That's starting to change.

Warren, who championed the creation of the new Consumer Financial Protection Board after the mortgage-led financial meltdown five years ago, is beginning to use her Senate Banking Committee perch to push regulators for tougher actions against errant banks.

Warren questioned senior Treasury Department officials Thursday about why there was no criminal prosecution for alleged money laundering by British bank HSBC and no effort to shut it down. HSBC agreed last December to pay a forfeiture and penalties totaling $1.9 billion to settle charges it helped Mexican drug traffickers, Iran and Libya move money around the world.

"What does it take, how many billions of dollars do you have to launder from drug lords and how many economic sanctions do you have to violate before someone will consider shutting down a financial institution?" Warren asked at a Banking Committee hearing on money laundering.

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The 68-year-old Republican is known more for his bare-knuckle politics than his pugilistic skills. He said Wednesday he plans to step into the ring Saturday for a two-round exhibition bout against a New York state kickboxing champion, "Irish" Josh Foley, at a pub in Wantagh, N.Y.

"Some people have been comparing my bout with Foley to Tiger Woods playing golf with President Obama," King said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "If Foley goes all out, it will be a very quick fight."

The congressman said he weighs in at about 230 pounds and has been training for about nine years. The bout isn't for charity, he said.

"We'll be sparring," King said. "If anyone is going to get knocked out, it will be me. I can tell you that much."

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Three months after Sandy ravaged coastal areas in much of the Northeast, Obama chided lawmakers for taking their time to approve the funding even as he commended them for providing the long-awaited aid.

"So while I had hoped Congress would provide this aid sooner, I applaud the lawmakers from both parties who helped shepherd this important package though," Obama said in a statement late Monday.

Despite opposition from conservatives concerned about adding billions of dollars to the nation's debt, the Senate cleared the bill, 62-36, after House Republicans had stripped it earlier this month of spending unrelated to disasters.

"This is a huge relief," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

Northeast lawmakers said the money is urgently needed to start rebuilding homes, businesses, public transportation facilities and other infrastructure damaged by the Oct. 29 storm, one of the worst to strike the Northeast. Sandy is blamed for more than 130 deaths in the U.S. and tens of billions of dollars in property damages, particularly in New York and New Jersey.

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Friday's 354-67 vote sends the bill to the Senate, which expects to pass the bill later in the day. All of the no votes were cast by Republicans.

The bill gives more borrowing authority to the National Flood Insurance Program to pay about 115,000 pending claims.

Northeast lawmakers say the money is urgently needed for victims of one of the worst storms ever to strike the region. Boehner set Friday's vote after sparking controversy with a decision to delay House action on a broader Sandy aid package.

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"It requires reaching across the aisle and finding partners from the opposite party," said Lieberman. "That is what is desperately needed in Washington now."

The Democrat-turned-independent from Connecticut is leaving the Senate in January after 24 years. He said strong bipartisan leadership is needed to solve the nation's most pressing problems, such as the looming fiscal cliff budget crisis. Washington gridlock stands as "the greatest obstacle" to finding compromises to make major progress on those problems, he said.

Lieberman, 70, nearly won the vice presidency on the Democratic ticket with running mate Al Gore in 2000. He would have been the first Jewish vice president.

He also made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004. Four years later, he was under serious consideration in 2008 to be then-Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate. He and McCain are friends known for their hawkish views on military and national security matters.

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While it's commonly accepted that Angus King, a former Democrat who supports President Barack Obama, would align with Democrats, he has refused to say. That's generated suspense and, in theory, could translate to power for King if the Senate ends up close to a 50/50 split. If one party wins a decisive majority, King could find himself with less leverage than he hoped.

"It looks like the Democrats may hold the control of the Senate — I'm not ready to concede that, but they may — in which case there ain't going to be no negotiating," said former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss. "He'll go to the Democratic side and take what they give him."

