ROBERT MENENDEZ

More than 20 years after granting unfettered power to wage war, Congress is finally trying to clean up the mess from a 2002 vote that upended the world and U.S. politics.

Former L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti's nomination now heads to the full Senate, though it's unclear when a vote will be scheduled, or whether it will pass.

Some U.S. lawmakers are expected to require that Turkey commit to ratify Finland’s and Sweden’s entry into NATO as a condition for advancing any F-16 sale.

The Biden administration is toughening its language toward NATO ally Turkey.

The Biden administration is easing some oil sanctions on Venezuela in an effort to support newly restarted negotiations between the Venezuelan government and its opposition.

President Joe Biden says there will be “consequences” for Saudi Arabia as his administration begins reevaluating the U.S. relationship with the kingdom.

The head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is calling for freezing all U.S. cooperation with Saudi Arabia, including arms sales.

A reported row over the inclusion of a controversial politician who could be part of a new Netanyahu government has led to friction between a prominent pro-Israel Democrat Senator and the former pm.

China’s Foreign Ministry is accusing the United States of violating its commitment to the “One China” principle and interfering in internal Chinese affairs.

When Diane Swonk first attended the Federal Reserve’s annual economic conference in Jackson Hole in the late 1990s, there was a happy hour for women who attended the event.

U.S.-China relations are teetering on a precipice after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi launched a political career being tough on China.

Shireen Abu Akleh's relatives meet the secretary of State and lawmakers but say they came away without commitments for more investigation.

One million fewer people may purchase federal flood insurance by the end of the decade, according to a financial report obtained by the AP.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has given easy bipartisan approval to admitting Finland and Sweden into NATO.

Three senators criticized Facebook’s 10-strike rule for violators of its gun sales ban.

A man armed with a machete once broke into Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer’s vacation home in the Caribbean and took $1,000.

Primary elections in seven states Tuesday will set the stage for U.S. House and Senate battles this fall that will play into control of Congress.

Even the staunchest defense hawks in the Republican Party stood virtually united by Donald Trump’s side when the then-president was impeached in late 2019 after pressuring Ukraine’s leader for “a favor” and withholding $400 million in military aid.

The moves still leave relations far short of the thaw under Obama. Cuban officials describe them as a limited step in the right direction.

The United States’ top negotiator for Iran nuclear talks has made the case to lawmakers for sticking with Iran nuclear talks.

The Summit of the Americas is a little more than two weeks away in Los Angeles, and there's still no clear answer on which countries are going.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s appearance before a Senate committee took an unexpected and tense detour into the abortion debate Tuesday when senators questioned her about the potential impact of an abortion ban on the American economy.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and visiting U.S. lawmakers have reaffirmed their commitment to working together under a longstanding alliance at a time of heightened global tensions and threats from China and North Korea.

U.S. lawmakers visiting Taiwan on Friday made a pointed and public declaration of their support for the self-governing island democracy while also issuing a warning to China.

China says its military has staged exercises to reinforce its threat to use force to bring Taiwan under its control, as U.S. lawmakers visiting Taiwan made a pointed and public declaration of support for the self-governing island democracy while issuing a warning to China.

A delegation of six U.S. lawmakers has arrived in Taiwan on a visit that has already been denounced by China.

A jury last week couldn't reach a unanimous verdict for two men charged with a conspiracy to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Democrats in Congress are sounding the alarm over what they claim is mounting evidence that Mexico’s chief prosecutor is assailing the nation’s independent judiciary and selectively targeting for prosecution opponents of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

In a preview of the midterm attacks Republicans plan to intensify this fall, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) attacked Biden over the border in a speech on the Senate floor. “They should not wait nearly two months before ending Title 42 in its entirety, but rather start doing so in phases.”The plan the White House is expected to adopt would not fully lift Title 42 until late May, which critics point out is roughly tantamount to another 60-day renewal. CBP has used Title 42 to carry out more than 1.7 million expulsions over the past 24 months, records show. “It’s an abomination that the Biden administration did not lift Title 42 a long time ago,” said former Housing and Urban Development secretary Julián Castro. The Biden administration’s dependency on Title 42 deepened as border crossings soared during the spring of 2021.

A wave of new electric vehicle charging stations across the country is coming as interest in alternatives to gasoline-powered vehicles is on the rise.

By enabling corrupt oligarchs, we undermined democracy. We need a new strategy.

An American oil executive freed from custody in Venezuela says that even as he celebrates with his family the end of a long “nightmare,” he’s praying for the release of five colleagues who are still imprisoned and “deserve the same blessings.”.

The Biden administration will grant temporary protection from deportation to tens of thousands of Ukrainians who are already living in the U.S., the Department of Homeland Security announced.

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.

The U.S. Senate is considering a resolution in support of Ukraine’s independence while stopping short of legislation to impose sanctions on Russia.

U.S. Senate leaders from both parties have issued a joint statement signaling solidarity with an independent Ukraine.

