Top Senate Democrats expressed cautious optimism Monday that a stalled arms reduction treaty with Russia would attract enough GOP support to be ratified by Christmas. Senators will convene a ...

• Since 1929, the Senate has held 53 secret sessions, generally for reasons of national security. • For example, in 1997 the Senate held a secret session to consider the Chemical Weapons Convention ...

The House of Representatives held a closed session Thursday for the first time in 25 years to discuss a hotly contested surveillance bill. Republicans requested privacy for what they termed "an honest ...

When the Senate first convened on March 4, 1789, members assumed that their sessions would be conducted behind closed doors, in accordance with the practice of the earlier Continental congresses and ...