JON TESTER

Senate Democrats returned to Washington to wield their newly expanded majority this week, but the specter of potential retirements in their ranks is already raising anxiety.

The Senate has passed landmark bipartisan legislation to protect same-sex marriages.

Democrats celebrating a successful effort to keep control of the U.S. Senate this year will soon confront a 2024 campaign that could prove more challenging.

Republican Matt Rosendale won re-election in the Montana U.S. House race against two challengers. He focused his campaign on high energy costs, economic anxiety and crime.

Most Montana voters are on a permanent absentee status, meaning they will always vote by absentee ballot, but problems with USPS worry Montanans.

Despite the improving data, the 6,146 veterans’ suicides in 2020 equaled a daily average of almost 17, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

A record pay increase could be coming for veterans in 2023.

The funding package, which Congress is set to consider this week, will also provide disaster assistance.

President Joe Biden has signed veterans health care legislation that ends a long battle to expand benefits for troops who served near toxic “burn pits.”.

President Joe Biden is set to sign into law a bill that aims to help military veterans exposed to toxic burn pits.

Over five decades in Washington, Joe Biden knew that the way to influence was to be in the room where it happens.

The Senate unexpectedly failed to advance legislation expanding benefits for an estimated 3.5 million veterans exposed to burn pits during U.S. wars overseas.

If passed and signed into law, the reconciliation bill would be the largest climate investment ever taken by Congress.

Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked a bill to help veterans exposed to toxic burn pits weeks after the measure initially sailed through the Senate with 84 votes, angering Democrats, veterans groups and comedian Jon Stewart, a leading proponent to aid the community.

Investors are buying up mobile home parks across the country, leading to significant rent increases and complaints of neglect from residents.

Residents in Bozeman, Montana, spoke with Newsy about what they call massive delays in their mail service.

Veterans Affairs faces a major expansion of benefits and big modernization issues as top positions remain long vacant. One nomination seems doomed.

Montana's governor was not in Montana — or in the U.S. at all — when punishing floods hit Yellowstone National Park and communities on its fringes this week.

The Senate has approved a sweeping expansion of health care and disability benefits for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan in response to concerns about their exposure to toxic burn pits.

President Biden mentioned the bill in his Memorial Day remarks, saying we have a duty to do right by service members who died of toxic exposure.

President Biden mentioned the bill in his Memorial Day remarks, saying we have a duty to do right by service members who died of toxic exposure.

When Republican Ryan Zinke first ran for Congress, the former Navy SEAL faced false accusations his military career had ended in disgrace.

Congressional bargainers have announced a deal on legislation to boost health care services and disability benefits for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan.

For the vast majority of Republican senators, voting against abortion rights on Wednesday served as a political win in states that have skewed so conservative that their only fear is of losing a GOP primary.

U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland wants to do more than just put a bandage on a crisis that she says has been decades in the making.

Industry executives defended themselves against accusations of anti-competitive behavior.

multiple Republicans said Tuesday that they would seek a vote on border restrictions as a condition of the covid-19 package.

The bipartisan bill unveiled Tuesday would direct the VA to include more screening measures for symptoms associated with burn pit exposures.

Thursday saw a closed-door huddle by an embattled President Joe Biden with his own party’s senators, apparently for naught.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly has signaled her efforts to appeal to moderate Republican and GOP-leaning independent voters whose support is necessary for her to win a tough reelection race in Kansas next year.

Republicans said they are supportive of the vaccine, but that the mandate amounts to government overreach.

The Senate has narrowly approved a resolution to nullify the Biden administration’s requirement that businesses with 100 or more workers have their employees be vaccinated against the coronavirus or submit to weekly testing.

President Joe Biden says Saule Omarova’s nomination to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency will be withdrawn.

A nomination hearing for President Joe Biden's pick to be comptroller of the currency, Saule Omarova, turned fiery on Thursday.

President Joe Biden’s choice to become one of the top banking regulators endured a contentious nomination hearing Thursday, with Republican senators warning she would nationalize the U.S. banking system and Democrats saying she’s eminently qualified and would be tough overseer of Wall Street.

President Joe Biden nominated Saule Omarova to be the nation’s next comptroller of the currency in September.

USPS policy says if a box receives fewer than 25 pieces of mail each day, it should be reviewed for removal or relocation.

The U.S. is facing its worst affordable housing crisis in generations. The heart of the problem is we just doesn't have enough homes. There's too much demand and not enough supply.

Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) squabbled behind closed doors Wednesday, with Manchin using a raised-fist goose egg to tell his colleague he can live without any of President Biden's social spending plan, Axios has learned.Why it matters: The disagreement, recounted to Axios by two senators in the room, underscores how far apart two key members remain as the Democratic Party tries to meet its deadline for reaching an agreement on a budget reconciliation framework by Friday

Senate Democrats are fractured over whether to support Saule Omarova, Biden's indicated choice to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

A bitterly divided Senate has approved President Joe Biden’s choice to oversee vast government-owned lands in the West, despite Republican objections that she is an "eco-terrorist.'.

