By Jay Sekulow
The left's outrage over the IRS turns to a plea to 'move on'
Gina McCarthy's already bumpy road to becoming Environmental Protection Agency administrator took another detour Thursday morning when Senate Republicans boycotted a committee vote on her nomination, blocking it for now.
While President Obama keeps pounding away to get votes to pass gun restrictions in the Senate, pro-Second Amendment supporters are pushing the upper chamber in the opposite direction. Sen. Tom Coburn introduced two amendments to strengthen the rights of gun owners and keep the federal government in check.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he's determined to move forward this week with proposed filibuster reforms — with or without the help of Republicans.
With the "fiscal cliff" averted for now, and the Senate on recess the next two weeks, the chamber's leaders have some breathing room to negotiate a possible compromise on another toxic topic — filibuster reform.
Sen.-elect Tim Kaine on Thursday expressed enthusiastic support for reforming the chamber's filibuster rules, echoing a chorus of freshmen eager to make changes on Capitol Hill after being left to watch a gridlocked Senate from the sidelines the past several years.
As a 23-year-old Navy officer in 1945, Mark O. Hatfield was among the first American servicemen to see personally the destruction wrought upon Hiroshima by an atomic bomb. It was an experience that helped shape Mr. Hatfield into an outspoken critic of war as he went on to become a two-term Republican Oregon governor, then the longest-serving U.S. senator in Oregon history.
Democratic Rep. David Wu has said he is stepping down from the House in the wake of an accusation he had an unwanted sexual encounter with an 18-year-old woman.
Senate leaders said Thursday they have agreed that minority Republicans would filibuster fewer bills and nominations in exchange for a promise by the Democratic majority to give them more chances to offer amendments.
The Senate's job is to debate and deliberate. That can't happen if the majority can simply steamroll the opposition. We must preserve the filibuster.
Shortly after the U.S. Energy Information Administration released a report estimating that President Obama's six-month moratorium on offshore drilling in waters deeper than 500 feet will cut domestic production by 30 million barrels during the coming year, Sen. Robert Menendez, New Jersey Democrat, announced legislation that promises to reduce oil and gas output even further, possibly delaying economic recovery.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A millionaire businessman who grew up on a tobacco farm captured Kentucky's Democratic Senate nomination yesterday, winning a chance to challenge Republican leader Mitch McConnell, the powerful four-term incumbent with a big campaign bankroll.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A millionaire businessman who grew up on a tobacco farm captured Kentucky's Democratic Senate nomination yesterday, winning a chance to challenge Republican leader Mitch McConnell, the powerful four-term incumbent with a big campaign bankroll.
Mr. Merkley said the talking filibuster is more transparent because it forces a senator who attempts a filibuster to verbally defend his or her position on the Senate floor.
"You can still filibuster a bill (with his proposal), but if you choose to vote for additional debate, then as an individual you're committing yourself to say there's more to say," Mr. Merkley said. "There should be dialogue before the American people."
