Critics say the patchwork system of safety regulations governing massive cargo ships like the one that toppled a Baltimore bridge this week can allow shippers to skirt oversight.

Federal regulators are extending the grounding of some Boeing jets after an Alaska Airlines plane lost a side panel last week.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders kicked off a multi-state tour in Oregon on Thursday.

Facing stubbornly high gas prices that average about $5 a gallon nationwide, President Joe Biden has urged Congress to suspend federal gasoline and diesel taxes for three months.

Madison Cawthorn's unexpected victory in 2020 made him the youngest member of the House and a rising Republican star — until the scandals started piling up.

Former President Donald Trump’s winning streak in U.S. Senate primaries is on the line Tuesday as voters in five states cast their ballots in midterm elections.

Growing discontent over homelessness and crime in Portland is driving interest in a pair of congressional primaries.

Federal safety officials aren't ready to give back authority for approving new planes to Boeing when it comes to the large 787 jet, which Boeing calls the Dreamliner.

A congressional committee is looking into the controversy over the launch of new high-speed wireless service and whether it poses any threat to airline safety.

The airline industry is trying to delay next week’s scheduled rollout of 5G wireless service near dozens of major U.S. airports.

A congressional report says the federal agency overseeing the lease of the luxury hotel that Donald Trump’s family company runs in the nation’s capital failed to carry out its basic responsibilities.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, the longest serving U.S. House member in Oregon’s history, is retiring.

Oregon congressional candidate and hero soldier Alek Skarlatos formed a nonprofit to advocate for veterans after he lost his 2020 race.

Republicans and Democrats have something in common when it comes to recruiting candidates they hope will deliver majorities in Congress after the 2022 election, and that's their pursuit of military veterans.

Top Democrats are planning House votes next week on a budget resolution that would clear a path for future passage of the party's ambitious plans for social and environment programs.

The $1 trillion infrastructure bill unveiled by the Senate includes more than $150 billion to boost clean energy and promote “climate resilience.”.

The Senate has voted to start work on a nearly $1 trillion national infrastructure package.

President Joe Biden has leapt back into the Senate’s up-and-down efforts to clinch a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure deal.

Senators and the White House are working furiously to salvage a bipartisan infrastructure deal.

Senators and the White House are locked in intense negotiations to salvage a bipartisan infrastructure deal.

Lawmakers racing to seal a bipartisan infrastructure deal early this coming week are hitting a major roadblock over how much money should go to public transit.

Senate Republicans have rejected an effort to begin debate on a bipartisan infrastructure deal that senators brokered with President Joe Biden.

Climate activists and their Democratic allies in Congress are pressing with renewed urgency for huge investments to slow global warming after a bipartisan infrastructure plan cut out some of President Joe Biden’s key climate initiatives.

The Democratic-led House has approved a sizable $715 billion transportation bill.

President Joe Biden has dismissed a fresh Republican infrastructure proposal offering modestly more spending.

President Joe Biden is expected to announce former senior State Department official Nicholas Burns to serve as his ambassador to China and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to be his ambassador to India.

Negotiations between the White House and Senate Republicans over President Joe Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan are hitting a crucial stage ahead of talks Friday.

Lawmakers are asking Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration for records detailing production problems with two of the company's most popular airliners.

Several major unions say the significant staff cuts railroads have made in recent years could jeopardize safety, but the major railroads say the new operating model they have adopted is simply helping them become more efficient and hasn’t made the railroads riskier.

Buttigieg says America's infrastructure needs exceed $1 trillion and that other countries like China are pulling ahead. Congress just passed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, but Buttigieg told lawmakers that a broader economic recovery will require a national commitment to fix and transform America’s infrastructure. “A transportation bill needs to be a transportation bill — not the Green New Deal,” said Missouri Rep. Sam Graves. We can do this.”AdAt the same time, DeFazio said an infrastructure bill will need to focus on the challenges of the 21st century, a nod to climate change. Work on this year’s infrastructure bill and other green efforts has already begun in full force with committee hearings, closed-door meetings and legislative initiatives.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)WASHINGTON – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday pledged swift work by Congress on a job and infrastructure package that will be “fiscally sound,” but said she isn't sure whether the next major item on President Joe Biden’s agenda will attract Republican backing. AdBut work on passing infrastructure legislation in a Senate split 50-50 with Vice President Kamala Harris providing a tiebreaking vote will probably prove more difficult. Moderate Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., recently made clear he will block infrastructure legislation if Republicans aren't included. 3 Senate Republican, said he wants to see bipartisan support for an infrastructure legislation. Cost will be a major hurdle in passing an infrastructure plan.

