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Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., gavels to order the Senate Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on Wednesday. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Legislative branch hearing sidesteps last year’s drama

By Nina Heller
Posted April 16, 2026 at 6:17am, Updated at 3:54pm
House Ethics Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., is seen during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on May 15, 2025.

‘We can’t wait forever’: Ethics Committee under scrutiny 

By Nina Heller
Posted April 15, 2026 at 3:46pm
Reps. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., left, and now-Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., arrive to the U.S. Capitol before a House vote in 2021. In the aftermath of Swalwell's resignation, scrutiny has focused on Gallego, a close friend.

As Swalwell fallout continues, Gallego faces scrutiny for friendship

By Nina Heller
Posted April 15, 2026 at 11:15am
Former Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., talks with reporters in 2018. Speier, who retired after the 2022 elections, led the #MeTooCongress movement in 2017 and pushed for accountability for sexual misconduct on Capitol Hill.

In Congress, ‘see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil’

By Valerie Yurk and Nina Heller
Posted April 14, 2026 at 6:10pm
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., is seen outside the Capitol on March 5, 2026. Merkley has introduced measures aimed at restricting political prediction markets.

Betting against political prediction markets

By Nina Heller
Posted April 14, 2026 at 4:01pm
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., speaks during the House Democrats hearing marking the five-year anniversary of the attack on the Capitol, in the Capitol Visitor Center on Jan. 6, 2026.

Rep. Eric Swalwell resigns, denies sexual assault allegations

By Nina Heller and Valerie Yurk
Posted April 13, 2026 at 6:25pm
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., is seen in the U.S. Capitol on Friday, July 14, 2023.

Swalwell faces Ethics probe as members call for a House clean out 

By Nina Heller and Valerie Yurk
Posted April 13, 2026 at 2:53pm
Some had hoped for House vote on a stock trading bill in the first quarter of the year, but it didn’t happen before lawmakers left for spring recess.

Lawmakers said they wanted to rein in their own stock trading. What happened?

By Nina Heller
Posted March 31, 2026 at 5:04pm
Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., arrives for her House Ethics Committee adjudicatory subcommittee hearing on Thursday. Her attorney, William Barzee, appears at right.

Cherfilus-McCormick violated ethics rules, subcommittee finds

By Nina Heller
Posted March 27, 2026 at 7:56am, Updated at 10:47am
Iranian Americans rally near the Capitol on March 7. As the war continues, congressional caseworkers say they’re still hearing from U.S. citizens trying to leave the Middle East.

Iran war puts further strain on congressional casework

By Nina Heller
Posted March 24, 2026 at 3:20pm
A Congressional Football Game trophy sits on the field in 2019, the last time the congressional team prevailed against the police squad. The game raises money for charity, including a memorial fund for Capitol Police officers.

One’s a Republican, one’s a Democrat. They captain the same team

By Nina Heller
Posted March 12, 2026 at 6:40pm
A plaque honoring law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is seen hanging inside the Capitol on Monday.

The Jan. 6 plaque now hangs in a quiet hallway. Some say it’s not enough.

By Nina Heller
Posted March 11, 2026 at 12:18pm
A reporter grabs a handful of candy from a pallet outside the office of then-Sen. Patrick J. Toomey, R-Pa., on Jan. 24, 2020. The candy was sent to resupply the candy desk on the Senate floor during the 2020 impeachment trial.

The Senate still wants candy

By Nina Heller and Savannah Behrmann
Posted March 10, 2026 at 7:34pm
From left, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Bud Denker, president of Penske Corp., check out a race car during an event to announce the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington course on Monday.

Sidestepping Congress, IndyCar to race around National Mall 

By Nina Heller
Posted March 9, 2026 at 4:58pm
Reps. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., listen to testimony during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on Wednesday.

House squashes effort to force release of Ethics Committee files

By Nina Heller
Posted March 4, 2026 at 5:56pm
Patrick McHenry, seen here in December 2024, has left Congress but still wears his signature bow ties.

Life After Congress: A prediction market duo

By Nina Heller
Posted March 4, 2026 at 4:04pm
Rep. Tony Gonzales is seen in the Capitol on March 25, 2025.

House Ethics panel launches probe of Rep. Tony Gonzales

By Nina Heller
Posted March 4, 2026 at 3:55pm
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., speaks to reporters on Nov. 12, 2025.

House Ethics to investigate Mace on reimbursement practices

By Nina Heller
Posted March 2, 2026 at 5:28pm
An aide takes a photo outside the Capitol last fall. Seeing the bigger picture could help empower junior congressional staffers, according to transparency advocates.

