WASHINGTON (Reuters) – With a deadline approaching for a massive U.S. spending bill for roads, bridges and rail projects, Senate and House negotiators have not yet addressed the 1,700-mile-long elephant in the room – whether to fast-track the Keystone oil pipeline as part of the plan.

After four weeks of discussions, Senate negotiators delivered a proposal to their House counterparts on Tuesday on core transportation issues, still hoping to meet a June 30 deadline to forge a new transportation bill.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Frustrated by the gridlock that has stalled Congress leading into the 2012 presidential elections in November, the top Republican on the Senate Energy Committee is drafting what she hopes is a fresh look at the big-picture energy policy.

Details are still under wraps, but Senator Lisa Murkowski plans to unveil this summer a long-term vision with affordable energy at its core, a plan she has been working on with her staff for the past eight months.

WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said
on Thursday he will nominate Allison Macfarlane, an expert in
nuclear waste, to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and
plans to name her as the panel’s chairman once she is confirmed
by the Senate.

Macfarlane would replace Gregory Jaczko, who announced his
resignation on Monday after a contentious term as the top
nuclear safety official marked by accusations from his four
fellow commissioners that his bad temper had created a hostile
work environment.

WASHINGTON, May 23 (Reuters) – Lawmakers on a U.S.
Senate-House committee are making progress on finalizing a
transportation spending bill, Senator Barbara Boxer said on
Wednesday, although a provision that would fast-track the
Keystone XL crude pipeline is still unresolved.

The committee’s starting point is a two-year, $106 billion
bill to fund road, bridge and rail projects passed by the Senate
in March.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate unanimously approved on Monday a package of new economic sanctions on Iran’s oil sector just days ahead of a meeting in Baghdad between major world powers and Tehran.

The sanctions add to a raft of punitive measures by the United States and the European Union aimed at shrinking Iran’s oil revenues to force it to halt a nuclear program the West suspects is being used to build an atomic bomb.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate gave unanimous approval on Monday to a package of new economic sanctions on Iran’s oil sector just days ahead of a meeting in Baghdad between major world powers and Tehran.

The West suspects Iran is working to build a nuclear bomb and the sanctions are meant to strip Tehran of revenue by shutting down financial deals with Iran’s powerful state oil and tanker enterprises. Iran has said its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Gregory Jaczko, chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said on Monday he would resign, following a year of intense criticism over his abrasive management tactics.

Jaczko, 41, was a polarizing figure who oversaw the nuclear safety agency as it crafted expensive new rules in the wake of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex.

WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) – Gregory Jaczko, chairman of
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said o n Monday he would
resign, after a year of intense criticism of his abrasive
management tactics.

“After an incredibly productive three years as chairman, I
have decided this is the appropriate time to continue my efforts
to ensure public safety in a different forum,” Jaczko said in a
statement.

WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) – U.S. Senate Republicans
blocked new economic sanctions on Iran’s oil sector on Thursday,
saying they needed more time to study revisions, a surprise move
that drew anger from Senate Democrats who had expected unanimous
approval ahead of Iran talks on May 23.

“I feel I’ve been jerked around,” Democratic Leader Harry
Reid said on the Senate floor after the Republican objection.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Senate is set to vote on a tough new round of economic sanctions on Iran’s oil sector on Thursday, including measures meant to shut down any financial deals with the country’s powerful state oil and tanker enterprises.

The proposed penalties would increase pressure on Tehran to abandon its nuclear program ahead of key talks next week, building on penalties signed into law by President Barack Obama in December that threatened sanctions against any foreign institutions that trades with Iran’s central bank.