Who wields power after Tuesday's election is all about the math, but the answers may not be immediately clear.

If President Barack Obama wins re-election, he needs 50 Democrats or Democratic-aligned independents to keep control of the Senate. And similarly, Mitt Romney would need 50 Republicans or independents who lean that way if he wins.

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A pair of longtime Republicans — former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson and Florida Rep. John Mica — are facing strong challenges from insurgent conservatives. Their races are the marquee contests among four state primaries, including Connecticut and Minnesota.

Wisconsin and Florida are the latest battlegrounds for tea party forces and other conservative activists hoping to add to big wins this year in the Indiana and Texas GOP Senate primaries. Tea party candidates scored major gains in the 2010 congressional races, but they've had mixed success since then.

Thompson, who served as Health and Human Services secretary under President George W. Bush, is in a tough four-way race for a chance to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl. His challengers have cast themselves as closer to today's more conservative GOP than the 70-year-old Thompson.

Thompson was governor for 14 years, but the party has become more conservative since he left the post for the Bush administration in 2001.

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“There is nothing fair about a government that favors political connections over honest competition and takes away your right to earn your own success,” Romney said in a campaign speech last week in St. Louis. And in Washington on Wednesday, he told the Business Roundtable, “I don’t think the government should be investing in individual companies,” adding, “I don’t believe in the government picking winners.”

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Warren will formally declare she's running on Wednesday, Kyle Sullivan, a Warren spokesman, said. She plans to greet commuters in Boston and make other stops during the day across the state.

"The pressures on middle-class families are worse than ever, but it is the big corporations that get their way in Washington," Warren said in a statement released Tuesday. "I want to change that. I will work my heart out to earn the trust of the people of Massachusetts."

Democrats have been seeking a major challenger for the seat long held by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy. Democrats hoping to keep their narrow Senate majority have made Brown a top target in the blue state. Kennedy's former seat has special significance for Massachusetts Democrats. Warren will join a crowded primary field but was heavily courted to join the race.

Warren is a Harvard Law professor who was tapped by President Barack Obama last year to set up a new consumer protection agency, but congressional Republicans opposed her becoming the director. She worked to set up the agency before returning to Massachusetts this summer.

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The commission voted 6-0 to order the repayment after conducting an audit of the campaign.

A telephone call by AP to Edwards' attorneys seeking comment was not immediately returned. Edwards' attorneys have said the Democrat's campaign doesn't owe anything.

Federal auditors said the campaign understated its cash on hand and overstated its expenses, including money spent to wind down the campaign. Auditors also found that the campaign failed to itemize more than $4 million in loan repayments.

Such audits are required by law for federal campaigns that accept public financing, several of the commissioners noted.

"It is not at all unusual for a campaign to have a discrepancy," said Ellen Weintraub, a commissioner. "It's just a math problem and that's how the math worked out."

Federal auditors said about $2 million of the amount to be repayed was due to federal matching funds the Edwards campaign received but did not deserve. Auditors said the repayment also should include $141,808 in uncashed checks the campaign issued to donors that were never cashed, according to the audit.

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Colbert played it straight during his appearance before the commission, letting his attorney do most of the talking while saving his trademark quips for a crowd that gathered outside the commission building after the meeting.

"I don't accept the status quo," he told the crowd, brandishing a portable credit card processing machine. "I do accept Visa, Mastercard or American Express."

Many in the crowd handed Colbert their credit cards or dollar bills as contributions.

Asked what point he was trying to make about corporate America, Colbert did not miss a beat.

"None," he quipped. "I want their money."

Colbert, who plays a conservative TV pundit on "The Colbert Report," is forming Colbert Super PAC, a type of political action committee which will allow him to raise unlimited amounts of money from corporations, unions and individuals. The money will be used to support or oppose candidates in the 2012 elections through independent expenditures such as TV ads.

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The married seven-term New York Democrat's resignation would end a once-promising career as a leading liberal voice.

