BILL CASSIDY

The end of Labor Day would typically mark the start of a furious sprint to the Iowa caucuses as candidates battle for their party’s presidential nomination.

This summer, millions of Americans with student loans will be able to apply for a new repayment plan that offers some of the most lenient terms ever.

Moderna’s CEO is defending a plan to more than quadruple the company’s COVID-19 vaccine price.

First lady Jill Biden visited a medical center in New Orleans to stress the importance of cancer research.

Louisiana's Republican U.S. Sen. John Kennedy told supporters on Wednesday that he will not run for governor in October.

Both of Louisiana's U.S. senators say they have considered running for governor in 2023 and will announce their decisions soon.

The House has passed a wide-ranging gun control bill in response to recent mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas.

The statistics discussed at the inaugural Global Citizen NOW conference were bleak.

Home-district projects for members of Congress are back, sprinkled across the government-wide $1.5 trillion bill that President Joe Biden signed recently.

At a time when calls to the IRS have reached record levels, a private company lets those who are willing to pay jump to the front of the line to get their phone calls answered.

President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration deftly parried questions on crises ranging from the COVID pandemic to the opioid epidemic.

As mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu oversaw billions of dollars in infrastructure repairs and improvements when he took over a lagging recovery from Hurricane Katrina in 2010.

Lawmakers from both parties say haunting images of surging rivers, flooded roads and tornado damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida show the need to upgrade the nation’s aging infrastructure network.

Lawmakers from both parties say haunting images of surging rivers, flooded roads and tornado damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida show the need to upgrade the nation’s aging infrastructure network.

Less than a week after Hurricane Ida battered the Gulf Coast, President Joe Biden walked the streets of a hardhit Louisiana neighborhood on Friday and told residents “I know you’re hurting."

Hurricane Ida knocked out all eight transmission lines that deliver power to New Orleans, leaving the entire city without electricity as the powerful storm pushed through on Sunday and early Monday with winds that reached 150 miles per hour.

Top Republicans are battling school districts in their own states’ urban, heavily Democratic areas over whether students should be required to mask up as they head back to school.

Senators are struggling to wrap up work on the bipartisan infrastructure plan.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell had vowed to be “100% focused” on stopping President Joe Biden’s agenda.

The senators who spent months stitching together a nearly $1 trillion infrastructure package are now trying to sell it to the American people.

Organizations representing long-term care facilities are urging lawmakers working on a bipartisan infrastructure plan to avoid dipping into COVID-relief funds to help pay for the roughly $600 billion in new spending sought for the public works buildout.

Senate Republicans have rejected an effort to begin debate on a bipartisan infrastructure deal that senators brokered with President Joe Biden.

A Republican senator who helped negotiate a nearly trillion-dollar bipartisan infrastructure bill says a proposal to strengthen IRS enforcement to raise money to help pay for the bill's spending is officially off the table.

Environmental groups hailed a sweeping $3.5 trillion domestic spending plan announced by Democrats, saying it would make “transformational investments” in clean energy and put the nation on a path to cut greenhouse emissions by at least 50% by 2030.

A bipartisan deal to invest nearly $1 trillion in the nation’s infrastructure appears to be back on track after a stark walk-back by President Joe Biden to his earlier insistence that the bill be coupled with an even larger Democrat-backed measure in order to earn his signature.

President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure deal has been thrown in doubt, barely 24 hours after it was announced.

President Joe Biden is seeking to clarify his position on the bipartisan infrastructure package proposed by lawmakers.

The debate over bipartisanship is coming to a head as a summer legislative flurry intensifies in Congress.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will confer with White House officials on next steps for President Joe Biden’s $4 trillion infrastructure plans.

The Supreme Court’s latest rejection of a Republican effort to dismantle “Obamacare” is another sign that the GOP must look beyond repealing that law if it wants to hone the nation’s health care problems into a winning political issue.

Congressional Democrats are eyeing a $6 trillion infrastructure package that goes far beyond roads and bridges.

A bipartisan senators’ group working on a $1 trillion infrastructure compromise has now doubled in size, expanding to 21 members.

President Joe Biden’s hope of pouring billions of dollars into green infrastructure investments is running into the political obstacle of winning over Republican votes.

A bipartisan group of senators is eyeing an infrastructure deal with $579 billion in new spending as part of a $1 trillion total package.

