Senate Republicans

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Ensign Quits Senate GOP Leadership Post

Resigns as chair of Policy Committee after admitting affair

(Newser) - Sen. John Ensign has stepped down from his leadership post a day after admitting an affair with a woman who was on his campaign staff. He conveyed his decision in a phone call with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said he had accepted the resignation. Ensign was chairman of...

Cornyn, Schumer Travel in High Style
Cornyn, Schumer Travel in High Style
investigation
Jun 11, 2009 11:10 AM CDT

Cornyn, Schumer Travel in High Style

Senators use more taxpayer dollars than any other lawmakers

(Newser) - Senators John Cornyn and Chuck Schumer have done a lot of jet-setting on the company dime, Politico reports. Each has spent more than $140,000 on travel this year alone, as much as 10 times what some colleagues spend. Cornyn, a Republican, racked up the biggest bill, which included the...

Sotomayor Will Likely Get Some GOP Votes
Sotomayor Will Likely Get Some GOP Votes
ANALYSIS
Jun 1, 2009 10:55 AM CDT

Sotomayor Will Likely Get Some GOP Votes

Limbaugh, Gingrich posturing belies thin Senate opposition

(Newser) - Despite loud opposition from the likes of Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh, many Republican senators may vote for Sonia Sotomayor, the New York Times reports. Strategists on both sides suspect that at least a third of the upper house’s 40 Republicans will back the Supreme Court nominee, including the...

Sotomayor Vote Carries Risks for These Senators
Sotomayor Vote Carries Risks for These Senators
Analysis
May 28, 2009 9:02 AM CDT

Sotomayor Vote Carries Risks for These Senators

Judiciary committee members share spotlight with nominee

(Newser) - Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation looks likely, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be some drama between here and there. Politico runs down which senators have the most to win—and the most to lose:  
  • Patrick Leahy: Facing his first nominee as judiciary chairman, Leahy’s eager to
...

GOP: Dems Buddying Up to Big Business
GOP: Dems Buddying Up to Big Business
May 20, 2009 12:13 PM CDT

GOP: Dems Buddying Up to Big Business

Irony-proof party employs new strategy to battle climate bill

(Newser) - Senate Republicans are turning the tables on Democrats as the GOP battles a bill to fight climate change, Politico reports. A strategy memo says Republicans should paint the opposition as the party of big business, suggesting Dems are cozying up to “Wall Street traders,” “polluters,” and...

GOP Blocks Obama Interior Dep't Pick
GOP Blocks Obama Interior Dep't Pick
May 13, 2009 11:31 AM CDT

GOP Blocks Obama Interior Dep't Pick

Rejection of top deputy marks first Republican KO of nominee

(Newser) - Republicans have blocked President Obama's pick for the No. 2 job at the Interior Department because of a flap over oil leases in Utah. In a 57-39 Senate vote, Democrats fell short of the 60 votes they would have needed to advance the nominee past GOP obstacles. It's the first...

Specter to Dem Donors: Show Me the Money
Specter to Dem Donors: Show Me the Money
ANALYSIS
May 12, 2009 9:18 AM CDT

Specter to Dem Donors: Show Me the Money

Senator's election-cycle party switch creates fundraising issues

(Newser) - Arlen Specter may have brought his years of experience in the Senate across the aisle with him, but that doesn’t mean all his donors will follow. And the timing—it’s 2010 campaign season—complicates matters, Jeanne Cummings notes for Politico. “He’s not the world’s most...

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...

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...

GOP Blocks Sebelius' Confirmation
GOP Blocks Sebelius' Confirmation
Apr 24, 2009 3:47 AM CDT

GOP Blocks Sebelius' Confirmation

She's pressed to answer more questions on abortion

(Newser) - President Obama will have to wait until at least next week to have a complete Cabinet after Senate Republicans blocked the immediate confirmation of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius yesterday, AP reports. A vote on the Health and Human Services Secretary nominee—whose appointment is fiercely opposed by anti-abortion groups—will...

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...

Unity Candidate Turns Into Most Polarizing Prez

Obama faces huge partisan approval gap: analysts

(Newser) - He ran on a message of unity and moderation, but Barack Obama is “the most polarizing new president of recent times,” writes Michael Gerson in the Washington Post. There’s a 61-point Obama approval gap between Democrats and Republicans, Pew researchers found. The widening gap has been a...

Grassley Opens Mouth, Inserts Foot
Grassley Opens Mouth, Inserts Foot
Apr 1, 2009 10:27 AM CDT

Grassley Opens Mouth, Inserts Foot

Alternate headline for long image right layout: Gaffe Machine Grassley Isn't Sorry / Dek: That's just how we talk in Iowa, he insists

(Newser) - Chuck Grassley has been on a roll. First, he told AIG execs to commit seppuku, then he accused the company of "sucking the t— of the taxpayer." Then, in a back-and-forth with Kent Conrad, he had his YouTube moment: "Oh, you’re good," the Senate budget...

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...

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...

Senate GOP Slows Rush to Tax AIG Bonuses

(Newser) - Senate Republicans are drawing out a flap that has made the Obama administration squirm, the AP reports. Sen. Jon Kyl, the Republicans' vote counter, blocked Democratic efforts yesterday to bring up the Senate version of the tax bill to recoup most of the $165 million paid out by AIG last...

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...

Vitter Denies Airport Meltdown
 Vitter Denies Airport Meltdown 
Mar 12, 2009 2:28 AM CDT

Vitter Denies Airport Meltdown

Sen. admits blunder, but says reports of tantrum are greatly exaggerated

(Newser) - Sen. David Vitter says reports he threw a tantrum at Washington's Dulles Airport are way off base, reports the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. The Republican acknowledges that he blundered through the wrong door in a rush to catch a flight back to Louisiana, but denies  reports that he berated an...

Sen. Vitter Throws Tantrum at DC Airport

(Newser) - Sen. David Vitter, perhaps best known for admitting to patronizing a prostitute, had a very public meltdown at Washington’s Dulles Airport last week after arriving late for a flight, Roll Call reports. Finding the gate already closed when he arrived to board, the Louisiana Republican opened the door anyway,...

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