Lawmakers would need to pass a short-term funding bill to stop the government from shutting down Thursday at midnight.

Lawmakers would need to pass a short-term funding bill to stop the government from shutting down Thursday at midnight.

Resistance to the potential renomination of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell intensified this week, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren becoming the first senator to publicly oppose Powell and many progressive groups pushing for some alternative leader at the Fed.

The time has come for President Joe Biden to close the deal if he has any hope of delivering on his domestic policy ambitions.

President Joe Biden set out to build back more than roads and bridges in his big infrastructure bill.

A freshman senator has ground the Senate to a crawl in order to slow the passage of a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure package.

Senators are struggling to wrap up work on the bipartisan infrastructure plan.

The senators who spent months stitching together a nearly $1 trillion infrastructure package are now trying to sell it to the American people.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell had vowed to be “100% focused” on stopping President Joe Biden’s agenda.

However, some Senate Democrats don't support the overall cost of the legislation, and say they want changes.

The deal will drop a proposed public-private partnership to fund new projects and reduce the amount of funding for public transit.

Senators aim to finalize a bipartisan infrastructure proposal, and could vote to advance it as soon as this week.

Senate Republicans have rejected an effort to begin debate on a bipartisan infrastructure deal that senators brokered with President Joe Biden.

The bipartisan infrastructure deal senators brokered with President Joe Biden is hanging precariously ahead of a crucial Wednesday test vote as they struggle over how to pay for nearly $1 trillion in public works spending. Tensions were rising as Republicans prepared to mount a filibuster over what they see as a rushed and misguided process. With Biden preparing to hit the road to rally support for his big infrastructure ideas — including some $3.5 trillion in a follow-up bill — restless Democrats say it's time to at least start debate on this first phase of his proposals.

The Senate will vote Wednesday on whether to debate a bipartisan infrastructure package, a key test for President Joe Biden's agenda.

The bipartisan infrastructure deal senators brokered with President Joe Biden is hanging by a thread.

Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders have forged an unlikely yet understandable partnership.

Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders have forged an unlikely yet understandable partnership.

The Senate may vote to advance a vehicle for the bill next week, even if the legislative text is not finalized.

GOP senators say bipartisan infrastructure deal is back on track after Biden's clarification. Manchin backs 2nd bill.

A bipartisan deal to invest nearly $1 trillion in the nation’s infrastructure appears to be back on track after a stark walk-back by President Joe Biden to his earlier insistence that the bill be coupled with an even larger Democrat-backed measure in order to earn his signature.

The following is a transcript of an interview with Senator Jon Tester that aired Sunday, June 27, 2021, on "Face the Nation."

White House Senior Adviser Cedric Richmond, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, and more appear on Sunday's "Face the Nation"

President Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of senators have reached an agreement to significantly boost infrastructure spending, though considerable hurdles remain before the blueprint unveiled Thursday becomes reality.

Will Joe Manchin’s search for common ground wreck the Democrats’ agenda?

Congressional Democrats are eyeing a $6 trillion infrastructure package that goes far beyond roads and bridges.

Both Republican and Democratic senators are pressing Interior Secretary Deb Haaland for answers after a federal court blocked the Biden administration’s suspension of new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters.

A bipartisan senators’ group working on a $1 trillion infrastructure compromise has now doubled in size, expanding to 21 members.

The Southern Baptist Convention is electing a new president on Tuesday amid a push to wrest control of the denomination by ultraconservatives who say some current leaders are too liberal on issues that include race and the role of women in ministry.

President Joe Biden’s nominee to oversee federal lands in the U.S. West is facing Republican pressure to withdraw over her ties to environmental activists convicted of spiking trees to sabotage a national forest timber sale more than 30 years ago.

A bipartisan group of senators is eyeing an infrastructure deal with $579 billion in new spending as part of a $1 trillion total package.

Republican senators emerged from a series of closed-door, bipartisan talks Thursday boasting of reaching a "tentative" deal on infrastructure, yet their Democratic counterparts wouldn't go that far. Why it matters: Members of the s0-called G20 group of 20 senators appear to be the last, best hope for a bipartisan agreement, but the split in where the talks stand highlights the ongoing gulf between the parties on roads, bridges and more.Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insight

President Joe Biden’s nominee to oversee vast expanses of public land in the U.S. West is being criticized by Republicans because of her involvement in partisan politics as a longtime Democratic aide and environmentalist.

President Joe Biden's nominee to oversee vast expanses of U.S. public lands was criticized Tuesday by Republicans over her past involvement in partisan politics as a longtime Democratic aide and environmentalist, underscoring the importance lawmakers assign to a relatively small agency with broad influence over energy development and agriculture in western states. Senate confirmation of Tracy Stone-Manning to direct the U.S. Bureau of Land Management would mark a stark change from the government's catering to oil and gas interests under former President Donald Trump. It would take every Senate Republican plus at least one Democratic lawmaker to block her nomination.

The pictures always make it look so presidential.

President Joe Biden has nominated Tracy Stone-Manning of Missoula, Montana, to direct the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management.

