Robert Byrd

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

W.Va. Gov, Businessman Will Square Off for Byrd's Seat
 W.Va. Gov, Businessman Will Square Off for Byrd's Seat 
PRIMARY RESULTS

W.Va. Gov, Businessman Will Square Off for Byrd's Seat

Joe Manchin, John Raese score decisive primary victories

(Newser) - Popular West Virginia governor Joe Manchin won the Democratic primary yesterday and will square off against successful and deep-pocketed businessman John Raese in the election to fill the Senate seat long held by the late Robert Byrd. As the AP reports, Raese beat out a crowded field of GOP candidates...

36-Year-Old Will Succeed Robert Byrd

Youngest senator Carte Goodwin replaces oldest senator

(Newser) - The US Senate seat occupied by Robert Byrd, who died last month , will be temporarily filled by a former aide to West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, USA Today reports. Carte Goodwin, 36, will occupy the seat until a special election for a successor to serve out Byrd's term, which ends...

Dems Cave to Scott Brown, Kill Bank Tax

$19B tax ditched in favor of $11B in TARP funds

(Newser) - Scott Brown's threat to vote against the financial regulatory overhaul bill unless Democrats met his demands yesterday succeeded in killing the part of the bill Brown had opposed: a $19 billion tax on big banks and hedge funds. Conceding to Brown and ending a dramatic few days of negotiation, lawmakers...

Byrd's Death Sets Back Financial Reform

Scott Brown and Susan Collins wavering

(Newser) - Robert Byrd is dead, and the financial reform bill might not be far behind. Byrd’s demise comes just days after the Senate and House had hammered out a final version of the legislation, and dashes hopes that it could be voted on this week. West Virginia’s Democratic governor...

Election for Byrd's Seat? Maybe Not

 Election for 
 Byrd's Seat? 
 Maybe Not 

nate silver

Election for Byrd's Seat? Maybe Not

Ambiguity in West Virginia law leave

(Newser) - Robert Byrd’s Senate seat is up for grabs, but it’s unclear when the public will get to decide who fills it. For now, Gov. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, will appoint an interim successor. But then things get interesting. At first glance, we’re headed for a November showdown:...

From the Appalachian Coalfields to 9 Senate Terms
From the Appalachian Coalfields to
9 Senate Terms
appreciation

From the Appalachian Coalfields to 9 Senate Terms

The 'astonishing arc' of Robert Byrd's life

(Newser) - Robert Byrd, who died today at age 92, rose from a hardscrabble childhood in the coalfields of West Virginia to become the longest-serving member of Congress in history. Those who knew the conservative Democrat remember him as a self-taught man of iron will (he remains the only congressman to have...

Sen. Robert Byrd Dead at 92
 Sen. Robert Byrd Dead at 92 

Sen. Robert Byrd Dead at 92

West Virginian served in Congress since 1952

(Newser) - West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd died early this morning at the age of 92. The longest-serving senator in US history, Byrd was a conservative Democrat known for his fiery oratory and his skill at steering federal funds to battle poverty in his home state. Byrd was first elected to the...

Robert Byrd Hospitalized; Senator, 92, 'Seriously Ill'

West Virginia lawmaker is longest-serving member of Congress

(Newser) - Robert Byrd, the Democratic senator from West Virginia who last fall became the longest-serving member of Congress, is hospitalized and in serious condition, his office tells MSNBC . The 92-year-old was admitted last week with what was believed to be a heat-related illness, but "other conditions have developed which has...

Last 4 Miners Found Dead
 Last 4 Miners Found Dead 

Last 4 Miners Found Dead

Death toll makes explosion worst coal-mining disaster in 40 years

(Newser) - Dashing hopes that they had survived the massive explosion that killed 25 of their colleagues, four coal miners were found dead early this morning in a mine in Montcoal, W. Va., making Monday's incident the worst coal-mining disaster in over a generation. The head of the Mine Safety and Health...

Own Ill Health Doesn't Keep Byrd From Voting on Reform

92-year-old Dem brought to Senate floor via wheelchair

(Newser) - His own battles with ill health haven’t kept Democrat Robert Byrd from making it to the Senate for key milestones on the long road to the health-care reform vote scheduled for tomorrow morning. The 92-year-old—wheelchair-bound and with a live-in nurse after a recent hospital stay—has only added...

