Though they disagree strongly about many aspects of government spending, the vast majority of West Virginia legislators, both Republicans and Democrats, understand one thing: The state is broke. Any thought of new spending had better be based on real necessity.
Category: Senator Joe Manchin
Tea party parallel? Liberals taking aim at their own party
In this Jan. 31, 2017 file photo, demonstrators call out Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y. during a protest in his Brooklyn neighborhood in New York. Emboldened by a wave of outrage against President Donald Trump, groups of liberal activists are targeting Democratic incumbents they consider too accommodating to the new administration.
The struggles of coal retirees come roaring back into the congressional spotlight
A dispute over fixing the health care fund of thousands of retired coal miners almost shut down the federal government in December. The solution was only temporary, and the issue is about to command Congress’ attention again.
Sanders under rising pressure to form thir…
Democratic Party insiders say efforts to draft Sen. Bernard Sanders to launch a political party are foolish, doomed to fail and could do more to hurt than help the progressive cause. The pressure on Mr. Sanders to strike out on his own is intensifying now that former Labor Secretary Tom Perez was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee , overcoming a stiff challenge from Rep. Keith Ellison and progressive activists who say the party ‘s primary race last year was rigged against the Vermont independent.
Remember James Carville? Democrats Should
It was a gloomy weekend for Democrats hoping to unify in opposition to President Donald Trump. Fresh from a divisive power struggle at the Democratic National Committee meeting in Atlanta, party leaders found themselves asked to choose between embracing their anti-establishment wing and empowering the moderates those insurgents want to purge.
Democrats edgy amid an outcry over town halls
Senator Charles Schumer answers questions from members of the media at Hudson Valley Community College on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017, in Troy, N.Y. Senator Charles Schumer answers questions from members of the media at Hudson Valley Community College on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017, in Troy, N.Y. FILE – In this Jan. 19, 2017 file photo, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Democrats facing re-election are skipping out on town halls
Only a few of the ten Democratic senators who are on the ballot in 2018 are hosting such town halls, which in other election cycles were routine, the Associated Press reported . “Seems to me that all these members of Congress are afraid to face their constituents,” Hillary Shields, a member of Kansas City Indivisible, said after Sen. Claire McCaskill declined the group’s invitation to attend a town hall.
AARP seeks to protect Medicare
AARP has launched a campaign to protect Medicare in the face of proposals by some in Congress that would hurt West Virginians who have paid into the program their entire working lives, AARP officials said in a news release. Congressional proposals to change Medicare into a voucher system would dramatically increase health care costs and risks for current and future retirees, AARP said.
Sparking ‘The Fight of a Lifetime,’ Senate Puts Fossil Fuel Ally at Helm of EPA
Portending risks to “the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the planet we love,” the U.S. Senate on Friday confirmed Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency . The 52-46 vote comes a day after an Oklahoma judge said Pruitt was in violation of the state’s Open Records Act and ordered the release of thousands of emails between his office and fossil fuel companies.
U.S. Senate approves 2 more of President Trump’s cabinet nominees
The Senate confirmed Steven Mnuchin, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Treasury Department, in a vote mostly along party lines Monday night as Democrats criticized him as a Wall Street-friendly banker who breaks with Trump’s promise to stand for American workers. The Senate voted 53-47, with all Republicans voting for him and all Democrats voting no except Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
By backing Trumpa s Interior pick, De…
When Sen. Jon Tester , a Montana Democrat, vouched for President Trump ‘s pick to be the new interior secretary, there was perhaps more than a little self-interest involved. Rep. Ryan K. Zinke, a Republican and the administration’s secretary nominee, had been expected to challenge Mr. Tester in next year’s Senate race.
EDITORIAL: The rant that failed
The Democrats in the U.S. Senate threw everything they could find at Jeff Sessions, including an occasional kitchen sink, but it was not enough. Rant as they might, the mild-mannered senator from Alabama, was nevertheless confirmed by a vote of 52 to 47. One Democrat, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, broke from the mob to vote to confirm him.
Inside the GOP campaign to save Andrew Puzder’s nomination
Republicans in the Senate are plotting an aggressive effort to save Andrew Puzder’s embattled nomination to become labor secretary, leaning on well-funded business groups, the White House and the powerful Senate majority leader to ensure his confirmation over stiff opposition from the left. Puzder’s nomination has emerged of particular interest to Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, who has a long-standing relationship with the nominee.
Trump hosts senators to woo Gorsuch support
President Donald Trump hosted a bipartisan group of senators for lunch Thursday at the White House to discuss their potential support for Neil Gorsuch, the President’s Supreme Court pick. The meeting was an attempt by Trump to smooth the way for Gorsuch’s confirmation, but his attempt may have been colored by his continued criticism of Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal.
Jeff Sessions confirmed to be the next attorney general
The Senate voted Wednesday to confirm Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama as the next attorney general, surviving a vocal push by Democrats to derail his nomination. The 52-47 vote was mostly along party lines, though one Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin, joined the Republicans to back their Alabama colleague.
Sessions confirmed over Democratic criticism
Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama was confirmed on Wednesday as President Trump’s attorney general, capping a bitter and racially charged nomination battle that crested with the procedural silencing of a leading Democrat, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who had criticized the Alabama senator from the Senate floor. Sessions survived a near-party-line vote, 52-47, the latest sign of the extreme partisanship at play as Trump strains to install his cabinet.
