Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) “is attacking Democrats for passing a pandemic relief bill that will send money to prisoners,” CNN reports.
“But Cotton’s attack left out a highly relevant fact. Prisoners, like other individuals, were eligible for checks up to $1,200 per individual from the first bill Trump signed and up to $600 from the second bill Trump signed, depending on their income.”
“Both of those bills were approved by a Republican-controlled Senate – and Cotton voted for both of them.”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) was asked twice if he supports Donald Trump running for president again in 2024 but he declined to answer, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Said Cotton: “Let’s put one election on the books before we start worrying about two elections out.”
Cotton, who aspires to be president, also said he didn’t think Trump would freeze the 2024 field.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) on Fox News this morning: “If local politicians will not do their most basic job to protect our citizens, let’s see how these anarchists respond when the 101st Airborne is on the other side of the street.”
He later amplified his remarks: “And, if necessary, the 10th Mountain, 82nd Airborne, 1st Cav, 3rd Infantry — whatever it takes to restore order. No quarter for insurrectionists, anarchists, rioters, and looters.”
Historically, “no quarter” means that you kill people rather than arrest them. It’s a war crime.
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The chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party says there’s no path for replacing the challenger to Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) after the party’s previous candidate abruptly dropped out following the state’s filing deadline, the AP reports.
“Tom Cotton is the most outspoken champion for bombing Iran in a Senate filled with Republican hawks. And he’s got President Donald Trump’s ear on it, too,” Politico reports.
“The Arkansas Republican has spoken to several high-ranking U.S. officials and the president himself about the rising tensions with Iran after the U.S. blamed the Islamic Republic for attacking two oil tankers. He declined to describe those conversations beyond saying that he and Trump ‘discussed the threat that Iran poses to the United States and its partners.'”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) said that Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s office will be investigated to determine if it leaked a confidential letter from one of Brett Kavanaugh’s accusers, Politico reports.
Cotton also said that lawyers recommended to Christine Blasley Ford by Democrats will face a Washington, D.C., Bar investigation for telling her that committee staffers would not travel to California to interview her about her alleged assault.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) has issued a cease-and-desist letter to Ozark Indivisible, an activist group that has been pressing members of Congress from Arkansas on health care, immigration and other issues, the Arkansas Times reports.
“The White House has developed a plan to force out Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, whose relationship with President Trump has been strained, and replace him with Mike Pompeo, the C.I.A. director, within the next several weeks,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Pompeo would be replaced at the C.I.A. by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), who has been a key ally of the president on national security matters, according to the White House plan. Mr. Cotton has signaled that he would accept the job if offered, said the officials, who insisted on anonymity to discuss sensitive deliberations before decisions are announced.”
Mike Allen: “We told you about internal administration conversations about sliding CIA Director Mike Pompeo over to replace Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, whenever he heads back to Texas.”
“Now we’re hearing about a top possibility for the next chess move: Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) was considered for CIA director (and SecDef) during the transition, and is a candidate for CIA again.”
“Cotton is one of the few senators with an easy relationship with Trump, talking to him a few times a week, giving him advice about top jobs (that Trump has taken), and planting the seed for the Iran policy announced Friday.”
Senate Intelligence Committee members Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) are scheduled to dine with the president Tuesday night — two days before their committee questions ousted FBI Director James Comey, the Washington Examiner reports.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) “came under fire at a raucous town Monday, as constituents pelted the Arkansas Republican on topics ranging from Donald Trump’s tax returns and possible ties to Russia to the GOP push to repeal Obamacare,” Politico reports.
“It was the latest in a string of confrontations between GOP lawmakers and voters during Congress’ two-week spring recess, coming on the heels of the party’s failed bid to overturn the Democratic health care law. Cotton, a rising star in the Republican Party seen as a potential White House aspirant in time, withstood 90 minutes of boos and occasional cheers from an oft-agitated crowd in Little Rock, Arkansas.”
“I would say to my friends in the House of Representatives with whom I served: Do not walk the plank and vote for a bill that cannot pass the Senate, and then have to face the consequences of that vote.”
— Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), on This Week.
In a series of tweets, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) said the House health-care bill can’t pass Senate without major changes.
Said Cotton: “To my friends in House: pause, start over. Get it right, don’t get it fast… GOP shouldn’t act like Dems did in Obamacare. No excuse to release bill Monday night, start voting Wednesday With no budget estimate!”
He added: “What matters in long run is better, more affordable health care for Americans, NOT House leaders’ arbitrary legislative calendar.”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) “faced an angry crowd Wednesday at a town hall in his home state of Arkansas, as constituents demanded answers on everything from Republicans’ plans to repeal Obamacare and build a border wall to funding for PBS,” CNN reports.
“The venue was at capacity — police said it held 2,000 people — and the audience routinely screamed at the senator throughout the event.”
“We should not be ashamed of the war we conducted in Iraq.”
— Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), in an interview with the Washington Examiner.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) says bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities would take several days and be nothing like Iraq War, BuzzFeed reports.
Said Cotton: “Even if military action were required — and we certainly should have kept the credible threat of military force on the table throughout which always improves diplomacy — the president is trying to make you think it would be 150,000 heavy mechanized troops on the ground in the Middle East again as we saw in Iraq and that’s simply not the case. It would be something more along the lines of what President Clinton did in December 1998 during Operation Desert Fox. Several days air and naval bombing against Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction facilities for exactly the same kind of behavior.”
“Early on, when my wife and I were dating, we went to the grocery store, and I told her that sometimes I just buy birthday cakes, and I eat them. And she said: ‘Really? I do, too.'”
— Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), in an interview with the New York Times.
A survey of political influentials finds that one-third of Republicans believe that Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and his GOP colleagues — including several potential presidential candidates — crossed the line when they published an open letter to Iranian leaders warning about a possible nuclear deal, Politico reports.
“Democrats feel strongly that the freshman’s gambit was not just a breach of protocol — one Iowan called it ‘borderline treasonous’ — but a political ‘gift’ that neutralizes an issue where they have been potentially vulnerable.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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