Category Archives: US Senate

DoJ reportedly issues subpoenas over same name Alaska candidates

Posted on by

Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign allegedly collaborated with party operatives to confuse voters in midterms

The US justice department on Thursday is reported to have issued subpoenas in response to a report that the Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign collaborated with party operatives to get a challenger with the same name as the Republican senator Dan Sullivan on the midterm ballot.

ABC News reported the subpoenas, citing sources familiar with the matter. The federal investigation comes a day after the New York Times found that the effort to recruit a second candidate named Dan Sullivan in the Senate race set to be decided on Tuesday was led by Peltola’s campaign, which had for months denied involvement.

Continue reading...

Trump rallies for Mike Rogers – and Nicki Minaj’s derriere – in Michigan

Posted on by

Trump again congratulated Ohio senator’s rear end before his cheeky comment about rapper being ‘hard to miss’

Donald Trump reiterated his apparent love for buxom bums during a rally in Michigan on Sunday where he encouraged the crowd to compliment rapper Nicki Minaj’s behind.

Trump’s cheeky comments about Minaj’s derriere came as he explained his recent observation on the Republican Ohio senator Jon Husted’s rear end. Earlier in October, Trump said of the former college football player: “I don’t do this with men very often. I started examining his body, because I didn’t know he was a great athlete. And I looked and I watched up and down. I looked at his ass and I looked at the whole – and then I looked at his hands. Look at his hands. He’s got these, like, claws.

Continue reading...

Abdul El-Sayed: Democrats must ‘win by massive numbers’ to fend off Trump election denial

Posted on by

Democratic Senate candidate’s remarks come as Trump has long baselessly claimed his 2020 election loss was stolen

Democrats must “win by massive numbers” during November’s federal midterm elections because Donald Trump and his Republican allies are bound to try to sow doubt about the integrity of the results, Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan said on Sunday.

El-Sayed’s comments on NBC’s Meet the Press came with the Democrats favored to win control of the House of Representatives during the 3 November midterms – and polls show that the party could also win Senate seats in states that traditionally elect Republicans and gain a majority there, too.

Continue reading...

‘Not exactly his favorite senator’: Susan Collins distances herself from Trump in Maine debate

Posted on by

Republican challenged by Democrat Troy Jackson in critical Senate race says she opposes Iran war and Canada tariffs

Susan Collins, the Republican senator for Maine, pointedly distanced herself from Donald Trump in a televised debate with Democratic challenger Troy Jackson on Tuesday, as she sought to present an image of independence in a state that has voted against Trump three times.

Proclaiming herself as not the US president’s “favorite senator”, Collins made the highly unusual boast for a Republican that she had voted with Joe Biden, a Democrat, more than 90% of the time when he was president. She also emphasized her differences with her fellow Republicans, saying she voted against her own party more than any other senator.

Continue reading...

Trump appears to share personal phone number of US senator in ploy to push permanent daylight savings

Posted on by

US president urges Americans to call Tom Cotton to support bill to make daylight saving time permanent

Donald Trump on Saturday put pressure on the US senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas to support a bill to make daylight saving time permanent, urging Americans to call what appeared to be the personal cellphone number of his fellow Republican and the chair of the Senate intelligence committee.

The Sunshine Protection Act passed the House in July, but it faces roadblocks in the Senate, where some Republicans are strongly opposed to it. Proponents, including the president and his administration, argue that the change would provide more daylight during the times that Americans are most active. Detractors said permanent daylight saving time would lead to darker and potentially more hazardous winter mornings when children will be waiting for school buses and parents will be driving to work in darkness.

Continue reading...

More Republicans are turning on Iran war as midterms come into view

Posted on by

Three more GOP members voted for war powers resolution to force withdrawal from the conflict as election looms

As the US war with Iran drags on, the ranks of Republicans signaling the conflict is a liability for their party continues to grow.

When the House of Representatives on Tuesday evening considered its sixth war powers resolution intended to force Donald Trump to withdraw troops from the conflict, three Republicans who had not supported the previous efforts broke with their party to vote this one to passage. Earlier that day, a Republican who had lost his primary after repeatedly clashing with Trump proposed impeaching the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, alleging a variety of constitutional transgressions including prosecuting the war against Iran without congressional authorization.

