Category Archives: US Senate

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder arrested for protesting Gaza blockade at US Senate hearing

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Ben Cohen and others interrupted RFK Jr at hearing to protest Israel’s Gaza blockade and Medicaid cuts

Ben Cohen, the co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream, has been charged with “crowding and obstructing” others after he was arrested while protesting against the Gaza blockade during a US Senate hearing.

Cohen – the Ben in Ben & Jerry’s – made his stand on Wednesday while Robert F Kennedy Jr was addressing a hearing of the health, education, labor and pensions committee. A group of activists heckled the health secretary over his anti-vaccine posture, yelling: “When Bobby lies, children die,” and “Anti-vax, anti-science, anti-America”.

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RFK Jr tells Congress ‘people shouldn’t take medical advice from me’

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Health secretary demurs on questions about vaccine stance and defends Republican plans to cut healthcare

The US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, refused to say whether he would vaccinate his children if he had to choose today, and defended Republicans’ proposal to cut healthcare to fund tax cut extensions.

Kennedy’s back-to-back testimonies before House and Senate committees were his first appearances before lawmakers since his confirmation in February. The secretary was called to discuss Donald Trump’s proposed budget, which would impose disproportionately large cuts to scientific enterprises at the health department.

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‘Just wildly illegal’: top Democrats push to censure Trump’s plan to accept Qatar jet

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Four senators, including Cory Booker, say they will press for vote against president’s plan to take $400m gift from Qatar

Top Democrats in the US Senate are pushing for a vote on the floor of the chamber censuring Donald Trump’s reported plan to accept a $400m luxury jet from the royal family of Qatar for use as Air Force One and later as a fixture in the Trump’s personal presidential library.

Four Democratic members of the Senate foreign relations committee said on Monday that they would press for a vote later this week. They said that elected officials, including the president, were not allowed to accept large gifts from foreign governments unless authorized to do so by Congress.

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‘National disgrace’: US lawmakers decry student detentions on visit to Ice jails

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Delegation visits jails where Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk are being held and denounce ‘authoritarian’ Trump

Congressional lawmakers denounced the treatment of Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk, the students being detained by US immigration authorities for their pro-Palestinian activism, as a “national disgrace” during a visit to the two facilities in Louisiana where each are being held.

“We stand firm with them in support of free speech,” the Louisiana congressman Troy Carter, who led the delegation, said during a press conference after the visits on Tuesday. “They are frightened, they’re concerned, they want to go home.”

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Maryland senator meets Kilmar Ábrego García in El Salvador amid battle over US return

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Chris Van Hollen posts photo on X but does not provide update on status of man wrongly deported from US

The Maryland senator Chris Van Hollen met in El Salvador with Kilmar Ábrego García, a man who was sent there by the Trump administration in March despite an immigration court order preventing his deportation.

Van Hollen posted a photo of the meeting on X, saying he also called Ábrego García’s wife “to pass along his message of love”.

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Democratic senator heads to El Salvador to try to visit Kilmar Ábrego García

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Chris Van Hollen warns of ‘constitutional crisis’ and says he hopes to report back to family on Maryland man’s condition

Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland will travel to El Salvador on Wednesday and attempt to visit Kilmar Ábrego García, a constituent whose deportation and incarceration in the Central American country, he warns, has tipped the United States into a constitutional crisis.

In an interview with the Guardian on Tuesday, Van Hollen said he hopes to learn of Ábrego García’s condition and convey it to his family, who also live in the state he represents.

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‘Hands Off’ protests take off across US and Europe to oppose Trump agenda – as it happened

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Protesters gather at more than a thousand events across the US and in cities abroad, such as London, Berlin and Paris. This blog is now closed.

Hundreds of protesters gathered in central London on Saturday as part of global demonstrations against Donald Trump’s administration.

Crowds gathered in Trafalgar Square with banners that read “No to Maga hate” and “Dump Trump”. The rally is one of hundreds of so-called “Hands Off” demonstrations around the world – including in cities across the US, Paris and Berlin.

We see the foundations of our society, social security, Medicare, Medicaid, the very safety nets that people have fought for, for generations, to ensure that our country lives up to its promise, are being targeted by the billionaires and the oligarchs and the corporations.

This insidious rise of authoritarianism is fueled by corrupt billionaires and mega corporations who believe that they have the right to control every aspect of our lives, our healthcare, to our schools, to our thoughts, to our very free speech under the false banner of patriotism and freedom …

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Ted Cruz warns of midterm ‘bloodbath’ if Trump tariffs cause a recession

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Texas senator’s comments another sign of Republican unease over ‘reciprocal tariffs’ and stock market plunge

Ted Cruz, the US senator from Texas, has warned that his fellow Republicans risk a “bloodbath” in the 2026 midterm elections if Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs cause a recession.

Cruz also warned that the president’s tariffs, if they stay in place for long and are met by global retaliation on American goods, could trigger a full-blown trade war that “would destroy jobs here at home, and do real damage to the US economy”.

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Senate approves Republican plan for trillions in tax breaks and spending cuts

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Vote fell mostly along party lines and now goes to the House, where it could be voted on as soon as next week

Senate Republicans plugged away overnight and into early Saturday morning to approve their multitrillion-dollar tax breaks and spending cuts framework, hurtling past hardened Democratic opposition toward what Donald Trump calls the “big, beautiful bill” that is central to his agenda.

The vote, 51-48, fell along mostly party lines, but with sharp dissent from two prominent GOP senators. It could not have come at a more difficult political moment. The US economy is churning after the president’s vast tariff scheme sent stocks plummeting, and experts are warning of soaring costs for consumers at home and threats of a potential recession. Republican senators Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky both voted against the bill.