Can knowledge be power? For salaries on the Hill, maybe 

By Nina Heller
Posted February 25, 2026 at 1:52pm
Hill staffers wait in line for their caffeine fix at Black Crown Collective in the Cannon House Office Building on Feb. 5.

It’s a specialty coffee shop. It’s also inside a House office building 

By Nina Heller
Posted February 25, 2026 at 1:00pm
The “clouds” half of the “Mountains and Clouds” sculpture is seen surrounded by scaffolding in the Hart Building in 2015, after Architect of the Capitol workers lowered it for structural analysis.

After years in limbo, these clouds could be making a comeback

By Nina Heller
Posted February 23, 2026 at 4:41pm
Haley Robson, who says she was assaulted by Jeffrey Epstein as a teenager, speaks at a Nov. 18 news conference at the Capitol. She is set to return to the Hill for Tuesday night’s State of the Union as a guest of Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna.

Silence for Democrats but a spotlight for Epstein survivors at State of the Union

By Valerie Yurk, Savannah Behrmann and Nina Heller
Posted February 20, 2026 at 2:29pm
The West Front of the Capitol, seen here in 2021, is the side of the building that faces the National Mall.

Armed man arrested after running toward Capitol, police say

By Nina Heller
Posted February 17, 2026 at 4:08pm, Updated at 6:01pm
An activist waves a “Don’t Tread On D.C.” flag outside Union Station in Washington on Sept. 2.

Senate votes to overturn DC tax decoupling, as locals push back

By Nina Heller
Posted February 12, 2026 at 2:40pm
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, talks with reporters in the Capitol on Jan. 7.

House passes revamped citizenship and voter ID bill

By Nina Heller
Posted February 11, 2026 at 7:20pm
A voter fills out a ballot in Virginia on Nov. 5, 2024.

Voter ID bill up next in the House, with Senate future uncertain

By Nina Heller
Posted February 10, 2026 at 6:40pm
Georgia Rep. Barry Loudermilk is not seeking reelection this year.

Georgia’s Barry Loudermilk is latest House Republican to retire

By Daniela Altimari and Nina Heller
Posted February 4, 2026 at 7:15pm
A Washington, D.C., flag in a Capitol Hill neighborhood last fall. Republicans in Congress are moving ahead with an effort to override D.C.’s tax code decoupling.

House advances measure to block DC tax code decoupling 

By Nina Heller
Posted February 4, 2026 at 5:06pm
Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Rules and Administration Chair Mitch McConnell are facing pressure to advance a voter ID bill.

Top Republicans throw cold water on ‘nationalizing’ elections 

By Nina Heller
Posted February 3, 2026 at 5:06pm
Del. Kimberlyn King-Hinds leaves a House Republican’s caucus meeting in the Capitol on Jan. 14. “I came here with the assumption that people would be a lot more knowledgeable, given the fact that everybody’s talking about China and geopolitics,” she says as she reflects on her first year in Congress.

King-Hinds on long commutes and the ‘tyranny of distance’

By Nina Heller
Posted February 3, 2026 at 11:40am
Free DC activists attend a news conference with members of Congress in September. Now local activists are pushing Congress to let the D.C. Council’s tax decoupling stand.

Republicans look to rebuke DC Council with swing at local tax code

By Nina Heller
Posted February 2, 2026 at 3:36pm
Voters fill out their ballots in Vienna, Va., on Election Day in 2024.

House Republicans lean into voter ID debate

By Nina Heller
Posted January 29, 2026 at 6:31pm, Updated at 8:39pm
An officer is seen on Capitol grounds on Sunday. Recent events in Minnesota and beyond have reignited a debate over dangerous rhetoric, as Capitol Police report rising threat assessment cases.

As threats climb, political violence debate roils Congress again

By Nina Heller
Posted January 28, 2026 at 2:10pm
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, seen here in 2024, this week announced her retirement. The race to follow in her footsteps has been building for months.

Crowded race to succeed Norton includes two of her former staffers

By Nina Heller
Posted January 27, 2026 at 11:48am
Angie Katsanevas arrives to testify in front of the House Small Business Committee on Thursday.

‘You do french fries, I do franchise’: Angie K. has some fans in Congress

By Nina Heller
Posted January 22, 2026 at 5:56pm
Rep. Bob Latta hasn’t missed a House vote since 2020, even after a pickleball injury.

GOP attendance is a hot topic. Bob Latta is on a hot streak

By Nina Heller
Posted January 20, 2026 at 2:57pm
“I wouldn’t even call this a half measure; it’s a misdirection play,” says House Administration ranking member Joseph D. Morelle.

