Democrats are trying to avoid a repeat of the 2010 midterms, in which Republicans capitalized on sentiment against President Obama and the health-care law passed that year to win control of the House and additional seats in the Senate.

The U.S. Senate cleared for President Barack Obamas signature a one-year delay of a 24 percent cut in payment rates for physicians who accept Medicare patients.

The U.S. Senate voted to advance legislation restoring benefits for the long-term unemployed that the Obama administration has sought to revive since they expired late last year.

The odds that Congress will pass an increase in the minimum wage before the November elections are so low that even the nations lobbyists are largely ignoring it.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he wont consider raising the national minimum wage to a level lower than $10.10 an hour, even as a way to coax support from reluctant Democrats seeking re-election this year.

Even before it comes to a vote, retailers like Gap Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are weighing the benefits of a proposed increase in the minimum wage.

A growing group of Ted Cruzs Republican Senate colleagues are infuriated with his antics.

The Senate cleared a measure suspending the U.S. debt limit for President Barack Obamas signature.