President Joe Biden is pursuing “multiple paths forward” as he looks to muscle his big infrastructure package through Congress.

President Joe Biden’s nominee to oversee vast expanses of public land in the U.S. West is being criticized by Republicans because of her involvement in partisan politics as a longtime Democratic aide and environmentalist.

Senators are laboring to find a path forward for legislation creating a commission on the Jan. 6 insurrection.

An independent commission to study the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection would be modeled after a similar panel that studied the 9/11 terrorist attacks and has long been hailed as a bipartisan success.

The two players in the most important relationship in Washington finally are ready for a face-to-face meeting.

Republican leaders are signaling no willingness to embrace President Joe Biden’s ideas for a massive infrastructure investment.

For years Amazon has been under pressure from shoppers, brands and lawmakers to crack down on counterfeits on its site.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., talks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021, on the fourth day of the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump. – Trashed on social media and censured by Louisiana Republicans, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy described himself Wednesday as “at peace” with his vote to convict former President Donald Trump at his impeachment trial and dismissed the scorching GOP backlash he's received. Ad“I’ve received comments from folks who are Republican who object to the vote,” Cassidy said. They've called for Republicans to ban Cassidy from their events, and several local Republican groups have joined the executive committee of the state GOP in condemning Cassidy's vote to convict Trump. Asked whether his vote to convict Trump could damage his chances of reelection in 2026, Cassidy replied: “It is six years off, but that's immaterial.

But to ensure Republican support, Pelosi said Democrats sent the proposal to GOP leaders “to see what suggestions they may have because, for this to work, it really has to be strongly bipartisan." It is an open question whether the commission will be authorized to investigate Trump's actions. Still, some Republicans have said they think such a commission is necessary alongside other congressional efforts to investigate the attack. “There’s still more evidence that the American people need and deserve to hear and a 9/11 commission is a way to make sure that we secure the Capitol going forward,” said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. “Our country has been wounded,” the former 9/11 commission chairmen said.

Two Senate committees have summoned top security officials to testify, the beginning of a comprehensive look at what went wrong. In her letter to Democratic colleagues, Pelosi said the House will also put forth supplemental spending to boost security at the Capitol. The hearing will begin a broad examination of the security failures that led to the breach. The security breakdown on Jan. 6, as the House and Senate met for a joint session to count electoral votes, was severe. With the diminished security presence, the rioters not only breached the Capitol but entered the Senate chamber minutes after senators had fled.

Alaska Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski speaks to reporters during a visit to the state Capitol on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021, in Juneau, Alaska. Murkowski said she knows there could be political consequences for her vote to convict former President Donald Trump during his recent impeachment trial but says she can't be afraid of that. She also said that if the state Republican Party decides to censure her for her vote, “they can make that statement. Other Republicans who voted to convict Trump, including Sens. She said the Republican Party “was a pretty good party before Donald Trump, and I believe we can be a good party after Donald Trump.

Two Senate committees have summoned top security officials to testify, the beginning of a comprehensive look at what went wrong. In her letter to Democratic colleagues, Pelosi said the House will also put forth supplemental spending to boost security at the Capitol. The hearing will begin a broad examination of the security failures that led to the breach. The security breakdown on Jan. 6, as the House and Senate met for a joint session to count electoral votes, was severe. With the diminished security presence, the rioters not only breached the Capitol but entered the Senate chamber minutes after senators had fled.

(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)WASHINGTON – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday that Congress will establish an independent, Sept. 11-style commission to look into the deadly insurrection that took place at the U.S. Capitol. In a letter to Democratic colleagues, Pelosi said the House will also put forth supplemental spending to boost security at the Capitol. After former President Donald Trump’s acquittal at his second Senate impeachment trial, bipartisan support appeared to be growing for an independent commission to examine the deadly insurrection. AdInvestigations into the riot were already planned, with Senate hearings scheduled later this month in the Senate Rules Committee. An independent commission along the lines of the one that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks would probably require legislation to create.

