US Senate

Stories 101 - 120 | << Prev   Next >>

Schwarzenegger Might Be Back ... in Politics

Run would give him stage to counter Trump

(Newser) - The Governator might be taking another shot at political office—even if "The Senatator" isn't much of a nickname. Republican insiders in California tell Politico that Arnold Schwarzenegger is considering running for the US Senate in 2018, when Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein will be 85 years old and...

McConnell Used Century-Old 'Arcane Rule' to Silence Warren

Rule 19 was put into place in 1902 after two Democratic senators got into fistfight

(Newser) - The Senate GOP shut down Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday night as she attempted to quote from old letters penned by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy and the late Coretta Scott King to protest the nomination of Jeff Sessions for attorney general, prompting the #LetLizSpeak and #SilencingElizabethWarren hashtags and leading Warren...

Chuck Schumer Is Senate's New Minority Leader

And Mitch McConnell wins re-election as majority leader

(Newser) - The pieces are starting to fall into place for a Donald Trump presidency, and on Wednesday that came in the form of two major legislative appointments. New York Sen. Chuck Schumer received a unanimous vote by Senate Democrats during a closed-door meeting to become the minority leader who will succeed...

Kelly Ayotte Loses Incredibly Close US Senate Race in NH

Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan declared winner

(Newser) - It's too little, too late to take control of the US Senate, but Democrats have officially picked up another seat in "one of the year's most closely watched and evenly matched races," the New York Times reports. According to CBS Boston , Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan was...

A Democratic Senate Is Looking More and More Likely

Dems need 4 Senate seats; new prediction says they could get 7

(Newser) - With a Hillary Clinton victory looking increasingly imminent, the outlook is getting rosier for a Democratic Senate as well, according to the Cook Political Report . MarketWatch reports that 24 Republican Senate seats are being decided this election. Democrats need to pick up four of those to set up a 50/50...

Ex-KKK Leader David Duke: I'm Running for Senate

Says country is 'coming apart at the seams'

(Newser) - Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke said Friday that he's running for the US Senate in Louisiana, the AP reports. A registered Republican, he will be seeking an open seat being vacated by Republican David Vitter, who has decided not to run for re-election on the Nov. 8...

Indiana Comeback Could Determine Senate Control

Democrat Evan Bayh expected to run

(Newser) - Former Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh is expected to make another run for Senate in Indiana, Democratic officials said Monday, a development that would dramatically improve the party's chances to win back the vacant seat, and Senate control along with it. Democrats have been courting Bayh for over a year...

15-Hour Filibuster Lands Deal for Gun Control Vote

GOP agrees to vote on 2 amendments

(Newser) - After almost 15 hours of filibustering, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy declared victory early Thursday morning, saying he had secured a Senate vote on gun control measures. The Connecticut senator, who cited the Sandy Hook massacre when he launched the filibuster Wednesday morning, called it a day at 2:11am, the...

Senate Democrats Are Filibustering for Gun Control

'I am prepared to ... talk about the need to prevent gun violence for as long as I can'

(Newser) - Senate Democrats, led by Connecticut's Chris Murphy, launched a surprise filibuster Wednesday morning to pressure Republicans on gun control, Politico reports. “I am prepared to stand on the Senate floor and talk about the need to prevent gun violence for as long as I can," Murphy tweets...

After Orlando, Rubio Hedges on Possible Senate Rerun

He's said he won't run for re-election, but now tells radio host he's been thinking on 'a lot of things'

(Newser) - Everyone has had Orlando on their minds since Sunday's mass shooting , including Marco Rubio—and the attack has "deeply impacted" the senator so much that it's made him assess "a lot of things," he told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt Monday morning, per Politico . The...

Senate OKs Bill to Let 9/11 Victims Sue Saudis

Congress on collision course with the White House

(Newser) - The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would allow families of Sept. 11 victims to sue the government of Saudi Arabia, rejecting the fierce objections of a US ally and setting Congress on a collision course with the Obama administration, the AP reports. The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, approved...

US Senate Approves Openly Gay Army Secretary

Eric Fanning's case was held up for 8 months

(Newser) - The Senate confirmed the long-stalled nomination of Eric Fanning to be Army secretary, making him the first openly gay leader of a US military service, the AP reports. The unanimous voice vote approval on Tuesday came after Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., dropped his opposition to Fanning after a senior Pentagon...

CIA Office Deletes Huge Torture Report 'by Mistake'

Sen. Dianne Feinstein asks CIA to correct the 'snafu'

(Newser) - The CIA's internal watchdog admits it has destroyed a classified, 6,700-page Senate torture report—but says it was just a mistake, Yahoo News reports. A CIA official privately told the Justice Dept. and the Senate Intelligence committee about it last summer, saying the CIA Office of Inspector General...

Senator Hasn't Missed Vote in More Than 18 Years

Her 6K consecutive votes is the third most ever

(Newser) - Sen. Susan Collins once got off a plane that was about to take off in order to rush back to Washington for a vote, CNN reports. Another time, she broke an ankle sprinting to the Senate chambers while wearing high heels and still managed to vote. That pain paid off...

Planned Parenthood Bill Fizzles in Senate

Republicans aim to block federal dollars in wake of 'gotcha' video

(Newser) - The Senate blocked a Republican drive today to terminate federal funds for Planned Parenthood, setting the stage for the GOP to try again this fall amid higher stakes—a potential government shutdown that could echo into next year's presidential and congressional elections. The derailed legislation was the Republican response...

Barbara Boxer: I'm Retiring From Senate

Longtime California Democrat won't seek re-election

(Newser) - Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer of California says she will not seek re-election in 2016 to a fifth term in office. The 74-year-old Boxer made the announcement in a video with her grandson . She was first elected to the House in 1982 and then to the Senate one decade later. It...

Despite NRA, Senate OKs New Surgeon General

Vivek Murthy is approved in 51-43 vote

(Newser) - The Senate today approved President Obama's nomination of Vivek Murthy to serve as US surgeon general, despite opposition from Republicans and some Democrats over his support for gun control. Murthy, 37, a physician at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital and instructor at Harvard Medical School, won confirmation...

Senate OKs Bill With $63B for Ongoing Wars

Defense hawks, Western state Republicans carry the day

(Newser) - Congress today sent President Obama a massive defense policy bill that endorses his stepped-up military campaign of air strikes and training of Iraqis and moderate Syrian rebels in the war against Islamic State militants. The Senate overwhelmingly approved the bill that authorizes funds for basic military operations, including construction of...

Louisiana Dumps Landrieu
 Louisiana Dumps Landrieu 

Louisiana Dumps Landrieu

GOP gains 54th Senate seat with Bill Cassidy's win in runoff

(Newser) - In what Politico calls "Dems' final insult" from Election 2014, Mary Landrieu lost her Senate seat last night, in a convincing defeat that denied a Louisiana political scion a fourth term, gave Republicans a 54th seat, and unceremoniously dumped what ABC News terms the "last vestige of Democratic...

Get Ready for 'Hell No' Senate Liberals

Dems prepared to fight 'god-awful' Republicans on environment, campaign finance

(Newser) - Yesterday's Keystone pipeline fail in the Senate may have disappointed one notable Democrat—Louisiana's Mary Landrieu —but it appears to have lit a fire under a whole bunch of others. Liberal Democrats are poised to fight "tooth and nail," as Politico puts it, against the...

Stories 101 - 120 | << Prev   Next >>