Top Republican on allegations against Roy Moore: ‘I believe the women’

The top Republican in the Senate said Monday GOP candidate Roy Moore should quit his Alabama race amid allegations he had sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl and pursued romantic relationships with other teenage girls decades ago. "I believe the women," said Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Zinke says Democrats holding Interior nominees – hostage’

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke says Senate Democrats are holding the department's nominees "hostage" to a political agenda that includes opposition to his review of presidentially designated monuments. In a sharply worded letter to Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate's No.

Donald Trump Jr. heads to Capitol to explain 2016 meeting

President Donald Trump's oldest son is scheduled to make his first appearance on Capitol Hill Thursday as part of a Senate investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential election and a meeting he had with Russians during his father's campaign last year. Donald Trump Jr. will be interviewed by staff on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is one of three congressional committees investigating the meddling and possible Russian links to his Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

Senators announce more than $6.5 million in federal funding to help at-risk youth find jobs

CHICAGO U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth today announced that the U.S. Department of Labor awarded six local community colleges and non-profits in Illinois a total of $6,501,644 million through YouthBuild, a job-training and educational program for at-risk youth ages 16 to 24. Through YouthBuild, at-risk youth learn construction skills while constructing or rehabilitating affordable housing for low-income or homeless families in their own communities. Program participants split their time between the construction site and the classroom, where they earn their high school diploma or equivalency degree, learn to be community leaders, and prepare for college and other postsecondary training opportunities.

Stop outsourcing thrua H-1B visa: US lawmaker

Washington: A bipartisan group of influential lawmakers from both the House and Senate has urged US President Donald Trump to crackdown on jobs outsourcing companies and reform the visa has been abused by some corporations as a way to displace American workers with cheap foreign labour. We urge you to use your authority as President to the greatest extent possible to stop abuses, but we believe reform also must happen legislatively because of loopholes in the law," the lawmakers said in a letter to the President.

Records: Student-loan forgiveness has halted under Trump

The U.S. Education Department has not approved any applications for student-loan forgiveness in cases of possible fraud since President Donald Trump took office, according to records sent to an Illinois senator. Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin released those records Wednesday and blasted the department for its inaction and for a June decision to delay and rewrite Obama-era rules that would have made it easier for students to get loans forgiven if they were deceived by their schools.

Durbin: President Trump’s wall won’t fix broken immigration system

WASHINGTON U.S. Senator Dick Durbin , Ranking Member of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, slammed the Trump Administration's simplistic approach to immigration, arguing that a border wall would do little to stop people overstaying visas, who make up the majority of recent unauthorized immigrants. Senator Durbin recalled that the comprehensive immigration reform bill passed by the Senate in 2013 - which he helped author as a member of the "Gang of 8" - would have increased border security, created a system to track overstays, and provided a path to citizenship for law-abiding immigrants with deep roots in the United States.

Gorsuch to Democrats: No return to ‘horse and buggy’ era

Assured of support from majority Republicans, Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch wrapped up two days of Senate questioning Wednesday to glowing GOP reviews but complaints from frustrated Democrats that he concealed his views from the American public. Gorsuch, a federal appeals court judge in Denver, refused repeated attempts to get him to talk about key legal and political issues of the day.

The Latest: Gorsuch talks of 1 case that lingered

Graphic shows profile information for Supreme Court nominee and selected opinions; 2c x 9 inches; 96.3 mm x 228 mm; Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 21, 2017, for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch, left, shares a laugh with Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb.as he arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 21, 2017, for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Visa, MasterCard Scolded by Durbin on – Bad-for-Competition’ Fees

Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc., the world's largest payments networks, are once again facing criticism from U.S. Senator Richard Durbin over bank-card fees. Durbin, the Illinois Democrat whose amendment to the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act capped debit-card swipe fees, sent a letter Thursday to MasterCard Chief Executive Officer Ajay Banga asking for more information about charges the company levies on card issuers when purchases made with one of its brands are processed by a competing network.

De-Incarceration, a Different Drum so Needed

Along with VCNV companions, I'm part of a 150 mile walk from Chicago to Thomson, IL , a small town in Northwest IL where the U.S. Bureau of Prisons is setting up an Administrative Maximum prison, also known as a Supermax. Prison laborers from U.S. minimum security prisons now labor to turn what once was an Illinois state prison into a federal supermax detention facility with 1900 cells that will confine prisoners for 23 hours of every day.