Tag: U.S. Congress

Anxiety in an aging Congress as coronavirus marches across U.S.

“There’s a lot of concern that members could bring it home,” a senior Democratic leadership aide says as offices discuss recessing Congress.

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress are becoming increasingly anxious about coronavirus, and there is growing pressure on leadership to take steps to protect lawmakers — even potentially recessing for a period of weeks — two Democratic congressional sources said Sunday.

Multiple sources said anxiety was on the rise among lawmakers as more cases are reported and the virus spreads.

Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., said he will close his office in Washington and will self-quarantine at home in Arizona for 14 days after he came into “extended” contact with a person who is hospitalized with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. They came into contact at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, Maryland, Gosar said. Continue reading.

Trump upends controversial surveillance fight

The Hill logoPresident Trump is threatening to blow up an extension of expiring intelligence programs as he backchannels with a cadre of top allies who want to use the bill to reform a shadowy surveillance court.

Congress has approximately 10 working days to reauthorize three expiring provisions of the USA Freedom Act, a 2015 bill that overhauled the country’s surveillance laws, with Attorney General William Barr and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) backing a “clean” extension. 

But Trump threw a grenade into those already fragile plans Thursday, when Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told reporters that the president supports his effort to include broader reforms of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) as part of any reauthorization of the intelligence programs. Continue reading.

Congress eyes killing controversial surveillance program

The Hill logoMomentum is growing in Congress to reject the Trump administration’s request to reauthorize a controversial surveillance program.

Lawmakers have until March 15 to reauthorize expiring provisions under the USA Freedom Act, including a controversial phone records program known as Section 215.

The program, initially made public through leaks by former government contractor Edward Snowden, allows the National Security Agency (NSA) to collect metadata on incoming and outgoing calls from a specific number, though it does not allow the NSA to look at the content of the calls. Continue reading.

We Asked 81 Americans About Impeachment. Here’s What They Had to Say.

New York Times logo“A fit of partisan rage” is how Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader of the Senate, characterized the bid to remove President Trump from office. The president’s behavior, in the view of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, left House Democrats with “no choice” but to impeach.

But what do the American people think?

With the Senate trial of Mr. Trump now underway, we deployed a team of journalists to find out. We contacted hundreds of voters who had responded to an online survey saying they would be willing to be interviewed. We reached 81 people, from nearly 30 states. Continue reading.

Congress saw more bills introduced in 2019 than it has in 40 years, but few passed

Partisan divide and Senate’s focus on confirmations among factors cited

It would stand to reason that representatives and senators, dissuaded by the gridlock in Congress, would hesitate to introduce legislation. After all, only 105 laws were enacted during 2019, a poor showing by historical standards.

But that’s not what happened last year. In fact, lawmakers are on a pace to introduce more bills and joint resolutions than they have since the 1970s, when Congresses routinely saw 20,000 or more introduced.

In 2019, they introduced 8,820 bills and joint resolutions, 23 percent more than they did in 2017, the first year of the prior Congress. Continue reading.

House votes to send articles of impeachment to Senate

Axios logoThe House approved a resolution on Wednesday appointing House managers for the impeachment trial and transmitting the articles of impeachment to the Senate. Rep Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) was the sole Democrat to vote against the resolution.

Why it matters: The vote triggers the start of the long-anticipated Senate trial, which has been delayed for nearly a month after the House approved two articles of impeachment against President Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Driving the news: Pelosi named the seven House managers at a press conference earlier Wednesday.

  • House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.)
  • House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.)
  • Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.)
  • Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)
  • Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.)
  • Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.)
  • Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas)

Congress struggles on rules for cyber warfare with Iran

The Hill logoThe U.S. and Iran may have walked back from the brink of war, but the potential for a cyber battle looms with no clear rules of engagement.

Lawmakers and military officials say there’s no agreed-upon definition of what constitutes cyber warfare, leaving them to decide on a case-by-case basis how best to respond to individual incidents.

“We’ve never really gone down the route to define what constitutes an act of war when it comes to cyberattacks,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, told The Hill last week. Continue reading.

Soleimani killing deepens distrust between Trump, Democrats

The Hill logoSpeaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) bitterly complained that President Trump left her and other congressional leaders out of the loop before taking out Iran’s top general in a surprise airstrike Thursday.

Trump and his allies seem just fine with that.

Distrust between Trump and Pelosi is at an all-time high. Just two weeks ago, Pelosi led House Democrats in a mostly party-line vote to make Trump just the third president in U.S. history to be impeached. Now, Pelosi and Trump’s congressional allies are locked in a standoff over the shape of the Senate impeachment trial, preventing it from moving forward as Trump demands a speedy acquittal. Continue reading

Congress looks to Mediterranean allies to counter Turkey, Russia

The Hill logoLawmakers seeking to counter Turkey and Russia are investing in new efforts in the Mediterranean region to bolster U.S. allies like Israel, Greece and Cyprus.

Congress passed legislation last week as part of a $1.4 trillion spending package that makes the U.S. a key player in the market for natural gas in the region through a security and energy partnership with Eastern Mediterranean countries.

The measure strengthens military ties with Greece and lifts a decades-old arms embargo on Cyprus, reaffirming the U.S. commitment to the countries and positioning the allies to keep Turkey’s regional ambitions in check. Continue reading

 

Lawmakers bypass embattled Mulvaney in spending talks

The Hill logoAs lawmakers negotiate the fiscal 2020 funding bills, one official is notably missing from the talks: acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. 

The former House member has flown under the radar during the recent spending talks, a shift from the budget and debt ceiling negotiations earlier this year where he emerged as a gadfly for lawmakers.

Two congressional sources, as well as key lawmakers, say they’ve had little to no contact with Mulvaney as part of the fiscal 2020 talks.

View the complete November 29 article by Jordain Carney on The Hill website here.