US Senate

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Senators Blast Dr. Oz for Bogus Diet Claims

He defends right to use 'flowery' language

(Newser) - Celebrity TV doctor Mehmet Oz stuck up for his right to use "flowery" language to praise weight loss products after a Senate panel slammed him for encouraging scammers by endorsing "miracle cures." Sen. Claire McAskill asked him why he "cheapened" his show by saying things he...

Senate OKs More Jobless Benefits

But Boehner spokesman says House isn't interested

(Newser) - After months of knocking heads, the US Senate voted today 59-38 to revive jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed—but the bill's fate in the House looks hazy at best, the AP reports. A small group of GOP senators quickly reached out to House Speaker John Boehner, urging him...

Senate OKs Janet Yellen to Lead Fed

Brooklyn, NY, native will be first woman to lead the central bank

(Newser) - The Senate has easily approved Janet Yellen's nomination to head the Federal Reserve. Monday's 56-26 vote makes Yellen the first woman to lead the central bank in its century-long history. It puts an economist in the post who has long focused on fighting unemployment and who backed the...

Liz Cheney Exits Senate Race

Citing 'serious health issues' in family

(Newser) - Things might now settle down around the Cheney family dinner table: Liz Cheney is dropping her controversial bid for a Senate seat in Wyoming. Cheney announced today she is dropping out of the race that sparked a very public feud with sister Mary and her wife over gay marriage, Politico...

Tom Coburn: Harry Reid Is 'an Absolute A--hole'

Comment ignites war of words

(Newser) - So much for playing nice in the Senate sandbox: At a New York Young Republican Club gala on Monday, Tom Coburn reportedly trash-talked Harry Reid. When asked about his relations with opponents in the Senate, the Republican senator replied that some Democrats are easier to get along with than others....

Senate Chaplain's Prayer: 'Deliver Us From Hypocrisy'

Barry C. Black holds nothing back in daily invocations

(Newser) - For at least one minute every morning, the Senate has to listen to Barry C. Black, the Senate chaplain, as he offers up his daily prayer. And Black, a former Navy rear admiral, has been taking advantage of that fact. For the past week, as the government shutdown has dragged...

Meet the US Senate's Crime Novelist

Barbara Mikulski's heroine is a crime-fighting senator

(Newser) - If the American electorate ever actually throws the bastards behind the shutdown out, at least one career legislator has a plan B in place. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, the Maryland Democrat who's the Senate's longest-serving woman, is also the published author of a pair of novels, notes Roll Call...

Senate Torpedoes House Bid to Defund ObamaCare

Ball back in Boehner's court

(Newser) - The Senate has voted 54 to 46 to reject House amendments to the continuing resolution—including the one that would delay ObamaCare. The vote split evenly along party lines, and increases the odds of a government shutdown, the Washington Post reports. As Slate points out, this is the second time...

Liz Cheney Courts Controversy in Wyoming

Has already faced more scandal in a few months than opponent has in 40 years

(Newser) - Liz Cheney and her 2014 Senate seat opponent Mike Enzi may both be conservative Republicans in Wyoming, but there's one thing they don't have in common. In the months since Cheney announced her candidacy , she has managed to court more controversy than Enzi has in his entire 40-year...

Senate OKs New FBI Director
 Senate OKs 
 New FBI Director 
Jul 29, 2013 6:13 PM CDT

Senate OKs New FBI Director

Everyone except Rand Paul supports James Comey

(Newser) - The US Senate has confirmed James Comey as the FBI's next director today, the AP reports. Rand Paul had been holding up the vote until the FBI would tell him more about its use of domestic drones, but at the last minute, Paul announced the FBI had sent him...

Senate Takes Big Step Toward Immigration Reform

Bipartisan proposal for $46B border security moves forward

(Newser) - The Senate cleared a key hurdle in the path toward immigration reform today, approving the advancement of an amendment that would devote an estimated $46 billion to strengthening US-Mexico border security with a vote of 67 to 27, reports Reuters . The amendment still has to be approved later this week...

No One Wants to Be a US Senator Anymore

Both parties struggle to secure top-tier candidates for 2014

(Newser) - It's a tough job and ... nobody wants to do it. Both Republicans and Democrats are having trouble finding people to run in next year's Senate races, a once-prized gig that has been tarnished thanks to gridlock and partisan politics, the Wall Street Journal reports. The GOP, which needs...

Last Week&#39;s Gun Control Vote Won&#39;t Impact 2014
Last Week's Gun Control
Vote Won't Impact 2014
OPINION
Apr 23, 2013 11:48 AM CDT

Last Week's Gun Control Vote Won't Impact 2014

Nate Silver explains why

(Newser) - With as much as 90% of the public in favor of expanding background checks for gun purchases, you'd think all those senators who voted against last week's proposal to do just that may have been sticking their necks out. But in the New York Times , Nate Silver explain...

Letter Sent to Senator Tests Positive for Ricin

Envelope for Roger Wicker intercepted at mail-sorting facility

(Newser) - Scary story breaking out of DC: A letter addressed to Republican Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker tested positive for the poison ricin, reports Politico . The envelope never got to him, reports CNN , which says it was intercepted at an off-site facility that sorts mail for the Capitol. Three separate tests turned...

McConnell: I'll Filibuster Gun Control Bill

Plus, Senate Dems are scrambling to decide on which bill to push

(Newser) - A gun control bill—though it's not clear which one—is expected to hit the Senate floor this week , and the latest Republican to threaten it is Mitch McConnell. The minority leader joins a group of GOP colleagues, now numbering 13, who intend to filibuster any gun bill that...

Senate Approves Obama's Choice to Head SEC

Mary Jo White said she will hold 'all wrongdoers' accountable

(Newser) - The US Senate has confirmed Mary Jo White's nomination as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, making her the first former prosecutor to lead the federal agency that oversees Wall Street. White was approved today by a Senate voice vote. She will replace Elisse Walter, who has been...

2 More Red-State Democrats 'Evolve' on Gay Marriage

But don't expect many more flips, says Nate Silver

(Newser) - Add two more senators to the list of gay-marriage "evolvers" —North Dakota's Heidi Heitkamp and Indiana's Joe Donnelly said today that they support same-sex marriage, reports the Huffington Post . Both are Democrats from conservative states and both are safe from re-election campaigns until 2018. "The...

Rand Paul: I Thought About Using a Catheter

Ultimately decided against it, filibustering senator jokes

(Newser) - Rand Paul's obviously not that committed to fighting the White House policy on drone strikes against Americans on US soil ... because if he was, he could have used a catheter yesterday, and could thus still be filibustering away . "I did think about it," the senator joked to...

Ted Kennedy Jr. Won&#39;t Run for Senate
 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...

NRA Darling Gillibrand Shifts on Gun Control

New York's once-fierce proponent of gun rights now calls for tighter gun control

(Newser) - New York's junior senator once bragged about the two rifles under her bed and her A-rating from the NRA, but Kirsten Gillibrand has shifted away from her once-vigorous defense of the Second Amendment, reports the New York Post. In the wake of high-profile shootings of her friend Gabrielle Giffords...

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