The Senate

These Los Angeles Girls Went To Capitol Hill To Ask The Senate To Fight New Immigration Enforcement Efforts

... to her eyes, as she told the story to reporters at a news conference in the Capitol on Tuesday. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N. J.) handed handkerchiefs to Fatima and her sister Yuleni Avelica, 12. The girls had medals from completing the marathon dangling around their necks. Democratic senators held the news conference to urge their Senate colleagues to reject President Trump's request for $3 billion to hire thousands of new immigration agents, expand detention facilities and build a wall among the southern border as part of his pledge to deport millions of people in the country illegally. The White House has characterized the moves as necessary for public safety. California's Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris said Trump's immigration enforcement orders are too broad, sweeping up nonviolent offenders or people accused of the civil offense of being in the country illegally. She called the executive orders, which vastly broadened who can be targeted for deportation and leaves a lot of discretion to local immigration officials "misguided and misinformed.". "It's irresponsible to paint a ...

Senate Intelligence Committee Rejects Flynn's Request For Immunity

... that he misled White House officials about whether he discussed sanctions with Russia's ambassador to the United States. Flynn told Vice President Mike Pence he did not discuss sanctions against Russia with Russian officials in the weeks leading up to the Jan. 20 inauguration. Pence then defended him in TV interviews. Since leaving the Trump administration, Flynn registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent for lobbying work that may have aided the Turkish government. It took place from August through November, when he was a Trump campaign advisor. Flynn is required to disclose that work. Reports also surfaced that Russian state-owned network RT paid more than $45,000 for Flynn to travel to Moscow and speak at its 10 th anniversary event. Trump echoed Flynn's lawyer in a Friday morning tweet, arguing that Flynn "should ask for immunity" in the ongoing probe into possible ties between the campaign and Russia. The president argued that concerns over Russia were a "witch ...

House Democrat Calls Bid To Unseat Cruz Key To Flipping Senate

... the chamber; although the GOP holds a narrow, 52-48 majority, Democrats will have to defend 25 of the 33 contests in the 2018 midterms, including the two independents who caucus with the party, Maine's Angus King and Vermont's Bernie Sanders. But aides at the Senate Democrats' campaign arm tell CNN they are monitoring the Texas race. Both O'Rourke and Castro speak highly of each other, but cut different profiles in the House Democratic caucus. O'Rourke noted he voted against House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and said he is "fiercely independent," while Castro helps the leadership team corral votes and has been given a coveted seat on the House intelligence committee. Castro told CNN earlier this week that O'Rourke's move doesn't change his plans to continue looking at the race, and he's sticking with a timeline to make his decision sometime in April. Meanwhile, the dynamic that Democrats want to highlight is Cruz's own split with the President during the contentious GOP presidential primary. "Here are some words we almost never say: Donald Trump was right - ...

How The Senate Nuked American Bipartisanship

... use “whatever means necessary” to push back against the Bush agenda, including the filibuster. Some say a secondary function of Rule 22, beyond advancing Senate procedure efficiently, was to maintain some semblance of bipartisanship among legislators. Requiring a three-fifths vote in confirmation proceedings necessitated that senators reach across the aisle and negotiate with members of the opposing party, as, in most terms, the split in representation is close. And this necessarily brought the president into the equation, too. A president cognizant of Rule 22 would have to consider the bipartisan appeal of every appointee, ideally leading to executive agencies and federal courts presided over by relatively moderate individuals capable of understanding issues from perspectives beyond the vantage of their own ideologies. Of course, Republican senators would argue, as the Democrats did before them, that today’s Senate is so rancorously divided that strict of observance of Rule 22 would render the body totally ineffectual. And they’d have a point. ...

Senate Braces For 'severe Blow' Over Supreme Court Nomination

... bad in the Senate now that few Democrats trust Republicans to honor the current rules the next time around even if they acquiesce this time. "If they're so quick to change the rules this time they'll be just as quick to change them next time," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N. Y.) said. "It's a severe blow to the institution, the way we do business," Sen. John Mc Cain (R-Ariz.) told the Daily News. (Sven Hoppe/AP). Only a handful of Democrats have agreed to back Gorsuch or haven't ruled out a filibuster ahead of a series of votes expected on Thursday and Friday. "I remain very worried about our polarized politics and what the future will bring, since I'm certain we will have a Senate rule change that will usher in more extreme judges in the future," Sen. Claire Mc Caskill (D-Mo.) said in a Friday afternoon statement announcing her opposition. Neil Gorsuch questioned about role in Bush admin torture policy. Mc Caskill, a red-state senator ...

Rep. O'rourke Hits The Road To Campaign For A Senate Seat

... a meet and greet with more than 100 supporters. During the rally, O'Rourke told people that it's time for change in Texas and that change starts in The senate. “If you want bipartisanship, if you want to fix healthcare, if you want to make sure to treat everyone equally, if you want to stop talking about immigration reform and actually see it implemented it's not going to happen with one party rule on either side that's just not the way our government works. We need balance we need a check on that power,” O’Rourke said. On Saturday, the junior congressman headed to Waco for an early morning meet and greet at a local coffee shop. A couple dozen supporters showed up to that event. The Democrat then drove to Austin with his wife and staff to hold a meet and greet in front of hundreds. “What I'm really excited for is taking back this country and taking back the state in to do that ...

State House, Senate Miles

... the Seminoles and allow nearly all tracks and jai alai frontons to do away with live racing or games, a process known as "decoupling.". Hours later, a major House committee supported a more status-quo measure (HB 7037) focused on a 20-year agreement with the Seminoles, called a "compact." A portion of a 2010 compact that gave the tribe exclusive rights to operate banked card games, such as blackjack, at most of its casinos expired in 2015, prompting a new round of negotiations and litigation with the state. But discussions about a new compact failed to gain traction last year, after lawmakers did not approve a deal struck by Scott and the tribe late in 2015. While the House and Senate now are coming from opposite ends of the spectrum, Republican legislative leaders acknowledged Thursday the packages provide ...

Five Revelations From The Senate's First Russia Hearings

... They pre-planned it, they were a year and a half out, they're doing it today in European elections," Watts said. He added that these methods weren't only used during the general election, but during the Democratic primary as well, when he says bots targeted Bernie Sanders supporters. "They play all sides.". Russian Trolling Is Still Happening. Watts said that as recently as last week, in the wake of the president's humiliating healthcare defeat, Russian Twitter bots were training their focus on the speaker of the House – architect of the bill and an ostensible Trump ally. "This past week we observed social media campaigns targeting speaker of the House Paul Ryan, hoping to foment further unrest amongst U. S. democratic institutions," he told the committee. . And They Are Targeting Trump's Twitter Account Specifically. Perhaps most interesting, Watts reported that bots have been observed tweeting dubious claims at Trump in an apparent effort to influence the president. "I can tell you right now, today, 'gray outlets,' Soviet-pushing accounts, tweet at President Trump during high volumes, when they ...