Senate

Stories 981 - 1000 | << Prev   Next >>

Franken Picks Up 87 Votes in Minn. Race

Dem gains some 90 votes in rejected-ballot count

(Newser) - As election officials in Minnesota tallied up some 350 previously-rejected Senate ballots today, Al Franken stretched out his lead over Norm Coleman by almost 90 votes, making it more than 312, the Star Tribune reports. That’s good news for Franken in Coleman’s lawsuit over the election, which a...

Alaska GOP Calls for Senate Race Do-Over

Palin, party leader say Stevens would have won without felony raps

(Newser) - The head of Alaska's Republican Party is calling for Democratic Sen. Mark Begich to step down and clear the way for a new election now that felony misconduct charges have been dropped against former Sen. Ted Stevens, reports the Anchorage Daily News. Stevens would not have lost in November if...

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...

House Dems Pass Obama's $3.5T Agenda

(Newser) - President Obama's ambitious national agenda cleared its first hurdle this evening. The House, as expected, passed a $3.5 trillion spending plan that follows the broad outlines of Obama's plan. The 233-196 vote fell along party lines, the Washington Post reports. The Senate is expected to follow suit, possibly late...

House Hits Big Tobacco; Senate Battle Up Next

Advocates and enemies of big tobacco brace for Senate battle

(Newser) - The House today agreed to give the FDA broad new powers over tobacco products, the New York Times reports. The House voted 298-to-112 to pass the bill, but the real fight will come in the Senate, where one North Carolina Republican has already threatened a filibuster. Ted Kennedy plans to...

Congress Ready to End Cuba Travel Ban: Senators

Lawmakers believe time has come for bipartisan bill to end 50-year-old travel ban

(Newser) - A bipartisan group of senators has introduced a bill that would allow Americans to travel freely to Cuba for the first time in nearly 50 years, the Miami Herald reports. Previous efforts have been shot down by conservatives and anti-Castro Cuban-Americans, but the lawmakers say momentum is on their side...

Ruling Gives Franken Big Lift in Senate Race

(Newser) - Al Franken may have moved a decisive step closer to the Senate today, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. A three-judge panel ruled that only 400 disputed absentee ballots will be reviewed, making it highly unlikely that Norm Coleman will be able to erase Franken's 225-seat margin in the Minnesota race....

Testy McCain Grills Sebelius on Health Care Tax Credit

'Reform would be my mission' says nominee

(Newser) - Kathleen Sebelius got a chilly bout of questioning from John McCain during a Senate committee hearing, Ezra Klein writes for the American Prospect. His manner tense and confrontational, the Arizona senator asked Sebelius if she supported replacing the tax incentive for employer-based care with a $5000 tax credit—an idea...

GOP Vows to Fight WWIII if Dems Try to Seat Franken

Months after vote, legal course murky

(Newser) - With the Minnesota court ruling on the Senate race between Al Franken and Norm Coleman just days away, GOP honchos are warning that if they lose this round, they plan to go all the way to the highest court, even if it leaves the state's voters without a senator for...

Senate Eyes Lifting All Travel Bans to Cuba

But Cuban-American senator fights colleagues to block it

(Newser) - A bipartisan group of senators is set to introduce a new bill on US-Cuban relations tomorrow that would remove all legal barriers to traveling to the island, reports the Washington Post. The bill goes far beyond earlier efforts to relax travel restrictions and enjoys support from committee leaders, top Republicans,...

Liberal Groups' Attack Ads on Moderate Dems Not Helpful: Reid

MoveOn should back off, majority leader says

(Newser) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says left-wing groups shouldn’t run ads pressuring moderate Democrats into backing President Obama’s budget, Politico reports. “I think it’s very unwise and not helpful,” Reid said today of the efforts by Moveon.org and Americans United for Change to convert...

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...

Senate Bill Seeks to Rescue Newspapers

Proposal would let titles apply for nonprofit status, save on taxes

(Newser) - Legislation was introduced in the Senate yesterday that would allow newspapers to operate as nonprofits, providing major tax breaks for an industry in free fall, reports MarketWatch. Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin has proposed that newspapers could claim 501(c)(3) status in the same manner as public broadcasting, making advertising and subscription...

Specter's Shift May Doom Bill on Union Organizing

It's a major blow to EFCA hopes

(Newser) - Sen. Arlen Specter said today he won't support the Employee Free Choice Act, delivering a serious setback to the much-watched labor initiative, the Wall Street Journal reports. The bill would allow unions to organize more easily, using card signatures instead of secret ballots. The Republican's support of the measure was...

Coleman Willing to Continue Minn. Election Battle

Former senator 'not ruling out' state, federal appeals

(Newser) - Norm Coleman is leaving himself the option of taking the case of Minnesota’s disputed Senate election all the way to the US Supreme Court, Politico reports. The Republican is not “at this point” expecting to go that far—after all, that’d be after the Minnesota Supreme Court...

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...

AIG Bonus Tax Is Stalled, Likely to Die in Senate

Lawmakers likely to let special tax die, with the nod from Obama

(Newser) - With populist outrage cooling and the White House even cooler, the 90% AIG bonus tax that sailed through the House last week is stalled in the Senate, where it's likely to die, reports Bloomberg. Majority Leader Harry Reid said yesterday this week will be devoted to debating national service and...

New York's Schumer Flips, Backs Gay Marriage

(Newser) - Sen. Charles Schumer now supports full marriage rights for same-sex couples, the New York Daily News reports. The New York Democrat, who was on the record as a proponent of civil unions, also wants to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which he himself voted for. “It’s time,...

Dodd Weakened by Outcry Over AIG Bonuses

Confusion over Conn. senator's role adds to mounting woes

(Newser) - The financial crisis has exacted a political toll on Sen. Chris Dodd few would have seen coming. The veteran senator, elected in 1980, now trails his challenger by 1%, reports the Hill. Resentment of VIP mortgages he received was already hurting him. Dodd’s fumbled explanations of his role in...

Have You Seen Senator Udall's Stapler?

Freshman lawmakers get stuck in shabby basement office space

(Newser) - The Senate is one of the most august bodies in the world, and it has the facilities to match. But its mahogany desks aren’t too familiar to 13 new senators, whose offices are temporarily in the basement—with the cockroaches. NPR follows freshman Sen. Tom Udall to his office—...

Stories 981 - 1000 | << Prev   Next >>