Senate Republicans

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Bill to Extend Jobless Benefits Fails in Senate

Republicans insist on offsetting budget cuts

(Newser) - Republicans today blocked legislation from advancing in the Senate to restore benefits for the long-term unemployed. Only four GOP senators voted to advance the legislation, which all 53 Democrats and two independents support. When its fate was sealed, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid switched his vote, which made the final...

Sen. Tom Coburn to Step Down Early

Health isn't the only reason, he says

(Newser) - One of the Senate's most conservative Republicans is retiring early—and Tom Coburn says his health problems aren't the only reason. The 65-year-old Oklahoman, a family doctor who earned the nickname "Dr. No" for his firm opposition to all spending he deemed wasteful, says the unhealthy, gridlocked...

Dems Raising a Ruckus Over Jobless Benefits

President Obama plans to keep issue in the news

(Newser) - President Obama plans to climb the bully pulpit this week and hammer Congress—but really, just congressional Republicans—for failing to extend long-term unemployment benefits. The White House has concocted a plan to keep the issue in the news on a daily basis, Politico reports. Tomorrow, Obama will invite a...

GOP Joins as Budget Clears 1st Senate Vote, 67-33

Deal should pass Senate no later than tomorrow

(Newser) - Conservatives still don't love the bipartisan budget deal passed by the House last week , but as expected, it advanced in the Senate today after a number of Republican senators declared their support. In some cases, their quite tepid support: The deal "isn’t everything I’d hoped it...

Senate GOP Blocks Another Obama Appointment

Republicans derail pick for DC court of appeals

(Newser) - Senate Republicans blocked another of President Obama's picks for one of the nation's top courts today, the latest skirmish in a nominations battle that has intensified partisan tensions in the chamber. The vote derailed Obama's selection of Georgetown University law professor Cornelia Pillard to fill one of...

GOP Blocks 2 Obama Picks, Sets Up Senate Fight

Democrats threaten to change rules requiring 60 votes

(Newser) - Senate Republicans today blocked President Obama's picks for a powerful federal court and a housing regulatory agency, prompting Democrats to threaten curtailing the GOP's ability to derail nominations. "Something has to change, and I hope we can make the changes necessary through cooperation," Harry Reid said...

Obama, GOP Senators Start to 'Jell' in Meeting

Is momentum shifting against House Republicans?

(Newser) - A ray of hope at the White House? Republican senators emerged from a nearly 2-hour meeting with President Obama today saying the two sides are closer to an agreement—or are at least listening to each other, Politico reports. What's more, the Washington Post reports that Obama talked by...

Shutdown Deal Near? Tone Still Hopeful

More meetings today amid signs of progress

(Newser) - So will the week end with a Capitol Hill deal to reopen the government and avoid a default, or at least set the stage for a weekend breakthrough? Signs of progress remain promising , but as Politico puts it, "there’s no one dancing in the West Wing end zone"...

Government Shutdown Looms Again

Congress grapples with sequester as Washington budget war continues

(Newser) - Ready for another shutdown showdown? Well tough, because Congress seems to be barreling toward yet another irreconcilable budget stalemate, the Washington Post reports. Lawmakers need to reach a deal on the budget and, particularly, the sequester cuts by Oct. 1, which is just three weeks after they return from August...

Democrats Did Kill the Filibuster

 Democrats 
 Did Kill the 
 Filibuster 
OPINION

Democrats Did Kill the Filibuster

Wall Street Journal: It lives in theory but is dead in reality

(Newser) - So Harry Reid didn't exercise the "nuclear option" and thus kept intact Republicans' ability to filibuster presidential appointees, right? Wrong, declare the editors at the Wall Street Journal . Consider the filibuster dead in those situations—because what's to stop Democrats from making the same threat to kill...

Reid, McConnell Feud Startles Chummy Senate

Senate leaders get personal over filibuster rules, 2014

(Newser) - Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell have spent a combined 60 years in the Senate, and they've generally had an amicable relationship—but no more. Sticking points include the Democrats' attempt to oust McConnell in 2014; a super PAC led by former Reid aides is working against the minority leader...

Conservative Economists Praise the New Immigration Bill

Even as GOP senators threaten to kill it

(Newser) - Conservative economists appear to have gotten the memo about the GOP's new immigration-friendly stance. More than 100 of them today signed a letter praising the reform bill coming to the Senate floor, saying it would have a "positive impact on population growth, labor force growth, housing, and other...

Karl Rove: GOP Can Retake Senate in 2014
Karl Rove: GOP Can Retake
Senate in 2014
OPINION

Karl Rove: GOP Can Retake Senate in 2014

But the party will need 'quality candidates'

(Newser) - If the Todd Akins and Richard Mourdocks of the world keep their distance, Republicans have a chance of retaking the Senate in 2014, writes Karl Rove in the Wall Street Journal . To do so, they would would need a net gain of six seats. It sounds steep, but Max Baucus...

2 More Red-State Democrats 'Evolve' on Gay Marriage

But don't expect many more flips, says Nate Silver

(Newser) - Add two more senators to the list of gay-marriage "evolvers" —North Dakota's Heidi Heitkamp and Indiana's Joe Donnelly said today that they support same-sex marriage, reports the Huffington Post . Both are Democrats from conservative states and both are safe from re-election campaigns until 2018. "The...

2nd GOP Senator Might Embrace Gay Marriage

Lisa Murkowski says her views 'evolving'

(Newser) - Plenty of Senate Democrats have announced their support of gay marriage in recent weeks, but so far only Rob Portman has done so on the Republican side. That might soon change: Alaska's Lisa Murkowski tells the Chugiak-Eagle River Star that her view is "evolving." Murkowski has voted...

Sens. Paul, Cruz: We'll Filibuster Gun Control

Republicans deliver warning to Harry Reid

(Newser) - If Harry Reid goes forward with a possible gun-control measure, he'll face a filibuster, say three Republican senators. Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, and Mike Lee have penned a letter to the Senate majority leader, saying, "We will oppose the motion to proceed to any legislation that will serve...

Hagel Hearings Ended With Last Salvo of Smears

Dana Milbank thinks Congress should be ashamed of itself

(Newser) - Chuck Hagel was finally sworn in as defense secretary today, but not before enduring one last salvo of smears before yesterday's confirmation vote . Two Republicans said Hagel had accused Israel of "commiting, quote, 'sickening slaughter,'" Dana Milbank reports. "There was something sickening about this,...

Obama Invites Republicans to Zero-Hour Sequester Talk

They won't meet until Friday, the day cuts are supposed to kick in

(Newser) - President Obama has invited John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi to the White House for a meeting on Friday—the same day the sequester cuts are scheduled to kick in and the House is scheduled to leave town, the White House announced today. Does this mean we'...

Nebraska GOP Senator to Retire

He's one of only two Republicans backing Chuck Hagel

(Newser) - Nebraska Sen. Mike Johanns has informed his state's governor that he doesn't intend to run for re-election next year, sources tell NBC News . Johanns is notable as the man who replaced Chuck Hagel in the Senate—and is now one of only two Senate Republicans publicly backing his...

GOP Blocks Nomination of Hagel, for Now

He's still expected to become defense secretary, but after Senate recess

(Newser) - The Chuck Hagel drama continued on Capitol Hill today, as Republicans refused to allow a final vote on his confirmation to become defense secretary, reports the Hill . Hagel is expected to prevail eventually—but now it can't happen until lawmakers return from the Presidents' Day recess. Expect the next...

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