There are, in total, 29 U.S. Senators and Representatives who changed their positions regarding same-sex marriage since it was first voted on in 1996. Of those 29 politicians who no longer support DOMA, 24 signed an anti-DOMA amicus brief earlier this year. Still in office are 43 members of Congress who supported DOMA…

Just before the Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski made a clear endorsement of marriage equality. Murkowski, a Senator since 2002, joins two other Republicans in the Senate (Rob Portman of Ohio and Mark Kirk of Illinois), in supporting the rights of gay and lesbian couples to marry.

Today, almost four months to the day after a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the Senate started voting on a series of amendments to President Obama's gun bill, and the body immediately voted down a bipartisan plan to extended background checks on gun sales. At 54 to 46, most of the Senators…

Hawaiian Sen. Daniel Inouye, a Democrat, has died of respiratory complications, according to his office. Sen. Inouye was 88 years old and a veteran of World War II. He had held his Senate seat since 1963; before that, he served in the House of Representatives, meaning he had represented Hawaii in Congress since it…

Turns out Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania senator who jumped the aisle to become a Democrat in 2009, is a sensual man. "Arlen Specter's Memoir: The Five Steamiest Passages" is the headline of an Amanda Terkel Huffington Post article that really delivers. Excerpts:

Eleanor Mondale, daughter of Vice President Walter Mondale, died on Saturday, six years after being diagnosed with brain cancer; on Friday, Kara Kennedy, daughter of Senator Ted Kennedy, apparently suffered a heart attack and passed away. Both women were 51.

It's been a good few days for death stares in legislative sessions! Just a week after Rep. Patrick McHenry (R - N.C.) accused consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren of lying, provoking one of the great angry-shock faces of American politics, Australian opposition senator David Bushby meowed at his colleague, Labor…

Joe Biden was full of quips at yesterday's Senate kickoff ceremonies, as captured in this highlight reel of his interactions with senators' families. He had the same line for each young daughter: "No dating til you're 30!" A creepy-uncle classic.

According to a new report, oil giant BP spent some $18,000 on the campaigns of climate legislation-blocking senators like James Inhofe. But don't worry! They also spent $7,000 on non-climate-legislation-blocking senators. So, they own almost everyone.

Is being gay "a choice"? Sort of, according to Colorado Republican Senate candidate Ken Buck. But "birth has an influence over it, like alcoholism." Homosexuality is just like a crippling addictive disease! Except, you're addicted to... oh, never mind.

Sen. Jim DeMint says that even though "no one" came to his defense in 2004 after he said that gay people and unwed mothers should be banned from teaching, "everyone" quietly told him not to back down from his position.

The AP is reporting that former Alaska Republican senator Ted Stevens was one of eight or nine passengers aboard an airplane that crashed in Alaska. His condition is unknown. Officials say there are "possible fatalities."

So, Western Civilization: it will collapse, soon. Every Wall Street computer will blow up and we'll all be killing each other over the remaining KFC buckets. Fortunately, our leaders in Washington are storing more seeds in the Arctic seed vault!

[A shot from the Capitol in Washington today as the casket of Senator Robert Byrd is removed from the building and placed into a hearse. He was the nation's longest-serving congressman before his death on Monday. Image via Getty]

The NYT Magazine is online with a hot new profile of Lindsey Graham, the Senate's most ubiquitous fifty-something lispy bachelor. And he finally addresses those gay rumors that have followed him throughout his career, saying "I ain't gay." Feisty much?

[Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan shot Sen. John Kerry the death stare today when he gave America's nakedest Senator Scott Brown a flirty squeeze during her first day of confirmation hearings. Photo via Getty Images.]

Brent Furer, an aide to Sen. David Vitter, resigned today over reports that, among other things, he'd knifed up his girlfriend good in 2008, sending her to the hospital. And he was the aide in charge of "women's issues." Ugh.