Senate confirmation hearings

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

Fed Chief: We'll Get More Aggressive on Inflation

Jerome Powell tells Congress they'll raise interest rates more if need be

(Newser) - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged Tuesday that high inflation has emerged as a serious threat to the Fed's goal of helping put more Americans back to work and that the Fed will raise rates more than it now plans if needed to stem surging prices. "If we...

Republicans Cast Financial Nominee as Radical

Democrats defend Saule Omarova, Biden's choice for banking regulator

(Newser) - President Biden's choice to become one of the top banking regulators endured a contentious nomination hearing Thursday, with Republican senators warning she would nationalize the US banking system and Democrats saying she's eminently qualified and would be a tough overseer of Wall Street. Saule Omarova, 55, was nominated...

FBI Reveals Kavanaugh Check Drew 4.5K Tips

Christine Blasey Ford's lawyers say the background investigation was 'a sham'

(Newser) - The FBI has revived criticism of its handling of the 2018 background check on Brett Kavanaugh by conceding it received more than 4,500 tips on him. Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings for a seat on the US Supreme Court included testimony by Christine Blasey Ford, a professor who accused the...

Barrett's Day 2 Theme: 'I Have No Agenda'
Barrett
Sidesteps
Questions
on Big Issues
the rundown
Oct 13, 2020 10:55 AM CDT

Barrett Sidesteps Questions on Big Issues

'I have no agenda,' says Supreme Court nominee

(Newser) - The actual questioning of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett has begun on Capitol Hill. However, Barrett is following the tradition of nominees not answering questions about how they might rule on key issues—in this case, ObamaCare and abortion, notes Politico . "If I give off-the-cuff answers, then I...

One Issue Expected to Dominate at Barrett Hearings
One Issue
Expected 
to Dominate
at Barrett Hearings
the rundown
Oct 12, 2020 6:47 AM CDT

One Issue Expected to Dominate at Barrett Hearings

Democrats worried about health care and the fate of the Affordable Care Act

(Newser) - The confirmation hearings Democrats have tried to stall and Republicans have arranged with lightning speed begin Monday on Capitol Hill. The Senate Judiciary Committee opens its hearings into Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, with much of the focus from Democrats expected to be on health care. Coverage:
  • The process:
...

Trump's AG Nominee: It's Vital Mueller Finishes His Report

William Barr will tell senators that he won't interfere with Mueller investigation

(Newser) - His prospective boss may not be a fan of the Robert Mueller investigation, but Attorney General nominee William Barr promises that he won't interfere with it. In remarks released Monday ahead of his confirmation hearing before a Senate panel on Tuesday, Barr says it's "vitally important" that...

Kavanaugh Insists: It Didn't Happen
Kavanaugh:
My Accuser
Is Wrong
Sep 17, 2018 10:35 AM CDT

Kavanaugh: My Accuser Is Wrong

Kellyanne Conway says the woman should not be ignored or insulted

(Newser) - Brett Kavanaugh doubled down Monday on his denial of a sexual misconduct allegation going back to his high school days. "This is a completely false allegation," Kavanaugh said in a statement cited by CNN . "I have never done anything like what the accuser describes—to her or...

Collins on Effort to Sway Vote on Kavanaugh: It's Bribery

Watchdog group wants DOJ to investigate groups crowdfunding to pressure Maine senator

(Newser) - More than $1.2 million has been raised to help convince Sen. Susan Collins she shouldn't cast her vote for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, but the Maine pol isn't exactly motivated by the cash influx. Mainers for Accountable Leadership, the Maine People's Alliance, and a group...

Cory Booker Raises Drama of Kavanaugh Hearings

Democratic senator says he's willing to risk expulsion by releasing email

(Newser) - Day three of the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing has opened with a bang: Democratic Sen. Cory Booker says he has ordered his staff to release a Kavanaugh email even though it's supposed to remain under wraps. It's not clear yet what the email says, but NBC News reports...

