Senate

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told a local news station on Wednesday he is confident leadership in the two chambers will be able to broker a deal to renew the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits prior to the Jan. 1 deadline. 

Freshman Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said he thinks the Senate ought to return to Washington in order to heed House Republicans' call to pass legislation that would extend the payroll tax cut for a whole year and renew unemployment benefits. 

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) indicated in an interview Tuesday on Iowa Radio that he believes the Senate might have to head back to Washington this month to resolve the payroll-tax-cut issue.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) on Tuesday released an oversight report, “Wastebook 2011” in which he claims to unveil more than $6.5 billion in examples of the "most egregious ways your taxpayer dollars were wasted."

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Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) channeled Charles Dickens’s holiday classic A Christmas Carol on Monday to describe the dangers of the nation's deficit problem. 

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is worried that Christmas shoppers who opt to use gift cards this year could become the victims of scammers who steal funds from cards via the internet, the New York Daily News reported on Sunday.

Swastikas were painted on the back door and wall of Sen. Pat Roberts’s (R-Kan.) Wichita office at some point over the weekend, The Wichita Eagle reported Monday.

Reid noted that the upper chamber’s two-month extension was supported by 89 senators from both parties.

Sen. McCain said Congress's handling of the federal spending package meant "no incumbent is safe" in the next elections.

Sen. Mitch McConnell did not want President Obama to circumvent Congress during a recess.