Senate

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Scott Brown: From Latchkey Kid to Male Model to Senator

His story is 'part Horatio Alger, part Zoolander'

(Newser) - One look at Scott Brown’s past, Frank Bruni writes, and you can see that “he’s indisputably self-made” with a “background that’s part Horatio Alger, part Zoolander.” Sure, the “famous truck” was purchased “not so he could haul lumber” but to haul his...

Scott Brown Changes the Senate Math
Scott Brown Changes the
Senate Math
NATE SILVER
Feb 23, 2010 7:56 AM CST

Scott Brown Changes the Senate Math

Moderate GOP votes up for grabs mean 56 could be Dems' new 60

(Newser) - Yesterday's Senate vote to end debate on the jobs bill showed that losing the supermajority may not be such a disaster for the Democrats after all, writes Nate Silver. Scott Brown joined four other moderate Republicans in voting to end a filibuster on Harry Reid's jobs bill, suggesting that a...

Evan Bayh: How We Can Fix the Senate

It all starts with a bipartisan lunch

(Newser) - Evan Bayh thinks the Senate is so hopelessly mired in partisan muck that the only way out is for Democrats and Republicans to break bread together. "Let’s start with a simple proposal: why not have a monthly lunch of all 100 senators?" he writes in a New York ...

Sen. Lautenberg Diagnosed With Stomach Cancer

New Jersey Dem still plans to finish term, run again in 2014

(Newser) - Frank Lautenberg, New Jersey’s 86-year-old senior senator, is set to undergo chemotherapy today, less than 24 hours after being diagnosed with treatable stomach cancer. Lautenberg is expected to recover, and says he still expects to finish out his term, and run for reelection in 2014. “This doesn’t...

Evan Bayh Calls It Quits
 Evan Bayh Calls It Quits 
Feb 15, 2010 10:27 AM CST

Evan Bayh Calls It Quits

Indiana senator says partisan bickering drove him out of politics

(Newser) - Evan Bayh won’t seek reelection, he announced today, saying he was sick of the partisan rancor in Washington. “My decision was not motivated by political concerns,” the Indiana Democrat said in a statement. “Even in the current challenging environment, I am confident in my prospects for...

Senate Unveils $87B Jobs Bill
 Senate Unveils $87B Jobs Bill 
Feb 11, 2010 1:47 PM CST

Senate Unveils $87B Jobs Bill

But vote will have to wait because of snow

(Newser) - Senate Democrats revealed their long-awaited $87 billion jobs bill today, but thanks to the snow, lawmakers may not get around to voting on it for a while. The bill calls for a combination of tax breaks for businesses and construction projects to boost employment, and has the support of two...

Scott Brown Writing Memoir
 Scott Brown Writing Memoir 
Feb 10, 2010 11:32 AM CST

Scott Brown Writing Memoir

New senator will write inspirational book with collaborator

(Newser) - Republican golden boy Scott Brown plans to add another job title to his resume: author. The newly minted senator from Massachusetts has a book deal, pending approval by the Senate Ethics Committee. “He will tell his story in a book in hopes of providing insight and encouragement to others,...

Showdown Looms as Abused Filibuster Frays Senate Tempers

GOB blocks routine nomination, has Dems eying reform options

(Newser) - Last night's GOP filibuster of a routine nomination to the National Labor Relation Board left Democrats livid, and considering reforms to stop a filibuster-happy GOP from crippling the Senate. "I'm in my thirty-sixth year. I've never seen anything like it," Sen. Pat Leahy told the Huffington Post . Leahy...

Schumer's Wall Street Donors Look for Revenge
Schumer's
Wall Street
Donors Look
for Revenge
analysis
Feb 9, 2010 5:57 PM CST

Schumer's Wall Street Donors Look for Revenge

Which might explain Harold Ford's run

(Newser) - Chuck Schumer is making enemies in high places among "his wealthiest and most powerful constituents," writes Chris Smith. These Wall Street honchos have long poured money into Schumer's campaign coffers, but now they think he's not doing enough to protect them from regulation attempts. “Chuck says, ‘...

Democrats Fault Rahm Emanuel on Health Care

Many believe his inexperience in Senate maneuvering stalled bill

(Newser) - Democrats in Congress think Rahm Emanuel’s lack of Senate experience slowed health care reform legislation to a death crawl. Liberals and centrists have different complaints, but agree that the White House chief of staff’s time in the House did not prepare him for Senate maneuvering. “They're a...