One joked, "We’re going to Disney World!”Now acquitted in his second Senate impeachment trial, Trump is preparing for the next phase of his post-presidency life. And he's confronting a Republican Party deeply divided over the legacy of his jarring final days in office, culminating in the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol. Searing video images of the day played on loop during his impeachment trial, which ended Saturday. Sen. Lindsey Graham, who spoke with Trump on Saturday night, acknowledged that Trump is “mad at some folks,” but also “ready to move on and rebuild the Republican Party” and “excited about 2022." That sharp rebuke from his once-loyal defender underscores how dramatically Trump's stock has fallen in Washington since his first impeachment trial just over a year ago.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., walks on Capitol Hill after the Senate acquitted former President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021. Trump was accused of inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and the acquittal gives him a historic second victory in the court of impeachment. Investigations into the riot were already planned, with Senate hearings scheduled later this month in the Senate Rules Committee. We needed more senators with spines.”AdMcConnell told Republican senators shortly before the vote that he would vote to acquit Trump. Beutler's statement late Friday that Trump rebuffed a plea from House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy to call off the rioters was ultimately entered into the trial record.

But in the end, only seven of 50 Senate Republicans voted to convict Trump in his historic second impeachment trial on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)NEW YORK – The Republican Party still belongs to Donald Trump. But in the end, only seven of 50 Senate Republicans voted to convict Trump in his historic second impeachment trial on Saturday. Indeed, in Trump's Republican Party, there are very few willing to cross him if they harbor future political ambitions. “The authoritarian side of the Republican Party is the dominant side,” he said.

In addition to Burr and Cassidy, voting to find Trump guilty were GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania. The seven votes were easily the largest number of lawmakers to ever vote to find a president of their own party guilty at impeachment proceedings. He pointed out that after the vote, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell made comments that echoed his earlier harsh criticism of Trump’s conduct. But McConnell said his vote to acquit in the end was based on the fact that Trump is a former president.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, arrives at the start of the fifth day of the second impeachment trial of former President Trump, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021 at the Capitol in Washington. (Stefani Reynolds/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – Seven Republicans voted Saturday to convict former President Donald Trump in his Senate trial, easily the largest number of lawmakers to ever vote to find a president of their own party guilty at impeachment proceedings. AdAlso striking was the “guilty” vote by Cassidy, who was reelected in November from a deep-red state where GOP support is widespread. I voted to convict President Trump because he is guilty,” Cassidy said in a one-sentence statement issued after his vote to convict. He said he wouldn't vote against his own conscience “simply because it is politically convenient.”Romney’s “guilty” vote at Trump’s initial impeachment trial last February made him the first senator to ever vote to convict a president of the same party.

U.S. President Donald Trump walks to the White House residence after exiting Marine One upon his return on January 12, 2021 in Washington, DC. Coming amid the searing COVID-19 crisis, the Biden White House is trying to rush pandemic relief through Congress. Most of them ultimately voted to acquit, doubting whether Trump was fully responsible or if impeachment is the appropriate response. Within a week Biden was inaugurated, Trump was gone and Pelosi sent the article of impeachment to the Senate days later, launching the proceedings. At the same time, this year’s trial carried similar warnings from the prosecutors that Trump must be held accountable because he has shown repeatedly he has no bounds.

But that hope dimmed when word came Saturday before the trial resumed that Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell would vote to acquit Trump. If Trump were convicted, the Senate could take a second vote to ban him from running for office again. AdA look at the Republicans whom Democrats are eyeing as they make final arguments in the case:THE FREQUENT TRUMP CRITICSRepublican Sens. AdThree other GOP senators have said they will not run again in two years, potentially freeing them up to vote against Trump and anger base voters in the party. The Republican leader’s views are closely watched and carry sway among GOP senators, and his decision on Trump is likely to influence others weighing their votes.

If Trump were convicted, the Senate could take a second vote to ban him from running for office again. While none of them are locks to vote for conviction, they have joined with Democrats twice to vote against GOP efforts to dismiss the trial. AdHEADED OUTPennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, who is retiring from the Senate in 2022, has also voted twice with Democrats to move forward with the trial. All three voted to dismiss the trial, but Portman says he still has an open mind about conviction. EYES ON McCONNELLSenate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has twice voted to dismiss the trial, indicating he will ultimately vote to acquit.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., walks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021, after the fourth day of the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump. AdGoodman has been in the chamber for much of the impeachment trial, in which House Democrats are charging that former President Donald Trump incited the Jan. 6 insurrection. Senators are submitting written questions to the prosecution and the defense in the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump. But he's made a comeback as one of Donald Trump's lawyers at the former president's impeachment trial. AdHe's getting a chance to make a different impression when he begins to present Trump’s defense on Friday.

