Congressional reporter George Cahlink has nearly two decades of experience covering Capitol Hill and federal agencies. Most recently, he spent 10 years at CQ Roll Call in several editing and writing positions. He also covered the Defense Department as a staff writer for Government Executive magazine, a job that included stints as an embedded reporter in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan and Kosovo. He got his start in journalism at the Eagle Times and Argus Champion newspapers in New Hampshire. He has won national and regional reporting awards for his work and is a graduate of Saint Joseph's University.
The Senate may head for the campaign trail as soon as this week after passing legislation to avert a government shutdown and not return until mid-October for hearings on President Trump's Supreme Court pick.
A pair of Senate Republican chairmen blasted Hunter Biden, the son of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, for alleged conflicts of interest over his lucrative work on the board of Ukrainian energy giant Burisma Holdings Ltd. during the Obama administration but ultimately could not provide any connections to its impact on U.S. policy.
A permanent ban on making farm payments to petroleum companies was attached to bipartisan, stopgap spending legislation the House passed last night to avert a government shutdown.
Senate Republicans have the votes to move ahead with the nomination of a Supreme Court justice to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, after Utah Republican Mitt Romney said this morning he won't try to block the nominee amid the presidential election.
A government shutdown next week remains a possibility as stopgap funding expected to pass the House later today faces opposition from Senate Republicans.