The White House is naming a former Obama administration official to be deputy secretary at the Interior Department after dropping plans for a more liberal nominee who faced key Senate opposition.

President Joe Biden has restored the prisoner-of-war/missing-in-action flag to its former location atop the White House.

Committee Ranking Member Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WVa., speaks during a hearing to examine the nomination of former Gov. – Attorneys general from 21 states on Wednesday sued to to overturn President Joe Biden’s cancellation of the contentious Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada. Led by Ken Paxton of Texas and Austin Knudsen of Montana, the states said Biden had overstepped his authority when he revoked the permit for the Keystone pipeline on his first day in office. Construction on the 1,200-mile (1,930-kilometer) pipeline began last year when former President Donald Trump revived the long-delayed project after it had stalled under the Obama administration. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana.

“He said we need to pass this bill and pass it soon. The Senate bill was expected to largely mirror the House-approved package, with the most glaring divergence the Senate's dropping of language boosting the federal minimum wage to $15 hourly. Schumer said Senate debate would commence as soon as Wednesday and predicted, “We'll have the votes we need to pass the bill." Progressives, though, were still smarting over the virtual certainty that the Senate bill will lack the minimum wage boost, up from $7.25 hourly locked in since 2009. The funding was removed after some Republican lawmakers had criticized it as an example of a wasteful spending item that should not be part of the COVID relief bill.

He can send the White House into a tailspin with a single five-minute interview or three-sentence statement. With a 50-50 split in the Senate leaving little room for error on tough votes, other moderate Democrats like Sens. He received a call from the White House shortly after his complaint to try to smooth things over. AdThe White House shares those political concerns. Their significance to the final vote on the COVID-19 bill means some moderates are already getting extra attention from the White House.

Interior Department officials on Thursday canceled a Trump administration directive that gave local and state officials power to block purchases of land and water for conservation under a longstanding federal program. Trump administration officials had said the order would have allowed the government to fulfill goals that were set when conservation areas were created, by filling in missing pieces of them. Jon Tester of Montana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia and others for undermining the conservation program. They accused the Trump administration of using Bernhardt’s order to circumvent the intent of Congress and squandering the bipartisan goodwill created by passing last year's law. Daines welcomed the move to revoke the order and said in a Thursday statement that the program was a critical tool for conservation.

FILE - In this July 30, 2014, photo is Margerie Glacier, one of many glaciers that make up Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park. U.S. officials on Friday, Nov. 20, 2020, released details on proposed land conservation purchases for the coming year amid bipartisan objection to restrictions on how the government's money can be spent. – Proposed land conservation purchases in dozens of states would preserve parts of natural areas in tourist destinations, U.S. officials announced Friday as lawmakers from both parties pushed back on Trump administration restrictions on how the money can be spent. Bernhardt's order also limits land acquisitions to property inside the existing boundaries of parks and refuges, rather than expanding their footprint. Udall called it a “last-gasp attempt" by the President Donald Trump's administration to hinder land preservation efforts.

Yet as states increasingly sort themselves along hardening partisan lines, it's complicating Democrats' drive to win the majority and keep it. Thanks to this month's elections, Democrats will own all four Senate seats from purple Arizona and increasingly blue Colorado next year. In addition, three current Senate Democrats are from states that President Donald Trump carried easily this month despite losing to Democrat Joe Biden. “The problem is a Democratic Senate majority runs through red states, and that is an inherent structural difficulty." In the 2022 elections, Democrats will defend Senate 13 seats — all from states Biden won.

They worked in tandem to attain huge riches in the corporate world before leveraging that success into a political juggernaut that has reshaped the state’s Republican Party. It's a shift Montana Democrats argue is out of step with the state’s independent-minded electorate. Gianforte, one of the wealthiest members of the U.S. House, has been boosted in his run for Montana governor by Daines’ clout. Democrats as recently as 2014 held both Montana U.S. Senate seats, the governor’s mansion and a bevy of other statewide offices. Daines and Gianforte “fit the party like a glove right now,” University of Montana political analyst Rob Saldin said.

That's not how it works," Sen. Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat, said of the May order in an interview. Prior to joining the Trump administration, he had called for the government to sell its public lands. Interior Department spokesperson Conner Swanson confirmed that the arrangement outlined in Pendley's order means he will continue to lead the bureau. After joining the government, he declared that his past support for selling public lands was irrelevant because his boss, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, opposes the wholesale sale of public lands. Under Trump, the land bureau has sought to scale back some protections for public lands, including proposals to ease restrictions on oil and gas exploration, mining and grazing.

Still, it acknowledged that VA Secretary Robert Wilkie had wrongly asserted publicly without evidence that the drug had been shown to benefit younger veterans. In the first week of May, 17 patients had received the drug for COVID-19, according to VA data obtained by the AP. VA has not endorsed nor discouraged the use of hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 patients and has left those decisions to providers and their patients, the VA said. The Food and Drug Administration has warned against the drug combination and said hydroxychloroquine should only be used for the coronavirus in formal studies. The analysis of VA hospital data, done by independent researchers at two universities with VA approval, was not a rigorous experiment.