Obama administration officials rejected Republican claims that they re seeking free rein to expand the reach of the Clean Water Act, but admitted a proposed rule had led to widespread confusion about what streams, ditches and other features could be regulated.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew defended the administrationps proposal to increase taxes on inherited assets, saying the impact on farms was overblown.

Margaret Hamburg, who has run the Food and Drug Administration since 2009, is stepping down with a number of key food safety and nutrition issues still to be resolved. But the impact of her departure on those issues is likely to be limited because Hamburg created a deputy commissioner

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway said he was encouraged after being briefed today on current trade negotiations by U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman.

The chairmen of the House and Senate Agriculture committees blasted the Obama administration s renewed proposal to slash premium subsidies for crop insurance.

President Barack Obama sends Congress a fiscal 2016 budget Monday that will be dead on arrival

President Obama is proposing for the first time to create a single food-safety agency while also reviving failed attempts to slash crop insurance premium subsidies and impose new user fees on agribusiness and food companies.

A bipartisan group of senators is seeking to kick off a debate over U.S. Cuban policy by proposing to end all restrictions on American travel to the island.

Senate Republicans failed to get a veto-proof margin on a bill to approve the Keystone XL pipeline but pledged to tack the measure onto other energy legislation.