Nine Senate Democrats Say Gorsuch Deserves a Vote
1. Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware: “I’m not going to do to President Trump’s nominee what the Republicans in the Senate did to President Obama’s. I will push for a hearing and I will push for a vote.”
Secret money is fueling pro-Betsy DeVos ad campaigns
But that’s not stopping several conservative organizations from launching ad blitzes promoting Trump’s Cabinet picks – most notably Betsy DeVos, Trump’s nominee for secretary of education, who critics have panned as a wealthy partisan hack with no practical experience in public education. Two conservative nonprofit groups in particular, the Club for Growth and America Next , are pushing back hard, producing broadcast television ads supporting confirmation of DeVos, a GOP megadonor and staunch advocate for charter schools and school vouchers.
Sen. Manchin Presses For Bipartisanship in Increasingly Bitter DC
With the political infighting becoming increasingly bitter, West Virginia’s Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin said he is trying to forge a different path and do what is good for the country, emphasizing that “this toxic atmosphere is not for me.” In an interview with The Daily Caller , Manchin insisted that “Whoever my president is I want to do well,” saying that although “There are red states and there are blue states, hopefully we are all still red, white and blue.”
Trump’s Supreme Court Pick Is A Disciple Of Scalia’s ‘Originalist’ Crusade
Supreme Court nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch, faces members of the media while meeting with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., in his Senate office. The late Justice Antonin Scalia may not have been the original originalist , but he popularized what once had been a fringe legal doctrine.
Ap Explains: What is the Senate’s ‘nuclear option’?
Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch, center arrives for a meeting with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017 in Washington. Former Sen. Kelly Ayotte from New Hampshire walks with Gorsuch at left.
GOP changes the rules to back Price, Mnuchin
A Senate committee has approved President Donald Trump’s picks for Health and Treasury secretaries after majority Republicans suspended the panel’s rules. The rule they suspended requires at least one Democrat to be present for votes.
The Latest: Panel vote on budget director delayed
The top Democrat on a Senate panel responsible for advancing President Donald Trump’s pick to head the White House budget office says she needs time to examine the results of a routine FBI investigation before she can vote on Rep. Mick Mulvaney’s nomination. Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill says she gained access to Mulvaney’s FBI file just a half-hour before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee vote Wednesday morning.
GOP suspends Senate rule, muscles Trump picks through panel
Republicans muscled through committee approval of President Donald Trump’s nominees for Treasury and Health on Wednesday, suspending a key Senate rule in the latest escalation of partisan tensions in Congress. Democrats boycotted a Finance Committee meeting and Republicans responded by temporarily scuttling a rule requiring at least one Democrat to be present for votes.
Joe Manchin opposes Trump travel restrictions, says it defies common sense
Sen. Joe Manchin, West Virginia Democrat, distanced himself Monday from President Trump’s ban on travel from seven countries scattered across the Middle East and North Africa, saying the executive order defied common sense. Mr. Manchin has cast himself as a potential bridge between the Obama administration and Democrats on Capitol Hill, but said that after reviewing Mr. Trump’s executive order, he could not support the White House.
Mitch McConnell basically rules out nuking the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees – or does he?
Uhhhh, four days ago he promised on camera that Trump’s Supreme Court nominee will be confirmed , hint hint. Last night Trump told Hannity that he wants McConnell to blow up the filibuster if Democrats move to block his nominee.
Partya s abortion stance means electoral doom, predicts Democrat at March for Life
A group from Charlotte Christian School in Charlotte, N.C., poses for a photo on the National Mall along with thousands of anti-abortion demonstrators who were about to march to the Supreme Court during the March for Life in Washington on Friday, Jan. 27, 2017. Kristen Day, director of Democrats for Life of America, says the Democratic Party is losing voters because it favors abortion rights.
Manchin: Research showing repeal ofACA would cripple opioid epidemic fight –
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin and prominent organizations and healthcare service providers in West Virginia, announce research by Harvard and New York University that shows repealing the Affordable Care Act would cut $5.5 billion per year from the fight against the opioid epidemic.
Chuck Schumer: Trump opposition leader
Chuck Schumer arrived for his first day as Senate Democratic leader to a large, new Capitol suite still strewn with unpacked boxes. “It’s a little fancier than I’m used to, but it goes with the territory,” Schumer told us, as he sat down for his maiden television interview as the Senate’s top Democrat.
U.S. Banks Gear Up to Fight Dodd-Frank Act’s Volcker Rule
Big U.S. banks are set on getting Congress this year to loosen or eliminate the Volcker rule against using depositors’ funds for speculative bets on the bank’s own account, a test case of whether Wall Street can flex its muscle in Washington again. In interviews over the past several weeks, half a dozen industry lobbyists said they began meeting with legislative staff after the U.S. election in November to discuss matters including a rollback of Volcker, part of the Dodd-Frank financial reform that Congress enacted after the financial crisis and bank bailouts.
Big banks are gearing up to fight the Volcker rule
Big U.S. banks are set on getting Congress this year to loosen or eliminate the Volcker rule against using depositors’ funds for speculative bets on the bank’s own account, a test case of whether Wall Street can flex its muscle in Washington again. In interviews over the past several weeks, half a dozen industry lobbyists said they began meeting with legislative staff after the U.S. election in November to discuss matters including a rollback of Volcker, part of the Dodd-Frank financial reform that Congress enacted after the financial crisis and bank bailouts.