Tag: Senate GOP

McConnell in tough position as House eyes earmark return

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Plans by House Democrats to bring back earmarks at the start of the next Congress have put Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in a tough spot.

McConnell, a longtime member of the Appropriations Committee, isn’t personally opposed to bringing back earmarks, but he is risk averse and doesn’t want to spark a fight with Tea Party conservatives and Republicans considering White House runs in 2024, say GOP lawmakers.

The GOP Senate leader has been coy when asked about the topic. Continue reading.

Republican Senate signals it will confirm Biden Cabinet

A series of GOP senators told POLITICO they’d back the president-elect’s nominees — as long as they’re “mainstream.”

Senate Republicans are signaling they will confirm most of President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet picks in January — a rare bright spot for a White House that may clash with a GOP majority for years to come.

Many Republicans won’t even publicly concede that Biden will be the next president while President Donald Trump fights to overturn the election results. But a critical mass of GOP senators said in interviews that Biden has the right to his Cabinet, indicating he may be able to staff his administration largely to his liking.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said that he believes a “president ought to be able to pick his or her Cabinet barring someone who is out of the mainstream of either party,” and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) gives “great latitude” to presidents to make appointments. Those two plus Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) give Biden a working majority on Cabinet picks, even if Democrats fall short in a pair of Georgia runoffs and the GOP holds a 52-48 majority. Continue reading.

Republicans seek to stymie Biden with final Trump nominees

The Senate GOP is working to stock the government with conservative appointments in the lame duck.

Two months before Joe Biden assumes the presidency, Senate Republicans are racing to install a series of conservative nominees that will outlast Donald Trump.

While Trump still refuses to concede the election, the Senate GOP is moving quickly to ensure that the president’s stamp sticks to the Federal Elections Commission, Federal Reserve Board, the federal judiciary and beyond.

The effort played out in dramatic fashion this week, as Senate Republicans tried to muscle Judy Shelton onto the Fed by the narrowest of margins but fell short amid senators’ absences from the coronavirus. They’re also plotting a confirmation vote for Christopher Waller, Trump’s less controversial Fed pick. Continue reading.

How To Help Win the 2 Georgia Senate Runoff Elections

Joe Biden has won the presidency, and the Democrats held the House. But if the Republicans keep the majority in the Senate, we all know what Mitch McConnell will do — he’ll obstruct everything.

We know he won’t allow any progressive legislation to pass. We know there is an excellent chance he will block every judge we want to put on the bench and every reason to believe he’ll make confirming Joe Biden’s cabinet a complete nightmare. The only way to prevent this nightmare is to make sure that Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff win the runoff elections and become Georgia’s new Senators.

Neither David Perdue nor Kelly Loeffler were able to get more than 50% of the vote on November 3rd, so that’s a good start. But runoff elections are marked by low turnout — its anyone’s opportunity to win these seats. Whichever side is more motivated to get out and vote will win these seats. Continue reading.

Sullivan wins reelection in Alaska, giving Republicans 50 seats in Senate

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Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) on Wednesday was projected to have won a second term representing Alaska, securing 50 seats in the Senate for Republicans in the next Congress.

CNN and NBC News both called the race shortly before 10 a.m. EST.

The projection confirms that control of the Senate will come down to two Jan. 5 runoffs in Georgia, one between Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) and the Rev. Raphael Warnock (D) and the other between Sen. David Perdue (R) and Jon Ossoff (D). Continue reading.

Senate roadblocks threaten to box in Biden

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The Senate is looming as a roadblock for several of President-elect Joe Biden‘s policy priorities as Democrats start to assemble their 2021 agenda.

Biden and congressional leaders pledged to tackle a bold, aggressive slate of legislation when they felt bullish about their chances for a Democratic trifecta for the first time since 2010 and amid fierce pressure from their base to go big after four years of President Trump.

But in a setback, Biden will at best have a 50-50 Senate majority or, more likely, find his party in the minority by a seat or two, a significant hurdle that will test his ability to cut bipartisan deals while making it difficult if not impossible to pass several Democratic priorities for at least two years. Continue reading.

Senate packs up with coronavirus relief bill on ice until after elections

Mnuchin, Pelosi still talking, but little sign of a breakthrough

Senators prepared to leave town Monday night for their October recess with virtually no prospect of passing new COVID-19 aid legislation before the Nov. 3 elections.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke by phone for 52 minutes on Monday in what has become a near-daily attempt to narrow differences on pandemic relief between Democrats and the Trump administration. But there was no indication of any major progress.

Democrats “continue to eagerly await the Administration’s acceptance of our health language, which includes a national strategic plan on testing and tracing,” Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill tweeted after the call. And Hammill suggested that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who has resisted a large-scale aid deal, would need to show a greater willingness to compromise. Continue reading.

McConnell shoots down $1.8 trillion coronavirus deal, breaking with Trump

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday shot down the prospect of a coronavirus deal totaling between $1.8 trillion and $2.2 trillion — the goalposts of the current talks between Democrats and the White House.

McConnell’s comments, made to reporters in Kentucky, underscore the divisions between President Trump and Senate Republicans on a fifth coronavirus package, with the GOP leader preparing to force a vote on a $500 billion bill next week.

“I don’t think so. That’s where the administration is willing to go. My members think half a trillion dollars, highly targeted, is the best way to go,” McConnell said, asked about the prospect of a deal totally between $1.8 trillion and $2.2 trillion. Continue reading.

Judiciary Committee sets vote on Barrett’s nomination for next week

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Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans scheduled a vote for next week on Judge Amy Coney Barrett‘s Supreme Court nomination.

The panel will vote on Barrett’s nomination on Oct. 22 at 1 p.m. under a schedule offered by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham(R-S.C.). 

Barrett’s nomination was on the Judiciary Committee’s agenda for the first time on Thursday morning, but was widely expected to be held until Oct. 22. Under committee rules, any one senator can request that a nomination be delayed a week, and they routinely are. Continue reading.

GOP barrels toward vote on Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination

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Republicans are barreling toward an end-of-month vote on Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination after she avoided major landmines during hours of questions from senators over the past two days.

Barrett’s appearances before the Judiciary Committee this week have changed little about the overall dynamic of the Supreme Court battle on Capitol Hill, signaling the political fight over her nomination is likely to be settled on Election Day, not in the Senate.

GOP senators say nothing over the first three days of the four-day hearings has altered their support for Barrett or derailed their endgame: confirming her before the Nov. 3 elections. Continue reading.