AP - In a stunning vote that illustrated President Bush's diminished standing, the Senate on Thursday ignored his veto threat and added tens of billions of dollars for veterans and the unemployed to his Iraq war spending bill.

AFP - Republicans in the US Senate on Thursday rebuked President George W. Bush and joined majority Democrats to pass a bill offering a fully-paid college education for Iraq and Afghan war veterans.

AP - Senate Republicans have broken with President Bush to help Democrats add support for veterans and the unemployed to a bill paying for another year of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

AFP - Republicans in the US Senate on Thursday rebuked President George W. Bush and joined majority Democrats to pass a bill offering education benefits to Iraq and Afghan war veterans.

Reuters - The Senate Banking Committee is scheduled on Thursday to question President George W. Bush's nominee to run the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

AFP - Veteran US Senator Edward Kennedy left hospital Wednesday giving a thumbs up to waiting supporters a day after doctors announced he had a malignant brain tumor.

AP - President Bush's GOP allies in the Senate face election-season votes Thursday on both his long-pending war funding request and tens of billions of dollars backed by Democrats for veterans education and an assortment of domestic programs.

AP - Edward M. Kennedy, Robert Byrd, Arlen Specter — fighters and history-makers all. Their battles with age and illness are the hallmarks of the nation's oldest-ever Senate and reminders of the fragility of power.

AP - On the Senate campaign trail, Al Franken frequently invokes the name of his friend, the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, as a major inspiration.

AP - The revolving door between former members of Congress and lucrative lobbying firms usually leads one way. But Jim Slattery is trying to make a U-turn.