HOWARD BAKER

The White House chief of staff is at the fulcrum of the federal government as gatekeeper to the most powerful leader on Earth.

A congressional committee’s hearings on the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection are coming up, and the public has been told to expect revelations.

On the eve of the President’s first anniversary in office, members of the chamber he served for so long voted for paralysis over action.

The fatal police shooting of a Black teen in Chicago seven years ago is looming large over former Mayor Rahm Emanuel as he hopes to win Senate confirmation as ambassador to Japan.

Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says he did nothing improper but still fell short in his handling of the fatal police shooting of a Black teenage seven years ago in the city.

Alexander left the GOP's leadership track during the Obama years to focus on his committee work. As chairman of the HELP panel, Alexander shepherded a 2015 rewrite of elementary and high school education that swept through the Senate with near-universal support. “Lamar listened to me when I told him we should write a bill together, rather than amending the Republican bill he had begun working on,” Murray said. Alexander offered a defense of the chamber's traditions, especially the filibuster that forces consensus — or, increasingly, gridlock — upon the Senate. Alexander will be replaced by Nashville businessman Bill Hagerty, a Republican backed by President Donald Trump.

Howard Baker dies at 88 years old Former U.S. Senator Howard Baker died Thursday at the age of 88. Baker served as Senate majority leader and later as chief of staff to President Ronald Reagan. Anthony Mason reports.