Votes

After observing a moment of silence for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings, the Senate approved the nomination of Beverly Reid O'Connell to be a U.S. District Judge.

“I, like every member of the Senate, am shocked and saddened by the news of the bombs at the Boston Marathon,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said before asking for a moment of silence. “I commend the first responders and observers who rushed to those who were hurt.”

With little fanfare, the House quickly voted Friday to repeal a financial transparency requirement for senior government officials, which was part of a much-heralded government transparency bill last year.

Members passed S. 716 by unanimous consent, with no debate and no description on the floor about what the bill would do. The Senate passed it in the same fashion on Thursday.

Members narrowly passed the Republican bill, 219-209, with every Democrat and 10 Republicans voting against it.

The House is preparing to work on a cybersecurity bill next week that is similar to a version the Obama administration threatened to veto last year.

Republicans will call up H.R. 624, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), a bill sponsored by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.).

The Senate approved a motion to proceed to the gun control bill by voice-vote Thursday evening.

The Senate can now officially start considering amendments to the bill, S. 649, the Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act, which would expand background checks on gun purchases, crack down on straw purchasers of guns and beef up security in schools. The Senate is expected to work on the bill next week.

Republican senators decided to stop delaying the bill after earlier in the day the Senate cleared the first hurdle by approving cloture on the motion to proceed on a vote of 68-31. Sixteen Republicans supported moving forward with the bill.

The House on Thursday advanced a bill that would freeze the work of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a protest against President Obama's 2012 appointments to the NLRB that a court has said were unconstitutional.

Members voted 226-194 in favor of the rule for the bill, which sets up a debate and vote on the legislation on Friday.

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) switched his position and voted to invoke cloture on the motion to debate the gun control bill Thursday.

Burr was among 14 GOP senators that vowed to filibuster the bipartisan gun bill.

Jewell will head an agency at the center of intense political battles over energy throughout President Obama’s tenure.

A nearly unanimous House voted Wednesday to lift barriers to the development of hydropower around the country, something that the bill's supporters say would help develop cheap, clean energy and create jobs.

Members voted 416-7 in favor of the Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act, H.R. 678. A similar bill passed last year with bipartisan support — the only "no" votes this time around came from Democrats.

The House on Wednesday advanced legislation that would make it easier to develop hydropower around the country by using Bureau of Reclamation waterways.

Members voice-voted the rule for the legislation, which is H.R. 678, the Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act.