Category: US Senate

Booker, Harris Add Historic Diversity to Senate Judiciary

The following article by Todd Ruger was posted on the Roll Call website January 10, 2018:

2020 hopefuls are second and third black senators to serve on panel

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker is the first black man to sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

The addition of Democrats Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday gave the two potential 2020 presidential hopefuls a big platform, but also a spot in the panel’s history.

Booker becomes the first black man to sit on the committee, which oversees civil rights, voting rights, housing discrimination and other Justice Department enforcement efforts that are seen as crucial to African-Americans. Harris, who is biracial, becomes the second black woman to serve on the panel, after Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois, who left the Senate in 1999.

In one move by Democrats, Booker and Harris become the second and third black senators to serve on the committee and its first black members in nearly two decades. It will be the first time two black senators have been on the panel at the same time, and it comes as minority communities express concern at moves by President Donald Trump and his administration, specifically those by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Continue reading “Booker, Harris Add Historic Diversity to Senate Judiciary”

Health Care Overhaul Appears Unlikely Before Midterm Elections

The following article by Joe Williams was posted on the Roll Call website January 10, 2018:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Majority Whip John Cornyn arrive for a news conference following the Republicans’ policy lunch on Tuesday. McConnell has been pessimistic about the chances for a health care overhaul this year. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Republicans are at risk of facing voters this year with no cohesive strategy to fulfill their seven-year campaign promise to repeal and replace the 2010 health care law or address the rising cost of health care.

Following a meeting at Camp David over the weekend between President Donald Trump and top congressional leaders, members said a major overhaul of the law is unlikely this year.

Such a move could anger members of the GOP base, who have heard Republicans pledge for years to gut the law, as well as a broader set of voters whom Democratic political operatives say are opposed to the failed Republican health care proposals from last year. Continue reading “Health Care Overhaul Appears Unlikely Before Midterm Elections”

Feud over Trump dossier intensifies with release of interview transcript

The following article by Devlin Barrett and Tom Hamburger was posted on the Washington Post website January 10, 2018:

Glenn R. Simpson, former Wall Street Journal journalist and a founder of the research firm Fusion GPS, arrives to appear before a closed House Intelligence Committee hearing in November. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

The political battle over the FBI and its investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election intensified Tuesday with the release of an interview with the head of the firm behind a dossier of allegations against then-candidate Donald Trump.

The transcript of Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn R. Simpson’s interview with the Senate Judiciary Committee was released by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), the panel’s senior Democrat, over the objections of Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa). Continue reading “Feud over Trump dossier intensifies with release of interview transcript”

Historic Obstruction or Success in Senate? Yes

The following article by Ed Pesce was posted on the Roll Call website January 9, 2018:

McConnell decries debate time delays, praises success in confirmations

Williams/CQ Roll Call

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell used his leadership time on Monday to criticize Democrats for making 2017 “an historic year of partisan obstruction” by using the full 30 hours of debate permitted under the rules on nominations. But McConnell’s complaint, echoed by other senior Republicans and President Donald Trump, comes as those same leaders have been trumpeting their success in confirming a record number of 12 federal circuit court judges to the bench, as well as the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.

The Kentucky Republican and his allies say the Democrats are purposely gumming up the works to prevent Trump from staffing the executive and judicial branches. McConnell pointed to his having to file procedural cloture motions to limit debate on the four pending district court nominations that members are considering in the chamber this week.  Continue reading “Historic Obstruction or Success in Senate? Yes”

Republicans: Budget deal prospects are dimming

The following article by Racael Bade, Seung Min Kim and John Bresnahan was posted on the Politico website January 8, 2018:

“[R]ight now, the Democrats are holding that deal hostage for a DACA negotiation,” Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn said. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Congressional Republicans and White House officials are increasingly skeptical that they’ll reach a long-term budget agreement with Democrats in the next 11 days, accusing progressives of slow-walking a spending deal until they get what they want on immigration.

Party leaders from both sides of the aisle have been quietly working to raise stiff spending caps to avert a government shutdown before Jan. 19, when federal agency funding runs dry.

But Republicans claim Democrats won’t back a long-term spending plan until Congress agrees to shield hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants from deportation. The Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which gave safe harbor to “Dreamers,” formally ends March 5, although some immigrants have already started losing their protections. Continue reading “Republicans: Budget deal prospects are dimming”

Why Trump and Republicans are suddenly talking up bipartisanship

The following article by James Hohmann with Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve was posted on the Washington Post website January 8, 2018:

President Trump spoke about his legislative priorities and answered reporters’ questions at a news conference at Camp David, Md., on Jan. 6. (The Washington Post)

THE BIG IDEA: Since the day they enacted the biggest overhaul of the tax code in a generation without a single Democratic vote, Republicans have been talking a big game about their supposed desire to work across the aisle.

“We hope that 2018 will be a year of more bipartisan cooperation,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters at Camp David on Saturday, dubiously predicting that “a significant number of Democrats” will want to support President Trump’s agenda. Continue reading “Why Trump and Republicans are suddenly talking up bipartisanship”

Read the full transcript of Glenn Simpson’s Senate testimony

Earlier today, Sen. Diane Feinstein released the transcript of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s 10-hour testimony Mr. Simpson of Fusion GPS regarding their Russia dossier.

The New York Times has posted that testimony.  Here’s a link to it if you’d like to read it.

The Justice Department lacks key leaders, and a Republican senator is threatening to keep it that way

The following article by Matt Zapotosky was posted on the Washington Post website January 6, 2018:

Nearly a year into President Trump’s administration, the Justice Department lacks Senate-confirmed appointees in leadership posts running the national security, criminal, civil rights and other key divisions. And the problem shows no sign of abating anytime soon. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Nearly a year into President Trump’s administration, the Justice Department lacks Senate-confirmed appointees in leadership posts running the national security, criminal, civil rights and other key divisions. And the problem shows no sign of abating anytime soon.

On Thursday, after Attorney General Jeff Sessions revealed he was implementing new guidance to make it easier for federal prosecutors to pursue marijuana cases in states where the substance is legal, Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) accused the Justice Department of trampling the will of Colorado voters and said he would “take all steps necessary, including holding DOJ nominees, until the Attorney General lives up to the commitment he made to me prior to his confirmation.”

Already, the department had a dearth of Senate confirmed nominees in leadership positions. While the top three posts are filled, the National Security Division, Criminal Division, Civil Rights Division, Tax Division, the Drug Enforcement Administration and others lack confirmed presidential appointees. A Justice Department official said the delays have been frustrating, particularly in the criminal and national security divisions. Continue reading “The Justice Department lacks key leaders, and a Republican senator is threatening to keep it that way”

First phase of Trump border wall gets $18 billion price tag, in new request to lawmakers

The following article by Nick Niroff and Erica Werner was posted on the Washington Post website January 5, 2018:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection released aerial footage shot on Oct. 17 of the eight prototype border walls near the U.S.-Mexico border. (US Customs and Border Protection Office of Public Affairs)

The Trump administration has told lawmakers that it wants $18 billion over the next decade for the initial phase of a Mexico border wall, laying out for the first time a detailed financial blueprint for the president’s signature campaign promise.

The money would pay for 316 miles of new fencing and reinforce another 407 miles where barriers are already in place, according to cost estimates sent to senators Friday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. If the work was completed, more than half of the 2,000-mile border with Mexico would have a wall or other physical structure by 2027. Continue reading “First phase of Trump border wall gets $18 billion price tag, in new request to lawmakers”