(Senate Television via AP)WASHINGTON – Donald Trump’s lawyers have a simple objective as they open their defense at the former president’s impeachment trial: Don’t lose any Republican votes. Most Senate Republicans have indicated that they will vote to acquit Trump on the House charge of incitement of insurrection. Here's what to watch for on Friday as the defense opens arguments in Trump’s historic second impeachment:THE ARGUMENTSTrump’s lawyers plan to argue their client’s innocence on multiple fronts. Hoping that brevity will appeal to their restless Senate audience, the lawyers are expected to keep their arguments short. Like the House prosecutors, Trump's lawyers have up to 16 hours over two days to plead their case.

Since losing the November election to President Joe Biden, Trump has been hemorrhaging attorneys. Trump's impeachment lawyers started off their defense by misspelling the words “United States” in their brief. Navarro told The Associated Press that he “warned the president that his legal team was going to fail him." Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said Trump’s team did a “terrible job." AdBut after impeachment, Trump's legal needs will likely accelerate, with the investigations in New York, Georgia and possibly Washington, D.C., where prosecutors will have the power of subpoena.

Ad"They did it because Donald Trump sent them on this mission,” said House prosecutor Stacey Plaskett, the Democratic delegate representing the U.S. Virgin Islands. Ad“On Jan. 6, President Trump left everyone in this Capitol for dead,” said Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, a prosecutor. At one dramatic moment, the video shows police shooting into the crowd through a broken window, killing a San Diego woman, Ashli Babbitt. “Greatly disturbing.”Trump is the first president to face an impeachment trial after leaving office and the first to be twice impeached. Trump's second impeachment trial is expected to diverge from the lengthy, complicated affair of a year ago.

While the Democrats have appealed to the senators’ emotions, Trump’s lawyers have tried to tap into raw partisan anger. REPUBLICANS TO WATCHSix Republican senators voted with Democrats on Tuesday not to dismiss the trial on constitutional grounds. AdCassidy was the only one who did not side with Democrats in a similar vote two weeks ago. He said after the vote Tuesday that he thought Democrats had a better argument and that Trump’s team had done a “terrible” job. He said he will watch the additional arguments as an impartial juror and then decide whether to convict.

In this image from video, Bruce Castor, an attorney for former President Donald Trump, speaks during the second impeachment trial of Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. Senators, too, criticized what they described as an unfocused and rambling performance as Trump's team and Democratic House managers began to lay out their cases in front of the Senate jury. The anger was echoed by Trump allies, who blasted the lawyers both publicly and privately and with repeated profanities. GOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said Castor “just rambled on and on and on and didn’t really address the constitutional argument. Trump's team did not respond to requests for comment on the day's events or questions about whether they are planning any shakeups to the legal team.

The second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump began Tuesday. – Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana joined Democrats in voting against ending Donald Trump's impeachment trial Tuesday, a surprise reversal that Cassidy said was a response to the former president's lawyers doing “a terrible job” of arguing their case. Cassidy was among six Republican senators who sided with Democrats on the question of whether a former president can be tried after leaving office. The Louisiana senator's position was a switch from January, when he voted to end the proceedings on the grounds that they were unconstitutional. The Republican Party of Louisiana quickly issued a statement Tuesday criticizing Cassidy for his vote and praising Louisiana's junior GOP senator, John Kennedy, for voting against moving ahead with the impeachment trial.

What to watch as the trial kicks off:FIRST, AN EFFORT TO DISMISSTuesday’s proceedings will begin with a debate to dismiss the trial before it even begins. The effort to dismiss is expected to fail, allowing arguments in the trial to begin on Wednesday. They point to an 1876 impeachment trial of a secretary of war who had resigned and note that Trump was impeached before he left office. But the managers can ask for a Senate vote on calling witnesses if they so choose. A (LESS) CAPTIVE AUDIENCEAs they were last year, at Trump’s first impeachment trial, senators are expected to listen to every word of the arguments before they cast their votes.

AdMany senators including Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell immediately denounced the violence and pointed a finger of blame at Trump. Those partisan divisions appear to be hardening ahead of Trump’s trial, a sign of his continuing grip on the GOP. On Sunday, Wicker described Trump's impeachment trial as a “meaningless messaging partisan exercise." Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont will preside over the trial as Senate president pro tempore. Forty-four Republican senators sided with Paul and voted to oppose holding an impeachment trial at all.

