Senate Democrats

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Coleman Gaffe Costs Specter Seniority on Senate Panels

Dems disappoint defector with junior slots after he speaks up for Coleman

(Newser) - Party-switcher Arlen Specter's comment that Republican Norm Coleman should be Minnesota's senator cost him seniority on Senate panels yesterday, a source told Politico. His gaffe was the final straw for Senate Dems already angry about the prospect of being bumped from senior positions by the 29-year senator. A resolution last...

Dems in a Snit Over Specter's Cozy Deal

Senate honchos fume as newbie prepares to leapfrog to top jobs

(Newser) - Some top Democratic senators are rebelling against the deal that brought Arlen Specter into the fold, the Hill reports. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the aisle-crosser he could keep the 28 years of seniority he gained as a GOP senator, infuriating long-serving Democrats whom Specter will now likely leapfrog...

Biden Wooed Specter for Years
 Biden Wooed Specter for Years 
Apr 29, 2009 10:49 AM CDT

Biden Wooed Specter for Years

(Newser) - Joe Biden is the Democrat perhaps most responsible for Arlen Specter’s defection, Politico reports. The VP told a crowd yesterday that he had been trying to convince the Pennsylvania Republican “that he is really a Democrat” for more than 20 years. Specter's onetime Senate colleague recently stepped up...

Specter: I'm Not 'Automatic 60th Vote' for Dems

GOP colleagues 'stunned,' angered by senator's party switch

(Newser) - Newly minted Democrat Arlen Specter said he will not blindly toe the party line, Politico reports. “I will not be an automatic 60th vote,” the veteran Pennsylvania senator said, pointing out recent opposition to a unionization bill. “If the Democratic Party asks too much, I will not...

Obama 'Thrilled' to See Specter Join Dems

'You have my full support,' president tells Pa. senator in call

(Newser) - Within minutes after Sen. Arlen Specter announced he was switching from the Republican to the Democratic Party, President Obama called Specter from the Oval Office, welcoming him into the fold, Politico reports. We are “thrilled to have you,” Obama said, adding, “You have my full support.”...

Specter Defects to Democrats
 Specter Defects to Democrats 
Apr 28, 2009 11:38 AM CDT

Specter Defects to Democrats

(Newser) - Arlen Specter is jumping to the Democrats, leaving the party excruciatingly close to a filibuster-proof Senate majority, reports Politico. Sources say VP Joe Biden was key to the effort to recruit the Pennsylvania senator. “Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party...

Dorgan Could Be Obama's Top Democratic Foe

'Fiercely independent' senator eyes 2010 in deep red N. Dakota

(Newser) - Sen. Byron Dorgan is shaping up to be a real thorn in Barack Obama’s side. The North Dakota Democrat is on a collision course with the president on everything from climate change to Afghanistan to Wall Street, and he holds some key committee positions. “I’m not in...

Reid Resists Torture Commission
Reid Resists Torture Commission
Apr 24, 2009 2:57 AM CDT

Reid Resists Torture Commission

Senate leader rejects Pelosi, joins Obama in opposing panel

(Newser) - Harry Reid will back President Obama in resisting calls to immediately create an independent commission to probe the CIA's harsh interrogation program, the New York Times reports. The majority leader, backed by other top Senate Democrats, said it would be "very unwise" to start establishing commissions or tribunals before...

Senators Rank Bipartisan Colleagues

Kennedy, Collins named most bipartisan

(Newser) - If you want to reach across the aisle in the Senate, chances are you're stretching toward Ted Kennedy or Susan Collins, according to a Hill survey of the upper chamber. “I’d love to co-sponsor every piece of legislation with Ted Kennedy,” says Sen. Richard Burr. The most...

