Senate

How McConnell Locked Trump In on Funding Bill

February 15, 2019 at 6:28 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Playbook: “Around 3 p.m., McConnell walked the short distance from his Capitol office to the Senate floor. We were with a group of reporters, and his staff said he was about to speak on the floor.”

“Moments later, McConnell was at the Republican leader desk on the floor, and was standing, readying to speak. The only problem was Sen. Chuck Grassley was speaking, and didn’t want to stop. McConnell’s staff tried to get Grassley to yield, and he wouldn’t. Finally, he stopped speaking, and said, ‘I hope the next time I have the floor, I won’t be interrupted.'”

“McConnell then spoke, saying he had spoken to the president, and he would sign the bill. He then went to apologize to Grassley, who said McConnell was ‘simply rude’ for asking him to stop his speech. The two later made up.”

Fox News: “McConnell’s favorite expression is that ‘there’s no education in the second kick of a mule.’ No fool he, McConnell made sure he locked the President in, announcing Mr. Trump’s intentions publicly on the floor. That would bind the President to stand by his word.”

Quote of the Day

February 14, 2019 at 1:10 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Let’s all pray that the president will have wisdom to sign the bill so government doesn’t shut down.”

— Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), offering his own prayer after the official prayer to open Senate business.

No Consequences for Bad Behavior

February 13, 2019 at 10:16 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

First Read: “The American political system right now is so good at expressing outrage at distasteful/unethical/racist behavior. But it has become so bad at producing actual consequences for that behavior.”

Consider:

The political world howled when two GOP congressmen — Chris Collins (R-NY) and Duncan Hunter (R-CA) — were indicted, but both won re-election in 2018.
Democrats called for Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) and Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) to resign after being accused of, respectively, past racist behavior and sexual assault, but both men are still in office.
Republicans rebuked Rep. Steve King (R-IA) but he’s still around on Capitol Hill.
Oh, and President Trump, despite his approval ratings in the 30s and 40s, still enjoys tremendous support from Republican voters.

“And what happens when you only express outrage but don’t punish anyone? Well, it only leads to more bad behavior – and then less outrage at future transgressions.”

Scott Will No Longer Keep Assets In Blind Trust

February 11, 2019 at 12:49 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) “will no longer keep his vast wealth in a blind trust, like he did during his eight years as Florida’s governor,” the Tampa Bay Times reports.

“Instead, Scott said he will report his assets to the public in annual financial disclosure forms required of all members of Congress. He didn’t elaborate further.”

Klobuchar Admits She Can Be Tough on Staff

February 10, 2019 at 5:19 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Shortly after announcing her presidential bid on Sunday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) offered a defense against the recent reports that she has consistently mistreated members of her staff, the HuffPost reports.

Said Klobuchar: “Yes, I can be tough, and yes I can push people. I have high expectations for myself, I have high expectations for the people that work for me, but I have high expectations for this country.”

Sanders Will Give His Own State of the Union Response

February 4, 2019 at 6:37 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) “will deliver his own response to President Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday for the third year running,” The Hill reports.

“His response will follow Trump’s speech and be streamed on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter…. at the same time that former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams delivers the official Democratic Party response.”

Hawley May Have Violated Open Records Laws

February 1, 2019 at 8:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Not long after Josh Hawley announced in 2017 that he was exploring a U.S. Senate run, Democrats requested records of any emails between his attorney general’s office and the consultants running his campaign. Hawley’s office told them they didn’t have any emails to turn over,” the Kansas City Star reports.

“But the emails did exist.”

“The revelation that Democrats made a records request and that Hawley’s office denied it — uncovered in documents newly obtained by The Star — is now leading advocates for government transparency to question whether Hawley and his staff failed to comply with the state’s Sunshine Laws.”

Senate Backs McConnell’s Rebuke of Trump

January 31, 2019 at 3:35 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The vast majority of Republican senators voted to support a measure declaring that the Islamic State and al-Qaeda remain serious threats in Syria and Afghanistan — directly contradicting the president’s assessment and his justification for seeking to withdraw U.S. troops from both countries,” the Washington Post reports.

“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Trump supporter who seldom openly crosses the president, drafted the amendment to a larger Middle East policy bill.”

Paul Awarded $580K from Neighbor Who Attacked Him

January 30, 2019 at 7:25 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was awarded more than $580,000 in damages and medical expenses in his lawsuit against the neighbor who tackled him and broke several of his ribs in a dispute over lawn maintenance, the AP reports.

Barr’s Confirmation Vote Postponed

January 29, 2019 at 10:29 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Senate Judiciary Committee postponed attorney general nominee William Barr’s confirmation vote amid Democrats’ concerns, the Washington Post reports.

