Tag: U.S. Senate

Republicans face crunch time on guns as Trump wavers

‘We are very interested in knowing what his plan and proposal is and what he’d be willing to sign,’ says Senate Majority Whip John Thune.

The summerlong debate over new gun safety legislation is coming to a head.

Senate Republican leaders discussed gun legislation in an hourlong party meeting on Monday evening, including expanding background checks, according to an attendee. But no one is making a move without President Donald Trump, who senators expect will be presented options on gun legislation by White House officials later this week.

Trump himself has been nearly impossible to pin down on the issue. Top GOP leaders in the House and Senate — including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Whip John Thune, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Minority Whip Steve Scalise — will meet with Trump on Tuesday to discuss the fall agenda, according to three sources familiar with the meeting. That gives Republicans the opportunity to hear the latest from the president himself.

View the complete September 9 article by Burgess Everett and Marianne Levine on the Politico website here.

‘You are failing’: Former GOP supporter of Mitch McConnell tears into the majority leader for helping Russia

AlterNet logoWhen well-known former Republicans start goading Mitch McConnell with the moniker that clearly has him enraged, you know Moscow Mitch’s cover is blown. For years he’s been able to keep sliding under the radar, undermining the Senate, flouting the norms and traditions that kept the institution a functioning body, while the wider world paid little attention.

But that’s changed. His enthusiastic enabling of this worst, most dangerous president is one thing that’s breaking his protective shell. So is his refusal to protect the nation from enemy interference in our elections. But his disregard for human life is the last straw for a lot of people. That includes well-known former Republicans like David Weissman, who used to support McConnell, as well as Trump. In an open letter to Moscow Mitch published Wednesday in The Times of Israel, Weissman told him “if you don’t like this nickname, do your job.”

“You are failing the people that elected you to act as Senator, but instead you act as [a] Russian puppet,” Weissman wrote. “You have also blocked bipartisan bills that would protect elections in our country. This gives Russia more opportunities to interfere in our elections.” He writes to McConnell that he is “single-handedly putting our democracy at risk,” and “This is why the people are calling you Moscow Mitch.”

View the complete September 5 post by Joan McCarter from Daily Kos on the AlterNet website here.

Mitch McConnell really doesn’t like it when you call him ‘Moscow Mitch’

AlterNet logo“Moscow Mitch” is the derogatory name that MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and other critics of President Donald Trump have used in reference to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Scarborough has repeatedly argued that by blocking election security bills, McConnell is, in effect, helping the Russian government interfere in U.S. elections — an assertion that McConnell obviously resents deeply.

And just how deeply McConnell resents the “Moscow Mitch” moniker was evident during an appearance on Trump supporter Hugh Hewitt’s radio show on Tuesday.

“It’s an effort to smear me,” McConnell told Hewitt. “You know, I can laugh about things like the Grim Reaper, but calling me Moscow Mitch is over the top.”

View the complete September 3 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet website here.

The GOP is confirming Trump judicial nominees it stalled under Obama

Judges couldn’t get a vote when Obama was president. They’re getting on the bench under Trump

At least 10 judicial nominees who couldn’t even get a confirmation vote in the final years of President Barack Obama’s administration ended up on the bench after Donald Trump’s election.

Those nominees, blocked by Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans while Obama was in the White House, got a second chance. Rather than blocking them under Trump, McConnell sought to speed up the confirmation process. Thanks to the shift in political priorities, Republicans confirmed them with bipartisan support.

About 1 in 15 of the judges confirmed during the Trump administration were first nominated by Obama, a CQ Roll Call analysis found. Several more Obama nominees who were renominated by Trump are still awaiting a Senate vote.

View the complete August 26 article by Chris Cioffi on The Roll Call website here.

Trump and his Minnesota mini-me set out to flip the state red

The president homes in on a 2016 near-miss. But Republicans haven’t won a statewide race there since 2006.

For President Donald Trump, Minnesota is the one that got away in 2016. Now he’s fixated on flipping the state in 2020 — with the help of a provocative ex-radio host whose rantings earned him the nickname “mini-Trump.”

Former GOP Rep. Jason Lewis is expected to launch his Minnesota Senate bid on Thursday with guidance from two of Trump’s top political lieutenants. After losing Minnesota by just 1.5 percentage points, the president has told aides repeatedly in recent weeks that he’s determined to win the Democratic stronghold, which hasn’t gone for a Republican presidential candidate since 1972. Continue reading “Trump and his Minnesota mini-me set out to flip the state red”

Statement from DFL Chair Ken Martin on Jason Lewis

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA — Today, DFL Chairman Ken Martin released the following statement after President Trump’s hand-picked Republican Senate candidate Jason Lewis—who Minnesotans in the 2nd Congressional District voted out last November—announced that he was running for the U.S. Senate in 2020:

“Jason Lewis spent his time in Washington repeatedly siding with powerful special interests over Minnesotans—voting to gut protections for people with pre-existing conditions and to give tax breaks and giveaways to big corporations like prescription drug companies, big oil and Wall Street. Jason Lewis may want to continue fighting for special interests and big corporations, but Minnesota voters will reject this failed attempt at a second act.” Continue reading “Statement from DFL Chair Ken Martin on Jason Lewis”

Trump judges face scrutiny over president’s cases

The Hill logoFederal judges nominated by President Trump are facing a major public test as they handle cases that involve Trump personally or some of his most controversial policies.

New judges are already under pressure to carefully issue rulings as they learn the ropes of the federal judiciary. But three recently appointed district judges in D.C. — Trevor McFadden, Timothy Kelly and Carl Nichols — have found themselves and their rulings under a magnifying glass as they deal with cases involving Trump.

All three of the Trump-tapped judges have acted as their colleagues on the bench typically do, proceeding cautiously in the recent cases. And while legal experts disagreed over whether the judges are facing additional pressure over their rulings, they agreed that there is more attention on the cases, at least in the media.

View the complete August 4 article by Naomi Jagoda and Jacqueline Thomsen on The Hill website here.

‘Outrageous’: Lindsey Graham breaks rules of his own Senate committee to advance sweeping anti-asylum bill

AlterNet logoSenate Democrats and progressive advocacy groups accused Sen. Lindsey Graham of breaking Judiciary Committee rules Thursday after the South Carolina Republican forced a vote to advance his “dangerous and immoral” anti-asylum legislation.

The bill, titled the Secure and Protect Act of 2019 (S.1494), is condemned by human rights organizations as a sweeping attack on asylum seekers and an effort to expand President Donald Trump’s xenophobic deportation force.

Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, waived the panel’s rules to force a vote on S.1494 before Democrats were permitted to speak on the legislation.

View the complete August 1 article by Jake Johnson from Common Dreams on the AlterNet 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 fails to override Trump veto on Saudi arms sale

The Hill logoThe Senate on Monday failed to override President Trump‘s vetoes of resolutions blocking his arms deal with Saudi Arabia, marking the latest setback for critics of Riyadh.

Senators voted 45-40, 45-39 and 46-41 on the override attempts, falling well short of the two-thirds majority needed to nix Trump’s veto.

GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Mike Lee (Utah), Jerry Moran (Kansas), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Todd Young (Ind.) voted with Democrats to override each of the three vetoes. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who missed the first two votes, joined them to support overriding the third. 

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