The House today turned away all four Democratic amendments to a bill aimed at overriding a National Labor Relations Board rule that would allow for faster union elections.

McCain apologized for joking Long Island is "regrettably" a part of U.S. after a colleague objected to the remark

The House on Wednesday afternoon engaged in a partisan debate over legislation that would overturn a proposed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rule allowing for faster union elections at companies — a sign, if any were needed, that the bill will pass by a party-line vote.

A vote was expected later on Wednesday, just hours after the NLRB approved a modified rule that does not include the controversial language allowing for elections as quickly as 10 days after a union petition is filed. Nonetheless, Republicans warned that the NLRB has plans to approve the full rule to help unions over companies.

The Senate on Wednesday passed an amendment to the 2012 Defense spending bill that would order the Pentagon to find ways to gradually diminish payments it makes as reimbursement to Pakistan for its role in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. 

House Republicans and Democrats on Wednesday honored Gabe Zimmerman, the staffer for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) who was killed along with five others in an Arizona shooting that nearly took Giffords's life.

Members gathered to consider H.Res. 364, which would rename room HVC 215 of Capitol Visitors Center as the Gabriel Zimmerman Meeting Room. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), a close friend of Giffords, said a vote on the resolution is expected Thursday.

The Senate on Wednesday cleared an amendment that would prevent military chaplains from being forced to perform a LGBT marriage ceremonies if the chaplain objects for reasons of conscience. 

The measure would name a room in the Capitol Visitor Center after Gabe Zimmerman.

The Senate voted on Wednesday morning to move forward with a bill to authorize funding for the Department of Defense in a 88-1 vote.

The spending bill, S. 1867, has been pending on the Senate floor for about a week and half as floor managers Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) have attempted to corral more than 100 amendments, both germane and otherwise, that senators have attempted to tack on to the bill. 

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) has proposed legislation that would establish a right for all airline passengers to have one free checked bag and one free carry-on, an attempt to scale back the baggage fees that many airlines have started to charge passengers.

"Many airlines consider checking a bag not to be a right, but a privilege — and one with a hefty fee attached," Landrieu said. "The Airline Passenger BASICS Act will guarantee passengers one checked bag without the financial burden of paying a fee or the headache of trying to fit everything into a carry-on."