WASHINGTON -- Republicans in the U.S. Senate want the long-term unemployed to volunteer for 20 hours a week in order to receive unemployment insurance.

A bill introduced Thursday by Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) would also require claimants drawing benefits six months or longer to search for work at least 20...

WASHINGTON -- Democrats in the U.S. Senate this week firmly rejected GOP proposals to drug-test the jobless, but they signaled a new willingness to compromise on cutting weeks of unemployment benefits.

Members of both parties in the House and Senate are negotiating a legislative package that would extend unemployment...

Police in Littleton, Colo., on Monday pulled over a motorist who was protesting the way Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney transported his dog on a family vacation three decades ago.

The motorist, a fan of the fledgling "Dogs Against Romney" protest movement, had a dog kennel strapped to the roof...

Nearly 30,000 people enduring long-term joblessness in Michigan are set to lose their unemployment insurance as a federal program that provides the final 20 weeks of benefits expires there.

The lapse of the Extended Benefits program in Michigan is a reminder that, even though Congress fully reauthorized federal unemployment insurance...

WASHINGTON -- Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said Sunday that Republican governors deserve credit for the improving economy.

"I'm glad the economy is starting to recover, but I think it's because of what Republican governors are doing in their states, not because of the president," McDonnell said on CNN's "

WASHINGTON -- Newt Gingrich is not chagrined over the "Saturday Night Live" mockery of his proposal to colonize the moon. If America doesn't go there, Gingrich said, somebody else will.

"I made a speech on the space coast in Florida to serious people who spent their lifetime...

WASHINGTON -- Presidential aspirant Newt Gingrich isn't worried that declining unemployment will hurt Republicans' chances of retaking the White House in November.

The Labor Department announced Friday that the unemployment rate had fallen to 8.3 percent in January, the fifth straight month of decline and the lowest the rate has...

WASHINGTON -- After finishing in last place in the Nevada caucuses on Saturday, former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) laid out his strategy for the remainder of the Republican presidential primary contest on Sunday.

"This race is a long, long way from being over," Santorum said on "Fox News Sunday"...

WASHINGTON -- Congressional Republicans pooh-poohed the latest jobs report on Friday, saying that while the decline in the unemployment rate might be good, it would have been better if they were in charge.

The Labor Department announced Friday morning that the economy had added 243,000 jobs in January and...

Low-income Republican voters say the government does too little for poor people, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

Over half of Republican-leaning registered voters earning less than $30,000 a year -- 57 percent -- say the government doesn't do enough to help the poor, while...

Republican presidential candidate candidate Mitt Romney said Wednesday that he is "not concerned about the very poor" because government programs already help them.

"We have a safety net there. If it needs a repair, I'll fix it," Romney said. "We have food stamps, we have Medicaid, we have...

Struggling families will no longer be allowed to withdraw welfare funds at automated teller machines in liquor stores, casinos or strip clubs if Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives get their way.

The House overwhelmingly approved a bill on Wednesday to push states to ban welfare debit card withdrawals...

The Indiana House of Representatives approved a bill Tuesday that would drug test people who apply for welfare, along with members of the Indiana General Assembly.

"I feel it is imperative that your tax dollars go to those who are truly trying to better themselves. We must provide incentives for...

A Republican member of the Indiana General Assembly withdrew his bill to create a pilot program for drug testing welfare applicants Friday after one of his Democratic colleagues amended the measure to require drug testing for lawmakers.

"There was an amendment offered today that required drug testing for legislators...

Lianne Valenti lost her job as manager for a company that makes portable power generators last July.

Valenti, who is 46 and lives in Long Beach, Calif., started drawing unemployment benefits and looking for a new job. She couldn't find one.

"I worked my whole life," she said. "This was...

Richard Wood of Bradenton, Fla. said that when he told Mitt Romney about his financial struggles, the former Massachusetts governor showed genuine compassion.

"I felt that he felt our pain," Wood said in an interview. "I think he was concerned about what's going on."

Wood, 62, was one of eight...

WASHINGTON -- In a State of the Union speech focused tightly on jobs and the economy, President Barack Obama outlined his ideas for getting long-term unemployed workers back to work and closing the "skills gap" separating jobless Americans from employers who have positions to fill.

In a speech setting his...

Philanthropist Gene Epstein says he donated $250,000 to assorted charities on behalf of businesses that hired unemployed people starting in 2009. Now he's trying to broaden his impact, attempting to sway Congress on a bill to encourage hiring the unemployed.

Several members of the House of Representatives have taken an...

Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney spent nearly an hour talking to struggling home and business owners Monday morning in Florida, the next stop in the Republican primary contest and one of the states hardest-hit by the foreclosure crisis that wrecked the economy in 2007.

At a round table in a...

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Republicans in South Carolina, including the presidential candidates campaigning there this week, think Thomas Ritter should have to pee in a cup to prove he won't waste his unemployment insurance money on drugs.

Ritter, a single dad with two kids, said he doesn't use illegal substances and...