Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) care so much about D.C. public schools that they’re willing to forgo funding them if a controversial voucher program isn’t revived.

Written by DCist Contributor Fredo Alvarez In a 60-39 cloture vote, the U.S. Senate barely passed the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007 (S 1105) today as an amendment to the FY 2008 Defense Authorization Bill (HR 1585). The measure would expand protection against hate crimes to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, and would enable the Federal government to provide assistance in the investigation or prosecution of…

And so it was — the U.S. Senate voted today 57-42 in favor of closing debate on legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives, three short of what was needed to prevent a Republican-led filibuster. The measure, which passed the House in April, is now likely dead, and another attempt to correct a 200-year injustice has been thwarted. Of course, the legislation could be re-introduced, but it won’t…

2:11 p.m. OK, we should be about ready to get going here. We’ve been told there will only be about 15 minutes of debate on this before a vote takes place to prevent a filibuster — as you all know by now, we need 60 for the bill to move forward. I’ll be posting updates as things get going, and Martin may pop in with his two cents if he can, so stay with us…

As the full Senate readies to debate and vote on legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives, voting rights activists are focusing on two key senators — Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.). According to people close to the lobbying effort, the legislation has garnered enough votes for a simple majority, but is still short of the votes needed to prevent a filibuster. And while…

Editorial published today in the New York Times, and posted here without comment: Democratizing the Nation’s Capital Just in time for next month’s rockets’ red glare, a measure to give the residents of Washington D.C. their long-denied right to a full vote in the House of Representatives is making headway in the Senate. The legislation, already passed by the House, is gaining unexpected support from Senate Republicans finally struck by the injustice of the meeting…

This morning the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs approved legislation granting the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives, sending the measure to the full Senate for cosideration. The vote was 9-1, with Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) casting the lone dissenting vote (seriously, can’t Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) have a talk with this guy?). Senator Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Senator George Voinovich (R-Ohio), all considered key…

The U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has scheduled a hearing to consider legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives. The hearing, which will be presided over by bill sponsor Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), will take place on Tuesday, May 15 in 342 Dirksen. The hearing — which we’ll try to live-blog, obvs — should be interesting. Among the Republicans on the committee are a…

The past week in Washington has been dominated by on story: Baseball. The fate of the Washington Nationals, now endangered by D.C. Council Chairman Linda Cropp, is now in doubt as the intersection of corporate money, an angry electorate, and politicians looking after their legacies became a perfect train wreck of ambition. What can we say that hasn’t already been said about baseball in D.C.? So, we’ll sum up by simply saying “Baseball, yadda, blah…