Category: US Senate

Postal Service sees chance to turn the page after tumultuous year

The United States Postal Service is at an inflection point after a year of withering scrutiny and questions about the direction of the critical agency.

Bipartisan legislation in the Senate, paired with the appointment of three new board members by President Biden, is giving the Postal Service a path to modernize and cut costs after its finances and operations were thrust into the spotlight during the 2020 elections.

Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) last week introduced the Postal Service Reform Act, which would roll back some of the agency’s financial commitments and aim to improve its service and accountability to the public. Continue reading.

ABC host corners ‘unrealistic’ Susan Collins for opposing Jan. 6 commission that she ‘strongly’ supports

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Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) on Sunday insisted that she “strongly” supports a bipartisan commission to study the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol even though she has threatened to vote against it. 

During an appearance on ABC’s This Week, host George Stephanopoulos asked Collins why she has said that she would vote against a bill that was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives to establish the commission.

“You called that attack appalling and un-American, provoked by President Trump,” Stephanopoulos noted. “But now you say you’re going to support the commission only under certain conditions, including that it wrap up this year, which appears pretty unrealistic.” Continue reading.

‘You’re putting country above party?’ Chris Wallace calls out Roy Blunt’s ‘honesty’ on Jan. 6 commission

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Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) over the weekend declined to say if he is “putting country above party” by opposing a commission to study the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. 

In a Sunday interview on Fox News, host Chris Wallace asked Blunt why he is trying to prevent a new investigation into the events of Jan. 6.

“Well, I think it’s too early to create a commission,” Blunt explained. “And I believe Republicans in the Senate will decide that it’s too early to create that commission. Commissions often don’t work at all. And when they do work, like the Simpson-Bowles commission produced a good result — nothing happened as part of that result.” Continue reading.

Democrats seize on GOP opposition to Jan. 6 commission

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Democrats are hammering Republicans over their opposition to a Jan. 6 commission as they look to retain control of Congress next year.

Hopes for a bipartisan panel to investigate the deadly riot at the Capitol earlier this year were dashed when Republican leadership came out against the idea, casting it as a partisan maneuver.

But some Democrats believe there may be a silver lining in the recent development, seeing the GOP’s sharp reversal on the issue as a way to bolster support ahead of the midterm elections. Continue reading.

Ron Johnson exposes the real reason why GOP lawmakers would not support the Jan 6 commission

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Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) claims House Republican lawmakers were concerned about becoming “media roadkill” if they had voted against the formation of a January 6 commission to further investigate the Capitol insurrection. 

On Friday, Johnson appeared on Fox News with primetime host Tucker Carlson where he discussed the 35 Republican lawmakers who voted in favor of the bill designed to establish a commission for the investigation into the series of events that unfolded on January 6. According to Johnson, those lawmakers who sided with House Democrats are influenced by the media.

This week, the bill advanced to the Senate after a 252 – 175 vote.  Continue reading.

‘Why do they tolerate Trump?’ Conservative calls on Republicans to recover some ‘dignity’ and cut ex-president loose

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Donald Trump personally insults the Republicans whose support he demands, and one conservative wonders why they keep sucking up to the twice-impeached former president.

The former reality TV star and 2024 frontrunner has infamously insulted John McCain’s military service, Ted Cruz’s wife and father and Jeb Bush’s vitality, but Republicans keep resisting any chance to cut the scandal-plagued party figurehead loose, wrote The Daily Beast’s Matt Lewis.

“The big question is: Why do they tolerate Trump?” Lewis wondered. “Why doesn’t their primal desire for pride and honor and dignity ever kick in?” Continue reading.

Why service members charged in the Capitol riot are staying in uniform — for now

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Within days of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, some people who participated were fired from their jobs when images showing them storming the building appeared online.

But the process is playing out differently for service members charged in the riot.

Commanders are waiting for legal proceedings at the Justice Department before they make administrative decisions for charged troops, defense officials have said. Continue reading.

Republicans try but can’t escape Jan. 6

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Republicans would really like to move beyond Jan. 6, but it’s not going very well. 

Four months into the Biden administration, as GOP leaders are racing to shift the focus away from the violent attack by a pro-Trump mob at the Capitol, they’re being forced to confront the rampage at every turn.  

Democrats are charging ahead with plans for deep-dive investigations into the assault. Continue reading.

GOP efforts to downplay danger of Capitol riot increase

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Attempts to whitewash the violence of the Jan. 6 insurrection and cast the rioters as sympathetic characters are becoming increasingly common among Republican members of Congress.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) this week said it was a “false narrative” to say “there were thousands of armed insurrectionists breaching the Capitol,” while Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said the rioters charged with crimes were facing overly harsh treatment in jail and questioned why Congress isn’t also investigating liberal protests over racial justice last year that at times turned violent.

Other Republicans in recent days have falsely claimed the rioters weren’t armed and questioned whether people in the mob were really former President Trump’s supporters. One GOP lawmaker compared one image of the Capitol breach to a “normal tourist visit.”

Republican leaders’ claim that the Jan. 6 commission bill would not allow GOP staff hires

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“Remember, this commission, the appointment of the chair goes to Schumer and Pelosi and they appoint the staff. All the staff would be Democrats.”

— House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), in an interview on “The Ingraham Angle” on Fox News, May 18

Commission staff “would only be appointed by the Democrat chairman” and “Republicans would not have a say in that.”

— Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), in remarks, May 19

“We need to read the fine print. Even though the commission appears to be balanced, my staff tells me that in fact the majority — the chair, who will be determined by Pelosi and Schumer — control all the staff hiring.”

— Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), in a news conference, May 18

The House passed a bill to establish an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, similar to the 9/11 Commission that investigated the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The vote on Wednesday was 252 to 175, with 35 Republicans joining all Democrats in support.

The Jan. 6 commission members would be split equally between Democrats and Republicans. But they would need a staff: investigators, lawyers, aides, the works. Continue reading.