“President Trump’s nominee for attorney general is expected to clear the Senate Judiciary Committee and be confirmed by the full Senate, but Democrats are worried he will limit special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.”

Did Donald Trump Jr. Lie to Congress?

January 29, 2019 at 8:17 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) hinted to MSNBC that Donald Trump Jr. might have perjured himself in Senate testimony.

Said Blumenthal: “I’m barred from saying whether any testimony has been conveyed to the special counsel. But I can tell you this much, I was in the room when a great many of these witnesses appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee behind closed doors. I think many of them should be called back to testify in public and I hope that will be true of other congressional committees, as well, because behind closed doors, there were questions, serious issues concerning their truthfulness and that issue pertained particularly to Donald Trump Jr. in a number of contentions before our committee.”

He added: “I think this common thread of lying to Congress and particularly to congressional committees may ensnare a number of others potential targets in this special counsel’s investigation and become a matter of criminal action.”

Congress Gets Back to Work

January 28, 2019 at 6:18 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “The House, which spent weeks passing futile bills to reopen the government, will turn to legislation higher on the Democrats’ priority list, including a bill to raise pay for civilian federal employees. Leading Democrats also plan to reintroduce a marquee bill to close the pay gap between men and women that they have fought to enact for years.”

“In the Senate, Republicans will try to push through a bipartisan Middle East policy bill that includes a disputed provision targeting the movement to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel. With the measure, Republicans will test for fractures in the resurgent Democratic Party, where Palestinian rights activists have found new voices in House freshmen such as Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.”

There are just 18 days until government funding runs out again.

Bennet Takedown of Cruz Goes Viral

January 26, 2019 at 8:03 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Colorado Politics: “The impassioned speech delivered on the Senate floor Thursday by U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet about the federal government shutdown quickly blew up online, accumulating millions of views and spawning calls for the usually unflappable Colorado Democrat to run for president.”

“Within 24 hours, clips of the broadside had been viewed online more than 11 million times, officials at C-SPAN told Colorado Politics, making it the most-watched congressional video in the network’s history.”

Senate Republicans Clash Over Shutdown

January 24, 2019 at 10:59 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Republican senators clashed with one another and confronted Vice President Pence inside a private luncheon on Thursday, as anger hit a boiling point over the longest government shutdown in history,” the Washington Post reports.

“This is your fault,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) told Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) at one point.

“Are you suggesting I’m enjoying this?” McConnell snapped back.

“The outbursts highlighted the toll the shutdown has taken on Republican lawmakers, who are dealing with growing concerns from constituents and blame from Democrats, all while facing pressure from conservatives to stand with Trump in his demand for money to build a wall on the border with Mexico.”

GOP Senators Getting Nervous

January 24, 2019 at 8:10 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Frustrated GOP senators read Vice President Pence the riot act at a closed-door meeting Thursday, telling him the partial government shutdown needs to end soon,” The Hill reports.

“Republican senators, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), warned the vice president that prolonging the shutdown is not a smart political strategy, in hopes of sending a clear message to President Trump that he needs to resolve the crisis as soon as possible.”

Bennet Eviscerates Cruz In Senate Speech

January 24, 2019 at 4:06 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), typically a mild-mannered, congenial guy, on Thursday unleashed all of his furor over the partial government shutdown on Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX),” the Washington Post reports.

“In a fiery exchange that played out on the Senate floor shortly before votes on two competing bills to reopen the government, Bennet raised his voice and seemed to let loose six years of pent-up ire directed at Cruz for leading an earlier shutdown.”

Senate Rejects Two Bills to End Shutdown

January 24, 2019 at 2:57 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump’s proposal, which included $5.7 billion in funding for a border wall, was rejected on a 50 to 47 vote, not meeting the 60-vote threshold required to move forward.

The Democratic proposal, which extends current government funding levels for two weeks but does not include border wall funding, was rejected on a 52 to 44 vote, also not meeting the 60-vote threshold though 6 GOP senators backed the measure (Collins, Gardner, Murkowski, Romney, Alexander and Isakson).

For members: What to Watch For In Today’s Senate Votes

Cohen Subpoenaed by Senate Intelligence Committee

January 24, 2019 at 12:29 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Senate Intelligence Committee has issued a subpoena for President Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, the Washington Post reports.

“Cohen had been scheduled to speak with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in public on Feb. 7, and both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees were in discussions with Cohen’s legal team to set up closed-door briefings around the same time. But Cohen on Wednesday sought to pull out of the Oversight hearing, citing alleged threats President Trump and his lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani had made toward Cohen’s family.”