Continue reading...

Mitch McConnell returns to Senate after months-long absence

Posted on by

The 84-year-old said he was prepared to cast his first vote after rampant speculation about his health

Mitch McConnell, the former Republican Senate majority leader, returned to the Capitol on Monday and cast his first vote after a months‑long absence that fueled rampant speculation about his health.

One of the highest-profile figures in Congress, the 84-year-old senator has been away from the Senate since mid-June, following what his office said was a fall that left him hospitalized. After weeks of silence, that spurred demands for greater transparency and stoked online conspiracies, McConnell disclosed that he had been “briefly unconscious” and “also had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia”. He was discharged from a rehabilitation center last month.

Continue reading...

Senator Ed Markey wins Massachusetts Democratic primary

Posted on by

Incumbent, 80, beats back challenge from Seth Moulton, who argued Markey was too old to be effective at his job

Senator Ed Markey won the Democratic primary in Massachusetts on Tuesday, beating back a challenge from Seth Moulton, a congressman who tried to unseat him by arguing to voters his opponent was too old to be effective at his job.

Massachusetts is heavily Democratic, making the senator favored to win a third full term in the November general election, where he faces the Republican nominee John Deaton.

Continue reading...

Nancy Kassebaum Baker, former US senator from Kansas, dies aged 94

Posted on by

Kassebaum Baker became the first woman elected to the US Senate without following a spouse into office

Nancy Kassebaum Baker, a Kansas governor’s daughter who became the first woman elected to the US Senate without following a spouse into office, has died. She was 94.

Kassebaum Baker died on Friday of natural causes, according to her son, Bill Kassebaum.

Continue reading...

Republican senator Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola advance in Alaska Senate primary

Posted on by

Result tees up marquee race in US midterm elections, which could decide if Republicans or Democrats control Senate

Incumbent Dan S Sullivan, the US senator, advanced in Alaska’s nonpartisan primary race for his seat on Tuesday alongside Mary Peltola, a former Democratic congresswoman.

With the top four candidates moving forward from Alaska’s open primaries to the general election, the Associated Press reported that Sullivan and Peltola, had qualified for the November’s general election.

Continue reading...

Alaska candidate for US Senate rejects Kamala Harris’s unsolicited support

Posted on by

Former VP sent fundraising appeal for Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign – with half of donations going to Harris’s organization

Alaska US Senate candidate Mary Peltola has rejected the support of Kamala Harris, her fellow Democrat, after the 2024 presidential candidate sent out a seemingly unsolicited fundraising appeal on Peltola’s behalf.

Harris, who lost Alaska – typically a Republican-voting state – by 13 points during her unsuccessful White House run, on Wednesday sent an email from her political organization to supporters of Peltola, a former US House member.

Continue reading...

Trump loyalist Todd Blanche confirmed by Senate as US attorney general

Posted on by

Major win for president as former personal lawyer wins approval despite outcry over $1.8bn slush fund

The US Senate voted to narrowly confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general in a major win for Donald Trump, who will now have his one-time personal attorney sitting atop the nation’s law enforcement apparatus.

Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana cast the deciding vote in Blanche’s favor after two other Republicans – Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska – voted against him. Every Democrat rejected Blanche’s nomination as the Republican-led Senate voted 50-49.

Continue reading...

Senate passes funding bill to prevent shutdown through US midterms

Posted on by

Bill must still be approved by House but would keep government running at current funding levels

The US Senate on Friday passed a government funding bill that will prevent a shutdown through the midterm elections, though it still must be approved by the House of Representatives.

The continuing resolution (CR) passed by a 90-6 vote will keep the government running at its current funding levels until 11 December, more than a month past the midterms in which Democrats are hoping to regain control of Congress and block Donald Trump’s legislative agenda for the final two years of his presidency.

Continue reading...

