Tag: Senate Democrats

GOP fumes over Schumer hardball strategy

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Republicans are bristling over Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) hardball strategy to try to force them to finalize a bipartisan infrastructure deal in a matter of days.

Republican negotiators and members of leadership believe Schumer is trying to jam them and warn that they won’t vote to start debate Wednesday even on a shell bill that the Democratic leader is intending to use as a vehicle for the bipartisan deal once it’s finalized.

“It’s a bad idea if the bill’s not ready. … Our guys aren’t going to vote for a bill they haven’t seen,” said Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican. Continue reading.

Senate Democrats, White House agree on $3.5 trillion budget package

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Biden headed to Capitol Hill on Wednesday for sales pitch; Warner says plan is ‘fully paid for’

Top Senate Democrats and White House officials reached agreement late Tuesday on an overall spending target of $3.5 trillion for a filibuster-proof budget reconciliation package that Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer said will fund “every major program” President Joe Biden proposed in his economic plans.

Biden will come to the Capitol Wednesday to help Schumer and Budget Committee members pitch the spending target to the broader Senate Democratic Caucus over lunch. In a key selling point for his fellow centrists Democrats, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner told reporters the plan will be “fully paid for.”

The $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill, combined with $579 billion new spending in a bipartisan infrastructure bill that is still being drafted, will bring the total new spending on infrastructure, climate, child care, education and paid leave programs to $4.1 trillion. That figure “is very, very close to what President Biden asked us for,” Schumer said. “Every major program that President Biden has asked us for is funded in a robust way.” Continue reading.

Senators in the dark on parliamentarian’s decision

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A parliamentarian ruling touted as a breakthrough for the Democratic agenda is putting the Senate in uncharted territory and sparking confusion.

More than a week after Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough signaled that Democrats could have more than just two shots this year at using budget rules to bypass the 60-vote filibuster legislation normally must clear to become law, senators say they are largely in the dark about its ramifications. 

Democrats say they haven’t seen the formal guidance, don’t totally understand the mechanics and that it hasn’t really been discussed by members beyond a surface level.  Continue reading.

Democrats seek to tie Barrett to Trump on Affordable Care Act as confirmation hearings begin

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Senate Democrats are seeking to tie Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett to President Trump’s push to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on the first day of her confirmation hearings in an effort to dispel any doubt how she will rule on health care if placed on the court.

In interviews Monday morning and their opening statements to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Democrats homed in on health care, and specifically former President Obama’s signature health care law, an issue they view as favorable to their side and one on which they previewed a heavy focus.

The challenge Democrats face is that while they claim Barrett will overturn ObamaCare, the judge has never explicitly said she would do so, though she has dropped big hints about how she’s likely to rule. Continue reading.

Senate Democrats Demand Explanation Of Dropped Redlining Probes

Eighteen Senate Democrats on Monday asked a leading U.S. bank regulator to explain how his agency handled investigations into discrimination and “redlining” in the banking industry.

The letter, signed by Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, and the other lawmakers, comes after a story by ProPublica and The Capitol Forum recounting how six lending discrimination probes were dropped under President Donald Trump.

It calls on the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to explain how it handled those cases and why the banks involved have not been sanctioned. “Without intervention by the OCC, countless consumers could be subject to discrimination with no way to know or seek redress,” the letter says. Continue reading.

Senate Democrats unveil $500 billion short-term coronavirus relief plan

The Hill logoSenate Democrats on Thursday unveiled the details of a $500 billion coronavirus relief plan they will offer later in the morning when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) requests unanimous consent to provide an additional $250 billion to the popular Paycheck Protection Program.

Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.), have proposed $250 billion for the small business loan program, under which employers receive federally backed loans that are 100 percent forgivable if they maintain their payrolls. But half of the amount, $125 billion, is set aside for small banks and credit unions to help better serve woman-, minority-, and veteran-owned businesses.

Sens. Ben Cardin (Md.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Small Business Committee, and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) are expected to offer the plan after they object to McConnell’s request for a straight $250 billion infusion to the Paycheck Protection Program. Continue reading.

Senate Democrats pick fight over gun provisions in VAWA

Bipartisan talks broke down over renewing law aimed at curbing domestic violence

Senate Democrats on Wednesday introduced the same Violence Against Women Act reauthorization bill passed by the House, days after they say talks with Republicans about a compromise broke down over controversial gun provisions.

The entire Democratic caucus has backed the bill, which has provisions restricting gun rights of certain convicts that helped spur the split with Senate Republicans. While promoting the measure during a news conference Wednesday, Democrats blamed the National Rifle Association’s sway in the chamber for the Republicans’ reluctance to back the bill.

“We call on our Republican colleagues to not hide in the shadows here … to at least stand up to the NRA on this very focused provision,” Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a presidential candidate, said at the event.

November 13 article by Michael Macagnone on The Roll Call website here.

Senate Democrats to force vote on Trump health care rule

Resolution looks to block rulemaking on short-term health insurance

Senate Democrats unveiled plans Wednesday to force a vote on Trump administration health insurance guidance that could make it easier for states to get waivers from the 2010 health care law’s requirements.

“What we’re talking about today is granting waivers to states to offer junk insurance plans,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a press conference. “These plans let the insurance companies get away with everything, even murder, figuratively speaking.”

In October 2018, the administration put forward guidance to make it easier for states to make broader changes and subsidize policies that don’t meet the health care law’s standards.

View the complete August 1 article by Laura Castro Lindarte on The Roll Call website here.

Senate Democrats ask NRA execs, PR firm for documents related to alleged self-dealing Add to list

Three Senate Democrats have asked current and former National Rifle Association executives and the organization’s public relations firm to turn over letters, third-party audits, memos and other materials as they look into allegations of self-dealing and examine the NRA’s nonprofit status.

Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), members of the Senate Committee on Finance, sent letters Thursday to NRA Executive Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre, former NRA president Oliver North and Ackerman McQueen, the group’s longtime public relations firm. It has asked the men and the firm to hand over all requested documents by May 16.

The inquiries come after internal drama at the organization roiled the NRA’s annual meeting last weekend in Indianapolis. In a letter to the NRA’s board, LaPierre claimed North had tried to extort him by threatening to allege a “devastating account” of the NRA’s financial status unless LaPierre resigned from his position and withdrew the NRA from a lawsuit it had filed against Ackerman.

View the complete May 2 article by Katie Zezima on The Washington Post website here.