Weiner became embroiled in a scandal over lewd photos and messages sent online to at least six women. During a tearful news conference recently he admitted he had told a series of lies to cover up his bad behavior.

Top Democrats had called for a House ethics probe to see if Weiner had broken any rules, including whether he may have abused his congressional office.

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The Republican Party chairman criticized Democratic leaders for not taking a more forceful stand earlier on the affair, which has overshadowed much of the legislative business on Capitol Hill over the past week.

Weiner has acknowledged exchanging messages and photos ranging from sexually suggestive to explicit with several women online, and the latest to surface appeared on the entertainment website TMZ.

The photos posted Sunday were purportedly taken in the House members' gym and show a shirt-less Weiner with a towel around his waist and his hand on his crotch. TMZ said the photos were sent online to at least one woman.

Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 House Democrat, spoke of Weiner's "bizarre and unacceptable behavior" in texting inappropriate pictures of himself to young women. Hoyer said it would be "extraordinarily difficult" for Weiner to continue to represent his constituents effectively.

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The previously redacted State Department memo, dated Dec. 28, 1961, was released by Judicial Watch, a Washington-based organization that said it obtained it through a Freedom of Information lawsuit.

According to the memo, the Massachusetts Democrat made arrangements to rent the brothel "for an entire night" in Santiago earlier in 1961. "Kennedy allegedly invited one of the Embassy chauffeurs to participate in the night's activities," according to the memo.

One State Department official described Kennedy as "pompous and a spoiled brat," according to the memo. Kennedy was making a fact-finding trip to several Latin American countries. "Kennedy met with a number of individuals known to have communist sympathies," the memo said.

Kennedy was a 29-year-old assistant district attorney in Boston at the time of the trip. He was elected to the Senate in 1962 and served more than four decades until his death in 2009.

Kennedy's family members had no immediate reaction to the release of the memo.

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Congressional aides close to the negotiations tell The Associated Press that the deal calls for providing up to $4 billion in health care and economic aid over five years to first responders and survivors of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks.

The aides -- three Democratic and one Republican -- verified the deal Wednesday but said they couldn't talk about it openly.

The measure is about $2 billion less than the bill proposed earlier this week by Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.

Both the Senate and the House were expected to vote on the measure later Wednesday.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

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The former president made the comment in an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" to be aired Sunday. Parts of the interview were posted on the show's website Thursday.

In the interview, Carter accuses Kennedy of "deliberating blocking" comprehensive health care legislation Carter proposed.

Kennedy, who made health care reform a prized cause, died in August 2009 from brain cancer. The Massachusetts senator challenged Carter for the 1980 Democratic presidential nomination, but fell short. Kennedy and Carter had competing health care reform plans.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Jimmy Carter says Americans could have had comprehensive health care coverage decades ago if the Edward Kennedy hadn't blocked a plan Carter proposed while in the White House.

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Alex Brown of the FBI's records management division said the FBI would post some 2,000 pages of previously secret pages about the Massachusetts Democrat on the agency's website.

The release of the documents has been highly anticipated by historians, scholars and others interested in the life and long public career of one of America's most prominent and powerful politicians.

The Associated Press and other media organizations requested the documents through Freedom of Information Act requests.

Kennedy faced death threats when he ran for president in 1980 and before that in the years following the assassinations of his older brothers.

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was slain in Los Angeles on June 6, 1968.

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In a statement released Saturday by his attorney on the campaign's behalf, the New York Democrat said the check to Joe Racalto was "based solely on misrepresentations" by Racalto to campaign officials.

Racalto is among those pursuing sexual harassment complaints against Massa.

Racalto's lawyer, Camilla McKinney, said Friday the check was a "deferred payment" for Racalto's work this year and last on the congressman's 2010 re-election campaign and for work on Massa's 2008 transition.

The payment to Racalto came as allegations about his boss sexually harassing young male staffers in his office were becoming public.

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