Senate U S

Senate Democrats on Tuesday rebuffed Atty. Gen. Michael B. Mukasey's request for legislation that would cancel the U.S. Sentencing Commission's recent decision to retroactively apply lower jail terms to as many as 19,500 crack cocaine offenders sentenced under tough "war on drugs" legislation from the 1980s. About 1,600 of those inmates will be eligible to apply for reduced sentences this year, according to the commission. The new guidelines take effect March 3.

Age: 45. College: Texas. Hometown: Katy, Texas Denied claims made by McNamee to investigators working for former Sen. George Mitchell that he had used steroids and human growth hormone. Clemens maintains he received injections only of vitamin B-12 and pain-relieving lidocaine from McNamee. Could face perjury investigation if Congress or Justice Department officials come away unsatisfied with the legitimacy of his denials of drug use.

WASHINGTON -- Roger Clemens acknowledged nearly 10 years ago to teammate Andy Pettitte that he had used human growth hormone, according to a sworn statement given to Congress by Pettitte and described to the Associated Press by a source late Tuesday.

washington -- The Senate Select Committee on Ethics harshly criticized Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho) on Wednesday for his actions during and after his arrest last summer in a men's restroom at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. In a strongly worded "public letter of admonition," the panel of three Democrats and three Republicans told Craig that his behavior constituted "improper conduct reflecting discreditably on the Senate."

The Senate long has been considered a poor springboard to the White House. But it provided a crucial step in the political rise of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, giving them a priceless chance to burnish their records and shore up weaknesses before launching their presidential campaigns. Clinton has used her seven years in the Senate to begin rehabilitating her reputation as one of the most polarizing figures in American politics and the architect of a failed healthcare plan.

As she returned to the Senate for the first time since ending her groundbreaking campaign to become the nation's first female president, Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that her goal now was simply to be the very best senator she could be. "I am rolling up my sleeves and getting back to work," she said.

Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, has out-raised his Democratic challenger by more than 2 to 1 in his reelection campaign. A 23-year veteran, he's a mainstay of politics in Kentucky, a state that President Bush easily won and that GOP presidential nominee John McCain is expected to carry. Yet two weeks before the election, McConnell's reelection is in question.

Sen. Joe Lieberman's affiliation with Democrats was in question after a meeting Thursday with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who is steamed over the Connecticut independent's high-profile support of Republican John McCain for president. Reid, in a sternly worded statement after the 45-minute meeting, said no official decisions had been made.

President-elect Obama has told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid he's not interested in seeing Democrats oust Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman from their ranks over his endorsement of Republican John McCain. Obama told Reid in a phone conversation last week that expelling Lieberman from the Democratic caucus would hurt the message of bipartisanship and unity that he wants for his new administration, a Senate Democratic aide said Tuesday.

Joe Lieberman's longtime Democratic allies grew practically apoplectic as he backed John McCain for president, stumped for the Republican candidate and criticized Barack Obama. So when Obama won and Democrats cemented their hold on Congress, liberal activists demanded the independent Connecticut senator be tossed out of the Democratic caucus, and some Democratic senators called for him to be stripped of his committee chairmanship. But none of that looks like it's going to happen.