WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has easily approved President Barack Obama’s choice of a woman who founded a Latino-owned bank in Los Angeles to head the Small Business Administration. Senators voted by voice Thursday to confirm Maria Contreras-Sweet. The Mexican-born ...

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WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday blocked a bill that would have stripped senior military commanders of their authority to prosecute rapes and other serious offenses, capping an emotional, nearly yearlong fight over how best to curb sexual assault in ...

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WASHINGTON — After a dramatic Senate tally in which top GOP leaders cast the crucial votes, must-pass legislation to allow the government to borrow money to pay its bills cleared Congress Wednesday for President Barack Obama’s signature. The Senate approved ...

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WASHINGTON — Just back from their own long break, U.S. Supreme Court justices set out Monday to resolve a politically charged fight over when the Senate’s absence gives the president the power to make temporary appointments to high-level positions without ...

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WASHINGTON — Majority Democrats in the Senate won approval Tuesday for one of President Barack Obama’s key judicial nominees, the first of his picks to win confirmation since they weakened the chamber’s filibuster rules. Senators voted 56-38 to approve Washington ...

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WASHINGTON — The Senate approved legislation outlawing workplace discrimination against gay, bisexual and transgender Americans, demonstrating the nation’s quickly evolving attitude toward gay rights nearly two decades after Congress rejected same-sex marriage. Fifty-four members of the Democratic majority and 10 ...

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WASHINGTON — Time growing desperately short, Senate leaders took command of efforts to avert a Treasury default and end the partial government shutdown Tuesday night after a last big attempt by House Republicans abruptly collapsed. Aides to both Senate Majority ...

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has cleared a hurdle on a stopgap spending bill that would avert a government shutdown and unravel President Barack Obama’s health care law. The vote was 100-0 and came an hour after freshman Sen. Ted ...

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The Senate’s confirmation of all five nominees to the National Labor Relations Board may end some of the uncertainty that has loomed over the controversial agency for years. But it does not signal an end to the battles over the ...

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The nomination of Rochester attorney Elizabeth A. Wolford is on its way to the full Senate, which will decide whether or not to confirm her for a federal judgeship. The Senate Committee on the Judiciary on Thursday unanimously, by voice ...

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WASHINGTON — The Senate on Tuesday moved a step closer to approving Democratic nominees to the National Labor Relations Board. Following a script crafted by the two parties, the Senate voted 64-34 to cut off debate and move to a ...

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WASHINGTON — The Senate moved toward approval Thursday of President Barack Obama’s choice to head the Labor Department after lawmakers, by the thinnest of margins, honored a bipartisan pact and removed procedural obstacles that had been blocking the nomination. The ...

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