Teabagger Fears Prayers Killed Wrong Senator

Georgian worries that plea for Byrd's death backfired

(Newser) - A self-described teabagger who apparently believes his prayers have the power to kill lawmakers cracked up C-Span viewers yesterday. The caller—alarmed by Sen. Jim Inhofe's absence from a vote—told Sen. John Barrasso over the phone that he feared his prayers for 92-year-old Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd to die...

Robert Byrd Now Longest-Serving Legislator Ever

By the senator's count, his career spanned 20,774 days

(Newser) - West Virginia Sen. Robert C. Byrd has become the longest-serving lawmaker in congressional history, a milestone to be marked today with a Senate resolution. "I look forward to serving you for the next 56 years and 320 days," Byrd said, adding that he was sorry his late wife...

Fall Sends Byrd to Hospital
 Fall Sends Byrd to Hospital 

Fall Sends Byrd to Hospital

Spokesman says Democratic senator will likely not be admitted

(Newser) - Sen. Robert Byrd is at the hospital after a fall at his Northern Virginia home, the Washington Post reports. The 91-year-old West Virginia Democrat has been scarce at the Capitol recently after a previous hospitalization that ended in June. The longest-serving US senator ever “apparently stood up too fast...

Kennedy's Senate Class Full of Lions
 Kennedy's 
 Senate Class 
 Full of Lions 
ANALYSIS

Kennedy's Senate Class Full of Lions

Giants abound in 88th Senate

(Newser) - It’s no wonder Ted Kennedy became a lion of the Senate, writes Tom Schaller of FiveThirtyEight.com: he learned from the best. Kennedy began his first full term with the 88th Congress in 1963, and the list of senators sworn in alongside him contains “a safari’s worth...

Byrd: Rename Health Bill for Kennedy
 Byrd: Rename 
 Health Bill 
 for Kennedy 
tribute roundup

Byrd: Rename Health Bill for Kennedy

(Newser) - Senator Robert Byrd wants his colleagues to honor Ted Kennedy by renaming health care legislation in his honor, Politico reports. “As a tribute to his commitment to his ideals, let us stop the shouting and name calling,” said Byrd, 92, himself in poor health. "My heart and...

Sen. Byrd Hospitalized With 'Minor Infection'

91-year-old 'responding well' to antibiotics

(Newser) - Sen. Robert Byrd, at 91 the Senate's oldest and longest-serving member, has been hospitalized with a temperature spike reportedly caused by a “minor infection,” his office said today. “He is being treated with antibiotics, responding well, and is expected to be released from the hospital in a...

Don't Use Budget Process for Big Reform: GOP to Obama

Procedure would allow Democrats to pass agenda with 51 votes

(Newser) - To circumvent a likely 60-vote minimum in the Senate for big-ticket bills like health reform, President Obama is considering pursuing proposals through a budgetary tactic known as reconciliation, where just 51 votes are needed and no filibustering is allowed. But Republicans are having none of it, Politico reports. Senate Republican...

Obama Has Too Many Czars, Critics Complain

Sen. Byrd says Obama's 'super aide' craze is a power grab

(Newser) - Barack Obama loves czars. He’s got an energy czar, an urban affairs czar, an economic czar, and, most recently, a health reform czar, making him the most czar-happy president ever, scholars say. But lawmakers worry they’re losing ground in the "super aide" craze, the LA Times reports....

Kennedy Suffers Seizure, Collapses

Sen. Byrd also has medical issues at Obama lunch

(Newser) - Ted Kennedy suffered an apparent seizure and was taken from an inaugural lunch at the Capitol today by medical personnel, Politico reports. Kennedy’s health troubles came minutes after fellow senator Robert Byrd also had to leave the event due to medical troubles; Byrd was conscious but was having trouble...

Constitution May Sink Hillary's State Chance

Lawmakers can't take federal post for which their Congress raised the salary

(Newser) - Should Barack Obama nominate Hillary Clinton for secretary of state, the confirmation process could be the least of her worries, the Washington Post reports. The Constitution prohibits any member of Congress from assuming a federal post whose salary has been increased during the lawmaker’s term; cabinet salaries have risen...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>