Tag: U.S. Senate

Aid bill for Capitol security, Afghan refugees headed to Biden’s desk

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Vote of 416-11 in House came hours after 98-0 Senate vote

Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly Thursday to approve a $2.1 billion spending bill meant to shore up their own safety in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, reimburse the National Guard for a monthslong activation to secure the complex and relocate Afghans who helped the U.S. government during the war.

The 416-11 House vote Thursday afternoon clears the measure for President Joe Biden’s signature with just days to spare before the Capitol Police and National Guard are expected to face funding shortfalls related to the insurrection by pro-Trump rioters.

House passage came just hours after the Senate’s 98-0 vote. Though lawmakers in that chamber gave the measure a strong bipartisan vote, House members weren’t entirely pleased with the final product or that it took the Senate about two months to approve its version after the House acted on an earlier version. Continue reading.

Trump threatened to primary GOP lawmakers who favor the bipartisan infrastructure plan. 17 Republicans just voted to advance it, including Mitch McConnell.

Former President Donald Trump left no words unspoken in his most direct attempt yet to tank President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure deal.

The GOP frontman threatened “lots of primaries” ahead for any Republican lawmakers who cooperated with Democrats to get the bipartisan deal passed.

His statement was released after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced ahead of the procedural vote in the Senate on Wednesday that he would vote to advance the measure. Seventeen Republicans — including McConnell — joined all 50 Democrats to advance the bipartisan legislation, in a major test for the bill. Continue reading.

$1.2 trillion “hard” infrastructure bill clears major procedural vote in Senate

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The Senate voted 67-32 on Wednesday to advance the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. 

Why it matters: After weeks of negotiating, portions of the bill remain unwritten, but the Senate can now start debating the legislation to resolve outstanding issues.

  • It was the second time the chamber voted to invoke cloture on the legislation after the first vote failed last week. Continue reading.

Bipartisan group reaches agreement on $1.2 trillion “hard” infrastructure bill

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After weeks of long nights and endless Zoom calls, a bipartisan group of senators finally reached a deal on “the major issues” in their $1.2 trillion “hard” infrastructure package, GOP senators involved in the talks announced Wednesday.

Why it matters: It could be days before the group finishes writing the bill, but the Senate can begin debating the legislation in earnest now that they have resolved the outstanding issues. The bill needs 60 votes to advance in the Senate.

  • Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that the Senate could vote as early as Wednesday night to advance the proposal, the second time they will vote on this procedural measure. Continue reading.

Pelosi rebuffs McConnell on infrastructure

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Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday amplified her plans to link a bipartisan infrastructure agreement to a second package of Democratic economic priorities, rebuffing an appeal from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to decouple the two bills.

In a closed-door meeting with her caucus in the Capitol, Pelosi said her initial strategy — to withhold a House infrastructure vote until the Senate passes a larger, partisan families plan — remains unchanged, according to lawmakers in attendance.

“What the Speaker has said, and I totally agree with her, is that we’re not going to vote on one until the Senate sends us both,” Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), chairman of the House Budget Committee, told reporters after the meeting. “That’s not changed.” Continue reading.

Lawmakers come to bipartisan framework agreement on police reform

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The three chief negotiators on a police reform package announced Thursday they had reached a bipartisan agreement on the issue. 

“After months of working in good faith, we have reached an agreement on a framework addressing the major issues for bipartisan police reform,” Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said in a joint statement Thursday afternoon.

“There is still more work to be done on the final bill, and nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to. Over the next few weeks we look forward to continuing our work toward getting a finalized proposal across the finish line.”  Continue reading.

Senators say White House aides agreed to infrastructure ‘framework’

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Senators involved in bipartisan negotiations say they and White House officials have agreed to an infrastructure “framework,” and they’ll meet with President Biden Thursday to brief him. 

“Republicans and Democrats have come together, along with the White House, and we’ve agreed on a framework and we’re gonna be heading to the White House tomorrow,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told reporters after a meeting Wednesday. 

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), another member of the group, confirmed the White House officials in the meeting signed off on the framework and that they “came to an agreement.” Continue reading.

Senate on collision course over Trump DOJ subpoenas

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Senate Democrats are quickly running into a GOP buzzsaw as they probe the Trump-era Justice Department’s collection of lawmaker records.

Reports that the Department of Justice (DOJ) under former President Trumpobtained lawmaker communications data, and similar info on former White House Counsel Don McGahn, have sparked a days-long fury that’s sent Attorney General Merrick Garland scrambling to contain the fallout.

As part of the fierce backlash from Capitol Hill, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee launched a probe this week and are threatening to subpoena former Attorneys General William Barr and Jeff Sessions if they don’t testify voluntarily. Continue reading.

Senate confirms D.C. Circuit nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace Merrick Garland ‘

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The Senate confirmed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Monday to the influential federal appeals court in Washington, elevating a trial court judge who is considered a contender for a potential opening on the Supreme Court.

Three Republicans joined Democrats in approving Jackson’s nomination in a 53-to-44 vote.

Jackson, 50, was nominated in March as part of Biden’s first slate of judicial picks from diverse personal and professional backgrounds. She fills the vacancy left on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by Attorney General Merrick Garland, who served on the bench for 24 years. Continue reading.

Mitch McConnell’s big bluff: Here’s the real reason he wants to keep the filibuster so badly

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Last week, United States Senator Kyrsten Sinema expressed ongoing support for the filibuster, arguing that “it is a tool that protects the democracy of our nation” and prevents our country from “[ricocheting] wildly every two to four years back and forth between policies.” Then, over the weekend, Joe Manchin echoed a similar sentiment, writing that Democrats have “attempted to demonize the filibuster and conveniently ignore how it has been critical to protecting the rights of Democrats in the past.”

Sinema and Manchin have been rhapsodizing over the filibuster and the virtues of bipartisanship for months, so these arguments are far from surprising. One obvious problem is they fly in the face of overwhelming evidence that bipartisanship is (mostly) dead. However, there’s another, more troubling problem that warrants our attention.

Sinema and Manchin maintain that the filibuster protects not only our democracy, but also the Democratic Party. If we rely on a mere majority for legislation, the thinking goes, any leftward movement will be met with an equal rightward shift when the GOP inevitably returns to power. Thus, we are to believe that the filibuster not only ensures stability, but, in the long run, actually protects Democratic Party’s legislative interests.  Continue reading.