Senate – News Stories About Senate - Page 23

Jan 1, 2013 2:28 AM CST

Senate Passes Cliff Deal

Plan sails through 89-8; House vote comes later

(Newser) - The Senate passed legislation early New Year's Day to neutralize a fiscal cliff combination of across-the-board tax increases and spending cuts that kicked in at midnight. The vote two hours after the deadline was a lopsided 89-8 in favor. Senate passage set the stage for a final showdown in...

McConnell:
We've Agreed
'on All Tax
Issues'

Dec 31, 2012 2:30 PM CST

McConnell: We've Agreed 'on All Tax Issues'

GOP senator calls for passage of 'tax relief portion now'

(Newser) - Hours away from the fiscal cliff deadline, GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor today that "we've reached an agreement on all of the tax issues." He added that negotiators are "very, very close" to striking a deal and said he agreed with President...

Senate Report
Blasts State Dept.
on Benghazi

Dec 31, 2012 11:55 AM CST

Senate Report Blasts State Dept. on Benghazi

Lieberman-Collins report echoes independent probe

(Newser) - The State Department didn't provide its Benghazi team with enough protection against possible threats, a bipartisan Senate report finds, marking the second slap at State this month over the Libya attack. What's more, intelligence pointed to the attack being the work of terrorists all along—but the Obama...

There's Hope:
'Major Progress'
on Fiscal Cliff

Dec 31, 2012 7:58 AM CST

There's Hope: 'Major Progress' on Fiscal Cliff

But sticking points exist after flurry of overnight negotiations

(Newser) - So just where are we on the fiscal cliff? After Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid hit an impasse yesterday , McConnell called in Joe Biden, and after a flurry of offers that included President Obama and went throughout the night, Politico finds "major progress" and reason for hope this morning....

Reid: House
'Watching Movies'
as We Go
Over Cliff

Dec 27, 2012 12:07 PM CST

Reid: House 'Watching Movies' as We Go Over Cliff

Accuses Boehner of running House like a 'dictatorship'

(Newser) - It "looks like" America is headed over the fiscal cliff, and if it does, Harry Reid is placing the blame squarely on House Republicans "who are out watching movies," reports Politico . Speaking on the Senate floor this morning, Reid excoriated John Boehner for not simply bringing the...

Affleck Also
Not Running
for Senate

UPDATED

Dec 25, 2012 2:14 PM CST

Affleck Also Not Running for Senate

Joins Ted Kennedy Jr. in declining to run for Kerry's seat

(Newser) - Ben Affleck is done being coy about his political ambitions, and is joining the growing list of people who won't be running for John Kerry's Senate seat, reports Politico . "I love Massachusetts and our political process, but I am not running for office," Affleck wrote on...

Fiscal Cliff's
Great Last Hope:
the Senate?

Dec 24, 2012 7:58 AM CST

Fiscal Cliff's Great Last Hope: the Senate?

But Democrats would need assurances from Mitch McConnell

(Newser) - With Plan B dead and gone , could Plan S save the day? The New York Times today shifts its attention from the gridlocked House to the Senate, following yesterday's plea by GOP Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Johnny Isakson to Senate leaders to make a scaled-back deal with President...

Idaho Senator
Arrested for Drunk Driving

Dec 24, 2012 5:23 AM CST

Idaho Senator Arrested for Drunk Driving

Mike Crapo previously said that as a Mormon he doesn't drink

(Newser) - A conservative Utah senator has apologized to "my family, my Idaho constituents, and any others who have put their trust in me," after being arrested in Virginia in the wee hours of yesterday morning with a blood-alcohol level of .11, reports Politico . Mike Crapo was arrested after police...

Leahy 3rd in Line to Presidency

Dec 18, 2012 3:27 PM CST

Leahy 3rd in Line to Presidency

He is now president pro tempore of the Senate

(Newser) - The death of Daniel Inouye of Hawaii yesterday has Democrats shuffling committee posts and such, but one change in particular carries some import with the Constitution. Patrick Leahy of Vermont got sworn in as president pro tempore of the Senate, which puts him third in line to the presidency behind...

Rep. Tim Scott
Tapped for
DeMint's Seat

say GOP sources

Dec 17, 2012 8:59 AM CST

Rep. Tim Scott Tapped for DeMint's Seat

Nikki Haley to announce choice at noon

(Newser) - South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has chosen GOP Rep. Tim Scott to take over Jim DeMint's Senate seat, CNN reports by way of GOP sources. She's set to make the announcement today at noon. Scott will be the state's first black senator since the late 1800s, the...

