Senate

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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—...

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...

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