Forget AIG: The Outrage Is Estate Tax Giveaway
Forget AIG: The Outrage Is Estate Tax Giveaway
OPINION
Apr 10, 2009 12:05 PM CDT

Forget AIG: The Outrage Is Estate Tax Giveaway

Ten turncoats make absurd stand on Estate Tax

(Newser) - Ten Senate Democrats have joined with Republicans in opposing President Obama’s plan to reinstate the estate tax, set by the Bush team to expire next year, on amounts over $3.5 million. Michael Kinsley, writing in the Washington Post, has one question: “Why in the world?” Currently, rich...

Senate Follows House to Back $3.5T Budget

Approval of $3.5T budget clears way for Obama's agenda

(Newser) - The Democratic-controlled Senate has passed a budget drafted to President Barack Obama's specifications, voting a few hours after the House approved a similar plan. The budget calls for spending of $3.5 trillion for the year beginning Oct. 1 and has a deficit projected at $1.2 trillion. The Senate...

Pawlenty In Squeeze Over Franken's Fate

Mulling White House run, guv faces heavy choice

(Newser) - The Minnesota Senate race is set for the state Supreme Court, and after that, it’s in GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s hands. If the court puts Democrat Al Franken on top, that puts Pawlenty, eyeing a 2012 presidential run, in a tight spot, writes Manu Raju for Politico: Does...

Senate Panel Clears $3.6T Budget Plan

Spending blueprint leaves president's agenda mostly intact

(Newser) - President Obama's spending plans have passed a major hurdle in the Senate, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Senate Budget Committee passed a plan largely similar to Obama's  $3.6 trillion request in a 13-10 vote split along party lines. The House committee passed its version Wednesday, clearing the way...

Dems to GOP: Draft Your Own Budget

(Newser) - Frustrated Senate Democrats today urged their GOP counterparts to stop criticizing President Obama’s proposed budget and provide an alternative, the Hill reports. “If it were easy to write a budget, then the Republicans would be writing one,” Dick Durbin said. Republicans responded that as the minority, that...

Dems Slash Obama's Budget

Congressional Dems scrap future plans to bail out financial sector

(Newser) - Democratic leaders trying to trim the federal deficit have taken a hatchet to President Obama's budget plan, reports the Washington Post. Congressional Democrats are expected to formally announce plans today to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from the budget over the next five years, and eliminate plans to steer...

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...

GOP's Specter Eyes Independent Run in 2010

Embattled GOP moderate rules out joining Dems but not doing a Leiberman

(Newser) - Sen. Arlen Specter isn't going to switch sides and join the Democrats but he won't rule out running as an independent in 2010, the Pennsylvania Republican tells the Hill. Specter, under pressure from the GOP base since becoming one of just three Republican senators to support the stimulus package, says...

Moderate Dems Balk Over Obama Deficit
Moderate Dems
Balk Over
Obama Deficit
Mar 11, 2009 11:07 AM CDT

Moderate Dems Balk Over Obama Deficit

Right wing of the president's party will fight to shave budget

(Newser) - Barack Obama may be president, but it’s Congress that passes the budget, and moderate Democrats are the ones holding the keys to the federal treasury, reports Time. Obama’s 2010 budget calls for $3.6 trillion in federal spending. And though deficit-hawks appreciate the president’s honest numbers (in...

Dems Hit With Revolt in the Ranks

Line-by-line lawmaking drives wedge into plans

(Newser) - Congressional Democrats figured Obama's aggressive legislative agenda would face challenges from the GOP, but they've been surprised by squabbling within their own party that's broken out even before they've gotten to the new initiatives, the Washington Post reports. Among the people holding up the $410 billion spending bill leftover from...

'Dealmaker' Role Suits Reid
 
 'Dealmaker' Role Suits Reid 
profile
Mar 7, 2009 9:24 AM CST

'Dealmaker' Role Suits Reid

Under Obama, Majority Leader no longer needs to be attacker

(Newser) - When George Bush was boss, Harry Reid had to play attack dog—but with Barack Obama in office, the Senate majority leader has returned to a role more comfortable to him, writes Shailagh Murray in a Washington Post profile. These days, he’s a “dealmaker”—like Obama, he...

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