A dirty word for many Republicans is making the rounds on Capitol Hill -- earmarks. It's a question that's vexing Republicans as they consider whether to join a Democratic push to revive earmarks, the much-maligned practice where lawmakers direct federal spending to a specific project or institution back home. Democratic appropriators in the House see a solution and are proposing a revamped process allowing lawmakers to submit public requests for “community project funding” in federal spending bills. The ranking Republican on the committee, Rep. Sam Graves of Missouri, said earmarks would not increase the amount of money spent in a bill. “That’s something I feel pretty strongly about.”Norman worries that earmarks would be used to entice Republicans to vote for bills with expensive price tags.

FILE - In this Sept. 18, 2019 file photo Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao speaks at EPA headquarters in Washington. Scott Applewhite)The Transportation Department’s watchdog asked the Justice Department to criminally investigate Elaine Chao late last year over concerns that she misused her office when she was transportation secretary under President Donald Trump but was rebuffed, according to a report released Wednesday. According to department emails, Chao directed her staff to include her relatives in the official events and high-level meetings during the trip. The IG report said Justice Department officials ultimately declined to take up a criminal review, saying there “may be ethical and/or administrative issues” but no evidence to support possible criminal charges. As a result, the inspector general's office said in the report it was now closing its investigation “based on the lack of prosecutorial interest” from the Justice Department.

Biden and his team have begun discussions on the possible outlines of an infrastructure package with members of Congress, particularly mindful that Texas' recent struggles with power outages and water shortages after a brutal winter storm present an opportunity for agreement on sustained spending on infrastructure. At a conference with state and local highway officials Thursday, he referred to the often-promised, never-achieved mega-initiative on roads, bridges and the like from the Trump administration. Much of America's infrastructure — roads, bridges, public drinking and water systems, dams, airports, mass transit systems and more — is in need of major restoration after years of underfunding, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. Democrats passed a $1.5 trillion package in the House last year, but it went nowhere with the Trump administration and the Republican-led Senate. Rep. Peter DeFazio, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told the AP that he foresees a comprehensive House package that will go beyond roads, bridges and public transit.

The inspector general issued 14 recommendations to “restore confidence in FAA’s certification process and ensure the highest level of safety” in future passenger planes. While FAA test pilots knew about changes to the flight system, called MCAS, some key FAA personnel, including engineers, did not. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said the report indicated concealment by Boeing and negligence by the FAA. AdThe same inspector general’s office reported last year that Boeing failed to disclose to the FAA changes it made to MCAS. In January, Boeing agreed to a $2.5 billion settlement with the Justice Department to avoid prosecution for defrauding the FAA.

“A lot of folks are losing hope,” Biden said in a speech at the White House. Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate, her first. Biden concluded in his Friday speech that aid at that level would only prolong the economic pain. Following Senate approval, the House passed the measure 219-209 on Friday afternoon, also without a Republican vote. The Senate also passed an amendment 99-1 that would prevent the $1,400 in direct checks in Biden’s proposal from going to “upper-income taxpayers.” But the measure, led by Sens.

In a report released Friday, Dec. 18, 2020 the Senate Commerce Committee also said the FAA continues to retaliate against whistleblowers. In a report released Friday, the Senate Commerce Committee also said the FAA continues to retaliate against whistleblowers. Both grew out of concern about the agency's approval of the Boeing Max. The Senate report, however, criticized a key part of the FAA review. It said that Boeing “inappropriately influenced" FAA testing of pilot-reaction time to a nose-down pitch of the plane.

