Sen. Johnson says he won't participate in fall debates.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Despite saying he is able to handle "100 percent" of his senatorial duties, Sen. Tim Johnson Friday said he would not participate in debates this fall due to lingering effects from a stroke.

Johnson suffered a stroke in December 2006, which forced him to temporarily leave the Senate. He returned in September 2007.

"I have been open and honest about my recovery," the South Dakota Democrat said in a statement. "While my speech continues to improve it is not yet 100 percent, and I have not yet reached a point in my rehab where my participation in a debate would accurately reflect my capabilities.

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(CNN) — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Monday surprised Senate Republicans by offering them the chance to vote this week on four GOP-backed energy measures, including offshore drilling.

The Senate has been gridlocked for days on an energy bill, as both sides argue over which amendments will be allowed.

Republican leader Mitch McConnell, in an exchange with Reid on the senate floor, said he was “very encouraged” by the proposal but said he would have to confer with his leadership team before formally responding to the offer later in the day.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was non-committal Thursday when asked if he would like to retain Sen. Joe Lieberman as chairman of a key Senate committee next year if Democrats retain control.

Liberal bloggers, who are angry with the former Democrat for supporting Republican Sen. John McCain for president, have started a campaign to pressure lawmakers to strip him of his job leading the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Asked about that drive, Reid first praised Lieberman for voting with Democrats on many key issues but made no promises the Connecticut senator would keep his chairmanship next year.

“Let’s talk about this year,” Reid initially responded. “Anytime we have a problem here, with the exception of Iraq, Joe Lieberman is with us. So I wish people would leave him alone.”

But what about next year, a reporter asked, when Democrats are expected to expand their majority which is currently razor-thin?

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Kennedy was released from the hospital in May

(CNN) — Sen. Ted Kennedy, who was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor nearly two months ago, is weighing whether to return to the Capitol Wednesday afternoon, for the first time since he got sick, to help break a Republican filibuster of an important Medicare bill, a senior Democrat on Capitol Hill told CNN.

The source said Kennedy’s return has been “discussed but is doubtful” because Kennedy’s family is concerned the travel would be too strenuous on the 76 year-old who had surgery to remove the tumor and is now undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

Watch: Kennedy released from the hospital

The vote is scheduled for 4 p.m. so a final decision is expected shortly whether to have Kennedy leave Massachusetts and fly to Washington.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has talked to Kennedy’s wife Vicki twice since Sunday about having Kennedy return for the vote, the source said. Reid “was not pushing, just asking,” the source said.

“The family doesn’t want to do it,” the source said.

A previous vote fell one vote shy of clearing the filibuster just over a week ago. The underlying bill would reverse a 10.6 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors that will go into effect this month.

Kennedy is chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and is an influential Democrat on health care issues. Some members of the Democratic leadership think it would be a “great idea” if Kennedy were able to return because it would “buck up” Democratic senators who have worked hard to pass the stalled bill, the source said.

Obama's VP search is under way.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Illinois Sen. Barack Obama’s vice presidential vetting team discussed roughly 20 names with a senior Senate Democrat Tuesday, including some well-known options and others that are “outside the box.”

Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota told CNN that some of those on the list are “top officials now,” others are “former lawmakers” and others are “former top military leaders.”

Conrad said Obama’s team wanted his impressions about the people on the list, including the respect they command and their “standing with their colleagues.” He termed their discussion “wide-ranging.”

Jim Johnson and Eric Holder, two members of Obama’s vice presidential vetting team, arrived on Capitol Hill Monday for several days of meetings with top Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Another Democratic senator, Dick Durbin of Illinois, a close Obama ally in the Senate, left the Capitol at noon on Tuesday saying he was headed off the Hill for a meeting with the search team.

Interactive: Who might be on Obama's VP shortlist?

Obama and Clinton held a closed-door meeting Friday.

(CNN) — Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Friday shed some light on the surprise meeting between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton that took place at the California Democrat's Washington home Thursday night.

“I received them. Put them in the living room in two comfortable chairs facing one another and left,” Feinstein said Friday morning. (WATCH: Obama spokesman grilled on surprise meeting)

“They talked. I went upstairs and did my work," Feinstein continued. "They called me when it was over. I came down and said ‘good night everybody, I hope you had a good meeting.’ They were laughing and that was it.”

Among the other details Feinstein divulged:

- The meeting took place at 9 p.m. and lasted about an hour.
- Clinton called Feinstein Thursday afternoon to see if they could use her house.
- Feinstein served them water but nothing else.
- No one else was in the room with them. One person from each of the campaigns went to a separate room, a study, in the house. Security waited outside.

