Amid warnings the proposal would shatter support for the measure, Democrats backed away from a provision that would allow gay U.S. citizens to sponsor foreign-born spouses for green cards. Advocates for gay and lesbian immigration rights accused Democrats of caving in to threats.

After weeks of debate, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted Tuesday to send a massive immigration overhaul bill on to the full Senate. Dozens of changes were made to the legislation drawn up by a bipartisan group of senators known as the Gang of Eight. But the bill's basic compromises remained intact after the withdrawal of a sharply divisive measure granting equal immigration rights for same-sex married couples.

The bipartisan immigration overhaul proposed by the Senate's Gang of Eight has been the target of scores of amendments. So far, the bill has largely held its own, but its prospects for getting through Congress are uncertain.

Senators on the Judiciary Committee spent their second full day slogging through proposed amendments to the bipartisan immigration overhaul. Tuesday's subject was the method of awarding visas for those wanting to come here to study and work.

The Senate Judiciary held its second round of debate on changes to the bipartisan immigration bill. Tuesday's focus was visas for workers, including visas for skilled technical work. David Welna talks to Melissa Block.

The IRS scandal hands Republicans an unexpected opportunity to chide the Obama administration. It comes as the GOP's resurrected questions about how top officials, including the president, handled the attack last September in Benghazi, Libya, that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

NPR's congressional correspondent David Welna speaks with host Scott Simon about the flurry of last-minute amendments, most from conservative Republicans, to alter the bipartisan immigration legislation.

A Senate panel began working through hundreds of amendments to the bipartisan immigration bill Thursday. Most were filed by Republicans hoping to slow down, weaken or kill the legislation. And of the most contentious, which would allow same-sex spouses of Americans to apply for green cards, will likely not come up until next week at the earliest.

House Republicans have passed a bill that would tell President Obama which bills to pay first, should the U.S. Treasury run out of cash and risk default, like it almost did two summers ago. The proposal is not likely to move in the Democratic Senate, and the issue itself is fading in urgency as the deficit picture improves.

A House committee held a hearing Wednesday into last year's attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The event has been a key political weapon for Republicans, first against President Obama's re-election campaign, and now against then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2016.

Security was a central theme as the Senate held a confirmation hearing Tuesday for Deborah K. Jones, who has been nominated to succeed Christopher Stevens as ambassador to Libya. On Wednesday, House Republicans will hear testimony about the attack that killed Stevens and three other Americans.

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, says the Senate's immigration overhaul will cost the country more than $6 trillion over 50 years. A similar report six years ago helped sink that attempt at changing immigration. Critics argue that both reports are fundamentally flawed, and fail to account for the economic benefits of restructuring the immigration system.

Ever since her vote against legislation to mandate background checks for all gun sales, New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte has seen her poll numbers slip. This week, the Republican met protesters as she made her way around the state.

President Obama held a news conference at the White House on Tuesday morning.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday as it continued discussion of the new, bipartisan immigration overhaul. She defended her department's procedures for screening immigrants in the wake of the Boston marathon bombings.

The Senate Judiciary Committee turned its attention back to the immigration overhaul proposal Monday, even as opponents began to use the Boston bombers' journey to the United States as a cautionary tale.

The Senate's so-called "Gang of Eight" began lobbying for their immigration bill Thursday, and quickly saw opponents hold their own news conference criticizing the plan.

Long tied to the conservative, anti-immigrant wing of the Republican Party, a number of evangelical leaders are now coming out in favor of the immigration overhaul released by a bipartisan group of senators.

The Senate "Gang of Eight" released the summary its immigration overhaul plan on Tuesday. David Welna talks to Robert Siegel about the details.

The bipartisan immigration package expected Tuesday from the Senate's Gang of Eight will likely include language on measuring border security. This has become key for Republicans who oppose the idea of legalizing the 11 million or so undocumented immigrants.