CORRESPONDENTS

Halimah Abdullah

McConnell's debt-ceiling work mixes pragmatism, politics

As debt talks have taken on soap opera-like proportions, Mitch McConnell - a key negotiator who has longed to strike the type of historic negotiation that made fellow Kentuckian Henry Clay famous - has worked to strike a balance between brainstorming bipartisan solutions and careful 2012 political calculations. | 07/28/11 18:31:00 By - Halimah Abdullah

Sen. Paul will no longer block FBI director's term extension

Following a private, one-on-one meeting with FBI director Robert Mueller, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Thursday he will no longer block an extension of the agency director's term. | 07/21/11 18:14:00 By - Halimah Abdullah

Chambliss' long quest for debt pact starts to pay off

Sen. Saxby Chambliss always knew the Gang of Six was close to breaking major ground on a plan to help solve the nation's debt crisis, if only he could get his friend, Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn, back to the table. | 07/20/11 19:39:00 By - Halimah Abdullah

Lawmakers consider Gang of Six's budget-cutting ideas

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are hopeful that a plan unveiled Tuesday by the Gang of Six to trim $3.7 trillion in deficits will serve as the basis for compromise in the heated debates raging on Capitol Hill. | 07/19/11 18:13:00 By - Halimah Abdullah

Some lawmakers hopeful about Gang of Six proposal

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are hopeful that a plan unveiled Tuesday by the Gang of Six to trim $3.7 trillion in deficits will serve as the basis for compromise in the heated debates raging on Capitol Hill. | 07/19/11 13:03:34 By - Halimah Abdullah

Paul, McConnell question Obama strategy on alleged terrorists

Sen. Rand Paul pressed Homeland Security officials during a hearing Wednesday on how suspected terrorists have been able to slip through the nation's security net and get into the United States. | 07/13/11 18:59:00 By - Halimah Abdullah

McConnell pitches debt plan, gets slammed by tea party

Sen. Mitch McConnell's plan to increase the nation's debt in some ways seeks to offer Republicans political cover by shifting responsibility to President Barack Obama, but it puts the minority leader in the crosshairs of some Tea Party activists who accuse him of capitulating. | 07/12/11 18:46:00 By - Lesley Clark, Halimah Abdullah and David Lightman

Sens. McConnell, Paul forge a tentative relationship

It was the last few grueling weeks of Kentucky's tough U.S. Senate race and Republican candidate Rand Paul, a doctor from Bowling Green who'd been catapulted into the national spotlight by the tea party movement, prepared to emerge from the campaign bus with Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. | 07/10/11 00:01:00 By - Halimah Abdullah

Supreme Court rejects Arizona campaign finance law

The Supreme Court on Monday struck down an Arizona law that provides matching funds to candidates who opt to receive only public money and face well-heeled opponents. | 06/27/11 17:09:00 By - Halimah Abdullah

Tough but satisfying week for Isakson, Puzey family

It was a good week for Sen. Johnny Isakson and the family of murdered Peace Corps worker Kate Puzey. After two years of behind-the-scenes advocacy and crisscrossing the globe, Isakson, along with a bipartisan group of lawmakers from Texas and California, was finally able to introduce legislation this week aimed at protecting Peace Corps workers who report sexual and other assaults while working in the field | 06/24/11 15:00:00 By - Halimah Abdullah

Georgia senator's bill would protect Peace Corps workers

Georgia Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson, along with a bipartisan group of lawmakers from Texas and California, introduced legislation Thursday aimed at protecting Peace Corps workers who report sexual and other assaults while working in the field. For Isakson, the legislation is the culmination of two years of behind-the-scenes advocacy on behalf of murdered Peace Corps worker Kate Puzey. | 06/23/11 17:15:00 By - Halimah Abdullah

McConnell won't say where he stands on Libya mission

Republicans are divided over how to proceed on endorsing — or trying to curb — the U.S. mission in Libya, and on Wednesday Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell illustrated his party's political dilemma. | 06/22/11 16:37:00 By - David Lightman and Halimah Abdullah

Peace Corps volunteer's murder haunts Georgia's Isakson

Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson has doggedly pursued whistleblower protection legislation for Peace Corps workers, named for Kate Puzey, who was found murdered in a West African village more than two years ago. But Isakson, a quiet Republican lawmaker who shuns the spotlight, won't even allow himself to visit Kate's gravesite until the legislation passes and her killer is brought to justice. | 06/19/11 18:25:00 By - Halimah Abdullah

Holder, McConnell at odds over Kentucky terror suspects

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Thursday night strongly defended plans to keep two accused terrorists in the United States to stand trial in federal court. His position puts him at odds with Kentucky politicians and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who want the two Iraqi-born Bowling Green residents to be moved to a detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. | 06/17/11 07:10:30 By - Halimah Abdullah

McConnell says Kentucky could face attack if terror suspects are held here

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called on the Obama administration Tuesday to send two Iraqi nationals arrested recently in Bowling Green to the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. | 06/14/11 14:43:32 By - Halimah Abdullah

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