Asked why Clinton and Obama kept the meeting so quiet, Feinstein said the two formal rivals wanted "wanted an opportunity to meet together alone." (WATCH: Gergen, Brazile, Rollins discuss the meeting)

This is a deeply personal time too," Feinstein added. "You’re sorting out your feelings. Hillary’s going to be giving a big speech tomorrow. Barack is trying to put things together for a major presidential campaign. "

"There are a lot of decompression, nerve endings, that need to come together," she continued. "I think the opportunity to sit down, just the two of them, was positive."

Reid is standing by Lieberman.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday stood by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the Connecticut independent, despite Lieberman's attack on presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama a day earlier.

Lieberman criticized Obama's Middle East policy Wednesday in a conference call organized by the presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain.

"I think everyone should understand that Joe Lieberman has made a decision on issues related to the war. And he's decided to back John McCain.

But Joe Lieberman is an important vote for this caucus," Reid told reporters after being asked if he was considering removing Lieberman as chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

The Democrats control the Senate by a 51-49 majority because Lieberman and another independent, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, vote with the Democrats.

During a brief Senate floor appearance Wednesday, Obama pulled Lieberman aside and held a lengthy and animated conversation with him.

The interaction took place shortly after Lieberman criticized Obama's speech to an influential pro-Israel group.

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Obama is back on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Barack Obama's run for the White House bodes well for the future, the presumptive Democratic nominee told CNN Wednesday, a day after he clinched the nomination.

"I have heard from a number of people already, both black and white, that their kids — 7, 8, 9 years old — take for granted now that, of course a black can run for president, that a woman can run for president," he said.

"There is a matter-of-factness to it that i think bodes well for the future."

The Illinois senator said it was "an enormous honor" and "very humbling" to be the first African-American to lead a major party ticket for president.

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Feinstein is a supporter of Hillary Clinton.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Major Hillary Clinton supporter Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Tuesday the final primaries mark a “moment of truth” for the New York senator, who should end her campaign.

The California senator also repeated her view that Clinton should be tapped for the vice presidency.

“I think after the campaigns are wrapped up today, it is in fact a moment of truth,” Feinstein told CNN. “I think a decision has to be made about whether keeping this nomination wide open is in the best interest of winning in November. I do not believe that it is, and I’m a very strong supporter of Hillary being placed on ticket as a vice presidential candidate.”

Feinstein, who endorsed Clinton last summer, has resisted calls for her to use her influence to convince the White House hopeful to abandon her presidential bid, although she said last month that the protracted primary contest was making for dangerous friction within the party.

“The reason I say this is because each one of them represents a different constituency. The constituencies are knocking heads at the present time,” said Feinstein.

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A cartoon insert in several national newspapers explains international trade for kids.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — There’s nothing funny about the Colombia free trade agreement, a hotly contested issue on the 2008 election campaign trail and throughout the halls of Congress. But the White House is now sticking up for the beleaguered pact in the funny pages — and Democrats are counterattacking via cartoon.

"This past Sunday, in the comics section of papers nationwide (including the Post), was an insert called the Mini Page that explained trade at a children's level," Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Sean Spicer said in an e-mail sent to reporters Wednesday, adding that the fourth page of the insert included “an explanation of why the Colombia trade agreement is in the best interest of American workers."

President Bush has been a staunch supporter of trade with Colombia.

"Colombia is one of our strongest allies in the Western Hemisphere. They are led by a very strong and courageous leader, President Uribe. He's taken courageous stands to defend our shared democratic values," he said last month.

See the cartoon (PDF).

Joe Shoemaker, communications director for Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, responded by pointing to another example of policy education through pictures: the "Schoolhouse Rock!" series.

"Thank you for your helpful (if somewhat condescending) explanation of trade 'at a children's level,'" he wrote in an e-mail.

"I wanted to bring to your attention a series known as Schoolhouse Rock! Between 1973 and 1986 a series of fifty-two educational short films featuring songs about schoolhouse topics” – adding that the cartoon short "I'm Just a Bill" had "dealt extensively with the legislative process — at a children's level."

"If you find 'I'm Just a Bill' helpful, you may also want to check out 'Three Ring Government' which explains the three co-equal branches of the federal government and discusses the concept of separation of powers," wrote Shoemaker.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she would not bring the Columbia free trade legislation up for a vote.

(CNN) — Senate Democrats and Republicans were in their weekly closed policy lunches in the Capitol when the news broke about Sen. Ted Kennedy. Majority Leader Reid announced the news to his Democratic colleagues. The wind was taken out of the room, said one senator. There was “stunned silence,” said another.

Capitol police officers and Senate staffers gathered around TVs just off the Senate floor and watched the breaking news on CNN.

Kennedy friend Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, arrived late and entered a back door to the lunch. He looked drained. He declined to comment about the news except to nod yes when asked if he had spoken to Kennedy’s family.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Iillinois another close friend, spoke quietly on his cell phone just outside the lunch. He looked emotional when he hung up and told a reporter, "I can’t say anything,” as he returned to the lunch.

