As of Feb. 2, 2026, there are three active vacancies in the 119th Congress, which spans from Jan. 3, 2025, to Jan. 3, 2027. Due to the active vacancies, Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the U.S.

The state of North Carolina is represented by Republicans Thom Tillis and Ted Budd in the United States Senate.

John Thune can move Lindsey Graham’s secondary sanctions bill and send a message to the White House and the Kremlin. If they can ignore the parliamentarian on electric vehicles, why not on their tax ...

With the shutdown ball squarely in the Senate’s court, a fair question feels timelier than ever: Is the United States Senate what our Founders envisioned it to be — or has it fallen short of their ...

Stream now with KPBS Passport / Watch Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025 at 8 p.m. on KPBS 2 or on Ken Burns' website For 200 years, the United States Congress has been one of the country's most important and ...

Congress allocated $50 billion for initiatives aimed at supporting democracy, scholarship programs, U.S. embassy operations and health and humanitarian programs around the world.

President Trump froze a program to allow Afghans who had worked with American troops to come to the United States. Now ...

WASHINGTON — The federal government has shut down after lawmakers in Congress failed to strike a deal on a funding bill, forcing agencies to furlough their "non-essential" employees. Under the ...

The United States Senate is at a precarious moment. From tariffs to agency funding to foreign affairs, the Senate’s check on the executive branch is arguably weaker than ever, with some critics, and ...

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad: ___ Feb. 7 The Washington Post says “The Swamp” is the winner of Trump's tariff war For decades, politicians have sold tariffs as a ...