Senate

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Nine Senators Hold Key to Health Reform

Baucus leads 'Board of Directors' in tough bipartisan negotiations

(Newser) - If Barack Obama succeeds in overhauling America's health care system by the end of 2009, he'll have to thank a bipartisan group of nine senators charged with developing a bill that can muster 60 votes. The "Board of Directors"—named by Max Baucus, Obama's go-to figure for health...

Minn. Recount Trial Goes to Judges

(Newser) - The Minnesota recount trial is finally out of the lawyers’ hands, with both sides claiming certain victory, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Now the judges will weigh evidence provided by Norm Coleman’s and Al Franken’s teams and decide exactly which votes to count. “It’s more likely...

Senate Leaders Inch Closer to Health Care Bill

Bipartisan group hammering out guidelines of reform

(Newser) - After months of meetings, a bipartisan group of nine US senators is finalizing terms on what would be the major points of a health-care reform bill, Time reports. The progress of the Gang of Nine—which includes Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch—dovetails with efforts being made in the House,...

Lawmakers Sour on Governors Filling Senate Vacancies

Post-Blago, some push special elections

(Newser) - Soured by the taint of the Rod Blagojevich scandal on a US Senate seat, members of congressional judiciary subcommittees considered a Constitutional amendment that would fill interim vacancies in the body by election, rather than by gubernatorial appointment, the Washington Post reports. The selection by governors is “not only...

Senate Clears $410B Spending Bill

(Newser) - Senate Democrats tonight finally got the votes they needed to pass a $410 billion appropriations bill to keep the government running through September, Politico reports. The measure passed 62-35 over strenuous GOP arguments that it had too much pork for such dire times. President Obama is expected to sign the...

Earmarks? No, 'Crank' Mac Warrants Earplugs

(Newser) - Most also-ran candidates slip off quietly once the presidential campaign is over, and yet the media is still interested in what John McCain has to say. The attention is undeserved, Paul Waldman writes in the American Prospect. McCain’s signature issue, earmarks, is “as substantively empty as could be,...

Franken Sees End Near in Minn. Senate Dispute

Candidate optimistic in meeting with Democratic senators

(Newser) - Al Franken sees “a light at the end of the tunnel” in the legal dispute between him and Republican Norm Coleman over a Minnesota Senate seat, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. Franken expects to win the current election trial, but believes Coleman will appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court. Franken...

Lieberman: I Always Liked Obama

Once a McCain ally, Lieberman now praises the president

(Newser) - He endorsed John McCain in the election and called Barack Obama "a talker," but now Joe Lieberman is singing "Hail to the Chief." The Democratic-turned-independent senator has been showering the president with praise, saying Obama has "shown real leadership" and "is off to a...

'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...

Minn. Court Rejects Franken Bid to Be Seated

(Newser) - The Minnesota Supreme Court today rejected Democrat Al Franken's petition for an election certificate that would put him in the US Senate without waiting for a lawsuit to be resolved. Franken is ahead of Republican Norm Coleman by 225 votes. Coleman's ongoing lawsuit argues some uncounted absentee ballots were wrongly...

Congress Passes Stopgap Bill to Avoid Shutdown

(Newser) - With a $410 billion catchall spending bill stalled in the Senate and a midnight deadline looming, Congress rushed through stopgap legislation today to keep the government running for another five days. With most Republicans denouncing the bill as too costly and a few Democrats opposing it as well, Majority Leader...

Burris Figured 'To Do Some Things' for Blago: Ex-Ally

(Newser) - John Ruff, a former associate of Roland Burris and his staff, is claiming Burris planned all along to make a trade with then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich for the Senate seat he now holds. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Ruff, then a participant in the effort to get the seat for Burris,...

Bunning Is the GOP's Burris
Bunning Is the GOP's Burris
Mar 6, 2009 7:05 AM CST

Bunning Is the GOP's Burris

Despite electoral peril and party pressure, gaffe-prone Kentucky senator won't retire

(Newser) - Senator Jim Bunning, a former Hall of Fame pitcher, may have absorbed too much “quitters never win” talk while still an athlete: The New York Times reports that the erratic Kentuckian won’t go away, despite his Republican colleagues’ best efforts. Bunning barely held his seat in 2004 after...

Senate GOP Forces Delay on $410B Spending Bill

(Newser) - Senate Republicans, demanding the right to change a huge spending bill, forced Democrats tonight to put off a final vote on the measure until next week. The surprise development will force Congress to pass a stopgap funding bill to avoid a partial shutdown of the government. Republicans have blasted the...

Fiorina Has Surgery for Breast Cancer

Former HP CEO, McCain adviser 'doing great': chief of staff

(Newser) - Ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina had surgery yesterday in California after being diagnosed with breast cancer Feb. 20, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. “She's doing great," her chief of staff said. "She only just learned about this.” After a controversial stint at HP, Fiorina went on...

Burris Camp Returns to Race Card
 Burris Camp 
 Returns to 
 Race Card 
ANALYSIS
Mar 3, 2009 10:26 AM CST

Burris Camp Returns to Race Card

Ill. senator hopes to box in white Dems for 2010 campaign

(Newser) - Roland Burris doesn’t have much support in Washington or money in his war chest for a reelection bid, but he retains one reliable weapon, Politico reports: the race card. As controversy over his appointment has reemerged, Burris hasn’t hesitated to chalk it up to racial politics. A Burris...

Angry McCain Slams Obama Over Earmarks

Old spending bill proves minefield for Democrats

(Newser) - Democrats were hoping they could sneak the $410 billion omnibus spending bill from last fall quietly through the Senate and onto the president’s desk, to make way for the 2010 budget. But John McCain is having none of it. “If it seems like I’m angry, it’s...

Race to Replace Burris Already Under Way

Illinois gov threatens special election before senator can run in 2010

(Newser) - The jockeying has begun to replace Roland Burris in the Senate, the New York Times reports, though nobody’s certain when an election will be. Burris seems set on serving the remaining 2 years of Barack Obama’s term, but pressure is building for special elections. “The landscape on...

Pelosi: It's My House, Not Obama's
Pelosi: It's My House, Not Obama's
analysis
Feb 27, 2009 1:30 PM CST

Pelosi: It's My House, Not Obama's

Speaker stakes her ground on Iraq, tax cuts, other issues

(Newser) - Nancy Pelosi was happy to block for President Obama on the stimulus, but she won’t keep at it forever, reports Politico. Pelosi’s responsibilities are to her liberal district and caucus; on the pace of repealing tax cuts, withdrawal from Iraq, and other issues, Pelosi doesn’t plan on...

Senate OKs Congressional Seat for DC

Measure expected to clear House, but legal challenges remain

(Newser) - Washington, DC, moved a step closer today to getting a congressional representative. The Senate voted 61-37 to give the district—and its 600,000 residents—a seat in the House of Representatives, the Post reports. The measure now goes to the House, where it is expected to pass next week....

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