Most congressional observers agree that the level of discourse on Capitol Hill is coarser and more partisan than ever before. A new study suggests it’s also dumber. Congress collectively speaks at almost a full grade-level lower than it did seven years ago, with Republican lawmakers ranking as the smartest and least-smart-sounding talkers, according to a new study by the Sunlight Foundation sure to earn the ire of at least some congressional offices. Read full article > >

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Congressional discourse getting dumber, study says

On a broad bipartisan vote of 78 to 20, the Senate voted Tuesday to extend the life of the U.S. Export-Import Bank and expand its authority to make loans to U.S. exporters. In the “Schoolhouse Rock” version of how Capitol Hill works, this is what Congress does all the time — passes legislation. Read full article > >

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Export-Import Bank reauthorized by Senate

Liisa Ecola lay on the sofa in the living room of her Capitol Hill home counting the hours until she could see a specialist who, she fervently hoped, would tell her why she could no longer keep her eyes open. Read full article > >

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Medical Mysteries: ‘I opened my laptop and my eyes snapped shut’

The Keystone XL oil sands pipeline takes center stage on Capitol Hill –­ again — as congressional and campaign politics collide: Read full article > >

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Congress and the campaign game (Monday’s Trail Mix video)

The Keystone XL oil sands pipeline takes center stage on Capitol Hill –­ again — as congressional and campaign politics collide: Read full article > >

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Congress and the campaign game (Monday’s Trail Mix video)

An uncharacteristic Iranian group has had a resurgent presence on Capitol Hill leaving some experts and academics wondering how the group’s quest has made it this far.

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The MEK in the USA: Inside the Campaign to De-List the Terror Group

Packed sidewalks are part of weekend life on Capitol Hill’s 8th Street SE , a gentrifying half-mile of sleek pubs and high-end comfort food restaurants. But in recent months, the biggest sidewalk scene has been at 9 a.m. on Sundays, when hundreds of people pour into a retro movie theater with a huge white cross over the door. Read full article > >

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From a movie theater church, pastor Mark Batterson blends orthodoxy and innovation

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. testified Thursday for more than four hours on Capitol Hill in a showdown with House Republicans, who threatened to hold him in contempt if he does not quickly turn over more documents on a botched gun operation. Read full article > >

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Attorney general, Republicans spar over ‘Fast and Furious’ at congressional hearing

The Senate on Monday began its most substantial debate on congressional ethics in nearly five years, a proposal that would formally prohibit insider stock trading on Capitol Hill and bring the chamber’s financial disclosure laws up to date with technology. Read full article > >

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Senate begins debating insider-trading bill

The first Republican revolution had a short, sharp battle plan: the “ Contract with America .” Ten big ideas. Three pages of text. The second Republican revolution — the one now struggling for oxygen on Capitol Hill — did it differently. Its “ Pledge to America ” noodles on for 48 pages. It contains less ambitious ideas but has glossy photos of 42 GOP congressmen. Read full article > >

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Gingrich campaign brings up comparison of Republican revolutions

Republicans on Capitol Hill are increasingly worried about the potential of a Newt Gingrich presidential nomination, fearful that the former House speaker’s reputation for volatility could drive away independent voters and jeopardize GOP prospects for controlling Congress in 2013. Just a few months ago, Gingrich was an afterthought in the campaign. But his sudden rise over the past month has given pause to congressional Republicans who thought President Obama’s troubles with the economy could firm up their majority in the House and a new majority in the Senate. Read full article > >

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Some Republican lawmakers wary of Newt Gingrich presidential nomination

President Obama lashed out at Congress on Thursday for blocking his nomination to head a consumer financial watchdog agency, saying Americans are frustrated with legislators for holding up critical appointments to win concessions on other matters. Speaking shortly after the Senate rejected his appointment of former Ohio attorney General Richard Cordray as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Obama said his Capitol Hill adversaries were not acting “on the level” in their consideration of the public interest. And he complained that Republicans in Congress were systematically delaying his political appointments. Read full article > >

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Obama denounces Senate vote to block Cordray at consumer watchdog agency

A broad coalition of civic leaders, elected officials, and labor, environmental and social activists launched a campaign Wednesday aimed at convincing U.S. politicians that they should curb greenhouse gas emissions for moral and ethical reasons. The Climate Ethics Campaign — which kicked off with a Capitol Hill news conference headlining Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) — comes as negotiators are struggling to make progress at U.N. climate talks in Durban, South Africa. Read full article > >

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Groups frame climate as a moral cause

For six years, Rep. Louise M. Slaughter pressed her colleagues to co-sponsor legislation that would ban them from using information they gleaned on Capitol Hill to guide their trades in the stock market. Most lawmakers bristled, offended by the mere suggestion that they would ever engage in such behavior. Others politely listened but walked away — some as recently as last month. Slaughter (D-N.Y.) never expected to hear from them again. Read full article > >

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Bill to ban insider trading in Congress is suddenly popular

An unusual alliance of consumer advocates and industry groups won a victory this month when they helped persuade Congress to boost funding for the Food and Drug Administration, while most other programs paid for by a newly passed agriculture spending bill had their money slashed. That alliance engaged in an old-style shoe leather campaign to prevent spending cuts for the FDA as the agency prepares to carry out a landmark food safety bill that was adopted by the previous Congress. The effort included at least four dozen visits to congressional offices and grass-roots events in the districts of key lawmakers involved in spending decisions, as well as advertisements in Capitol Hill newspapers. Read full article > >

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FDA funding boosted through lobbying effort