But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters he's "skeptical" it will deter Putin.

President Joe Biden’s pick to monitor and combat prejudice against Jews around the world finally got her day before the Senate committee that will evaluate her nomination.

The Biden administration last year quietly placed former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández on a classified list of officials suspected of corruption or undermining democracy in Central America.

Senate Democrats have defeated a bill by Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz that would have slammed sanctions on a Russian natural-gas pipeline to Germany.

Senate Democrats are proposing new sanctions against Russia if it invades Ukraine.

Rep. Matt Gaetz is only the latest example of a politician damaged by people they thought were their friends.

The Senate has confirmed more than 30 ambassadors and other Biden administration nominees after Majority Leader Chuck Schumer agreed to schedule a vote on sanctions on the company behind the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that will deliver natural gas from Russia to Germany.

Who will actually benefit from a new progressive climate policy?

What qualifies as middle class? To Bob Menendez, it's everyone earning below $550,000. Bernie Sanders disagrees. The stakes are blue-state tax breaks.

Democrats have finally driven President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion package of family services, health care and climate initiatives through the House.

The pharmaceutical industry has employed three lobbyists for every member of Congress this year.

The fatal police shooting of a Black teen in Chicago seven years ago is looming large over former Mayor Rahm Emanuel as he hopes to win Senate confirmation as ambassador to Japan.

President Joe Biden has announced plans to nominate George Tsunis to be his envoy to Greece.

The Senate parliamentarian has told Democrats that their newest proposal for helping millions of immigrants stay in the U.S. permanently could not be included in their $3.5 trillion social and environment bill.

Senate Democrats are launching an uphill fight to rescue their drive to help millions of immigrants remain legally in the U.S. But their pathway is unclear.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has endured a second day of harsh bipartisan criticism of the Biden administration's Afghanistan withdrawal.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is calling on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to recall members of the House to take action on the Afghanistan withdrawal. CBS News congressional reporter Zak Hudak joins CBSN's Elaine Quijano to discuss what McCarthy and other GOP members would like to see done.

The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee says the “retrograde vision” of Turkey’s president to cement Cyprus’ ethnic divide by striving for a two-state deal “is wrong” for all Cypriots.

Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Menendez has criticized Turkey, saying that its current leadership is not committed to the principles of democracy and rule of law.

Democratic-led congressional committees are vowing to press President Joe Biden’s administration on what went wrong as the Taliban swept to power in Afghanistan.

Sen. Robert Menendez, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, vowed to hold hearings on the Biden's Afghanistan withdrawal.

Republican senators have held up nominations to make demands on the Biden administration unrelated to the nominees' qualifications. Officials say stalling harms national security.

The Senate is poised to clear another important hurdle to passing its infrastructure bill as it nears a vote on final passage, which would be a victory for President Biden.

The Biden administration is encouraging Senate lawmakers to finally repeal an Iraq war authorization crafted when Saddam Hussein was still alive.

The Biden administration has announced new sanctions against Cuba’s national revolutionary police and its two top officials as the U.S. looks to increase pressure on the communist regime following this month’s protests on the island.

The Iranian government has expressed anger over the appearance of senior European and U.S. politicians at a rally in support of an opposition group that has long sought to overthrow Iran’s theocratic rulers.

Uganda is tightening its lockdown measures to try and stem a surge in coronavirus infections in the East African country that is seeing an array of variants.

A push is underway on Capitol Hill and beyond for a full-blown investigation of the coronavirus outbreak by a national commission like the one that looked into 9/11.

The Democratic-led House has passed legislation to repeal the 2002 authorization for use of military force in Iraq.

The White House and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are endorsing efforts to terminate the 2002 authorization of military force against Iraq.

Republicans trying to drive a wedge between Democrats and chip away at President Joe Biden’s support are zeroing in on the violence in the Middle East.

