Rep. John Lewis (D) of Georgia (l.), who marched with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., turns to thank Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R) of Wisconsin, as he finishes his testimony in support of the Voting Rights Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Wednesday, July 17. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
8:41 pm ET -A House subcommittee hosted an exchange of views Thursday about the meaning of and potential fallout from the US Supreme Court’s decision last month that struck down a portion of the Voting Rights Act.
Politics (View all)
- In Senate, emotional appeal to restore 'heart and soul' of Voting Rights Act
- In filibuster deal, a glimpse of how the Senate could actually work
- Senate averts 'nuclear option,' but leaves deeper questions unanswered
- Monitor Breakfast Sen. Carl Levin imagines NSA phone-tracking in hands of J. Edgar Hoover
- Pentagon girds for Senate fight over sexual assault bill
- 'Nuclear option' 101: Why the big fight over the Senate filibuster? (+video)
- Texas abortion vote mirrors Americans' divided view
- Eliot Spitzer, Anthony Weiner stage political comebacks. Redemption overload?
- House farm bill leaves food stamps in limbo
- Immigration reform: House GOP consensus is to do something – but later
More Politics
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Texas abortion vote mirrors Americans' divided view
Texas lawmakers have passed a restrictive abortion law that could sharply reduce the number of clinics. Over the years, the sharply divided public view has become more conservative.
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Eliot Spitzer, Anthony Weiner stage political comebacks. Redemption overload?
Not long ago New York Democrats Eliot Spitzer and Anthony Weiner seemed to have killed their political careers with sex scandals. Now, each is attempting a comeback, but will New Yorkers forgive and forget?
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House farm bill leaves food stamps in limbo
A House version of the farm bill took food stamps out entirely – leaving them to be taken up later and separately. But if cuts are what Republicans want, the tactic might backfire.
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Immigration reform: House GOP consensus is to do something – but later
House Republicans emerged from a strategy session on immigration reform saying something needed to be done but seeming content to shelve the issue until the fall. What to do is still an issue.
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Conceal-carry: Heeding court, Illinois becomes 50th state to allow it
Both chambers of the Illinois legislature on Tuesday overrode a veto on the matter by Gov. Pat Quinn. About 300,000 residents could apply for conceal-carry permits, although some details of the law have to be worked out first.
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Senate back at student loans as pressure and rates mount, but deal elusive
A key student loan rate doubled last week after Congress refused to act, but the majority Democrats in the Senate are split and the party leadership is looking for a short-term fix.
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Will GOP plan to cut food stamps save the farm bill ... or kill it?
After the farm bill's stunning defeat last month, House GOP leaders are feeling out whether they can strip out a massive food stamp program and win back enough conservative votes to pass the aid to farmers.
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FBI nominee James Comey: Did he ace confirmation hearing?
James Comey, a Republican who served under George W. Bush, told the senators he considered waterboarding torture. The FBI nominee sailed through his confirmation hearing with bipartisan support.
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'Sequester' at Pentagon: why furloughs may not be as harmful as predicted
As part of the sequester, the Defense Department began furloughs of civilian employees Monday. The Pentagon has warned of a devastating impact, but at least one analyst suspects that some of the undone work won't be missed.
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Who coined 'United States of America'? Mystery might have intriguing answer.
Historians have long tried to pinpoint exactly when the name 'United States of America' was first used and by whom. A new find suggests the man might have been George Washington himself.
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July 4 protests target NSA surveillance as Fourth Amendment violations (+video)
This year, on the Fourth, a coalition of activists is rallying to the cry of 'Restore the Fourth,' as in Amendment. Protests both digital and physical are planned against NSA surveillance programs.
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Obamacare 101: Why major part of health law is delayed, and who's affected (+video)
A key provision of Obama's health law, aka Obamacare, will be pushed back a year, the administration said Wednesday. The delay buys more time for businesses with at least 51 workers to show they are providing health insurance. What happens in the meantime?
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Focus Whatever happened to the great 'sequester' smackdown?
Signs of any economic duress from the 'sequester' are few and far between four months in. But the $85 billion in federal spending cuts slated for this fiscal year are likely to be felt as summer deepens.
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Focus The 'sequester': how three Americans see it working so far
So far at least, wide swaths of America haven't been reeling from the 'sequester.' But more budget cuts are taking effect this summer. Here are three examples of how Americans are starting to feel the impact.
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Gay marriage battlegrounds: 12 states to watch
In the states, the battle over gay marriage is far from over. As many as 10 could move to legalize same-sex marriage over the next three years. One may be moving toward a stronger defense of traditional marriage. Here's the state-by-state rundown.
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Tax reform: Can Baucus and Hatch make senators eat their spinach?
The Finance Committee's Baucus and Hatch are telling their fellow senators that now's the time to address tax reform, and have set a deadline for colleagues to defend individual tax preferences.
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Bob Corker, Senate GOP's tireless dealmaker, looks beyond immigration reform
Tennessee's Bob Corker considered quitting the Senate, but plunged back into the art of the deal, helping to build a big majority on immigration reform. Also on his agenda: taxes, deficits, and housing.
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Culture wars: Why gay marriage and abortion have been ‘decoupled’
Public opinion on abortion has held constant for 30 years. But on gay marriage, acceptance has grown dramatically in just 10 years – most notably among young evangelical Protestants.
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Immigration reform bill clears Senate, but faces roadblock in House (+video)
The Senate approved the bill by a 68-to-32 vote Thursday. But House leaders, including those supportive of the immigration reform effort, have said the Senate legislation won't get a hearing in their chamber.
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Student loans: Despite new proposals in Congress, no fix as deadline looms
Interest rates on some subsidized student loans could double on July 1. A bipartisan Senate group and a sextet of Senate liberals both put forward proposals Thursday, but a deal is elusive.
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Monitor Breakfast 'Major accountability issues' for IRS, Congress's tax chairmen say
The Internal Revenue Service may need to be restructured after the agency was found improperly targeting conservative groups seeking nonprofit status, say Rep. David Camp (R) and Sen. Max Baucus (D), chairmen of congressional tax-writing committees.
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Battleground DOMA: What next for opponents of gay marriage?
After twin losses at the Supreme Court, the battleground shifts to the states, where social conservative leaders aim to 'fight like crazy,' with little help from the national GOP establishment.
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California looks to life without Prop. 8's ban on gay marriage (+video)
The Supreme Court essentially let stand a lower court ruling against California's Prop. 8 ban on same-sex marriage. Given shifting public attitudes, Prop. 8 seems unlikely to have another political life.
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After DOMA ruling, few fighting words from congressional GOP on gay marriage
One by one, leading Republicans offered statements after the Supreme Court's DOMA ruling that showed they were ready, by and large, to leave the gay marriage fight to the states.
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Keystone XL pipeline: Did Obama just drop a big hint about his decision? (+video)
Obama said the Keystone XL pipeline would only be approved if it won't increase greenhouse gas emissions. That cheered some foes of the project, but others see the president finding a way to say yes.
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Climate change: Obama announces new curbs on existing power plants (+video)
A feisty Obama – 'We don't have time for a meeting of the flat earth society' – cited a list of projects to address climate change, but the centerpiece is crimping smokestack emissions from coal-fired power plants.
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Climate change: Why does President Obama's plan skirt Congress?
With Republicans implacably opposed – and some Democrats still wary of fallout at the polls – there's little prospect of getting climate change reform through Capitol Hill.








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