House panel advances plan to restrict lawmaker stock trading

By Nina Heller
Posted January 14, 2026 at 3:44pm
“This bill is a hell of a lot better than doing nothing,” says New York Democratic Rep. Josh Riley.

‘This is not a stock trading ban’: New bill puts Dems in a tough spot

By Nina Heller
Posted January 13, 2026 at 3:40pm
House Administration Chair Bryan Steil, R-Wis., will lead a markup this week of stock-trading legislation.

House panel will take up GOP bill to curb members’ stock trading

By Nina Heller
Posted January 12, 2026 at 12:45pm, Updated at 1:31pm
A replica of a plaque honoring law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6 stands in the Rayburn Room of the Capitol on Dec. 23, 2025.

Overdue Jan. 6 plaque to get a temporary home

By Nina Heller
Posted January 8, 2026 at 5:08pm
Pamela Hemphill, a Jan. 6 rioter who refused President Trump’s pardon, testifies during a hearing held Tuesday by House Democrats.

How did Capitol Hill mark the fifth anniversary of Jan. 6?

By Nina Heller and Michael Macagnone
Posted January 6, 2026 at 5:24pm
A video of President Donald Trump plays during a hearing held by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on Oct. 13, 2022. Members of the now-defunct panel say they see ongoing threats and reminders, five years after the Capitol breach.

After blaming Trump for Jan. 6, they’re still in the ‘fight of our lives’

By Nina Heller
Posted January 5, 2026 at 11:46am
Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., at front, talks to reporters outside a House Administration Committee hearing on congressional stock trading on Nov. 19, joined by Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Tim Burchett, R-Tenn. They were all part of a working group that unveiled a bipartisan stock-trading ban earlier this year.

Cracks emerge as members of Congress try to curb their own stock trading

By Nina Heller
Posted December 18, 2025 at 5:10pm
Freshman members of the 119th Congress pose for a class photo on the House steps last November. Now that they’ve seen the workings of the Capitol, what do they think?

One year in, what do these newcomers think of Congress?

By Nina Heller
Posted December 15, 2025 at 3:38pm
Getting lost in the Capitol complex is almost a rite of passage for newcomers. Above, an empty hallway is pictured in the Cannon House Office Building in 2020.

The Capitol is hard to navigate. Does it have to be?

By Nina Heller
Posted December 10, 2025 at 4:32pm
Gene Simmons is seen in the Senate subway on Tuesday. He appeared at a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing with the aim of drumming up support for radio royalties.

‘Let’s rock’: Gene Simmons urges Congress to OK radio royalties 

By Nina Heller
Posted December 9, 2025 at 6:04pm
Books by Andrew Lawler, Zaakir Tameez, Thomas Pynchon, Walter Isaacson, Beth Macy and Ruth Bloch Rubin made our annual list of recommendations from Capitol Hill denizens.

Hill insiders share favorite books of 2025

By Nina Heller
Posted December 8, 2025 at 2:55pm
A Capitol Police officer is seen earlier this year outside the Capitol. As Congress enters its final stretch of the year and members look ahead to the winter holidays, they say the risks of serving still weigh on them despite several recent steps from congressional leaders to address safety fears.

December brings reelection reflection — and safety fears

By Nina Heller
Posted December 3, 2025 at 5:53pm
Fred Johnson carefully lifts the dome during construction of the Capitol gingerbread house on Nov. 20, joined by, from left, chefs Kashif Browne, Jess Kremer and John Selick.

This Capitol looks good enough to eat (but you shouldn’t)

By Nina Heller
Posted December 1, 2025 at 4:35pm
Reps. Donald S. Beyer Jr. and Don Bacon, seen here in May, this week proposed a rules change aimed at ending the House’s recent censure spree.

Members search for end to House censure battle

By Nina Heller and Justin Papp
Posted November 21, 2025 at 4:52pm
Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García, seen here in July 2024, got a scolding from the House on Tuesday over how he announced his retirement.

House votes to disapprove of Chuy García’s retirement moves

By Nina Heller
Posted November 18, 2025 at 3:57pm
Haley Robson, who says she was assaulted by Jeffrey Epstein when she was 16, wipes away tears at a Tuesday news conference at the Capitol.

Epstein survivors call for ‘moral reckoning’ ahead of vote

By Nina Heller
Posted November 18, 2025 at 12:13pm
A chair with a “broken” sign sits in a hallway in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Oct. 30. As the federal government emerges from a shutdown, members of Congress have some thoughts on lessons learned.

After a shutdown, no ‘A’s for effort

By Nina Heller
Posted November 14, 2025 at 2:52pm
A plane passes by the Capitol dome in Washington as it comes in for a landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Nov. 7.

