Senate

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FILE - This July 1, 2013 file photo shows Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. speaking with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. A bill to renew a package of more than 50 expired tax breaks cleared its first hurdle in the Senate Tuesday. Other hurdles remain, however. The Senate voted 96 to 3 to open debate on the bill, which has strong backing from the business community but would add about $85 billion to the budget deficit. Almost every year, Congress routinely renews the tax breaks. This year, though, they were allowed to expire at the start of the year. The Senate bill would extend the tax breaks through 2015. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

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The refusal of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, to allow a freewheeling Senate floor debate on the energy efficiency bill resulted in a Republican filibuster that doomed the bill to defeat for the second time in less than a year. (Associated Press Photographs)

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, has promised a vote on Keystone if the Senate moves forward on an energy efficiency bill. (Associated Press)

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From left field: Sid Dinsdale could find an opening between the bitterly split front-runners in the GOP race for Senate, which will be decided Tuesday.

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** FILE ** State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, left, and Sen. Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles look over Steinberg's smart phone as lawmakers debated a measure requiring electronics manufacturers to install a shut-off function on all smartphones manufactured and sold after July 2015, at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday May 8, 2014. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

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Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, right, addresses the House and the Senate at the end of session at the Capitol on the final day of session, Thursday, May 8, 2014, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

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Medical marijuana bill author Sen. Scott Dibble listened as Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen argued against it on the Senate floor in St. Paul, Minn., Tuesday, May 6, 2014. The state Senate passed a medical-marijuana bill on Tuesday more ambitious than any Gov. Mark Dayton and law-enforcement officials have said they would support. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Glenn Stubbe) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES TV OUT

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From left, Jessica Hauser, Kendra Miller, Cassie Traun, Angela Garin, Martha Schulz, Kim Kelsey and her son Alec, advocates for medical marijuana hold photos of relatives, loved ones and members of families who couldn't attend the hearing as the bill was debated on the Senate floor Tuesday, May 6, 2014, in St. Paul, Minn. The state Senate passed a medical-marijuana bill on Tuesday more ambitious than any Gov. Mark Dayton and law-enforcement officials have said they would support. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Glenn Stubbe) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES TV OUT