Filibuster Fight
Heads to Court

Dec 10, 2012 12:09 PM CST

Filibuster Fight Heads to Court

House Dems sue over 'accident of history'

(Newser) - The battle over the Senate filibuster is moving beyond Capitol Hill gridlock and into the courtroom: While Harry Reid fights the procedural tactic in the Senate, four House Democrats have taken the matter to the federal courts. They're joined in their lawsuit by Common Cause, a nonpartisan reform organization....

Jim DeMint Leaving the Senate

Dec 6, 2012 10:04 AM CST

Jim DeMint Leaving the Senate

He'll become head of the Heritage Foundation

(Newser) - Jim DeMint is resigning his Senate post so he can take a gig as president of the conservative Heritage Foundation, he announced today. DeMint will step down in early January, the Wall Street Journal reports. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley will appoint an interim replacement until a special election can...

Santorum: GOP Right to Block Disability Treaty

OPINION

Dec 5, 2012 1:35 PM CST

Santorum: GOP Right to Block Disability Treaty

Other pundits: GOP embracing weird conspiracy theories

(Newser) - When the GOP blocked the UN's Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities last night, Rick Santorum sent out a tweet proclaiming, "We did it." Santorum was one of the foremost voices calling for Republicans to reject the treaty, and in the Daily Beast today he...

Senate GOP Blocks Disabled Rights Treaty

Dec 5, 2012 5:00 AM CST

Senate GOP Blocks Disabled Rights Treaty

Bob Dole makes appeal; Kerry calls vote saddest day in years

(Newser) - Bob Dole watched from a wheelchair on the Senate floor yesterday as his Republican former colleagues rejected a United Nations disability rights treaty modeled on the Americans with Disabilities Act he championed in 1990, the Kansas City Star reports. GOP opponents of the treaty claimed it would surrender American sovereignty...

Pelosi to
Try to Force
Vote on Bush
Tax Cuts

Dec 4, 2012 11:25 AM CST

Pelosi to Try to Force Vote on Bush Tax Cuts

Boehner takes GOP 'fiscal cliff' case to the press

(Newser) - Nancy Pelosi will file a motion today to force a vote on Bush-era tax cuts, her office says. The House minority leader's "discharge petition" would aim for a vote this month on extending the cuts for those earning less than $250,000, while ending them for those earning...

Lame-Duck
Congress
Back as
Fiscal Cliff
Looms

Nov 13, 2012 7:23 AM CST

Lame-Duck Congress Back as Fiscal Cliff Looms

Postal Service, Sandy relief may also be on agenda

(Newser) - Congress is back in Washington today, bracing for battle over how to avoid the fiscal cliff. Legislators have seven weeks to hit on a deal, with tax cut extensions taking center stage, notes Reuters . But analysts warn that "the longer it takes the president and Congress to negotiate a...

Elizabeth Warren
Goes to Washington

Nov 11, 2012 11:05 AM CST

Elizabeth Warren Goes to Washington

Will she hold fast to populist stances, or learn art of compromise?

(Newser) - Sen.-elect Elizabeth Warren is heading back to Washington, this time riding in as a member of the very institution that sent her unceremoniously packing over her anti-Wall Street rhetoric and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the New York Times takes a look at what sort of legislator the latest...

Late Results: Democrats
Build Senate Lead

Election 2012

Nov 7, 2012 1:40 PM CST

Late Results: Democrats Build Senate Lead

They now hold 55-45 advantage, counting two independents

(Newser) - The fat lady may have sung on the presidential race last night, but results are still trickling in from some of the country's closest races. So far, everything's coming up blue; Democrats have extended their Senate majority to 53, not counting the two independents expected to poll with...

Democrats Keep Senate:
Warren, McCaskill Win

election 2012

Nov 6, 2012 10:09 PM CST

Democrats Keep Senate: Warren, McCaskill Win

Tim Kaine, too; Democrats coast as Mourdock, Akin, McMahon lose

(Newser) - Democrats had a banner night in the Senate, starting with Elizabeth Warren knocking off GOP incumbent Scott Brown in Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Tim Kaine beat George Allen in Virginia, and Chris Murphy did the same to Linda McMahon for Connecticut's open seat—despite her huge personal influx of cash . It...

Clutch Senate Races
to Watch Tomorrow

Nov 5, 2012 2:13 PM CST

Clutch Senate Races to Watch Tomorrow

From Maine to Montana, here are the ones that could come down to the wire

(Newser) - The presidential race isn't the only one that will be decided tomorrow. Nearly as important is the fierce battle for control of the Senate. When the campaign season began, a GOP takeover there seemed assured, but now Democrats appear favored to remain in control, Real Clear Politics reports. Here...