Chip Somodevilla/GettyThe Biden administration will more than quadruple the cap on refugee admissions into the United States this fiscal year, President Joe Biden announced on Monday, after weeks of harsh criticism from human-rights advocates and Democratic allies for his decision to keep the cap at a record low.“Today, I am revising the United States’ annual refugee admissions cap to 62,500 for this fiscal year,” Biden said in a statement, adding that the administration’s goal is to raise the cap to 125,000 refugee admissions in the next fiscal year. The previous cap, implemented under the Trump administration, was at a mere 15,000 admissions.“It is important to take this action today to remove any lingering doubt in the minds of refugees around the world who have suffered so much, and who are anxiously waiting for their new lives to begin,” Biden said. “We are going to rebuild what has been broken and push hard to complete the rigorous screening process for those refugees already in the pipeline for admission.”The about-face comes after blistering attacks from Biden’s allies on Capitol Hill and in immigrant-rights circles following his announcement last month that he would maintain the Trump-era cap on refugees. Biden had initially promised to raise the cap for Fiscal Year 2021 to 62,500—the number announced on Monday—before backtracking, citing a now-waning rush of underage asylum-seekers at the U.S. southern border.That decision infuriated refugee advocates, who noted at the time that the system for refugee admissions and asylum admissions are completely separate. (Refugees apply for safe haven from war, famine, or government persecution while abroad, and undergo intense background checks before they are granted admission into the United States, while those seeking asylum can only do so when inside the United States, typically at a port of entry.)The Biden administration at the time blamed much of the outrage on the media, which did little to persuade supporters of undoing the Trump administration’s hostile legacy on immigration.“Failing to issue a new determination undermines your declared purpose to reverse your predecessor’s refugee policies,” Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote in a letter at the time. “As we face the largest global refugee crisis in history, with 29.6 million refugees worldwide, resettlement serves as a critical tool in providing protection to those fleeing persecution because of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.”News of Biden’s reversal was greeted positively by advocates for refugee reform.“President Biden has reaffirmed what so many Americans have long known—refugees are welcome here and are a blessing to our communities,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, a faith-based nonprofit that supports refugees once inside the United States. “The new admissions ceiling reflects our core values as a welcoming nation, and finally aligns public policy with the unprecedented global need of millions forced from their home by violence, war, and persecution.”Biden did, however, include a caveat in his announcement, noting “the sad truth” that the cap on refugee admissions is not a requirement—and the number of refugees admitted into the United States this fiscal year will likely fall far short of 62,500.“We are working quickly to undo the damage of the last four years,” Biden said. “It will take some time, but that work is already underway.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

President Joe Biden is formally raising the nation’s cap on refugee admissions to 62,500 this year.

President Joe Biden’s call for authorizing Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices has energized Democrats on a politically popular idea they’ve been pushing for nearly 20 years only to encounter frustration.

Advertisement“There are some in Congress, I’ll say from both parties, who argue against going big on immigration reform,” Menendez said. Personally, I couldn’t disagree more with both approaches.”Menendez cautioned that the approach is not all or nothing but, rather, emphasizing the goal of robust immigration reform. Citizenship Act moving forward today.”AdvertisementWhite House officials offered few new details to the outline they unveiled last month, when they said the bill was sent to Congress. Its centerpiece is an eight-year path to citizenship for the approximately 11 million immigrants in the United States without legal status, with a five-year wait for permanent legal status, often referred to as a green card, and three more years before citizenship is granted. “This is the White House signaling to the Hill, ‘We haven’t given up on comprehensive immigration reform,’” Suro said.

The ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is telling the White House that President Donald Trump's nominee to lead a federal media organization could have been involved with self-dealing and illegal activity. The move by Menendez comes after Trump mentioned Pack during a recent tirade against lawmakers who haven't confirmed a number of his nominees to key positions. Pack is a conservative documentary filmmaker who once worked on two films with former White House chief strategist and 2016 Trump campaign boss Steve Bannon. Pack engaged in inappropriate or unlawful activity related to transactions between his business (Manifold Productions) and his non-profit (Public Media Lab)" and "whether Mr. Pack has yet to provide the Committee with the requested information or to engage in a good-faith and serious effort to do so," Menendez said.

Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple, at the 2019 DreamForce conference in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Nov. 19, 2019. Four U.S. senators sent a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook on Friday asking questions about the company's COVID-19 app and how it handles personal data. The app includes a screening tool for for COVID-19 symptoms as well as up-to-date information from trusted sources about the coronavirus outbreak. 2 in the health and fitness category on Apple's App Store. Last week, many of the same senators plus Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown sent similar questions to Verily CEO Andrew Conrad about the Alphabet company's COVID-19 screening program.

It makes me angry.Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), who has coauthored resolutions to recognize the Armenian genocide since 2006, requested the unanimous consent of the Senate on Wednesday to pass the latest attempt. The United States Congress cannot stand idly by and let the truth of genocide be silenced, he told fellow senators. But in the decades that followed, efforts in Congress to pass a resolution that singularly recognizes the Armenian killings as genocide has failed. Turkey has spent millions lobbying against recognition of the genocide, he said in an email. AdvertisementToday, scholars and historians widely agree that what happened to Armenians was a systematic killing and should be recognized as a genocide.

N.J. Sen. Robert Menendez became the latest Democratic senator to voice his opposition to a deal that limits Iran's nuclear program. CBS News State Dept. correspondent Margaret Brennan spoke to CBSN about the growing opposition.

Sen. Robert Menendez is due in federal court Thursday to face bribery and other charges. Menendez allegedly went to bat for Florida's Dr. Salomon Melgen on issues big and small in exchange for campaign contributions and extravagant gifts. Nancy Cordes reports.

Paula Reid, CBS News Justice Department Reporter, discusses the indictment of New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez on federal corruption charges. He's accused of accepting nearly one million dollars worth of gifts and contributions in exchange for political favors that benefited a friend.