Tag: GOP senate

Republicans face crunch time on guns as Trump wavers

‘We are very interested in knowing what his plan and proposal is and what he’d be willing to sign,’ says Senate Majority Whip John Thune.

The summerlong debate over new gun safety legislation is coming to a head.

Senate Republican leaders discussed gun legislation in an hourlong party meeting on Monday evening, including expanding background checks, according to an attendee. But no one is making a move without President Donald Trump, who senators expect will be presented options on gun legislation by White House officials later this week.

Trump himself has been nearly impossible to pin down on the issue. Top GOP leaders in the House and Senate — including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Whip John Thune, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Minority Whip Steve Scalise — will meet with Trump on Tuesday to discuss the fall agenda, according to three sources familiar with the meeting. That gives Republicans the opportunity to hear the latest from the president himself.

View the complete September 9 article by Burgess Everett and Marianne Levine on the Politico website here.

GOP faces new pressure to act on guns

The Hill logoFor Republicans hoping to run out the clock on gun reform, the weekend’s mass shooting in Texas has complicated the math.

The killings of seven people in Odessa by a lone gunman on Saturday has rekindled the push for stricter gun laws, rousing Democrats and outside reform advocates already energized by the summer’s tragedies.

Walmart, one of the world’s largest retailers, announced Tuesday that it would limit its ammunition sales and request customers not openly carry firearms — a move immediately condemned by the National Rifle Association (NRA) as “shameful.”

View the complete September 3 article by Jordain Carney and Mike Lillis on The Hill website here.

Republicans grow anxious about the Trump economy

Trump’s trade war with China could undermine GOP chances of holding the White House and Senate in 2020.

Republicans have sat patiently with President Donald Trump on his tariff roller-coaster ride with China. Now they’re starting to feel queasy.

Trump argues his escalating trade war will force China to the table for a deal. But his ever-rising tariffs — and his market-rattling tweets — are increasingly alarming the GOP.

View the complete August 29 article by Burgess Everett on the Politico website here.

Nervous Republicans focus energy on protecting Senate ‘firewall’

The Hill logoThe GOP majority in the Senate is shaping up as a firewall for Republicans who are worried that President Trump might falter and lose the White House next year.

Republicans see winning back the House majority as a tough climb in 2020, and head-to-head matchups between Trump and various Democratic presidential contenders show the president behind his potential challengers.

Though Republicans overall are optimistic about Trump’s reelection prospects, they see holding the Senate, where they have a 53-47 edge, as crucial given the shape of races for the White House and lower chamber. And they’re playing their cards accordingly.

View the complete August 27 article by Jordain Carney and Max Greenwood on The Hill website here.

How a McConnell-backed effort to lift Russian sanctions boosted a Kentucky project

Washington Post logoIn January, as the Senate debated whether to permit the Trump administration to lift sanctions on Russia’s largest aluminum producer, two men with millions of dollars riding on the outcome met for dinner at a restaurant in Zurich.

On one side of the table sat the head of sales for Rusal, the Russian aluminum producer that would benefit most immediately from a favorable Senate vote. The U.S. government had imposed sanctions on Rusal as part of a campaign to punish Russia for “malign activity around the globe,” including attempts to sway the 2016 presidential election.

On the other side sat Craig Bouchard, an American entrepreneur who had gained favor with officials in Kentucky, the home state of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Bouchard was trying to build the first new aluminum-rolling mill in the United States in nearly four decades, in a corner of northeastern Kentucky ravaged by job losses and the opioid epidemic — a project that stood to benefit enormously if Rusal were able to get involved.

View the complete August 14 article by Tom Hamburger and Rosalind S. Helderman on The Washington Post here.

Mitch McConnell is intent on getting Trump and himself re-elected ⁠— and will even let Russia help make it happen

AlterNet logo“It sure seems like Russia’s No. 1 ally in compromising American election security is Mitch McConnell.” That’s Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, talking to Politico at this year’s DEFCON hacker conference in Las Vegas. Wyden and a couple of other Democrats were at the conference, “where a roomful of hackers demonstrated ways to breach insecure voting machines, those lawmakers focused their fury on the man proudly blocking their bills.”

Moscow Mitch, to be precise. “Why hasn’t Congress fixed the problem? Two words: Mitch McConnell,” Wyden said in his keynote address at DEF CON’s Voting Village. Rep. Ted Lieu, Democrat from California was there too, and told Politico his biggest election security concern: “I have two words: Mitch McConnell.” The House, along with having passed two bills that would expand background checks for gun purchases, has also passed election security bills.

McConnell is standing in the way of both, making him a legitimate threat to American’s personal safety and national security. He “knows full well that blocking election security legislation makes it easier for Russia and other foreign powers to attack the next election,” Wyden said. “And my sense is this is a price Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump are willing to accept.” Lieu agreed, “I think you have to ask, why would Mitch McConnell not want to improve election security?”

View the complete August 12 article by Joan McCarter from Daily Kos on the AlterNet website here.

Senate GOP plans to divert health, education funds to border wall

$5 billion move would set up clash with Democratic House over fiscal 2020 spending

Senate Republicans are looking to pay for President Donald Trump’s border wall in part by putting about $5 billion less in the largest domestic spending bill, several people with knowledge of the process said.

That move signals a likely fight over wall funding, as well as over Trump’s ability to reprogram or transfer funds to the border, when the fiscal 2020 appropriations process resumes after Congress returns in September.

According to several people familiar with the process, Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard C. Shelby, an Alabama Republican, wrote an allocation for the fiscal 2020 Labor-HHS-Education spending bill that is about $5 billion lower than it would have been to provide funding for the wall.

View the complete August 8 article by Paul M. Krawzak on The Roll Call website here.

Republicans hide behind Trump in gun debate

GOP lawmakers are sticking with the president and the NRA.

President Donald Trump briefly raised eyebrows Monday when he tweeted an endorsement of stronger background checks, tied to immigration reform, after the nightmarish mass shootings over the weekend.

But skeptical Republicans familiar with Trump’s mercurial nature didn’t rush out to embrace the idea.

View the complete August 5 article by Melanie Zanona, Marianne Levine and Sarah Ferris on the Politico website here.

Republicans struggle to respond in wake of El Paso, Dayton shootings

Washington Post logoThe Republican Party, which controls power in Washington and both states where America’s most recent mass shootings occurred, struggled on Sunday to provide a response or offer a solution to what has become a public safety epidemic.

There were thoughts and prayers, an appeal to donate blood, accolades for law enforcement and a presidential proclamation to lower flags to half-staff to honor the victims — 29 killed in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, and dozens more wounded over 13 hours.

Some Republicans, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) and Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, cited the influence of social media and video games or mentioned mental health problems. But on the question of how to stem the rising tide of gun violence, the overwhelming response from the party was silence or generalities.

View the complete August 4 article by Felicia Sonmez and Paul Kane on The Washington Post website here.

GOP senator held up Trump nominee, demanding to see border wall contracts after Army Corps panned construction firm he prefers

Washington Post logoA Republican senator held up the confirmation of a White House budget official this week in an attempt to obtain sensitive information about border wall contracts he has been trying to steer to a major donor, according to emails obtained by The Washington Post.

The emails show Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) blasting the “arrogance” of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after senior military officials told him the contracts contained sensitive, proprietary information provided by the companies that could not be shared.

In recent months, Cramer has touted his preferred construction firm, North Dakota-based Fisher Industries, and campaign finance records show the senator has received thousands of dollars in contributions from company chief executive Tommy Fisher and his family members.

View the complete August 2 article by Nick Miroff and Damian Paletta on The Washington Post website here.