Tag: Sen. McCain

The missing voice of John McCain in impeachment and Ukraine

Late senator was the foremost expert and advocate in Congress for the Eastern European nation

OPINION — If there was ever a time and a place where the voice of John McCain was missing from Congress, this is it — at the intersection of an impeachment, an election and a constitutional crisis.

The late Arizona Republican was one of the few members famously ready and willing to stand on a political island if he thought it was the right thing to do. So it’s easy to imagine him waiting in the well of the Senate to flash a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down on the fate of President Donald Trump, with cable pundits everywhere holding their breath until he did. Continue reading “The missing voice of John McCain in impeachment and Ukraine”

Trump again takes aim at John McCain over dossier, prompting rebuke from Meghan McCain

President Trump is again training his fire on the late senator John McCain, nearly seven months after the Arizona Republican’s death from brain cancer.

Trump’s tweets over the weekend prompted a rebuke from the senator’s daughter Meghan McCain and from some lawmakers.

On Saturday, Trump quoted former independent counsel Ken Starr, who criticized McCain on a recent Fox News show. In the segment, Starr referred to reports that a McCain ally had shared with the media parts of a dossier that allegedly included information linking Trump to the Russian government.

Trump piled on in his Saturday night tweet, criticizing McCain — as he has repeatedly done on the campaign trail and in interviews — for his vote against repealing the Affordable Care Act in 2017.

View the complete March 17 article by Felicia Sonmez on The Washington Post website here.

The ‘Maverick’ and the ‘Lion’

The following column by Tom Perez was posted on the ABC News website August 28, 2018:

Sen. Ted Kennedy jokingly holds the Profile in Courage award as if he intends to keep it, as co-winner, Sen. John McCain, right, reacts during a ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, May 24, 1999. Credit: Elise Amandola, AP, file

My former boss, Ted Kennedy, died nine years to the day before Sen. John McCain passed away of the same disease. The two were famously close friends —— lawmakers who rose above the petty resentments of party tribalism to respect and love one another based on their shared passion for public service.

Ted Kennedy is not here today to honor his dear friend in the same way that Sen. McCain honored him when he passed away. But as chair of the Democratic Party, I want to take the opportunity to honor Sen. McCain. Not because I agreed with every policy position he took, but because, like Senator Kennedy, he was guided by a loyalty to public service and the American people.

When I was nominated to serve as President Obama’s labor secretary in 2013, Democrats controlled the U.S. Senate by a slim margin. I needed every Democrat and six Republicans to vote in the affirmative to clear the cloture hurdle before I could be confirmed. The rift between left and right seemed insurmountable. But then, there was always John McCain.

View the complete article here.

John McCain Dies at Age 81

The following article by Chris Sosa was posted on the AlterNet.org website August 24, 2018:

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has died at the age 81 after a battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer.

He served as a member of the U.S. Senate from 1987 until the time of his death.

McCain was frequently cited as an American war hero for his past endurance of torture as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.

View the complete article here.

Mulvaney defends White House aide over ‘dying’ McCain comment: It was ‘joke’ in ‘private meeting’

The following article by Luis Sanchez was posted on the Hill website May 12, 2018:

White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney on Saturday defended the White House aide who made a derisive comment about Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), saying the real issue was that the “bad joke” had been leaked to the press.

“This was a private meeting inside the White House. It was a joke. It was a badly considered joke that she said fell flat,” Mulvaney, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said during an appearance on Fox News.

But Mulvaney argued that the leak of the comment posed the greater issue: “The leak was designed to hurt that person. Also, it completely ignored the harm it would do to the McCain family, which is doubly inconsiderate.”

The Hill first reported Thursday that special assistant Kelly Sadler had mocked McCain’s brain cancer diagnosis a day after the Arizona Republican had come out against Trump’s pick to lead the CIA, Gina Haspel. Continue reading “Mulvaney defends White House aide over ‘dying’ McCain comment: It was ‘joke’ in ‘private meeting’”

A new bipartisan immigration plan surfaces in the Senate — and Trump labels it a ‘total waste of time’

The following article by Ed O’Keefe was posted on the Washington Post website February 5, 2018:

Sen. Christopher Coons (D-Del.) speaks to reporters after the Senate reached an agreement to end the shut down of the federal government on Jan. 22, 2018. Credit: Joshua Roberts/Reuters

Talks to resolve the legal status of young undocumented immigrants and enact new border security measures remain stalled in the closely divided Senate on Monday, as a new bipartisan proposal to resolve the impasse was dismissed by the White House as insufficient.

