From Capitol News Illinois: Illinois on Wednesday announced plans to release $18 million it received after successfully suing the Trump administration for withholding the funds that Congress had already allocated

FBI Director Kash Patel clashed with skeptical Democrats at a contentious Senate oversight hearing Tuesday, defending his record amid criticism that he has politicized the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency

Democratic candidates vying for outgoing U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s seat say tariffs under U.S. President Donald Trump has hurt small businesses and farmers.

The next Twin City Conservatives breakfast meeting will be at 8:30 a.m. Sept. 27 at A’s Kitchen in Rock Falls.

Schumer says he and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries are united in opposing any legislation that doesn’t include key health care provisions and a commitment not to roll them back

Republican senators also expressed unease with RFK Junior's changes to COVID-19 policies

Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse made their voices heard Tuesday on Capitol Hill, pressuring lawmakers to force the release of the sex trafficking investigation into the late financier and pushing back President Donald Trump’s effort to dismiss the issue as a “hoax.”

The files mostly contain information that was already publicly known or available

The annual spending battle will dominate the September agenda, along with a possible effort by Senate Republicans to change their chamber’s rules to thwart Democratic stalling tactics on nominations

Two veteran federal officials from Illinois are relaunching an effort to amend the Illinois Constitution and end partisan gerrymandering in state legislative districts.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in a statement that the Constitution “makes clear that Congress has the responsibility for the power of the purse” and any effort to claw back funds “without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law.”

Community members are invited to an evening of toe-tapping tunes and barbecue grilling at the Senior Services Associates “Big Band & BBQ Event” in Yorkville.

Illinois saw 142 tornadoes in 2024. With weather teams stretched thin because of federal budget cuts, forecasters warn the next storm might slip through the cracks

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Gov. JB Pritzker would not rule out the possibility of drawing new maps for Illinois if Texas Republicans follow through with their plans

The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the Justice Department on Tuesday for files in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation and is seeking depositions with the Clintons and former law enforcement officials

The Senate left Washington Saturday night for its monthlong August recess without a deal to advance dozens of President Donald Trump’s nominees

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a cornerstone of American culture for three generations, announced Friday it would take steps toward its own closure after being defunded by Congress

The Senate confirmed former Trump lawyer Emil Bove 50-49 for a lifetime appointment as a federal appeals court judge Tuesday as Republicans dismissed whistleblower complaints about his conduct at the Justice Department

Here’s what could happen next in the House inquiry as lawmakers seek answers in a case that has sparked rampant speculation since Epstein’s death in 2019

Preventing gun violence has been one of Kelly’s top priorities in Congress

House Speaker Mike Johnson is rebuffing pressure to act on the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, instead sending members home early for a month-long break from Washington

Republicans are encountering early headaches in Senate races viewed as pivotal to maintaining the party’s majority in next year’s midterm elections, with recruitment failures, open primaries, infighting and a president who has been sitting on the sidelines.

The House gave final approval to President Donald Trump’s request to claw back about $9 billion for public broadcasting and foreign aid early Friday

The legislation, which now moves to the House, would have a tiny impact on the nation’s rising debt but could have major ramifications for the targeted spending, from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to U.S. food aid programs abroad

TV advertising has already begun in Illinois’ 2026 Democrat primary for U.S. Senate, and new fundraising numbers released Tuesday show the race is shaping up to be expensive

At nearly 900 pages, the legislation is a sprawling collection of tax breaks, spending cuts, and other Republican priorities, including new money for national defense and deportations

All three Republican members of the Illinois congressional delegation voted in favor of the bill, despite a last-minute plea from Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker who warned the bill will result more than 330,000 Illinoisans losing Medicaid coverage.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the package will add $3.3 trillion to the deficit over the decade, and 11.8 million more people will go without health coverage

There’s no filibuster in the House, but Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries essentially conducted one anyway

Republican leaders in the House are sprinting toward a Wednesday vote on President Donald Trump’s tax and spending cuts package

The package now goes back to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson had warned senators not to deviate too far from what his chamber had already approved. The Senate did make changes, particularly to Medicaid

A proposal to deter states from regulating artificial intelligence for a decade was soundly defeated in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, thwarting attempts to insert the measure into President Donald Trump’s big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts

After a weekend of setbacks, the Senate will try to sprint ahead Monday on President Donald Trump’s big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts despite a series of challenges

Unable to stop the march toward passage of the 940-page bill by Trump’s Fourth of July deadline, the minority party in Congress is using the tools at its disposal to delay and drag out the process

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said Sunday he will not seek reelection next year, a day after announcing his opposition to President Donald Trump’s tax breaks and spending cuts package because of its reductions to health care programs

Elon Musk on Saturday doubled down on his distaste for President Donald Trump’s sprawling tax and spending cuts bill, arguing the legislation that Republican senators are scrambling to pass would kill jobs and bog down burgeoning industries

A new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the Senate bill would increase by 11.8 million the number of people without health insurance in 2034

Legislation proposed by U.S. Rep. Sean Casten would expand the size of the U.S, Senate and House of Representatives

Gov. JB Pritzker will tell a congressional committee Thursday that America’s immigration problems are a result of a bipartisan failure to reform the country’s immigration system and secure the country’s borders

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was met with sharp questions and criticism Tuesday by lawmakers who demanded details on his move to deploy troops to Los Angeles

Only six months into the job, Senate Majority Leader John Thune faces a massive challenge as he tries to quickly push President Donald Trump’s sprawling tax and spending cuts package to passage with the support of a divided GOP conference

President Donald Trump’s big bill making its way through Congress will cut taxes by $3.75 trillion but also increase deficits by $2.4 trillion over the next decade, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office

Trump switched to tougher tactics Tuesday, deriding the holdout Republican senators

Trump’s high-octane ally, billionaire Elon Musk, lambasted the package — and those voting for it

U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood spoke with constituents in Joliet on Saturday, accompanied by fellow Democrat Congressman Maxwell Frost of Florida. The pair discussed the proposed Republican budget bill and how social services, veterans and job programs will be impacted.

A look at a few of the potential sticking points in the Senate

House Republicans early Thursday took a major step forward on President Donald Trump’s agenda, approving a legislative package that combines tax breaks, spending cuts, border security funding and other priorities

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates 8.6 million fewer people would have health care coverage and 3 million less people a month would have SNAP food stamps benefits with the proposed changes

A fresh analysis from the Congressional Budget Office said the tax provisions would increase the federal deficit by $3.8 trillion over the decade

Conservatives are insisting on quicker, steeper cuts to federal programs to offset the costs of the trillions of dollars in lost tax revenue