Democrats, Congress | featured news

The House of Representatives granted a two-week leave of absence on Monday to Democratic congressman Anthony Weiner as he seeks professional help after being snared in an Internet sex scandal.

The first photos of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords since she was shot in January were released on Sunday on her Facebook page. The photos of the Arizona Democrat were taken by a professional photographer the day before her cranioplasty surgery in May.

After Democrats won a special election dominated by Medicare, analysts predict a more competitive race next year for control of the House.

The special election race was dominated by the national debate over a GOP plan to overhaul Medicare. Democrat Kathy Hochul has won a special congressional election in a conservative pocket of western New York, a race dominated by the national debate over House Republicans’ proposal to overhaul Medicare, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

With high gas prices and federal deficits in the political spotlight, senior Democrats believe that Senate Republicans will support an idea they otherwise might not like.

Democrats' chances of maintaining a majority in the Senate in 2012 take another hit as Virginia Sen. Jim Webb says won't seek reelection. He will return to working in the private sector.

Several news organizations are reporting that veteran Rep. Jane Harman, a California Democrat, is about to leave Congress to become head of a prominent foreign policy think tank. Harman is telling supporters via e-mail that she is leaving the U.S. House to become president of the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars.

House Democrats voted not to bring up a tax deal President Obama negotiated with the GOP, raising questions over the president's influence in his own party.

House Democrats elected Nancy Pelosi to remain as their leader Wednesday despite massive party losses in this month's congressional elections that prompted some lawmakers to call for new leadership.

Last week's election was bad for Democrats. The next one could be worse. Senate Democrats running in 2012 will be trying to hold their jobs in states where Republicans just scored major congressional and gubernatorial victories - Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, New Mexico and Virginia.