Tom Harkin

WASHINGTON – In an unusual break in the partisan warring over healthcare, the Senate on Wednesday confirmed President Obama's choice to oversee the mammoth Medicare and Medicaid health programs. Marilyn Tavenner, a former hospital executive and...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed Marilyn Tavenner, a former nurse and hospital company executive, as the first full-fledged administrator for the Medicare and Medicaid healthcare programs since 2006. In a rare show of...

The fight over the federal minimum wage is coming to Baltimore. The head of the U.S. Department of Labor plans to swing into town Tuesday to talk to low-wage workers about how they make — or don't make — ends meet. Seth D. Harris, the agency'...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) and Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) introduced legislation that would modify crop insurance premium assistance for insured crops grown on native sod converted to cropland and land that a producer cannot...

WASHINGTON -- A vote on President Obama’s nominee to lead the Labor Department was delayed for an additional week, the latest roadblock for the controversial choice. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions was scheduled to...

WASHINGTON -- A Senate committee vote on Labor Secretary nominee Tom Perez was postponed hours before it was set to take place Wednesday, highlighting what appears to be a growing partisan fight over the confirmation of the former Maryland official. ...

WASHINGTON -- In a surprise move that deals a serious blow to Democratic chances of holding the Senate, veteran Montana Sen. Max Baucus has decided not to seek reelection next year, Democratic officials said Tuesday. Baucus chairs the Senate Finance...

Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, the chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee who steered President Barack Obama's health care overhaul into law but recently broke with his party on gun control legislation, has decided to retire, Democratic...

WASHINGTON — President Obama's pick for Labor secretary, Thomas E. Perez, emerged unscathed Thursday from a Senate confirmation hearing that was more perfunctory than contentious. Conservatives have been critical of Perez, the administration's top...

* Reid promises to return to gun bill, offers no time line * Republican accuses Obama of taking "the low road" * Some Democrats not ready to give up on proposals By John Whitesides and David Lawder WASHINGTON, April 18 (Reuters) - One day after...

Thomas E. Perez, the former Maryland labor secretary nominated to lead the U.S. Department of Labor, faced pointed questions at his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday about whether politics influenced his decisions as the top civil rights attorney in...

WASHINGTON — Democrats' efforts to maintain a majority in the U.S. Senate after next year's midterm election were thrown into further doubt Tuesday when Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota became the fifth senior member of the party to announce his...