Reporter Matthew Boyle discusses how Senate Indian Affairs Committee Democratic staffers are billing taxpayers for their trip to Maui for a field hearing.

For a moment Wednesday, Al Franken looked like he was back on the set of Saturday Night Live and not on the floor of the U.S. Senate. In a speech explaining that there would be no money to pay for military and security personnel if Congress doesn’t pass a bill increasing the debt ceiling by Aug. 2, Franken unveiled a large poster in the chamber that said, “Welcome Terrorists.”

Franken aimed his theater of the absurd at those who believe the U.S. doesn’t have to raise the debt limit to avoid economic catastrophe. He couched it as black humor, but certainly not as comic relief in a House and Senate deadlock that economists say puts the U.S. at risk of a financial meltdown.

The Senate has voted decisively to extend the legal life of three contentious terrorism-fighting powers that are set to expire at midnight without congressional action.

The 72-23 Senate vote sends the legislation to the House, which is expected to pass it quickly and transmit it to President Barack Obama for his signature.

It extends two provisions of the 2001 USA Patriot Act, one allowing for roving wiretaps and the other allowing searches of business records in the pursuit of terrorist threats. A third provision gives the government power to watch non-American "lone wolf" suspects with no certain ties to terrorist groups.

All three provisions are viewed as valuable tools by law enforcement officials but are opposed by some who say they can lead to privacy right abuses.

Call your Senators now and urge them to vote down this so-called "free trade" agreement. The Senate is scheduled to vote on the free agreement as early as Tuesday, December 4.

A bill that would have given the children of illegal immigrants a chance to become U.S. citizens by attending college or serving in the U.S. military was blocked in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday. A 52-44 vote on a motion to begin debate on the bill fell ei

The Senate's Republican majority moved Monday to try to block Gov. Eliot Spitzer's plan to make it easier for illegal immigrants to receive driver's licenses. The bill to reverse Spitzer's order drew some of the most heated and personal attacks seen in ye

Legislation to give illegal immigrants reduced college tuition and U.S. citizenship will be slipped into a Health and Human Services bill to avoid the strong bipartisan challenge that has prevented it from becoming law for years. Since 2001 immigration ad

OKLAHOMA CITY -- An immigration reform bill that evoked strong emotions on both sides passed the Senate Monday on a 41-6 vote. "This is a good day for Oklahoma, and a good day for America," said Carol Helm, director of the anti-immigration group called IR

A House-passed plan to threaten local police agencies with losing federal money if they don't assist in cracking down on illegal immigration was defeated Tuesday in the Senate with a 52-42 vote.

The New York State Senate begins hearings this morning on Governor Eliot Spitzer's controversial plan to provide drivers licenses to illegal aliens at a time when a small change in the way they are issued has already been put in place without fanfare.

One of the leaders in the state Senate wants the U.S. Congress to call a convention to amend the U.S. Constitution so states could deny benefits and expel people who are in this country illegally. "It's a chance for us to hold Congress' feet to the fire a

Loophole 1 – Legal Status Before Enforcement: Amnesty benefits do not wait for the “enforcement trigger.” After filing an application and waiting 24 hours, illegal aliens will receive full “probationary benefits,” complete with the ability to le