Although the Senate’s action Saturday evening was technically a mere procedural vote, it represented the end of weeks of anxiety for Reid while foreshadowing difficult legislative and political battles ahead. Full Article at The Hill

U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye is encouraging many people to run for office and is urging "healthy competition" but has not formally endorsed Mayor Mufi Hannemann's expected bid for governor in 2010, according to an Inouye spokesman. Full Article at Honolulu Star-Bulletin

An end-of-the-year, catch-all appropriations package being put together will likely carry no more than four of the annual spending bills, with the fiscal 2010 Defense Appropriations measure as the legislative vehicle, Senate Appropriations Chairman... Full Article at GovExec.com

The health care reform package approved by the U.S. House last week may bear little similarity to the Senate version, if one emerges. Full Article at Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Hawaii's transition from 19th-century sovereign nation to 20th-century U.S. state is comprehensively examined in "State of Aloha." Full Article at Variety

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) welcomed the introduction yesterday by U.S. Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Kristin Gillibrand (D-NY), and Russ Feingold (D-WI) of S. Full Article at HispanicTips