In the News

By: John Nichols; The Nation Bernie Sanders does not want to be mistaken for an optimist. “I’m a glass-half-empty kind of guy,” he grumbles, as he works his way through the stacks of budget documents that are strewn across the desk in his spartan office on the third floor of a 123-year-old red-brick building on the north end of downtown

By: Mike DeBonis; The Washington Post He may have made a boldface impression on recent American politics, but after 30 years in Congress, Sen. Bernie Sanders has struggled with the criticism that his legislative impact has been written in fine print — an amendment here, a symbolic vote there and many, many speeches. But not, perhaps, for long: Sanders, just

By: Grace Benninghoff; VT Digger Wednesday’s Senate passage of a $3.5 trillion spending plan is seen by congressional experts as further evidence of Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders’ shift from “rebel with a cause” outsider to leading Democratic deal-maker. “If 10 years ago somebody would have said to you that Bernie Sanders was a team player, you would have been

By: Susan Page; USA Today Bernie Sanders stands at the fringe no more. The quirky independent from Vermont, once seen as more likely to lead a protest than pass a law, was at center stage early Wednesday when the Senate approved a historic $3.5 trillion budget blueprint. If congressional Democrats can hold together – and that is no small “if” – Sanders will have been one

By: Riley Robinson; VT Digger Fossil fuel companies should pay damages for the emissions they caused, 13 Vermont advocacy groups said in an open letter to the state’s congressional delegation. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has made a similar argument before, and he’s now set to cosponsor draft legislation by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., to establish the Polluters Pay Climate

By: Karoun Demirjian; The Washington Post A bipartisan group of senators unveiled legislation Tuesday to give Congress a more active role in approving arms sales, authorizing the use of military force and declaring national emergencies, in an across-the-board effort to claw back national security power from the executive branch. The bill aims, for the first time, to define what type