“Former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker, a Republican who reshaped Tennessee politics and was once thought to be a contender for the presidency, has died,” the Tennessean reports.

“Baker, 88, served 18 years in the U.S. Senate. In 1966, he was the first Republican to be popularly elected to the Senate from Tennessee. Baker was also a chief of staff to President Ronald Reagan and a U.S. Ambassador to Japan.”

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) says he had never heard of Rep. Peter King (R-NY) “who has repeatedly and harshly attacked him until recently,” Politico reports.

Said Cruz: “I don’t know Mr. King. I’ve never met him. To be honest, I don’t think I had ever heard of him until he started getting on television attacking me.”

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) will filibuster President Obama’s nomination of David Barron to fill a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, Business Insider reports.

“According to his office, Paul will take to the Senate floor Wednesday morning to begin an old-fashioned, talking filibuster of Barron’s nomination. Paul opposes Barron because of his concerns about legal opinions Barron wrote in support of the use of drones against U.S. citizens.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) warned Republicans that he might push for Senate rule changes because of the standoff over consideration of nominations, Roll Call reports.

Said Reid: “I don’t plan on changing the rules today again, but how much longer can we put up with this? Even law enforcement officers… even law enforcement officers, as I’ve indicated here, they’re holding them up for no reason. You don’t hear people coming down here giving speeches about what horrible people the president selected to be the U.S. attorney in Louisiana, New Mexico and Connecticut, not a word. They just hide behind their obstruction.”

The Chattanooga Times Free Press profiles Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) who is likely to become chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee if Republicans take back the upper chamber.

“These days, as the top Republican on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he’s more likely to be found in far-flung corners of the Earth. The blunt-spoken Chattanoogan has become a globe-trotter since he assumed his role on the Democratic-run committee some 16 months ago. He’s racked up visits to 55 countries, including hot spots such as the Syrian border and Ukraine.”

Said Corker: “I’m in a place where I have the tremendous privilege of waking up every day and being involved in the big issues that our nation is dealing with both here but also abroad.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) told ABC News that he won’t say if he’s used marijuana before.

Said Rubio: “Here’s the problem with that question in American politics, if you say you did, suddenly there are all these people saying ‘Well, it’s not a big deal, look at all these successful people who did it.’ On the other side of it, if you tell people that you didn’t, they won’t believe you.”

“Rank-and-file senators are growing increasingly frustrated by the partisan warfare that on Thursday sunk another broadly popular bill, leaving the chamber with few accomplishments before the midterm election,” The Hill reports.

Republican senators blocked taking up a Democrat-led effort to raise the federal minimum wage, Roll Call reports.

“The Senate voted 54-42 to limit debate on taking up the proposal, falling short of the 60 votes needed. Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) was the only Republican to break ranks and vote in support of cloture.”

New York Times: “Democrats are staking their hopes of retaining a majority in the Senate on issues like the minimum wage, which they hope will allow them to appeal to voters despite the unpopularity of the president in many states and the bungled rollout of the Affordable Care Act.”

Wall Street Journal: “It is very difficult to imagine that House Republicans’ takeaway from such an election would be to search again for moderation. But it wouldn’t matter. The House won’t be capable of legislating on its own. The real focus will be on the Senate.”

“It also is very difficult to imagine Senate Republicans winning the 60 votes necessary to cut off a filibuster. So, the issue facing House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell would be simple. How do they legislate given the fact that every bill coming from the House would be subject to a Democratic filibuster in the Senate?”

“I thought I was a conservative, but we’ve got some in Congress now who are so far right they’re about to fall out of the Capitol.”

— Former Sen. Bob Dole (R-KS), quoted by the Washington Post.

Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) is undergoing emergency heart surgery, Roll Call reports.

His office confirmed a report from the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal, but did not provide any further details other than to note in a statement that he “is receiving excellent care.”

“I received that letter, ostensibly coming from Sen. Ino­uye himself, a half an hour before he died in Washington, D.C. Literally. Whether or not this could be construed as Sen. Ino­uye’s dying wish — let me put it this way — is problematic.”

— Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D), quoted by the Los Angeles Times, on whether a letter requesting that he appoint Rep. Colleen Hana­busa (D) to the Senate was authentic.

Sen. Angus King (I-ME), who caucuses with the Democrats, told The Hill that he will decide after the midterm elections whether to switch sides and join the Republicans.

Said King: “I’ll make my decision at the time based on what I think is best for Maine.”

“King’s remarks are a clear indication that congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle will have to woo the 70-year-old senator in order to recruit him to their side. That lobbying battle could be especially intense if King’s decision determines which party will control the chamber in the next Congress.”

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and his chief of staff were both told three years ago “of allegations that a then-aide to the senator had been sexually assaulted by state Rep. Bill Kramer, but none of them took the matter to the police or Assembly leaders, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN) “was prepped for an appropriations hearing on the defense budget when he took his turn Wednesday afternoon, flipping papers on his lap, reading from them and commending the witness for his department’s prompt response to a letter Coats had sent about a military accounting office in his home state,” the Washington Post reports.

“It was all fairly innocuous except for one problem: Coats was in the completely wrong hearing complimenting the wrong witness.”

Roll Call: “Several Senate Republicans who backed a procedural motion to allow the measure known as the ‘doc fix’ to get a final vote opposed the legislation — the very same day.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) campaign paid his granddaughter at least $31,000, Jon Ralston reports.

Reid’s response: “My granddaughter has been the target of harassing phone calls, strangers tracking her down and knocking on her door and negative, unwanted attention on the internet. This has gone too far and it needs to stop now. I deeply regret any role I had in creating this situation but now, as a grandparent, I say enough is enough.”

Though he’s playing the role of “aggrieved grandfather,” Reid has promised to reimburse his campaign.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) had dinner with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) even though “he’s a Texas meat-eating cowboy, I’m a Jersey boy, vegetarian,” Politico reports.

Said Booker: “There was no filibusters going on, he did not read Green Eggs and Ham. We had probably one of the best constitutional law discussions since I got out of law school. And I loved it, we just had a great intellectual discussion, but we quickly moved to … there are trends in the economy that have nothing to do with partisanship that are just bad.”