Senate U S

With Senate leaders threatening to block Roland Burris from being sworn in today as Barack Obama's replacement, many of his supporters see a familiar story of race and injustice. An all-white club, they say, is trying to prevent a black man from gaining admission, as well as the power that comes with a Senate seat. Summoning a harsh metaphor from the nation's racial battles, Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) even called the Senate "the last bastion of plantation politics."

Senior House Democrats on Friday introduced their plan for reshaping the nation's healthcare system, calling for a new government insurance option, a new mandate on employers to provide coverage and a new guarantee of subsidized healthcare for the poor. The draft -- the fullest presentation so far of congressional liberals' vision for overhauling medical care -- offered few indications of how such a plan would be financed. The price tag is expected to top $1 trillion.

President Obama's choice to head the Labor Department is trying to overcome resistance to her nomination from Republican senators, who contend she dodged important questions during her confirmation hearing. Rep. Hilda L. Solis, a Democrat from El Monte, is one of several prominent Cabinet nominees still awaiting confirmation more than a week after the president took office. Eric H. Holder Jr., tapped to be attorney general, is likely to be confirmed by the Senate on Monday.

They like us. They really like us. Just don't expect them to help us invent the future. A string of U.S. senators delivered so many lofty odes to the American newspaper at a "Future of Journalism" hearing this week, it almost made me blush. When a Republican senator suggests you're something like a bulwark of democracy, you've got to smile. But that doesn't mean newspapers command a winning majority around here.

Sen. Arlen Specter's decision to switch parties Tuesday further erodes the GOP's legislative power and adds a key player to the Democrats' quest for a filibuster-proof majority to propel President Obama's ambitious agenda.

President Obama and his congressional allies took a modest step toward reshaping the nation's healthcare system Thursday as the Senate passed legislation to expand health insurance for children. But rather than building momentum for the sweeping healthcare reform Obama has promised, the victory on Capitol Hill -- a largely party-line vote, 66 to 32 -- marked a rocky start for what many hope will be the biggest reform campaign in a generation.

Sen. Roland Burris was moving fast through the Capitol. No matter that he was going in the wrong direction, headed toward the House when he thought he was going to his Senate office. His pace was brisk, his smile broad. He was having fun in his new job as the junior senator from Illinois. Tourists, staffers, Capitol police officers, custodians and even other members of Congress all want to meet the Democrat, shake his hand and congratulate him on his arrival in Washington.

Democrat Al Franken was quickly turned down Monday when he asked Minnesota's governor and secretary of state to issue an election certificate that would let him take office in the Senate. In letters the campaign sent to Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Democratic Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, Franken's lawyers argued that a seven-day waiting period for issuing the certificate after an election has passed and he should get the signed certificate.

Roland Burris and Democratic party leaders headed toward a showdown at the door of the U.S. Senate today as the former Illinois attorney general presses his claim to the disputed seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. Burris said in an interview Monday evening that he intended to try to walk onto the Senate floor to be sworn in with incoming senators when the Senate convenes, despite declarations from party leaders that they will prevent him from entering the chamber.

Roland Burris will probably replace Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate this week once the Senate's legal counsel completes a review, Assistant Majority Leader Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) said Sunday. The legal counsel is to evaluate additional paperwork today on Burris' appointment by impeached Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, Durbin said. Burris, 71, was appointed by Blagojevich three weeks after the governor's arrest on federal corruption charges, including that he tried to sell the Senate seat.