Senate Panel Votes to Endorse Haspel as CIA Director

Full Senate will now vote on Haspel's confirmation

(Newser) - Gina Haspel won the endorsement of the Senate Intelligence Committee Wednesday, with the panel voting 10-5 to advance her nomination as CIA director to the full Senate. Haspel, who would be the first woman to lead the Central Intelligence Agency and the second person to lead the agency after being...

9/11 Architect Has 6 Paragraphs of Information About Haspel

And more from Gina Haspel's confirmation hearing

(Newser) - President Trump's controversial pick to lead the CIA is testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee Wednesday—and the man behind the 9/11 attacks is hoping to weigh in. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, currently detained at Guantanamo Bay, this week asked a military judge at Gitmo for permission to share six...

Trump's FBI Pick: Nobody Asked Me for 'Loyalty Oath'

Christopher Wray testifies before Senate Judiciary Committee

(Newser) - President Trump's pick to replace James Comey as head of the FBI appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday for his confirmation hearing and testified that his loyalty would be to the law, not to the White House. "No one asked me for any kind of loyalty oath...

Woman May Go to Prison for Laughing in Sessions' Hearing

Activist Desiree Fairooz is currently on trial for the outburst

(Newser) - Laughter may be the best medicine, but it's a lawyer, not a doctor, that a Code Pink activist now needs for guffawing during Attorney General Jeff Sessions' Senate confirmation hearing. HuffPost reports that 61-year-old Desiree Fairooz is on trial this week after being arrested by US Capitol Police for...

Plagiarism Accusations Surface About Gorsuch

Though an author he's accused of copying defends him against the allegation

(Newser) - Senators who oppose Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the Supreme Court might have a little more ammunition to work with this week: Both Politico and BuzzFeed are out with reports suggesting that Gorsuch copied other authors without attribution in his writings, particularly in his 1986 book The Future of Assisted ...

When Did SCOTUS Nominations Get Nasty? In the Beginning

The first president to have a Supreme Court nominee rejected in the Senate: Washington

(Newser) - Merrick Garland never got a hearing, and Neil Gorsuch looks headed for a highly partisan showdown this week that could see the first successful filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee since the 1960s and Senate rules rewritten as Republicans try to put him in the seat that's been empty...

Sessions: I'll Step Off Russia Inquiry When 'Appropriate'

AG doesn't seem up for resigning, though, after Russian ambassador chats revealed

(Newser) - More Democrats are calling for the resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions over a Washington Post report that he didn't reveal during his confirmation hearing he'd met with Russia's ambassador to the US while Election 2016 was in full swing. The latest to climb aboard the resignation...

Billionaire Investor Confirmed as Commerce Secretary

Senate confirms Trump nominee 72-27

(Newser) - The Senate on Monday confirmed billionaire investor Wilbur Ross as commerce secretary as President Donald Trump adds to his economic team, the AP reports. The vote was 72-27. Breaking with Republican orthodoxy, Ross said the Trump administration will work quickly to re-do the North American Free Trade Agreement. That's...

Dems Couldn't Stop It: Pruitt New Head of EPA

Oklahoma AG confirmed in 52-46 Senate vote

(Newser) - After a rough couple of days in the stocking of President Trump's administration, the Senate got back to business and pushed at least one more through. Oklahoma AG Scott Pruitt will head the Environmental Protection Agency, the Hill reports, after a Friday Senate vote confirmed him 52-46. As promised...

GOP Senator Will Vote No on Trump's 'Dangerous' EPA Pick

Susan Collins has 'considerable doubts' about Scott Pruitt

(Newser) - One Republican senator is breaking ranks to vote against President Trump's nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, who has sued the EPA 14 times. Maine's Susan Collins says she "has significant concerns" about issues affecting her state that Scott Pruitt has opposed the EPA on, "...

Health Secretary Confirmed With No Democratic Votes

ObamaCare foe Tom Price passed in 52-47 vote

(Newser) - A man who wants to do things to ObamaCare that the Hippocratic oath might forbid him doing to a patient is now the top health official in America. Tom Price, a longtime Republican congressman from Georgia, was confirmed as the next Department of Health and Human Services secretary early Friday,...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>
Most Read on Newser