Hoyer

WASHINGTON — House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said this morning that Democrats are closing in on the votes needed for the U.S. House to pass a bill with historic changes in health insurance.

But lacking 218 votes, Hoyer said Democrats were continuing to persuade members in his party nervous about…

Rep. Todd Akin greets Capitol protesters today.

WASHINGTON — Chanting “Kill the Bill, Kill the Bill,” thousands of people are rallying this afternoon at the U.S. Capitol, protesting Democrats’ health-care legislation and blaming Washington for a host of perceived ills from high…

Rep. Ike Skelton

UPDATED

WASHINGTON — Rep. Ike Skelton said today that he would apologize if Rep. Todd Akin felt offended by a crude remark Skelton made about him that was caught by a House floor microphone.

“During heated debate, unfortunate things are said.…

Rep. Emerson

WASHINGTON — The vast majority of the House cast party-line votes when members voted 240-179 a short time ago to rebuke Rep. Joe Wilson for the South Carolina Republican’s outburst during President Barack Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress last week.

Among the 7…

Rep. Ike Skelton

WASHINGTON — Perhaps no Missourian in Washington wields more clout than Rep. Ike Skelton, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

Skelton, of Lexington, is a distinctly moderate Democrat seldom mistaken for an environmentalist. In battles over the Missouri River that flows…

Ike Skelton

WASHINGTON — If the Obama administration hopes to extricate itself from its Guantanamo pickle, congressional Democrats will need to bring it strong on the president’s behalf.

Don’t count powerful Rep. Ike Skelton as a combatant for the administration on this episode.

The White House recently floated a…

WASHINGTON — According to sources, a key House panel tomorrow likely will deliver good news to Boeing and the St. Louis workforce when it advances legislation to purchase more F/A-18 Super Hornets for the Navy.

Congressional approval of military aircraft used to be a rather…

WASHINGTON — Here are a few more of the official details of Vice President Joe Biden’s Missouri visit Thursday and Friday, released by the White House late last night.

After landing at Whiteman Air Force Base Thursday morning,  Biden and Missouri Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Lexington, chairman of…

Ike Skelton

WASHINGTON — When Navy SEALs snipers killed three pirates and rescued an American ship captain in the Indian Ocean Sunday, it showed the value of training for any military situations, Missouri Rep. Ike Skelton says.

But Skelton, D-Lexington, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said today…

Sen. Bond

WASHINGTON — Maybe he’s giddy over Mizzou’s hoops success. Maybe the president has taken his advice.

Whatever the case, Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond, is in a distinctly charitable mood this afternoon, going so far as to heap praise on President Barack Obama for the president’s somber speech this…