From ketchup to toilet paper: Canada launching retaliatory tariff broadside

When Sen. Patrick Toomey looks at the future of the ketchup market in his home state of Pennsylvania, he sees real blood on the floor. On Sunday, Canada's $16.6-billion worth of retaliatory tariffs on dozens of U.S. products is set to kick in - the country's answer to the crushing steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.

Senate sides with Trump, votes down GOP plan to expand national security oversight

The Senate sided with the Trump administration to vote down a GOP plan that would have given Congress greater oversight over deals between foreign and U.S. firms that could affect national security. The legislation, pushed by by Sen. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., failed to clear a procedural hurdle when the Senate blocked it with a 35-to-62 vote.

Mitch McConnell: If repeal fails, GOP must bolster Affordable Care Act

Mitch McConnell, above on Capitol Hill in June, acknowledged on Thursday how difficult it is proving to craft an alternative health-care bill that can satisfy the GOP's conservative and centrist camps. Must credit: Washington Post photo by Jabin Botsford Mitch McConnell, above on Capitol Hill in June, acknowledged on Thursday how difficult it is proving to craft an alternative health-care bill that can satisfy the GOP's conservative and centrist camps.

Democrats’ path to Senate majority slipping away

New Hampshire Democratic Senate candidate, Gov. Maggie Hassan speaks to reporters, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, outside a polling place in Portsmouth, N.H. . Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate Katie McGinty addresses a reporter's question after casting her ballot, Tuesday Nov. 8, 2016, in Wayne, Pa.

Senate control up for grabs as GOP holds Florida

New Hampshire Democratic Senate candidate, Gov. Maggie Hassan speaks to reporters, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, outside a polling place in Portsmouth, N.H. . Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate Katie McGinty addresses a reporter's question after casting her ballot, Tuesday Nov. 8, 2016, in Wayne, Pa.

It’s All About the Downballot Now

Trump threw away his last best chance for a comeback by threatening his many accusers of sexual assault and unwanted advances with lawsuits, and by refusing to walk back his assertion that he would "keep America in suspense" over whether he would accept the results of the election. Unsurprisingly, his poll numbers have tanked.

Republican Senators Blocked From Political Victories

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., was among the Republican senators facing re-election who unsuccessfully tried to get bills passed. Republican senators on the 2016 ballot left the Capitol last week without quite as many accomplishments to tout as they would have hoped.

In key states, voters poised to split their tickets between GOP, Democrats

After more three decades of decline, ticket splitting voters appear ready for a comeback. Officials in both parties hope the unpopularity of their presidential candidate won't depress votes for their other candidates on the ballot.

Republicans worry a falling Trump tide will lower all boats

Donald Trump's struggling candidacy has become a direct threat to Republican control of Congress, significantly increasing the likelihood that Democrats will take control of the Senate and cut substantially into the House Republican majority next year. Trump's string of inflammatory statements in the weeks since his nominating convention last month has sent him tumbling in nearly every state with a contested Senate race, raising Republican fears that their own demoralized voters will not show up to vote, independents will abandon the entire Republican ticket and energized Democrats will flock to the polls.

GOP leaders discuss plans to help candidates distance themselves from Trump

After a disastrous week of feuds and plummeting poll numbers, Republican leaders have concluded that Donald Trump is a threat to the party's fortunes and have begun discussing how soon their endangered candidates should explicitly distance themselves from the presidential nominee. For Republicans in close races, top strategists say, the issue is no longer in doubt.

Incumbent Senate Republicans build leads amid a substantiala ticket-splitting

Donald Trump may be down in the polls, but Republican Senate candidates are still faring relatively well, suggesting - at least for now - that they may escape being drawn down by the whirlpool that analysts predicted would drown all who surround the billionaire businessman. While presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton tops Mr. Trump in matchups in Florida, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, incumbent Senate Republicans are all ahead in polling in their own races, building significant leads.