“The public is not getting caught up in process — what they want is results,” said Cedric Richmond, the White House director of public engagement. A White House aide said the goal is to provide an open and bipartisan debate. The Biden package comes after $4 trillion in rescue spending that cushioned the financial blow from the pandemic but did little to stop the disease. The White House can point to at least one Republican who considers Biden’s plan essential: Jeff Williams, the mayor of Arlington, Texas. Williams knows there could be a partisan backlash to supporting Biden’s plan.

From left, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen joined the Democratic senators for a private virtual meeting, both declaring the Republicans' $618 billion offer was too small. “President Biden spoke about the need for Congress to respond boldly and quickly,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said after the lunch meeting. The president made it clear that he won’t delay aid in hopes of winning GOP support. Biden proposes $170 billion for schools, compared to $20 billion in the Republican plan.

President Joe Biden meets Republican lawmakers to discuss a coronavirus relief package, in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021, in Washington. From left, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. AdRepublicans are tapping into bipartisan urgency to improve the nation's vaccine distribution and vastly expand virus testing with $160 billion in aid. Psaki said earlier Monday there is “obviously a big gap” between the $1.9 trillion package Biden has proposed and the $618 billion counteroffer. Biden himself has been on the phone to some of the Republicans, the official said.

The meeting to be hosted by Biden would amount to the most public involvement for the president in the negotiations for the next round of virus relief. Though Biden is wanting “a full exchange of views," Psaki reiterated that the president remains in favor of moving forward with a far-reaching relief package. But Cedric Richmond, a senior Biden adviser, said the president “is very willing to meet with anyone to advance the agenda." Under the Biden plan, families with incomes up to $300,000 could receive some stimulus money. “I support passing COVID relief with support from Republicans if we can get it.

It is unclear just what the Republican senators will do, but the process could drag into the night as the two chambers will have to consider each objection individually. In 2017, several House Democrats challenged Trump’s win, but Biden, who presided at the time as the vice president, swiftly dismissed them to assert Trump’s victory. And more than a dozen Republican senators have said they will not support the effort. Facing the criticism from many in his own party, Cruz has attempted to put a finer point on his challenge. The commission remains his focus, he has said, not to undo the election results, even though that would be the practical effect of a successful objection.

Though he got nothing but cheers Monday night, Trump's attempt to overturn the presidential election i s splitting the Republican Party. Trump repeated numerous times his claims of election fraud, which have been rejected by election officials — Republican as well as Democratic in state after state — and courts up to the U.S. Supreme Court. Two current Republican senators, Rob Portman of Ohio and Mike Lee of Utah, joined the growing number who now oppose the legislators' challenge. Larry Hogan of Maryland; Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the third-ranking House GOP leader; and former House Speaker Paul Ryan — have criticized the GOP efforts to overturn the election. Cruz's coalition of 11 Republican senators vows to reject the Electoral College tallies unless Congress launches a commission to immediately conduct an audit of the election results.

Of the more than 50 lawsuits the president and his allies have filed challenging election results, nearly all have been dismissed or dropped. Other prominent former officials also criticized the ongoing attack on election results. Cruz's coalition of 11 Republican senators vows to reject the Electoral College tallies unless Congress launches a commission to immediately conduct an audit of the election results. The convening of the joint session to count the Electoral College votes has faced objections before. States choose their own election officials and draft their election laws.

Luke Letlow, who was only 41 and had no known underlying health conditions, died Tuesday night at Ochsner-LSU Health Shreveport — days before he was scheduled to be sworn into office, according to his spokesman Andrew Bautsch. Ghali, of LSU Health Shreveport, told The Advocate that Letlow didn't have any underlying health conditions that would have placed him at greater risk of developing complications from COVID-19. "There was no one like Luke Letlow, and there was no one who loved this state and its people more. Luke was a part of our family, and we are so incredibly proud of the man he was.”Before working for Abraham, Letlow had worked for former Gov. Letlow is one of more than 7,000 people in Louisiana who have died from COVID-19 since March, according to data from the state health department.