Planes, trains and motorcycles: How House members got back to DC

By Nina Heller
Posted November 12, 2025 at 4:43pm
Reps. Chrissy Houlahan, left, and Mikie Sherrill are among the female veterans who serve on the House Armed Services Committee. Their ranks will soon shrink as Sherrill assumes her new role of New Jersey governor next year.

For female veterans in Congress, it’s a small club 

By Nina Heller
Posted November 10, 2025 at 12:07pm
A tourist snaps a photo of the Capitol this summer. For House interns who arrived in the fall, it’s been a strange semester, to say the least.

They went to DC to intern on the Hill. Then came the shutdown

By Nina Heller and Justin Papp
Posted October 29, 2025 at 5:57pm
People look at their phones during a congressional hearing in 2020. When it comes to personal posting, long-standing norms on Capitol Hill are colliding with the expectations of younger staffers.

Influencer or Hill staffer: Can you be both?

By Nina Heller
Posted October 29, 2025 at 4:30pm
The Capitol dome is framed by colorful leaves. This year, autumn looks a little different on the Hill.

Shutdown season: Fall traditions on ice as cancellations pile up

By Nina Heller
Posted October 27, 2025 at 3:17pm
A trophy sits on the field during 2019’s Congressional Football Game. This year, the game has been rescheduled.

Football and dog parades? Not during a shutdown

By Nina Heller
Posted October 23, 2025 at 3:09pm
Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., gives a tour in the Capitol rotunda on Oct. 16.

In a shutdown, members of Congress are doubling as tour guides 

By Nina Heller
Posted October 22, 2025 at 5:12pm
Members of the National Guard walk by a 3,000-pound ice sculpture created by artists Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese on Wednesday.

Is democracy melting? With an ice sculpture, these artists think so

By Nina Heller
Posted October 15, 2025 at 3:35pm
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries concludes a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center on the eighth day of the government shutdown. Some House Democrats are making a point of being in town this week.

With Republicans out of town, House Democrats are everywhere and nowhere

By Nina Heller and Justin Papp
Posted October 8, 2025 at 6:09pm
A sign announces the Capitol Visitor Center is closed to tours due to the government shutdown.

Closed, canceled and turned away: Shutdown leaves tourists in limbo 

By Nina Heller
Posted October 6, 2025 at 3:35pm
A news crew films a segment on Wednesday near a sign indicating that the Capitol Visitor Center is closed due to the government shutdown.

Members of Congress get paid during a shutdown. Some want to change that

By Nina Heller
Posted October 1, 2025 at 5:35pm
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., speaks to fired federal workers holding their weekly sit-in outside the Capitol on Tuesday as a government shutdown looms.

‘Mafia-style blackmail’: Shutdown threat adds insult to injury for former federal workers

By Nina Heller
Posted September 30, 2025 at 4:00pm
Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated Wednesday, is shown in the Fiserv Forum on the third night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July 2024.

Lawmakers react to assassination of Charlie Kirk

By Nina Heller and Jessica Wehrman
Posted September 10, 2025 at 6:02pm
Rep. Kelly Morrison, seen here during new member orientation last November, worked as an OB-GYN and served in the Minnesota Legislature before coming to Congress.

Why Rep. Kelly Morrison thinks about her patients ‘every single day’

By Nina Heller
Posted September 5, 2025 at 1:41pm
Clockwise from top: Former Rep. Brad Wenstrup, former Sen. Sherrod Brown, and former Reps. Debbie Lesko, Derek Kilmer, Jamaal Bowman, Mike Garcia, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, and Cori Bush talk about their activities after leaving Congress.

Where are they now? Happily, often anyplace but here

By Mike Magner, Nina Heller, Jackie Wang, Noella Kertes, Nick Eskow and Jessica Wehrman
Posted July 31, 2025 at 5:00am
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., is seen in the Capitol on May 8.

Schumer announces holds on Justice Department nominees

By Nina Heller
Posted May 14, 2025 at 11:19am
Arizona Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego, who supported the bill in committee, said over the weekend he would oppose it on the floor.

Senate stablecoin bill trips on cloture vote

By Nina Heller
Posted May 8, 2025 at 4:47pm
When Rep. Brittany Pettersen became the 13th voting member in history to give birth while serving in Congress, she set off a new conversation about what it’s like for moms at the Capitol. Above, she holds her infant, Sam, on March 11.

Being a mom in Congress is hard. But it doesn’t have to be, members say

By Nina Heller
Posted May 7, 2025 at 4:16pm
Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, seen here in January, gathered enough support to bring down a rule that included a move to block progress on a parental proxy voting effort.

