud, GOP eliminates election commission

A House committee voted on Tuesday to eliminate an independent election commission charged with helping states improve their voting systems as President Donald Trump erroneously claims widespread voter fraud cost him the popular vote. The party-line vote came less than two days after Trump vowed to set up a White House commission helmed by Vice President Mike Pence to pursue his accusations of election fraud.

House votes to block Obama rules on public lands, education

The Republican-controlled House voted Tuesday to overturn Obama-era rules on the environment and education as GOP lawmakers seek to reverse years of what they see as excessive government regulation during the past eight years of a Democratic president. The House voted, 234-186, to repeal a rule that requires federal land managers to consider climate change and other long-term effects of proposed development on public lands.

The Latest: DeVos sworn in as education secretary

Betsy DeVos has been sworn in as the U.S. education secretary, hours after her nomination was approved by the Senate in a vote that required Vice President Mike Pence to break the tie. DeVos was sworn in by Pence in a ceremony at the vice president's ceremonial office.

The Latest: Leader says tribe ‘undaunted’ by pipeline notice

The Latest on the Dakota Access pipeline being built to carry oil from North Dakota to Illinois : The chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux says the tribe is "undaunted" by an Army decision to allow completion of the Dakota Access oil pipeline. Dave Archambault said Tuesday that the tribe will challenge in court the Army's decision to halt further study on the pipeline's crossing of the Missouri River in North Dakota.

For a new president, an election that won’t fade

St. Charles, La. Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne, the president of the National Sheriffs Association listens at left as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with county sheriffs in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017.

Lawsuit: Trump Cabinet nominee has not turned over records

Attorney Blake Lawrence, left, answers a question about a lawsuit against Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt over public access to official emails, in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017. Looking on are Brady Henderson, center, and Ryan Kiesel, both of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma.

DeVos ekes out confirmation win as Pence casts historic vote

Charter school advocate Betsy DeVos won confirmation as U.S. Education secretary Tuesday by the slimmest of margins, pushed to approval only by the historic tie-breaking vote of Vice President Mike Pence. Two Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, joined Democrats in a marathon effort to derail the nomination of the wealthy Republican donor.

Texans spar over climate change as House Republicans pledge to make ‘EPA great again’

The political battleground over climate change on Tuesday shifted to the House, where two prominent Texas lawmakers led ever-intensifying sparring over the Environmental Protection Agency. On one side was Rep. Lamar Smith, the San Antonio Republican who crafted the provocative hearing title of "Making EPA Great Again."