WASHINGTON, April 23 (Reuters) – Max Baucus, the powerful
Democratic chairman of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, said
on Tuesday he will not seek re-election next year, improving
Republican chances of capturing his seat and giving him a freer
hand to revamp the tax code.

First elected to the Senate in 1978, Baucus, 71, will become
the eighth senator – six Democrats and two Republicans – to
announce plans to retire at the end of next year.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Max Baucus, the powerful Democratic chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said on Tuesday he will not seek re-election next year, improving Republican chances of capturing his seat and giving him a freer hand to revamp the tax code.

First elected to the Senate in 1978, Baucus, 71, will become the eighth senator – six Democrats and two Republicans – to announce plans to retire at the end of next year.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The fate of one of President Barack Obama’s key gun-control proposals appeared on Monday night to be in the hands of two senators: one Democrat, the other Republican, both of them longtime opponents of restrictions on guns.

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania are seeking a compromise on expanding background checks for prospective gun buyers. The proposal appears to be Obama’s best hope for meaningful gun-control legislation in the wake of the December massacre of 20 children and six adults at a school in Connecticut, where the president spoke Monday evening to a crowd that included some victims’ families.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – With U.S. business and labor now in agreement, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators has resolved all major issues in a pending deal to overhaul the U.S. immigration system and aims to unveil it after Congress reconvenes in the second week of April, key lawmakers said on Sunday.

The lawmakers said that while there was no final deal yet, they hope and even expect there to be one soon after the measure is put into legislative language so all eight senators in the bipartisan group can review it.

WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) – With U.S. business and
labor now in agreement, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators has
resolved all major issues in a pending deal to overhaul the U.S.
immigration system and aims to unveil it after Congress
reconvenes in the second week of April, key lawmakers said on
Sunday.

The lawmakers said that while there was no final deal yet,
they hope and even expect there to be one soon after the measure
is put into legislative language so all eight senators in the
bipartisan group can review it.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Thursday that to be effective any gun-control bill that passes his chamber must include universal background checks, an embattled centerpiece of the White House’s bid to curb gun violence.

Reid voiced hope that an elusive bipartisan deal can soon be reached to require virtually all firearm purchasers to be screened for criminal records and possible mental health problems.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In a U.S. Congress riven by partisan conflict on deficits and guns, a circle of eight senators from both parties meeting several times a week might be on the cusp of a major legislative breakthrough.

The so-called Gang of Eight – four Democrats and four Republicans – is completing a plan for the biggest overhaul of immigration laws since 1986. The group is not only holding together after four months of intense discussions – an accomplishment in itself in Washington’s brutally partisan atmosphere – it is down to the last sticking points, according to the senators and aides.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In a U.S. Congress riven by partisan conflict on deficits and guns, a circle of eight senators from both parties meeting several times a week might be on the cusp of a major legislative breakthrough.

The so-called Gang of Eight – four Democrats and four Republicans – is completing a plan for the biggest overhaul of immigration laws since 1986. The group is not only holding together after four months of intense discussions – an accomplishment in itself in Washington’s brutally partisan atmosphere – it is down to the last sticking points, according to the senators and aides.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In a Congress riven by partisan conflict on deficits and guns, a circle of eight senators from both parties meeting several times a week might be on the cusp of a major legislative breakthrough.

The so-called Gang of Eight – four Democrats and four Republicans – is completing a plan for the biggest overhaul of immigration laws since 1986. The group is not only holding together after four months of intense discussions – an accomplishment in itself in Washington’s brutally partisan atmosphere – it is down to the last sticking points, according to the senators and aides.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Winning a crackdown on gun traffickers may be the best that President Barack Obama can get in his faltering efforts to have Congress pass gun control legislation.

Lawmakers are scaling back the White House’s ambitions for sweeping gun control measures after a planned ban on assault weapons was effectively ruled out in the Senate this week.