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Top of the hour news confirms the report and surgery this morning.

U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk was hospitalized with a stroke over the weekend and underwent surgery today at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, his office said. Kirk, 52, captured President Barack Obama’s old U.S. Senate seat in a close 2010 election against Democrat Alexi Giannoulias.

We Stand for Principle Over Politicsand the Establishment Can't Stand It December 21, 2011 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: "House Democrats tried Wednesday to force a vote on the Senate’s two-month extension of the payroll-tax cut, but Republicans gaveled the House closed to prevent them from having a chance, as top GOP leaders huddled down the hall to try to figure a way out of the mess. The House was set to hold a pro forma session, but two top Democrats, Reps. Steny H. Hoyer and Chris Van Hollen, demanded to be recognized to try to force a vote on the...

Mark Kirk will formally endorse former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s bid for the GOP presidential nomination on Monday, sources close to the political operation of the first-term Illinois Republican senator said Sunday. Kirk, the state’s highest-ranking Republican officeholder, will join more than 50 members of Congress who already have endorsed Romney’s candidacy, leading up to the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3. “Romney will cut spending, repeal the health care law and restore private sector economic growth. He is a foreign policy hawk who will stand up to Iran,” Kirk said in a statement prepared in advance of his endorsement...

Just go to this link (http://www.c-span.org/Events/Senator-Mark-Kirk-R-IL/10737426166-1/) and watch it.

Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk hasn't endorsed a GOP candidate for president, but it's looking more and more like he's on Mitt Romney's team. Kirk said Monday the field is getting down to "Romney and the anti-Romney," listing all of the GOP darlings -- Palin, Bachman, Trump et al -- that have fallen by the wayside. "The underlying story is the rise and rise of Mitt Romney," Kirk said. In regards to the Herman Cain sexual harassment controversy, Kirk said Cain "needs to respond and respond completely." "I do think his story is largely ending," Kirk said. "The critical thing is...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Democrat-controlled Senate on Thursday rejected a Republican attempt to block a regulation intended to curb power plant pollution that blows downwind into other states. By a 56-41 vote, senators defeated a resolution by Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who said the step was needed to rein in what he called the Obama administration's overzealous job-killing approach to environmental protection. "We are simply asking that the clean air regulations already on the books stay in place and we do not make the regulations so onerous that they put utility plants out of business and we have an...

Sen. John McCain, one of the most ardent supporters in Washington of the Libyan resistance, released a statement on the reported death of Col. Moammar Kadafi, calling for the United States to “deepen” its support for the strife-torn nation. (snip) “The death of Moammar Kadafi marks an end to the first phase of the Libyan revolution,” McCain said Thursday. “While some final fighting continues, the Libyan people have liberated their country. Now the Libyan people can focus all of their immense talents on strengthening their national unity, rebuilding their country and economy, proceeding with their democratic transition, and safeguarding the...

In March, Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) was urging President Barack Obama to better define the U.S. military’s role in Libya and seek Congress’s approval to use force in the north African nation. But after a day touring the streets of Tripoli and meeting rebel leaders who overthrew the regime of Col. Moammar Qadhafi, Kirk praised Obama’s handling of the Libyan conflict as a undeniable “success.” “This is a victory for the United States military, for our British and French allies, for NATO, for the president of the United States, but most importantly for the Libyan people. …” Kirk said in...

SPRINGFIELD – The support of groups at one end or the other – say, the Tea Party or MoveOn.org – is great, but U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., said there aren’t enough votes there to win in 2012. “The reality is independent voters control the fate of the nation,” Kirk said during an appearance in Springfield on Friday afternoon.

(CBS/AP) Following the news Friday of Standard and Poor's downgrade on the U.S. debt, several politicians from both sides of the aisle offered their reactions. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid released a statement: "This makes the work of the joint committee all the more important, and shows why leaders should appoint members who will approach the committee's work with an open mind -- instead of hardliners who have already ruled out the balanced approach that the markets and rating agencies like S&P are demanding." Reid was referring to the special bipartisan congressional committee -- made up of six Democrats...

When it comes to issues involving Israel, politicians in Washington can become quite hysterical, making the dumbest remarks or doing the most illogical things. Evidence of such bizarre behavior abounds, and this week provided several examples. Taking top prize would be newly-elected Republican Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois. Kirk wants the U.S. to use military assets to stop the humanitarian flotilla on its way to Gaza. He wrote that the United States should "make available all necessary special operations and naval support to the Israeli Navy to effectively disable flotilla vessels before they can pose a threat to Israeli coastal...

(snip) Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has quickly become one of Kirk's closest friends in the Senate. "My main man Manch" is what Kirk affectionately calls his pal, a Blue Dog best described as the Democratic counterpart to Kirk. Disillusioned with the Senate's partisan social cleavage, both starry-eyed newcomers set out to fix things. "Follow me," the freewheeling Mountaineer said to Kirk one day in early May, "I'm heading to a budget meeting and we need to shake things up." Kirk was hesitant, suspecting that his presence might inflame most everyone at the Democratic strategy session. But Manchin insisted....

While Democrats and Republicans talk shop in partisan lunches throughout the week, Sens. Mark Kirk and Joe Manchin look forward to their weekly lunch date. In a throwback to a more bipartisan era, the Illinois Republican and West Virginia Democrat have, for more than two months, met for a little cross-party chitchat. They’ve invited colleagues to join them. So far, few have. It’s an oft-told story, but the Kirk-Manchin lunches are a reminder that Congress is no longer the bipartisan place it used to be. Aside from a few basketball games in Congressional gyms and the weekly bipartisan prayer breakfasts,...

A Chicago-based scientist says he’s grateful to U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk for siding with legislation that backs stem cell research. Kirk on Monday called for congressional action to codify an executive order on the research issued by President Barack Obama in 2009. (snip) The Illinois Republican says, if senior Democratic senators choose not to move the stem cell legislation in this Congress, he will.

As Joe Lieberman winds down his two-decade career in the Senate, the onetime Democratic vice presidential nominee is reaching out to an unlikely group to help seal his political legacy: freshman Republicans. Behind the scenes and in front of the cameras, the retiring foreign policy hawk is grooming, mentoring and partnering with a handful of GOP freshmen to ensure that, long after he’s left the Senate, his vision for America’s role abroad survives. Reaching across the aisle is nothing new for Lieberman, who stood on the stage at the 2008 Republican National Convention and endorsed John McCain, making his choice...

The U.S. Senate today overcame a Republican filibuster and approved a former Planned Parenthood abortion business director, John McConnell, as a federal judge in Rhode Island. Senators voted 63-33 to surpass the 60-vote threshold necessary to stop the filibuster and approve the nomination of McConnell’s nomination to the District Court for the District of Rhode Island. his nomination previously cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee recently on a party-line 11-7 vote. Senate Republicans joining all Democrats to end debate included Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Susan Collins of Maine, Lyndsey Graham of South Carolina, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Mark Kirk of Illinois,...

U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk says Libyan rebels should be given weapons to help them quickly overthrow Moammar Gadhafi's regime.

Sen. Susan Collins is part of a renewed bid to pass a bipartisan bill protecting against workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The Maine Republican is a lead co-sponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, ENDA, along with Democrats Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Tom Harkin of Iowa and Republican Mark Kirk of Illinois.