US Senate passes Russia sanctions bill championed by Lindsey Graham

Posted on by

Late senator spent final days of his life working to advance bill that will now head to the House after 86-11 Senate vote

By a large, bipartisan margin, the US Senate on Friday approved a bill intended to punish Russia and countries that buy its petroleum exports over the invasion of Ukraine, capping a legislative push that was spurred by the death of its champion, the Republican senator Lindsey Graham.

The measure, renamed the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia Act in honor of the late senator’s work on the issue, was approved by an 86-11 vote. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the sole Republican to oppose the legislation, together with 10 Democrats.

Continue reading...

Ohio Republican Max Miller faces growing calls to resign over domestic abuse allegations

Posted on by

Miller calls women accusing him liars as Republican senator Bernie Moreno says former son-in-law unfit for Congress

Max Miller, the beleaguered US Republican representative from Ohio, has vowed to defy a rising groundswell of resignation calls from his own party over domestic abuse allegations after his ex-father-in-law, Bernie Moreno, a GOP senator, said he was unfit to serve in Congress.

In a combative interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Miller turned the tables by attacking Moreno, accused three women – including his ex-wife – of lying by saying he had been violent towards them, and invoked Donald Trump in insisting that he would not resign.

Continue reading...

Michigan votes in key Senate primary as Democrats battle over party’s future

Posted on by

Progressive Abdul El-Sayed leads in polls against centrist Haley Stevens as party looks to regain control of US Senate

The Democratic party faces a crucial test of its direction today as voters in the midwestern swing state of Michigan decide whether to nominate for US Senate a progressive candidate advocating for universal healthcare or an-establishment-backed moderate.

The state’s Democratic primary is the latest high-profile battle over the party’s future, as it seeks to chart a course back to power in Washington following Donald Trump’s victory in 2024.

Continue reading...

Trump vows to push $1.8bn slush fund as Senate committee set to reconsider AG nomination

Posted on by

After declaring ‘anti-weaponization’ fund ‘dead’, Trump reverses and says he’ll revive it despite Senate opposition

The US Senate judiciary committee has scheduled a meeting early next week to consider Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general, as Donald Trump promised to revive the controversial $1.8bn “anti-weaponization” fund.

The meeting, set for Tuesday, comes as Blanche’s confirmation ​has stalled over a dispute between the president and outgoing Republican senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, who are seeking written confirmation that the justice department would not establish the proposed fund.

Continue reading...

Trump’s pick for US attorney general Todd Blanche in jeopardy as vote postponed

Posted on by

Republican John Cornyn says he will not back nomination without written confirmation $1.8bn slush fund is dead

Todd Blanche’s hopes of becoming US attorney general seemed to be in jeopardy on Wednesday after the Department of Justice did not provide written assurances to a key Republican senator that a $1.8bn slush fund was dead.

The US Senate judiciary committee postponed a vote scheduled for Thursday on whether to advance Blanche’s nomination.

Continue reading...

Fauci invokes fifth amendment and declines to testify in Senate Covid hearing

Posted on by

Adviser to Trump and Biden for pandemic says Republican senator has ‘unhinged obsession’ with him

Anthony Fauci, who served as a key adviser to Donald Trump and Joe Biden during the Covid-19 pandemic, has refused to answer questions at a high-profile congressional hearing, accusing a Republican senator of having an “unhinged obsession” with him.

Fauci, the veteran former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Niaid), invoked his constitutional right against incrimination when appearing before a Senate committee on Wednesday.

Continue reading...

Senate to begin voting on Trump intelligence nominee Jay Clayton – US politics live

Posted on by

The US president’s pick to be the country’s director of national intelligence is expected to be approved within days – but only after a tense confirmation hearing

President Donald Trump plans to tout his handling of the economy during a visit to suburban Detroit today, defending sweeping tariffs in a swing state where their effects have hurt many businesses as midterm election season heats up.

Trump is visiting a General Motors facility in Milford, home to tracks and proving grounds for new models and vehicles. Early voting is underway for Michigan’s 4 August primary, which features fierce nomination fights in both major political parties, AP reported.

Continue reading...