This summer, the worst wildfires on record burned in Oregon, with climate change and overgrown forests worsening fire conditions. A possible factor in Skarlatos' favor: Thousands of students at the University of Oregon and Oregon State University, who would normally vote in those towns, are learning remotely amid the coronavirus pandemic. His name recognition went only so far, said Christopher McKnight Nichols, associate professor of history at Oregon State University. Of his campaign war chest, over 60% comes from out of state, DeFazio said during their debate. Several GOP state lawmakers display the group's regalia in their Capitol offices.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged the airlines to delay those furloughs while Congress tries to approve the money. United Airlines, which started to furlough 13,000 workers, will undo the furloughs “once Congress has passed legislation ... but they need to act quickly,” said spokesman Frank Benenati. The airlines and their unions are seeking more taxpayer money to prevent furloughs through next March. Congress approved $25 billion in payroll aid six months ago in hopes that the travel industry might be stronger by fall. While Congress works on the matter, “the airline industry must delay these devastating job cuts,” she said.

A Boeing 737 MAX jet, piloted by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chief Steve Dickson, takes off on a test flight from Boeing Field, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020, in Seattle. The MAX was grounded worldwide in early March 2019 after the second of two fatal accidents that together killed 346 people aboard almost-new aircraft. An FAA spokesman said Boeing pilots would also be on the plane when it takes off from the former Boeing Field in the Seattle area. Boeing hopes to win FAA approval later this year for changes it has made to flight-control software and computers. The bill would also require plane manufacturers to tell the FAA, airlines and pilots about automated systems that can alter a plane’s path.

But both the agency and Boeing have said certification of the Max complied with FAA regulations, the 246-page report said. He said the committee won't scrap the delegation program, and he hopes to reach agreement on reforms before year's end. Committee investigators said they found several instances in which Boeing concealed information about MCAS from the FAA and airlines. But there was no evidence that they reported this to the FAA, the report said. According to the report, Boeing wanted to keep details about MCAS from the FAA so it wouldn't require additional pilot training.

But there’s a smaller category of lawmakers like Peterson and GOP Rep. Steve Chabot of Ohio who also merit attention: long-term incumbents of both parties fighting to preserve their careers. Over 90% of House incumbents are usually reelected, thanks to name recognition and campaign fundraising advantages. “There are people who traditionally voted Republican who don't identify with the current Republican Party," Schroder, 43, a businesswoman and local public health official, said in an interview. Democratic and Republican campaign committees and other organizations allied with party leadership are aiming the bulk of their spending at each others' softest seats and defending vulnerable incumbents. The Congressional Leadership Fund, aligned with House GOP leadership, planned to spend $3.3 million more, which Republicans said could grow.

Unions are gaining support in Congress for another $32 billion in federal aid to protect airline workers from layoffs for another six months. In March, companies got $32 billion to help cover payroll costs for six months in exchange for not laying off workers. Thirteen airline unions have joined to lobby Congress for a six-month extension of the payroll provision. Major airlines support the extension, but they are keeping a low profile. American Airlines notified 25,000 workers, Delta Air Lines warned more than 2,500 pilots, and smaller airlines also sent out notices.

Separately, key members of Congress said they are investigating aviation contractors that took federal payroll aid and then laid off thousands of workers. Airlines and airline contractors who received cash from a $32 billion pool of federal payroll aid agreed not to lay off workers until Oct. 1. Airline labor unions are lobbying Congress for six more months of federal aid. Some contractors who received money laid off workers anyway, according to three Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives. At Spirit, the pilots union said it was notified Wednesday that 806 pilots could be furloughed, or terminated with rehiring rights.

The crashes killed 346 people and led regulators around the world to ground every Boeing 737 Max nearly 400 of them. Many of the findings in the report by the Transportation Department's acting inspector general have previously been published in news accounts. In early development of the Max, Boeing indicated MCAS would not activate often, and so the system didn't receive a detailed review by FAA. However, the agency let the plane continue to fly while Boeing began fixing the system, a job Boeing expected to complete by July 2019. The second Max crash occurred in March 2019.

Democrats hailed the House bill, which goes far beyond transportation to fund schools, health care facilities, public utilities and affordable housing. The White House promised a veto if the measure reaches the president's desk. No formal proposal has emerged, although the White House has suggested the next virus response bill could include an infrastructure component. The centerpiece of the House legislation is a nearly $500 billion, 5-year surface transportation plan for roads, bridges and railways. The White House said in its veto threat that the proposal is heavily skewed toward programs that would disproportionately benefit Americas urban areas."