All Australian states have imposed restrictions on travelers from Sydney and parts of New South Wales because the coronavirus risk. The state on Sunday reported 1,536 new COVID-19 cases and 46 more deaths. ___TOPEKA, Kan. — A FedEx executive says a higher-than-normal volume of Christmas-season package deliveries won’t interfere with the company’s effort to ship coronavirus vaccine doses. The first wave of coronavirus infections in New York “came from Europe and we did nothing,” the Democratic governor said. ___WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s surgeon general is defending Trump’s not getting a coronavirus vaccine, saying there are medical reasons for it.

The 343-67 vote sent the one-week bill to the Senate, where it's expected to easily pass before a deadline of midnight Friday to avert a partial government shutdown. meanwhile, are placing their bets on a bipartisan group of senators who are trying to iron out a $908 billion package. “The bipartisan group provided a good foundation kind of a place to start from. And hopefully, the negotiations are real negotiations on what can ultimately pass the House, the Senate, and get signed," Thune said. President-elect Joe Biden is pressing for as much pandemic relief as possible, though he's not directly involved in the talks.

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)WASHINGTON – A proposed COVID-19 relief bill is expected to get backing from President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell but it won’t include $1,200 in direct payments to most Americans, a Republican senator involved in the bipartisan talks says. “President Trump has indicated that he would sign a $908 billion package — there’s only one $908 billion package out there and it’s ours,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said Sunday. While favoring the $1,200 checks, Biden said the emerging compromise was “immediately needed” and that additional assistance could follow later. On Sunday, lawmakers involved in the negotiations said the direct payments would have to wait until after Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20. The direct payments, he said, will be a task for Biden.

The $908 billion aid package to be released Monday would be attached to a larger year-end spending bill needed to avert a government shutdown this coming weekend. “This is not a stimulus bill, it’s a relief bill,” he said. While favoring the $1,200 checks, Biden said the emerging compromise was "immediately needed” and that additional assistance could follow later. On Sunday, lawmakers involved in the negotiations said the direct payments would have to wait until after Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20. The direct payments, he said, will be a task for Biden.

The former astronaut defeated Republican Sen. Martha McSally, who was appointed to the seat after McCain’s death in 2018. Daines’ first election in 2014 broke a Democratic lock on the Senate seat that had lasted more than 100 years. The six-term congressman from northern New Mexico defeated Republican Mark Ronchetti, a former television meteorologist, and Libertarian Bob Walsh. Reed cruised to victory over Waters, an investment consultant who mounted earlier unsuccessful campaigns for state Senate and U.S. Senate in Massachusetts. Warner defeated Republican challenger Daniel Gade in a low-key race in which the incumbent had a massive cash advantage.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jaime Harrison speaks at a campaign rally on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)COLUMBIA, S.C. – In the battle for control of the U.S. Senate this year, the Deep South is fielding more Black candidates than it has since Reconstruction. Mike Espy and Adrian Perkins, meanwhile, are launching spirited bids for the Senate in Mississippi and Louisiana, respectively. The Senate currently has three Black members: Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina and Democrats Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California. “The more competitive races are, and Black candidates win those competitive races, it diminishes this worry that Black candidates can’t win,” Abrams recently told The Associated Press. In Mississippi, Espy is trying for a second time to become the state’s first Black senator since Reconstruction with his challenge to Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., delivers remarks to media after registering as a candidate to run as an incumbent in Baton Rouge, La., Friday, July 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)BATON ROUGE, La. U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy announced Thursday that he's tested positive for the coronavirus and is experiencing some COVID-19 symptoms. Cassidy, a physician, said in a statement that he was tested after being notified Wednesday night that he'd been exposed to someone infected with the virus. I am strictly following the direction of our medical experts and strongly encourage others to do the same, he said.

The bill, set for a Senate vote this coming week, would spend about $2.8 billion per year on conservation, outdoor recreation and park maintenance. McConnell told the two senators, who are both seeking reelection this year, that he would not consider the bill unless Trump was on board. Cantwell credited Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., for forcing attention on the conservation fund by blocking a 2018 spending bill that did not renew the program. While widely supported, the outdoors bill faces sharp opposition, mainly from Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and other Gulf Coast senators pushing to ensure it includes revenue-sharing for their states from offshore drilling. Calling Trump's record on the environment "the worst one in history,'' Cantwell said Gardner, Daines and other Republicans will be forced to defend the president as they go before voters.