Shelby Drops Holds on Obama Nominees

Alabama Republican says he was just trying to get the president's attention

(Newser) - Richard Shelby has decided to release the holds he's been using to block more than 70 Obama nominees in hopes of scoring two lucrative projects for his home state. The Alabama senator, who was hammered by Democrats for obstructionism, said he used the holds "to get the White House's...

Mighty America Descends Into Farce
Mighty America Descends
Into Farce
PAUL KRUGMAN
Feb 8, 2010 8:20 AM CST

Mighty America Descends Into Farce

Paralyzing GOP tactics make us look like 18th-century Poland

(Newser) - When Richard Shelby put a hold on all outstanding Obama nominees last week, it reminded Paul Krugman of 18th-century Poland. Back then, the country’s legislature was run by unanimous consent, so anyone could block any legislation by shouting, “I do not allow!” Sound familiar? The US Senate,...

Where Has Our Favorite Maverick Gone?
  Where Has 
  Our Favorite 
  Maverick Gone? 
Dana Milbank
Feb 6, 2010 8:19 AM CST

Where Has Our Favorite Maverick Gone?

A John McCain fan laments the senator's new 'reflexive opposition'

(Newser) - Narry a whimper when the Supreme Court gutted the campaign finance laws he vowed to fight for "until I draw my last breath." No support for a bipartisan commission on the national debt that he had sponsored. Hectoring an admiral who supports the end of "don't ask,...

GOP Sen. Shelby Blocks 70 Obama Nominations

Extraordinary 'blanket hold' over earmarks for Alabama

(Newser) - Richard Shelby, the GOP senator from Alabama, is holding all of President Obama's pending nominations—at least 70—hostage until a couple of programs benefiting his home state get favorable treatment, Talking Points Memo reports. Shelby has put an extraordinary blanket hold on all the nominations the White House has...

Reid Promises Vote on Jobs Bill Next Week

But so far, not one Republican senator is on board

(Newser) - Harry Reid plans to bring the first of several Democratic bills aimed at creating jobs to the Senate floor on Monday, with the goal of passing the measure by the end of next week. “For Senate Democrats, creating jobs is job number one,” the majority leader said. “...

Scott Brown May Be Sworn In Tomorrow

Senator-elect asks governor to speed up certification

(Newser) - A spokesman for Harry Reid says the Senate will aim to swear in Scott Brown tomorrow afternoon. The development comes after Brown sent a letter to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick today asking that results of the special election be certified immediately. Patrick agreed to have it done by tomorrow morning....

GOP Filibusters Routine Obama Nomination

All 60 Senate Dems needed to confirm Labor Department solicitor general

(Newser) - It took all 60 Senate Democrats yesterday to break a filibuster over the confirmation of a fairly run-of-the-mill mid-level Obama appointee. New York Labor Commissioner Patricia Smith is hardly a liberal radical—she has support from her state’s Chamber of Commerce, and several New York Republicans in the House—...

Senate Doesn't Need Another Messiah
 Senate Doesn't Need 
 Another Messiah 
EUGENE ROBINSON
Feb 2, 2010 1:20 AM CST

Senate Doesn't Need Another Messiah

Scott Brown is part of the problem, writes Eugene Robinson

(Newser) - Victory appears to have gone to Scott Brown's head and that's bad news for Washington, writes Eugene Robinson. The senator—who has already hinted at a 2012 presidential run—is calling himself a Scott Brown Republican and promising to chart his own course, but the last thing the Senate needs...

Bernanke Gets Second Term
 Bernanke Gets Second Term 
Jan 28, 2010 3:20 PM CST

Bernanke Gets Second Term

Senate confirms him to remain in his post as Fed chairman

(Newser) - Ben Bernanke will keep his job as chairman of the Federal Reserve. The Senate today agreed to let him serve a second term by a vote of 70-30, the closest ever margin for a Fed chief nominee. The vote came amid roiling public anger over the economy and stubbornly high...

Obama Will Create His Own Deficit Panel

But it'll be weaker than the one the Senate rejected yesterday

(Newser) - In his State of the Union address tonight, Barack Obama will announce the creation of a panel to devise recommendations for reducing the national debt—a day after a proposal for a similar commission failed in the Senate. But Obama’s version will be established by executive order, and, unlike...

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