STEPHEN GROVES

Congressional reporter

Groves covers Congress for The Associated Press.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., rides an escalator at the Senate subway on Capitol Hill Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Democratic senators push bill focusing on local detainment of immigrants linked to violent crime

Republicans are dismissing an immigration-related bill pushed by Democratic senators and allied independents as an election year ploy.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., joined by fellow Republicans, speaks during a news conference ahead of the State of the Union at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, March 6, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House Republicans are seeking unity at an idyllic West Virginia retreat. Many didn’t bother to come

House Republicans are huddling in West Virginia for a strategy-planning retreat designed to unify the often-fractious conference as they head into the final months before the November election.

FILE - People walk with belongings out from an apartment building destroyed after Tuesday's Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Jan. 3, 2024. House Democrats on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, launched a long-shot effort to push $95 billion in aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan to a vote. The move ramps up pressure on House Speaker Mike Johnson to take up the foreign funding package. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

House Democrats and centrist Republicans launch separate efforts to force a vote on Ukraine aid

House Democrats as well as a small group of centrist Republicans are launching separate long-shot efforts to force a vote on tens of billions of dollars in wartime aid for Ukraine.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., wears a Laken Riley shirt as she arrives before President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol, Thursday March 7, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Biden says her name — Laken Riley — at the urging of GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene

Republicans had demanded but never expected President Joe Biden to say the name Laken Riley during his State of the Union address. But the Democratic president said it.

FILE - Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, holds a poster with photos of murder victims Sarah Root and Laken Riley as she speaks on Capitol Hill, Feb. 27, 2024, in Washington. House Republicans have passed a bill that would require federal authorities to detain unauthorized immigrants who have been accused of theft, seizing on the recent death of Laken, a nursing student in Georgia. The bill sends a rebuke to President Joe Biden’s border policies just hours ahead of his State of the Union address. However, the nine-page bill had little chance of being taken up in the Democratic-controlled Senate. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

House Republicans push bill to detain migrants accused of theft after Georgia student killed

The House has passed a bill that would require federal authorities to detain unauthorized immigrants who have been accused of theft.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 29, 2024. Shortages of ammunition and supplies are resulting in Ukraine losing ground, congressional leaders warn, yet the Republican-controlled House has shown little hurry to resupply Kyiv with military aid. Johnson appears determined to chart his own course on a foreign aid package, which could leave Congress stalled for weeks longer. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Ukraine’s troops are rationing ammunition. Yet House Republicans plan to take weeks to mull more aid

Congressional leaders are warning that shortages of ammunition and supplies are resulting in Ukraine losing ground in the war with Russia.

FILE - Firefighters extinguish a fire after a Russian attack on a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine Feb. 10, 2024. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that U.S. adults have become fractured along party lines in their support for military aid for Ukraine. (AP Photo/Yevhen Titov, File)

US adults fracture along party lines in support for Ukraine military funding, AP-NORC poll finds

A poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that U.S. adults have become fractured along party lines in their support for military aid for Ukraine.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., center, speaks about a bill to establish federal protections for IVF as, from left, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., listen during a press event on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Republicans block Senate bill to protect nationwide access to IVF treatments

Senate Republicans have blocked legislation that would protect access to in vitro fertilization, objecting to a vote on the issue Wednesday even after widespread backlash to a recent ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court that threatens the practice.

FILE - U.S. Attorney Robert Hur arrives at U.S. District Court in Baltimore on Nov. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark, File)

Special counsel who questioned Biden’s memory to testify at House hearing

House Republicans will hold a public hearing next month with the special counsel who found evidence that President Joe Biden had mishandled classified information when he was out of office but also concluded that criminal charges were not warranted.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024. Schumer says Democrats plan to "constantly over the next year" remind voters that it was Donald Trump, the likely Republican presidential nominee, who torpedoed a bipartisan bill on border enforcement. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Democrats embrace tougher border enforcement, seeing Trump’s demolition of deal as a ‘gift’

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says Democrats plan to “constantly over the next year” remind voters that it was Donald Trump, the likely Republican presidential nominee, who torpedoed a bipartisan bill on border enforcement.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., arrives for a closed-door GOP caucus meeting, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

GOP Speaker Johnson says House won’t be ‘rushed’ to approve aid for Ukraine as $95B package stalls

Republican Speaker Mike Johnson says the U.S. House will not feel “rushed” to pass the $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other allies.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on a $95 billion Ukraine Israel aid package being debated in Congress, in the State Dining Room of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Biden warns opposing Ukraine funding plays ‘into Putin’s hands,’ but faces resistance in House

President Joe Biden is calling urgently for House Republicans to get behind a supplemental spending bill that would send $60 billion to Ukraine for its fight against Russia.

Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

House speaker casts doubts on Ukraine and Israel aid package as senators grind toward final vote

The mounting opposition was just the latest example of how the Republican Party’s stance on foreign affairs is being transformed under the influence of Donald Trump, the likely Republican presidential nominee.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., arrives as the Senate prepares to take a procedural vote on an emergency spending package that would provide military aid to Ukraine and Israel, replenish U.S. weapons systems and provide food, water and other humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, at the Capitol in Washington, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senators push forward with Ukraine aid package as their leaders say the world is watching

As a growing number of Republicans oppose U.S. aid to Ukraine, the Senate’s leaders are arguing in strong terms that the money is crucial to pushing back against Russian President Vladimir Putin and maintaining America’s global standing.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., arrives at the Capitol while Republicans hold a closed-door meeting after blocking a bipartisan border package that had been tied to wartime aid for Ukraine, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The Senate votes to begin working on a last-ditch effort to approve funds for Ukraine and Israel

The Senate is beginning work on a package of wartime funding for Ukraine and other U.S. allies. But doubts remain about the level of support from Republicans who have rejected a carefully negotiated compromise that also included border enforcement policies.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., left, the lead GOP negotiator on a border-foreign aid package, holds hands with his wife Cindy Lankford, center, joined at right by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., who has been central to Senate border security talks, during procedural votes, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. Senate Republicans have blocked the bipartisan border package, scuttling months of negotiations between the two parties on legislation intended to cut down record numbers of illegal border crossings. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Abandoned by his colleagues after negotiating a border compromise, GOP senator faces backlash alone

A former youth minister in the Baptist church, Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford is known as one of the most sincere and well-liked members of the Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., walks towards the Senate floor on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Senate Republicans block bipartisan border package, then scramble to find support for Ukraine aid

Wartime aid for Ukraine has been left hanging in the Senate after Republicans blocked a bipartisan border package that had been tied to the funding, then struggled to coalesce around a plan to salvage the aid for Kyiv.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act in the State Dining Room of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Border security and Ukraine aid collapses despite Biden’s plea for Congress to ‘show some spine’

A Senate deal on border enforcement measures and Ukraine aid has suffered swift and total collapse. Republicans withdrew support despite President Joe Biden urging Congress to “show some spine” and stand up to Donald Trump.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., walks to the chamber after a bipartisan group of senators released a highly anticipated bill that pairs border enforcement policy with wartime aid for Ukraine and Israel, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. Senate Republicans have been divided on the bill, but McConnell is committed to the measure. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate Republicans resist advancing on border policy bill, leaving aid for Ukraine in doubt

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing a torrent of criticism from conservatives, Senate Republicans on Monday resisted advancing on a bipartisan proposal intended to clamp down on illegal border crossings, signaling a likely defeat in Congress that would leave leaders with no clear path to approve wartime aid fo

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., answers questions on the border security talks as he meets reporters following a Democratic caucus meeting, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

What’s in the bipartisan Senate package to aid Ukraine, secure U.S. border

Senators have come out with a carefully negotiated $118 billion compromise that pairs tens of billions of dollars in wartime aid for Ukraine with new border laws aimed at shrinking the historic number of people who have come to the U.S. border with Mexico to seek asylum.

FILE - Migrants wait in line adjacent to the border fence under the watch of the Texas National Guard to enter into El Paso, Texas, May 10, 2023. Senators are racing to release a highly-anticipated bill that pairs border enforcement policy with wartime aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies, as part of a long-shot effort to push the package through heavy skepticism from Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)

Senators release a border and Ukraine deal but the House speaker declares it ‘dead on arrival’

Senators have released a highly anticipated bill that pairs border enforcement policy with wartime aid for Ukraine and Israel.