Sen. Kent Conrad, D-North Dakota, predicted if anyone could overcome the illness Kennedy would. “Look what he’s been through in his life,“ Conrad said.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg D-New Jersey, said “Ted Kennedy makes the Senate the place that it is and has for so many years.”

Biden had some strong words for the president.

(CNN) — The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joe Biden, D-Delaware, called President Bush’s comments accusing Sen. Barack Obama and other Democrats of wanting to appease terrorists "bulls**t” and said if the president disagrees so strongly with the idea of talking to Iran then he needs to fire his secretaries of State and Defense, both of whom Biden said have pushed to sit down with the Iranians.

“This is bullshit. This is malarkey. This is outrageous. Outrageous for the president of the United States to go to a foreign country, sit in the Knesset…and make this kind of ridiculous statement,” Biden said angrily in a brief interview just off the Senate floor.

“He’s the guy who’s weakened us. He’s the guy that’s increased the number of terrorists in the world. His policies have produced this vulnerability the United States has. His intelligence community pointed that out not me. The NIE has pointed that out and what are you talking about, is he going to fire Condi Rice? Condi Rice has talked about the need to sit down. So his first two appeasers are Rice and Gates. I hope he comes home and does something.”

He quoted Gates saying Wednesday that we “need to figure out a way to develop some leverage and then sit down and talk with them.”

Clinton speaks with reporters after exiting the Democratic National Committee headquarters.

(CNN) — Hillary Clinton met with Democratic Party officials and undecided members of Congress Tuesday afternoon to make her case for the party's nomination and press for a resolution to seating the delegations of Florida and Michigan.

The meeting, which lasted approximately two hours, took place at the Democratic National Committee headquarters.

Clinton spoke briefly to cameras while departing the building, saying she had met with "members of Congress and others who have a role to play in this process."

She refused to say if she won any commitments from any undecided superdelegates.

It was not immediately clear with which members of Congress Clinton met.

Sen. Feinstein joined Sen. Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail ahead of Super Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The drawn out race for the Democratic presidential nomination producing “negative dividends in terms of strife within the party,” says a key Capitol Hill supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s White House bid.

A day after the Indiana and North Carolina primaries bolstered Sen. Barack Obama’s candidacy, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, said she wants to talk to Clinton to “see what her view is on the rest of the race. What the strategy is.”

Feinstein, who described herself as “very loyal” to Clinton, said “the question comes whether she can get the delegates that she needs and I’d like to know what the strategy is to do that.”

Feinstein predicted her party will unify in order to defeat presumptive Republican nominee John McCain. But she said there is “an emotional component in all of this. Just as I feel loyal to Sen. Clinton others feel loyal to Sen. Obama and we’re in the same party and it makes it very difficult. So I think we want to minimize that as much as we can.”

Feinstein said she called Clinton two days ago, but said she hasn’t heard back from the New York senator yet.

The Senate, led by Democrat Harry Reid, is expected to vote soon on a request to investigate a Florida earmark.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Senate may seek a federal investigation into a 2005 earmark on a highway funding bill that was mysteriously altered after Congress approved the measure but before President Bush signed it.

The $10 million earmark, originally designated for improvements to Interstate 75 in Lee and Collier Counties in Florida, was changed to direct the money to build an interchange in Lee County, an apparent violation of congressional rules.

"This wasn't an ordinary earmark," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, said, defending the decision by Democratic leaders to invite the Justice Department to probe internal congressional practices. "It was the specific circumstances here that are highly unusual."

The Senate is expected to vote Thursday whether to direct the Justice Department to investigate "allegations of impropriety" and to "ascertain if a violation of Federal criminal law has occurred." No lawmaker has acknowledged making the change.

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

(CNN) — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid joked on Thursday said the sharp back-and-forth of late between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is having an effect on him.

"It makes me bitter," the Nevada Democrat said, invoking Obama's controversial comments that sparked strong criticisms from Clinton and Republican John McCain.

Reid went on to call the prolonged Democratic "healthy for our party," and predicted, "This is all going to be over fairly soon."

Sen. Robert Byrd is chairman of the Appropriations Committee.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Senior Democratic senators privately considered Tuesday Sen. Robert Byrd's capacity to handle his spot at the top of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, but the 90-year-old lawmaker won't be stepping down from the demanding job, his office told CNN.

Roll Call first reported the discussions by several Democratic senators, and a Democratic aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to CNN the thrust of the newspaper report.

"There are some who have concerns," the aide said. "Ahead of the appropriations season, some people have concerns which leaked out of a meeting."

But the West Virginia senator's spokesman, Jesse Jacobs, rejected talk of replacing Byrd as chairman of the committee.

"Once again, it appears that Washington insiders are practicing what they do best — petty rumor mongering," Jacobs said in a statement.

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