Tom Harkin

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republicans in Congress who took the politically risky step of voting to raise taxes now find themselves trying to fend off potential primary challenges next year from angry conservatives. These lawmakers wasted little time...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tweaking the way the government measures inflation sounds like an obscure method to help reduce budget deficits, but over time it would lead to significantly lower Social Security benefits while increasing taxes, mainly on low- and...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky education officials are working to prevent public school students from being restrained or confined alone in small rooms after citing two schools for violating the rights of three disabled students subjected to such...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday unanimously approved legislation that would increase federal oversight for companies that compound and sell sterile drugs across state lines. The proposed legislation was introduced in response to...

WASHINGTON – In an unusual break in the partisan warring over healthcare, the Senate on Wednesday confirmed President Obama's choice to oversee the mammoth Medicare and Medicaid health programs. Marilyn Tavenner, a former hospital executive and...

The fight over the federal minimum wage is coming to Baltimore. The head of the U.S. Department of Labor plans to swing into town Tuesday to talk to low-wage workers about how they make — or don't make — ends meet. Seth D. Harris, the agency'...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) and Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) introduced legislation that would modify crop insurance premium assistance for insured crops grown on native sod converted to cropland and land that a producer cannot...

WASHINGTON -- A vote on President Obama’s nominee to lead the Labor Department was delayed for an additional week, the latest roadblock for the controversial choice. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions was scheduled to...

WASHINGTON -- A Senate committee vote on Labor Secretary nominee Tom Perez was postponed hours before it was set to take place Wednesday, highlighting what appears to be a growing partisan fight over the confirmation of the former Maryland official. ...

WASHINGTON -- In a surprise move that deals a serious blow to Democratic chances of holding the Senate, veteran Montana Sen. Max Baucus has decided not to seek reelection next year, Democratic officials said Tuesday. Baucus chairs the Senate Finance...

WASHINGTON — President Obama's pick for Labor secretary, Thomas E. Perez, emerged unscathed Thursday from a Senate confirmation hearing that was more perfunctory than contentious. Conservatives have been critical of Perez, the administration's top...

Thomas E. Perez, the former Maryland labor secretary nominated to lead the U.S. Department of Labor, faced pointed questions at his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday about whether politics influenced his decisions as the top civil rights attorney in...