The proposal by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.) would grant permanent legal status to undocumented immigrants known as “dreamers” and bolster security along the U.S.-Mexico border. It copies a plan introduced in the House that has 54 co-sponsors from both parties. But President Trump tweeted that the idea is a “total waste of time” because it doesn’t immediately authorize spending the billions to build new barriers along the border. Continue reading “A new bipartisan immigration plan surfaces in the Senate — and Trump labels it a ‘total waste of time’”

The immigration bills in Congress aren’t perfect. That’s okay.

The following commentary by the Washington Post Editorial Board was posted on their site February 5, 2018:

© Getty Images

BY TRYING to solve every problem related to America’s immigration system, Congress has repeatedly failed to solve any of them. It’s time to end that legislative dysfunction, which has played on a loop on Capitol Hill for years. Why not sidestep the most incendiary disagreements and target the two main areas on which there is broad bipartisan acceptance: protecting “dreamers” brought to the United States as children and beefing up border security?

The contours of such a deal, if not the details, are within lawmakers’ reach. Similar bipartisan bills to that end now have been introduced in both houses of Congress — this month, by John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.) in the Senate and, last month, by Will Hurd (R-Tex.) and Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) in the House. Each deserves a hearing and a vote. Continue reading “The immigration bills in Congress aren’t perfect. That’s okay.”

McCain, Coons to introduce new immigration bill that omits wall funding: report

The following article by Julia Manchester was posted on the Hill website February 4, 2018:

A woman holds up a sign during a rally supporting DACA outside the White House in Washington, September 4, 2017. Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Christopher Coons (D-Del.) will introduce immigration legislation on Monday in an effort to reach a budget deal before the federal government’s current funding runs out on Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The bipartisan piece of legislation provides recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, commonly known as “Dreamers,” an opportunity for citizenship while ordering a study to figure out what border security measures are needed, according to the Journal.

DACA aimed to protect from deportation certain immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally when they were children. Continue reading “McCain, Coons to introduce new immigration bill that omits wall funding: report”

Arizona’s Double-Barrel Rejection of President Trump’s ‘Fake News’

The following article by Niels Lesniewski was posted on the Roll Call website January 17, 2018:

Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake gave a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday in defense of the free press. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Arizona’s two Republican senators asserted themselves Wednesday as defenders of the free press.

Jeff Flake took to the Senate floor for a well-publicized defense of the truth, as President Donald Trump was potentially preparing for an Orwellian “fake news” award ceremony.

“The free press is the despot’s enemy, which makes the free press the guardian of democracy. When a figure in power reflexively calls any press that doesn’t suit him ‘fake news,’ it is that person who should be the figure of suspicion, not the press,” Flake said. Continue reading “Arizona’s Double-Barrel Rejection of President Trump’s ‘Fake News’”

Mr. President, stop attacking the press

The following commentary by John McCain was posted on the Washington Post website January 16, 2018:

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders takes questions during a press briefing at the White House on Jan. 11. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)

John McCain, a Republican, represents Arizona in the U.S. Senate.

After leaving office, President Ronald Reagan created the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award to recognize individuals who have fought to spread liberty worldwide. Nancy Reagan continued the tradition after her husband’s death, and in 2008 she bestowed the honor on human rights icon Natan Sharansky, who credited Reagan’s strong defense of freedom for his own survival in Soviet gulags. Reagan recognized that as leader of the free world, his words carried enormous weight, and he used them to inspire the unprecedented spread of democracy around the world.

President Trump does not seem to understand that his rhetoric and actions reverberate in the same way. He has threatened to continue his attempt to discredit the free press by bestowing “fake news awards” upon reporters and news outlets whose coverage he disagrees with. Whether Trump knows it or not, these efforts are being closely watched by foreign leaders who are already using his words as cover as they silence and shutter one of the key pillars of democracy. Continue reading “Mr. President, stop attacking the press”