Senate

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Dodd Has Prostate Cancer
 Dodd Has Prostate Cancer 
Jul 31, 2009 11:55 AM CDT

Dodd Has Prostate Cancer

(Newser) - Senator Chris Dodd has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, the Hartford Courant reports, but the disease is in its early stages, and Dodd doesn’t think it will sideline him long. He’ll undergo surgery during the August recess, and expects to return after a “brief recuperation,” the...

Medals of Freedom Will Go to Milk, Kennedy, Poitier

(Newser) - This year's Medal of Freedom recipients share a capacity to change the world, President Obama said today in naming the eclectic group. Among the 16 honorees are Sen. Ted Kennedy, slain gay-rights activist Harvey Milk, actor Sidney Poitier, tennis great Billie Jean King, and retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day...

No. 3 Republican Throws Support to Sotomayor

Says they may disagree, but she's 'well-qualified'

(Newser) - Lamar Alexander today became the first Republican leader to support Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court, Politico reports. Her “political and judicial philosophy may be different than mine, especially regarding Second Amendment rights,” the third-ranking GOP senator said, but “I will vote to confirm her because...

As Head Ref, Reid Feels Heat in Health Debate
As Head Ref, Reid Feels Heat in Health Debate
ANALYSIS
Jul 29, 2009 11:31 AM CDT

As Head Ref, Reid Feels Heat in Health Debate

Top Dem must get it done—and get himself re-elected in '10

(Newser) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has prided himself on his hands-off leadership style, but pretty soon he’s going to get those hands dirty, Politico reports. Reid will soon have to reconcile two radically different health care bills coming out of committee—as if that weren't enough, he’s up...

Judiciary Committee Approves Sotomayor

(Newser) - The Senate Judiciary Committee has voted to approve Sonia Sotomayor to be the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court. The committee voted 13-6 this morning to send Sotomayor's nomination to the full Senate, where she's expected to be confirmed easily next week. Just one Republican, South Carolina's Lindsey Graham,...

Senate Group of 6 Moves Health Reform to the Center

Dems' priorities fall by the wayside

(Newser) - The bipartisan group of senators who've been hammering out their own health reform plan, led by Montana’s Max Baucus, are close to a compromise that leaves out key pillars of the Obama-backed plan, including the government insurance option to compete with private plans and the mandate that employers offer...

Communication Is What Ails Obama on Health Reform
Communication Is What Ails Obama on Health Reform
ANALYSIS
Jul 27, 2009 3:32 PM CDT

Communication Is What Ails Obama on Health Reform

(Newser) - President Obama’s failure to get health-care reform on a faster track, despite early legislative victories, is a personal one, Sam Youngman writes in the Hill. “While it is shocking to consider that Obama is anything less than one of the best communicators in modern political history,” Youngman...

'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Will Get Senate Hearing

Senate committee to examine consequences of military's gay policy

(Newser) - The Senate Armed Services Committee will convene a fall hearing to examine the US military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy governing gay service members, the Albany Times Union reports. Chairman Carl Levin agreed to hold the hearings at the encouragement of New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand,...

Obama: Delay on Health Bill 'OK,' But Keep Working

(Newser) - President Barack Obama stepped up his pitch for overhauling health care today, saying the American people need it and must overcome resistance from opponents in Washington, whom he described vaguely as naysayers and skeptics. "Reform may be coming too soon for some in Washington," the president told a...

Senate Dems Bring Down Concealed-Weapons Measure

Schumer leads effort to quash Thune amendment

(Newser) - Senate Democrats today narrowly defeated a measure that would have let concealed weapons be transported across state lines, the Hill reports. The amendment, which required 60 votes to pass according to a prior, bipartisan agreement, went down 58-39. Sen. Charles Schumer and majority whip Dick Durbin fought hard to drum...

Senate Grounds F-22 Money
 Senate Grounds F-22 Money 
UPDATED
Jul 21, 2009 12:06 PM CDT

Senate Grounds F-22 Money

(Newser) - The Senate has sided with the Obama administration in agreeing to cut off new spending for the F-22 jet fighter program. The 58-40 vote today removes $1.75 billion set aside in a defense policy bill to build seven more F-22 Raptors, adding to the 187 stealth fighters already in...

France May Ease Century-Old Ban on Sunday Shopping

(Newser) - France's Senate next week is expected to overturn a century-old law prohibiting most businesses in the country from opening on Sundays, CNN reports. The 1906 measure was intended to ensure a day of rest for the populace, and parties on the left and the right have been vocal in their...

Dems' 'Monopoly' Helps GOP Hopefuls Raise Cash

(Newser) - As the 2010 election nears, GOP senatorial candidates are seeing a bump in campaign donations, the Washington Post reports. FEC filings show that in Florida, for instance, Charlie Crist pulled in $4.3 million in the second quarter, almost 4 times as much as his leading Democratic rival. Roy Blunt...

Silver: Don't Forget Wyden's Health Plan

(Newser) - When a bipartisan group of six senators sent a letter to Harry Reid yesterday asking him to slow down on health care reform, one name stood out to Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com: Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon. At first glance, the liberal-ish senator doesn't seem to fit with the...

Senate Votes to Expand Hate Crime Laws to Gays

Five Republicans join in 62-38 vote

(Newser) - The Senate has voted to extend hate crime protections to include those attacked because of their gender or sexual orientation, mirroring a similar measure already passed in the House, the Hill reports. Five Republicans, including Olympia Snowe and Dick Lugar, joined all the Democrats present in supporting the bill. Other...

White House Gets Tough on Congress' Critics, Skeptics

Obama defends stimulus, pushes health reform

(Newser) - The White House is cracking down on its critics—and on laggards within the Democratic Party, too. Republican naysayers on the economic stimulus and health care are getting the roughest treatment, Politico reports. After Kentucky Sen. Jon Kyl railed against the efficacy of stimulus spending, four Cabinet secretaries wrote to...

Health Bill Has a Big Carrot for the Healthy

Senate measure would let employers cut premiums up to 50%

(Newser) - A measure slipped into the Senate’s health care reform bill could cut workers’ insurance costs by up to half if they eat well, lose weight, and quit smoking, the Boston Globe reports. The measure may be key to encouraging Americans to stay healthy without too much government imposition, a...

Sotomayor Puts Personality on Display

(Newser) - Say what you will about Sonia Sotomayor, the woman has a great laugh. Her second day of testimony brought the nominee's personality into clearer focus, writes Ann Gerhart in the Washington Post. In addition to a sense of humor, exemplified in that "big, full-throated laugh," we learned she's...

Sotomayor Differs With Obama: Heart's Not That Vital

(Newser) - Day 2 of Sonia Sotomayor's Senate confirmation hearings have wrapped up, with the all-but-certain nominee disagreeing at one point with President Obama's assertion in 2007 that a judge's "heart" is important in rulings, reports Politico. “I wouldn’t approach the issue of judging in the way the president...

Ensign: I Won't Quit, and I'll Run Again

Disgraced senator says supporters don't want him to resign

(Newser) - Sen. John Ensign says he’ll stick with his job and run for reelection despite news of his affair and his parents’ $96,000 payment to his mistress’ family, the Las Vegas Sun reports. The Republican says his supporters are telling him he shouldn’t resign, and “I fully...

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