Tag Archives: Senate

Via Politico: Senate Republicans have tried to work with Donald Trump. They’ve offered gentle advice and firm guidance, hoping he’ll morph into a general election candidate who won’t kill their chances of keeping the Senate, or better yet, will give Hillary Clinton a run for her money. None of it has worked. And now a palpable mix of despair and …

The Hill reports: The GOP Senate campaign arm says in a new ad that Hillary Clinton is Democratic candidates’ “burden to bear” this fall. The National Republican Senatorial Committee is slamming Clinton as “a living history of scandal, lies and spin” in a video meant to put Democratic senators on the defensive. The ad, slated to run both on television …

The Koch Brothers want to make sure the GOP retains the Senate majority. Via Politico: Key groups in the Koch brothers’ political network on Monday began reserving $30 million in advertising buys in key Senate races in August and September, a network official tells POLITICO. The television and digital ad buys, from Freedom Partners Action Fund and other groups, are …

The GOP is justifiably terrified that Donald Trump is going to cost them the Senate, therefore today they will ask him to drop the incessant childish insults. The Hill reports: Republican lawmakers see Trump’s abrasive style as his biggest liability heading into the general election, even though his knack for putting down rivals helped him win more primaries and votes …

Far-right commentator Erick Erickson writes: “This is brutal. This is exactly what you can expect throughout the country in the general election. This is the ad for the Democratic challenger in Arkansas and provides a helpful roadmap to other Democrats on how they are going to take back the Senate.”

From the National Center for Lesbian Rights: Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act, a companion bill to HR 2450, introduced in the House of Representatives by Ted Lieu in 2015. The bill would define the provision of conversion therapy for profit as consumer fraud and, additionally, take Rep. Lieu’s bill …

The Washington Post reports: D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser on Friday called for a citywide vote in November to make the nation’s capital the 51st state, resurrecting a decades-old plan to put the issue before Congress and to raise awareness across the country about District residents’ lack of full citizenship. “I propose we take another bold step toward democracy in …

The Hill reports: Ted Cruz is leading a conservative effort to end any chance of a lame-duck congressional session at the end of the year. Cruz, a freshman senator from Texas running for president, and right-leaning groups see huge dangers in having a session after the November elections, which they think could be used to move legislation backed by President …

From the Agenda Project: Today, the Agenda Project Action Fund released a new ad calling on Senator Chuck Grassley to “Quit Stalling” and hold a hearing on President Obama’s pick for the Supreme Court. “Republicans like Senator Grassley have again and again demonstrated just how highly they view the American public,” said Agenda Project Action Fund President Erik Altieri, “Stop …

The Hill reports: A long-awaited Senate Intelligence Committee encryption bill would force companies to provide “technical assistance” to government investigators seeking locked data, according to a discussion draft obtained by The Hill. The measure — from Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and ranking member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) — is a response to concerns that criminals are increasingly using encrypted devices …

This morning GOP Sen. Mark Kirk tweeted out the above message from President Obama thanking him for meeting with SCOTUS nominee Merrick Garland. Right wingers on Twitter are responding with messages like “Get used to saying SENATOR Tammy Duckworth.” But not if the HRC has their way, amirite?

Mediaite recaps: The deep-dive on Sunday night’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver took a look at the role of money in politics, but not in the we-all-know-there-should-less-money-in-politics sort of way. Instead, the segment examined the hours lost to congressional fundraising, and the mind-numbingly dull process for elected officials to ensure that they stay competitive in their reelection bids. Oliver …

From the Las Vegas Sun: Sharron Angle, who made a famously unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate in 2010, is running for the seat again. Angle filed late Friday in Carson City as a Republican candidate for the open seat of outgoing U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. Angle, a Tea Party darling, had faced Reid in 2010 after winning the GOP …

The Hill reports: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) returned to the Senate on Thursday, two days after ending his presidential campaign. Alex Burgos, a spokesman for Rubio, posted a video of the senator walking in the Russell Senate Office Building, saying that “Senate staff welcomed him back to the office.” The video shows Rubio’s staff clapping as he walked toward his …

Over the anguished screams of the Family Research Council and the American Family Association, today the Senate Armed Services Committee advanced President Obama’s appointment of Eric Fanning as US Army Secretary. If confirmed by the full Senate, Fanning will become the first openly gay head of a branch of the US military. Early this year Fanning stepped down as Acting …

From the Washington Post: Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who briefly led the Republican presidential race before his campaign began an extended public implosion, will tell his supporters in a statement Wednesday afternoon that he does not see a “path forward” and will not attend Thursday’s debate in Detroit, according to two Republicans familiar with his plans. Carson, however, will …

Mediaite recaps: On Tuesday night, Late Show host and South Carolina native Stephen Colbert got the opportunity to receive one such call, and in typical Colbert style, the staff rolled out a “Trump phone” complete with Donald-approved hair for the event.Colbert pushed the GOP frontrunner on his penchant for foul language on the stump, which is a tactic that Trump …

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid wasted no time tonight in responding the avalanche of conservatives calling for the Senate to block President Obama from appointing Antonin Scalia’s successor. Scalia’s passing was surely be a hot topic at tonight’s GOP presidential debate in South Carolina.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tonight issued this statement: “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new President.”

Via press release from the Human Rights Campaign: “Senator Kirk has once again proven his leadership, by becoming the first Republican Senator to co-sponsor of the Equality Act,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “His support for the Equality Act sends a strong message that fairness and equality are bipartisan values. It also reflects the view of the overwhelming majority of …