Tag: Senate GOP

Democrats warn of ObamaCare threat from Barrett, Trump

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Democrats on Monday painted Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s high court nominee, as an existential threat to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), allowing them to go on offense in the fight over the Supreme Court and the fast-approaching election. 

Democrats view health care as a politically potent issue that resonates with voters and galvanizes their base with only 22 days left to go until Nov. 3, when they are hoping to win back both the White House and the Senate majority.

They are unlikely to be able to stop Republicans from placing Barrett on the court but plan to use the hearings to try to build political pressure on vulnerable GOP incumbents and mobilize voters in the final stretch of the election.  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.

GOP sees falling Trump stock as growing threat to Senate majority

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Republicans are growing increasingly worried that President Trump’s slide in the polls following his COVID-19 diagnosis, coupled with an outbreak at the White House, is posing a major threat to their Senate majority.

The presidential campaign has quickly become one of the most tumultuous in modern history, but there’s more than enough turmoil and uncertainty to go around as both parties battle for control of the Senate.

One of the main concerns for Senate Republicans is Trump’s cash crunch, which has forced him to cut back on advertising in key battleground states at a time when Senate Democratic challengers are projected to significantly outraise GOP incumbents heading into the final stretch. Continue reading.

Trump Sneezes, GOP Catches the Virus

The president’s coronavirus diagnosis added another layer of volatility to competitive down-ballot races that will determine which party controls the upper chamber next year.

The president’s coronavirus diagnosis added another layer of volatility to competitive down-ballot races that will determine which party controls the upper chamber next year.

Trump’s diagnosis adds another layer of volatility not just to the presidential race but to competitive down-ballot races that will determine which party controls the upper chamber next year. Republicans, who hope to continue reshaping the federal judiciary in a second Trump term, hold a 53-47 seat majority but are mostly on defense with a Senate map that continues to widen for Democrats less than one month out from Election Day.

Democrats, eyeing control of both chambers of Congress under a President Joe Biden, need to win at least four seats to take back the Senate majority for the first time since 2014. With an expanding map, Democrats have more than half a dozen opportunities, though they still need to protect a couple of their own vulnerable seats, like in Alabama and Michigan. And one of their top targets – North Carolina – has been roiled by revelations of their nominee’s extramarital relationship. The battle for the Senate remains fluid and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has put Republican chances of holding the chamber at “50-50.” Continue reading.

The serious political and health risks Republicans are taking in moving forward with the Barrett hearings

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Despite a coronavirus outbreak that has hospitalized the president, infected a host of his staff and Republican allies, and forced the Senate to pause all votes for two weeks, Senate Republicans are pushing forward with the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. There’s an in-person hearing scheduled for Oct. 12.

“We’re going to have a hearing for Amy Barrett, the nominee to the Supreme Court,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said over the weekend about the first, major step in the process. “It will be done safely — but I’ve got a job to do, and I’m pressing on.”

It’s obvious why Republicans want to plow through: They have a legacy-defining chance to tilt the Supreme Court for years to come, and their ability to do that gets more uncertain after the election. What if they lose the White House and Senate majority? Continue reading.

Alumni at Barrett’s undergrad school sign letter of concern

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett graduated in 1994 with honors from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. But more than 1,500 alumni of the small liberal arts school have made it known they are not proud of their ties to the conservative lawyer and judge.

Barrett graduated magna cum laude with an undergraduate degree in English. She was a member of the Honor Council and named to the Student Hall of Fame. After her next stop at Notre Dame’s law school, Barrett built a career of “professional distinction and achievement,” said Rhodes president Marjorie Hass, in a statement issued after President Donald Trump nominated Barrett to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The statement was dated Sept. 22. Soon after, Rhodes alumni Rob Marus and Katherine Morgan Breslin wrote a letter criticizing Barrett’s stances on abortion law, the LBGTQ community and the Affordable Care Act. Signed by 1,513 alumni and posted online, the letter says the alumni are “firmly and passionately opposed to her nomination,” declaring Barrett fails to represent their views and values. Continue reading.

Comey defends probe of Trump and Russia as Republicans insist it was biased

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Former FBI director James B. Comey on Wednesday defended the bureau’s 2016 investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia, pushing back on Senate Republicans’ skeptical questions about the probe and taking particular aim at Attorney General William P. Barr’s assertion that it was unfounded.

Testifying before the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee as part of that panel’s latest review of the Russia probe, Comey repeatedly told GOP lawmakers he disagreed with the “preamble” to their questions and expressed unfamiliarity with recently released information that they claim discredits the investigation.

He grew particularly exasperated when asked about Barr’s criticism that the FBI’s decision to open the investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign was based on insufficient evidence, saying he had “no idea what on earth” the attorney general was talking about. Continue reading.

Majority says winner of presidential election should nominate next Supreme Court justice, Post-ABC poll finds

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A majority of Americans oppose efforts by President Trump and the Republican-led Senate to fill a Supreme Court vacancy before the presidential election, with most supporters of Democratic candidate Joe Biden saying the issue has raised the stakes of the election, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The Post-ABC poll, conducted Monday to Thursday, finds 38 percent of Americans say the replacement for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last week, should be nominated by Trump and confirmed by the current Senate, while 57 percent say it should be left to the winner of the presidential election and a Senate vote next year.

Partisans are deeply divided on the issue, though clear majorities of political independents (61 percent) and women (64 percent) say the next justice should be chosen by the winner of this fall’s election, including about half of each group who feel this way “strongly.” Continue reading.

McConnell is blocking 400 bills Americans want — but he’s rushing a Supreme Court pick

McConnell has blocked everything from legislation to help unemployed workers to a bipartisan background check bill for gun sales.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has made pushing through Donald Trump’s judicial nominees almost his singular focus of the past two years, confirming Trump’s court picks at a rapid clip while blocking a slew of bills the Democratic-controlled House has passed.

Now, less than six weeks before the presidential election, McConnell has vowed to ram through a Supreme Court nominee to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — prioritizing filling the seat over helping Americans struggling to find work in the midst of the coronavirus-fueled economic depression.

Back in February 2016, when conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died, McConnell refused to give President Barack Obama’s nominee Judge Merrick Garland a hearing, let alone a vote on the Senate floor. McConnell said a justice should not be confirmed in an election year, and that the next president should get to pick the nominee. Continue reading.

Trump dumbfounds GOP with latest unforced error

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Senate Republicans were left dumbfounded Thursday by President Trump’s latest self-engineered controversy, a suggestion there might not be a peaceful transition of power after Election Day, which left his GOP allies on Capitol Hill scrambling for political cover.

GOP lawmakers expressed frustration that a week that had started so positively with the Senate Republican Conference quickly unifying ahead of a Supreme Court confirmation battle had turned into a circus.

“The president figured out how to take an overwhelmingly good week and change the subject? Shocking. I don’t know what to say,” said one senior Republican senator, referring to the dismay Republicans felt over what they see as Trump’s latest unforced error. Continue reading.