The Latest Breaking News from Susan Collins

WASHINGTON — In the next Congress, Susan Collins of Maine is expected to be the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee’s powerful Defense panel, sources say.

Maine senator Susan Collins is poised to become the Republican on the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee.

WASHINGTON — The House quickly took up and passed its response to a Senate proposal on how to overhaul a 135-year-old law governing the counting of presidential electoral votes, sending the hot-button issue back to the other side of the Capitol.

The bill would amend the Electoral Count Act, which legal experts have called vague and confusing. The legislation is similar to a somewhat narrower bill from a bipartisan group of senators.

Lawmakers in both chambers are hoping to update the Electoral Count Act of 1887, but can’t agree on how — and time is slipping away.

House Democrats are voting this week on changes to a 19th century law for certifying presidential elections

Democrats are punting a vote to protect same-sex and interracial marriages until after the November midterm elections, a blow for the legislation that comes days after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed to put the Senate on the record on the issue “in the coming weeks.”

Senate Democrats punted a vote on a bill to bolster same-sex marriage rights until after the midterm elections Thursday.

A looming Senate vote on legislation supporting same-sex marriage has created a political bind for Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson, the most at-risk GOP senator in the November election.