Onetime long shot Ted Cruz won the Republican nomination in a U.S. Senate race in Texas on Tuesday, providing tea party activists with renewed momentum in what they said was their biggest victory of the year.

Tax cut extensions passed on a vote of 51 to 48 in the Senate, but it appeared unlikely that the House would embrace a similar measure before the election.

How many “Dream Acts” are there? Here’s the original plus a growing list of alternatives.

The first-ever Senate hearing on the DREAM Act, chaired by Sen. Durbin, seemed, at times, like an exercise in "preaching to the choir."

Senate Democrats launched on Wednesday a new effort for comprehensive immigration reform.

The Senate voted overwhelmingly Monday to extend expiring provisions of the Patriot Act for four years despite objections of a coalition of conservatives and liberals.

A group of Democratic Senators sent a letter to Navy leadership supporting the naming of a ship after legendary labor leader Cesar Chavez. The letter assigned on by fifteen U.S. Senators including Leader Reid. The letter called out conservative critics of the naming saying that they "...show a disappointing lack of knowledge of the standards and traditions that are such an important part of United States Navy history."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and 30 other Senators re-introduced in the Senate the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, otherwise known as the DREAM Act. The DREAM Act has long been seen as the one element of the broader comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) bill that could actually garner bipartisan support. After all, it's about kids and their future and the future of this country.