The $85 billion in across-the-board federal cuts are set to kick off on Friday, but will fall into place gradually over several months. The Obama administration has pulled back on its earlier warnings of long lines developing quickly at airports and teacher layoffs affecting classrooms.
Lawmakers are engaged in a playground game of "who goes first," daring each political party to let the year end without resolving a Jan. 1 confluence of higher taxes and deep spending cuts that could rattle a recovering, but-still-fragile economy.
Colleagues and friends say Lugar’s commitment to foreign policy, which earned him a Nobel Peace Prize nomination, and his belief in bipartisanship, which contributed to his thrashing by Tea Party favorite Richard Mourdock in the May primary, will be sorely missed when he leaves the Senate in January after 36 years.
Joe Donnelly did everything he could to wrap himself in the image of U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar while painting Richard Mourdock as a tea party extremist.
Democrat Joe Donnelly defeated Richard Mourdock for an open U.S. Senate seat in Indiana, one of Republicans’ must-win races in their effort to gain control of the chamber.
Indiana voters stood in line for up to three hours in some cases Tuesday to cast their ballots in a series of races for the White House on down that Republicans hoped to dominate.
Tea party advocates in Indiana who aced their first test by ousting U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar in May likely face a much tougher final exam Tuesday as they work to push Republican Richard Mourdock to victory.
The Howey/DePauw University Battleground poll released Friday shows Republican Richard Mourdock trailing Democrat Joe Donnelly by 11 points.
The U.S. Senate candidate smiled and laughed while working the room at a private reception for Indiana Republicans.
Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock ignited a firestorm with a response to a question about rape late in Tuesday night's debate with Democratic challenger Rep. Joe Donnelly.
The Republican and Democratic candidates stuck mostly to their talking points in their first debate last week and scored no knockout punches.
Republican senators have flocked to Indiana in the past month as it became clear the state's once-safe Republican seat could be snatched up by Democrat Joe Donnelly.
Since Richard Mourdock unseated Richard Lugar in May's Republican primary, Mourdock and Democratic Senate candidate Joe Donnelly have battled to win over Lugar supporters.
Spending in Indiana's tight U.S. Senate race topped $20 million this week, with new spending from the conservative Club for Growth, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's super PAC, and national Democrats and Republicans.
A club spokesman said the TV ad will show the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate is "just another liberal" who supported Washington spending.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Pence reported raising $2.9 million to Democrat John Gregg's $1 million, and Senate candidate Richard Mourdock raised $3 million to Democrat Joe Donnelly's $1.5 million. The amounts account for money raised in July, August and September.
Republican Richard Mourdock and Democrat Joe Donnelly faced off Monday for the first time in a debate that saw them repeating many of the hard-edged charges that have marked their contentious campaign to be Indiana's next U.S. senator, but they landed few blows.
Indiana's Senate battle is one of about a half-dozen tight races across the county that will decide whether Democrats or Republicans control the Senate.
The Indiana Senate battle has quickly become the most expensive the state has seen. Spending by the campaigns has topped about $10 million, and outside groups also are pouring in cash.
Indiana has quickly become a major battleground in the race for control of the U.S. Senate, with national Republicans and Democrats forking over more cash this week to tea party favorite Richard Mourdock and Democrat Joe Donnelly.
