The Senate held an overnight “vote-a-rama” on a budget resolution while the House was on recess this week. And former Republican leader Mitch McConnell announced he will not seek reelection in 2026. Here are the photos of the week captured by CQ Roll Call photojournalists.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., left, gets a high-five from Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., as they wheel past each other at the Senate subway elevator in the Capitol during the cloture vote on FBI nominee Kash Patel on Thursday. McConnell announced that he will not run for reelection next year. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, from left, Chris Coons of Delaware, Alex Padilla of California, ranking member Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Adam B. Schiff of California conduct a news conference Thursday outside FBI headquarters to voice opposition to the nomination of Kash Patel to be director of the FBI. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., looks at a “Families Lose, Billionaires Win” poster during a news conference in the Capitol on Wednesday. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., arrives for a news conference in the Capitol on Wednesday. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)Vice President JD Vance leaves the Senate Republican luncheon in the Capitol on Wednesday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, walks from the Russell office building to the Capitol for a vote on Wednesday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, D-Conn., reacts to President Donald Trump’s comments on Ukraine as he speaks with reporters in the Capitol on Wednesday. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)Former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., the nominee to be secretary of Labor, arrives for her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Wednesday. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)From left, Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum participate in a water policy rule-signing ceremony to allow “West Virginia the independence it needs to permit and regulate itself” at the EPA on Tuesday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
