In New Congress, Seniority Takes Back Seat to Spirit
335854
They call themselves the "30-Something Working Group," a loose collection of House Democrats in their 30s and 40s who have begun making waves.
227666
These are tough times for the Democratic-led U.S. Congress, where partisan battles have led to little progress on big issues and have made lawmakers collectively less popular than President George W. Bush.
418403
They lost their House and Senate seats, in some cases after keeping them warm for three decades. Others up and left on their own. But do not feel too sorry for some of these soon-to-be former lawmakers.
549179
Congress's new party of power faces a challenge in achieving their goals amid the current budget crisis.
714045
The new Congress convenes with House Republicans, leery of a bruising floor fight, stepping back from plans to significantly relax ethics rules that ensnared Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
673469
The 109th session of Congress, frustrated by partisanship and criticized for its meager record of accomplishment, ended with flurry of bill-passing and promises of change when Democrats take over the House and Senate in January.
521825
The US Congress, run for years with an iron fist by hardliners in President George W. Bush's Republican party, will get a radical makeover if opposition Democrats win November's midterm election.
448735
The strange sound of bipartisanship has gripped the returning Congress, thanks to fears of recession. But the two parties will be battling over other issues soon
157827
In their new role as the House majority, the Democrats so far this year have shown overwhelming unity on legislative votes. There are some exceptions, though Ã¢ÂÂ and they mostly come from members of the big and decisive House Class of 2006 who prevailed last year in politically competitive districts and could face difficult re-election contests in 2008.
312306
One stage in the life of bills making their way through Congress has been shoved aside recently.
306047
The new Congress is brimming with veterans ascending to glittery positions of power and glitzy newcomers demanding the spotlight for themselves.
423189
Newcomers in both houses could produce more than their share of individual standouts, especially among minorities.
29557
Some newly elected House Democrats find themselves in a political no-man's land back home, drawing fire from both sides
295371
Sen. Arlen Specter's move up to chairman of the committee that handles the president's judicial nominees is on the line this week when lawmakers return to the Capitol to clean up the unfinished work of this Congress and prepare for the next one.
67392
Moving swiftly to consolidate their control over government in the wake of their big election triumph, President Bush and Republican leaders in Congress are facing a different kind of threat - themselves.
224218
This new Congress was supposed to be different. Instead, it is being led by a gaggle of partisan hacks pandering to the same special interests and corporate masters as the previous Republican-led Congress.
376719
Maryland is a state where politicians get elected and tend to settle in. But Tuesday's party primaries are the first step in a dramatic reordering of the political hierarchy, one that will mean a new U.S. senator for the first time in decades and could result in new faces in every statewide office.