GOP’s bid to squash parental proxy voting fizzles on the House floor

By Justin Papp and Nina Heller
Posted April 1, 2025 at 3:24pm, Updated at 3:52pm
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna is working to retain limited GOP support for her effort to allow House parents to vote by proxy after birth. Above, she is seen in 2024 with GOP Rep. Tim Burchett, another supporter of the proxy exception.

‘I’m not going to be bought’: Luna digs in on parental proxy voting 

By Nina Heller and Justin Papp
Posted March 27, 2025 at 3:52pm
One-year-old River Jacobs is held by his mother, Caitlin Fuller, while he receives an MMR vaccine March 1, 2025 in Lubbock, Texas.

Measles outbreak sends warning for future of infectious disease

By Nina Heller
Posted March 25, 2025 at 3:22pm
Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, speaks during a meeting with business leaders at Washington Crossing Inn in Washington Crossing, Pa., on Nov. 6, 2022. Oz ran against Sen. John Fetterman for a Pennsylvania Senate seat.

Oz’s ties to insurers may loom over his CMS confirmation hearing

By Nina Heller
Posted March 13, 2025 at 3:29pm
Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, heckles Donald Trump during the president’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night.

Rep. Al Green censured by House colleagues, sings ‘We Shall Overcome’

By Nina Heller and Justin Papp
Posted March 6, 2025 at 11:28am, Updated at 3:11pm
A person waves a transgender pride flag during the People's March and rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on Jan. 18. (Nathan Morris/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Nonprofits sue over Trump executive orders on gender, diversity

By Nina Heller
Posted February 20, 2025 at 8:05am
Hundreds of people protest in New York on Wednesday against President Donald Trump’s executive order signed Jan. 28 to restrict gender transition procedures for people under the age of 19.

LGBTQ+ groups sue to stop Trump ban on gender-affirming care

By Nina Heller
Posted February 4, 2025 at 4:44pm
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., has said he will work to confirm judges for the rest of the year.

Democrats push judicial nominations through GOP delays

By Nina Heller
Posted November 21, 2024 at 9:15am
Halle Berry speaks during a news conference on bipartisan legislation to raise federal research on menopause and women’s midlife health, outside the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, May 2, 2024. In the background from left, Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, also appear.

In divide on women’s health care, a consensus on menopause

By Nina Heller
Posted November 13, 2024 at 12:37pm, Updated November 14, 2024 at 12:07pm
Vice President Kamala Harris delivers her acceptance speech during the final night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 22.

For Harris, mental health access a key policy priority

By Nina Heller
Posted October 21, 2024 at 3:38pm
Delaware Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, left, and Prince George's County, Md., Executive Angela Alsobrooks could make history if they win elections to the Senate, which has never had two two Black women at the same time.

Women looking to make Senate history ‘intend to be quite bold’

By Nina Heller
Posted September 13, 2024 at 12:56pm
Vice President Kamala Harris delivers her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 22.

Once a liability for Democrats, abortion gets new life with Harris as nominee

By Nina Heller
Posted September 4, 2024 at 11:18am
Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene appears outside the Capitol on June 14. She has introduced a measure that would make it a felony for doctors to provide gender-affirming care to minors.

Trans care debate influenced by misinformation, doctors say

By Nina Heller
Posted August 15, 2024 at 7:30am
Rep. Becca Balint says she grew up hearing, “We have to be absolutely vigilant not to dehumanize people.” Above, she speaks at an April 12 news conference in support of LGBTQ+ youth.

Her family saw the horrors of the Holocaust. Now Rep. Becca Balint seeks to ‘hold this space’

By Nina Heller
Posted June 21, 2024 at 1:10pm
Sen. Laphonza Butler, seen here in April, says she will continue to read passages from books targeted for bans around the country, saying she hopes to “bring a voice at the national level.”

Why Laphonza Butler is reading banned books out loud on the Senate floor

By Nina Heller
Posted May 6, 2024 at 2:19pm
Reps. Jamie Raskin, center, and Jared Huffman are among the Democrats calling for answers about a prayer delivered by a guest chaplain in January.

House members raise questions about Johnson’s invite of ‘hate preacher’ 

By Nina Heller
Posted February 15, 2024 at 5:34pm
Rules ranking member Jim McGovern, left, seen here in January with Chairman Tom Cole, says he gets “mad” when he hears a potential question of privilege on the floor.

‘A colossal waste of time’: Frustrations rise over use of privileged resolutions in the House

By Nina Heller
Posted December 18, 2023 at 6:00am