FILE - Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., the Democrats' chief negotiator on the border security talks, speaks with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 25, 2024. Senate negotiators have reached a deal on a proposal to overhaul the asylum system at the U.S. border with Mexico. It clears the way for Democratic and Republican Senate leaders to begin the difficult task of convincing Congress to pass a national security package that will include tens of billions of dollars for Ukraine and immigration enforcement, as well as funding for Israel and other American allies. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Senators reach a deal on border policy bill. Now it faces an uphill fight to passage

Senate negotiators have reached a deal on a proposal to overhaul the asylum system at the U.S. border with Mexico.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., answers questions on the border security talks as he meets reporters following a Democratic caucus meeting, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The Senate is headed for a crucial test vote on new border policies and Ukraine aid

Senate leaders are attempting to push forward a deal to pair new policies at the southern border with wartime aid for Ukraine and other American allies, but they will have to overcome heavy skepticism from Republicans.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., answers questions on the border security talks as he meets reporters following a Democratic caucus meeting, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Deal on wartime aid and border security stalls in Congress as time runs short to bolster Ukraine

Senate negotiators are struggling to finalize a bipartisan deal that would pair policy changes at the U.S. southern border with wartime aid for Kyiv as they run into strong resistance from House Republicans and Donald Trump.

FILE - Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., gives a statement to reporters, Jan. 12, 2024, at the Capitol in Washington. Approaching his first 100 days on the job, Johnson faces daunting choices ahead: He can try to corral conservatives, who are pushing hard-right policies, to work together as a team, or he can keep reaching out to Democrats for a bipartisan coalition to pass legislation. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Biden urges Congress to embrace border bill. But House speaker suggests it may be ‘dead on arrival’

President Joe Biden is pressing Congress to embrace a bipartisan Senate deal to pair border enforcement measures with foreign aid for Ukraine.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., the Democrats' chief negotiator on the border security talks, speaks with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024. Any bipartisan border deal could be doomed because of resistance from former President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate deal on border and Ukraine at risk of collapse as Trump calls it ‘meaningless’

A bipartisan Senate deal to pair border enforcement measures and Ukraine aid faces potential collapse.

Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks at a news conference after a policy luncheon on Capitol Hill Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Senators are racing to win support for a border deal as aid to Ukraine hangs in the balance

Senate negotiators are laboring to win support for a deal on border policy as they enter what could be a pivotal stretch for a painstakingly negotiated compromise that could open the door for Republican support to replenish U.S. wartime aid for Ukraine.

FILE - Concertina wire lines the path as members of Congress tour an area near the Texas-Mexico border, Jan. 3, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas. As congressional negotiators try to finalize a bipartisan deal on the border and immigration, their effort is drawing the wrath of hard-right lawmakers and former President Donald Trump. That vocal opposition threatens to unravel a delicate compromise. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

Election-year politics threaten Senate border deal as Trump and his allies rally opposition

A politically treacherous dynamic is taking hold in Congress as negotiators work to strike a bipartisan deal on the border and immigration, with vocal opposition from the hard right and former President Donald Trump threatening to topple the carefully negotiated compromise.

Marcelo Conde poses for a portrait at his apartment Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Las Vegas. Conde, a political journalist from Nicaragua, fled Nicaragua last year after he received death threats because he wasn't in favor of leftist President Daniel Ortega. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A last sticking point in border security negotiations is humanitarian parole. Here’s what that means

President Joe Biden is closing in on a Senate deal on border security and Ukraine funding as the White House tries to resolve one of the last major sticking points in the talks.

FILE - A guardsman walks over rail cars with Concertina wire along the Texas-Mexico border, Jan. 3, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas. Senate negotiators were trying to close on a bipartisan border security proposal Monday, Jan. 8, that could unlock Senate Republican support for Ukraine aid. But as Congress returns, House conservatives are trying to interject their own hardline immigration demands. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

Can Congress land a deal on Ukraine aid and border security as lawmakers return to Washington?

A deal on U.S. aid for Ukraine and policy changes at the border with Mexico was is still uncertain as Congress returns to Washington.