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Cory Booker breaks record for longest Senate speech with Trump condemnation

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In speech that began Monday night, Democratic senator warns of ‘grave and urgent’ danger of Trump administration

Cory Booker, the Democratic US senator from New Jersey, has broken the record for longest speech ever by a lone senator – beating the record first established by Strom Thurmond, who filibustered for 24 hours and 18 minutes in opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

Booker’s speech eventually ran to 25 hours and five minutes. Having begun at 7pm on Monday night, was not a filibuster but instead an effort to warn of what he called the “grave and urgent” danger that Donald Trump’s presidential administration poses to democracy and the American people.

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Man charged in US Capitol attack announces run for Senate in Florida

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Jake Lang, charged with attacking police during riot and pardoned by Trump, seeks to fill seat Marco Rubio’s old seat

A man accused of battling police with a baseball bat and shield during the January 6 riot at the US Capitol announced a run for the US Senate in Florida.

“WE ARE TAKING OVER THE CAPITOL AGAIN,” Jake Lang, a prominent January 6 defendant, wrote on X, announcing he is seeking the seat vacated by now secretary of state Marco Rubio in 2026.

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Oz vows to make Americans healthier but dodges questions on Trump cuts

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TV doctor and former heart surgeon vows to fight healthcare fraud at Senate hearing for health role

Dr Mehmet Oz promised senators on Friday to fight healthcare fraud and push to make Americans healthier if he becomes the next leader of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

But the former heart surgeon and TV personality dodged several opportunities to say broadly whether he would oppose cuts to Medicaid, the government-funded program for people with low incomes.

Oz, Donald Trump’s pick to be the next CMS administrator, also said technology such as artificial intelligence and telemedicine can be used to make care more efficient and expand its reach.

“We have a generational opportunity to fix our healthcare system and help people stay healthy for longer,” he said in his opening remarks.

He faced over two and a half hours of questioning before the Republican-controlled Senate finance committee, which will vote later on whether to forward his nomination to the full Senate for consideration.

Leading the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services presents a “monumental opportunity” to make the country healthier, Oz told senators on Friday morning.

“We don’t have to order people to eat healthy, we have to make it easier for people to be healthy,” adding that he considered maintaining good health a “patriotic duty”.

Republicans, who have coalesced around Trump’s nominees for the health agencies, asked Oz about his plans for eliminating fraud from the $1tn programs.

Democrats, meanwhile, tried to pin him down on potential cuts to the state and federally funded Medicaid program that Republicans are considering.

The 64-year-old was a respected heart surgeon who turned into a popular TV pitchman. Now he has his sights on overseeing health insurance for about 150 million Americans enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid or Affordable Care Act coverage.

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Schumer says no to Republican funding bill as US shutdown risk intensifies

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Senate minority leader says Democrats will not provide votes for stopgap measure and calls for bipartisan effort

Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, said on Wednesday that Democrats would not provide the necessary votes to pass a stopgap funding bill, dramatically raising the risk of a partial government shutdown at the end of the week.

Announcing the decision in a speech on the Senate floor, Schumer urged Republicans to consider a shorter funding extension that would give congressional negotiators more time to consider a bipartisan path forward.

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Mitch McConnell won’t seek Senate re-election in 2026

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Republican Kentucky lawmaker formally announced his retirement in a Senate floor speech on Thursday

Senator Mitch McConnell announced he will not run for re-election next year, bringing an end to a decades-long career for a Republican leader who marshaled his party through multiple administrations with a singleminded focus on power that enraged his critics and delighted his allies.

The Associated Press broke the news of McConnell’s retirement on Thursday, which marked the Republican senator’s 83rd birthday. McConnell formally announced his retirement in a Senate floor speech on Thursday.

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‘In Alaska, it’s Denali’: senators move to counter Trump’s mountain name order

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Republican senator Lisa Murakowski introduces bill to require peak’s name kept on US maps, laws and regulations

The Alaska Republican US senator Lisa Murkowski has introduced legislation to officially rename North America’s tallest mountain as Denali, a counter to Donald Trump’s executive order to revert the peak’s name to Mount McKinley.

Murkowski’s bill, which was co-sponsored by her fellow Republican senator for Alaska, Dan Sullivan, would require the peak to be referred to as Denali on any US maps, laws and regulations.

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Democratic Senator accuses FBI head nominee Kash Patel of orchestrating agency purge

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Patel’s alleged purge of FBI calls into question if he perjured himself at his Senate confirmation hearing

A senior Democrat has accused Kash Patel, Donald Trump’s controversial nominee as FBI director, of having already secretly orchestrated a purge of the bureau’s agents even as senators debate whether to confirm him in the post.

Dick Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate judiciary committee, said he had “highly credible information” that Patel had given orders to sack senior personnel when he had no power to do so as a private citizen – directly contradicting testimony he had given at a confirmation hearing.

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Tulsi Gabbard confirmed as intelligence head despite fears of pro-Russia stance

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Senate approves nomination of former Democrat as Mitch McConnell is sole Republican to vote against Trump pick

Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman who has been publicly questioned over her affinity for foreign dictators and promoting conspiracy theories, has been confirmed as director of national intelligence by the US Senate.

The Senate voted 52 to 48, with just one Republican – the senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky – voting against her confirmation.

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Top Republican condemns Elon Musk for ‘supplication’ to China in new book

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Exclusive: Tom Cotton, Senate intelligence chair, risks angering key Trump ally with harsh words for ‘tech titans’

In a new book, the Arkansas senator Tom Cotton condemns Elon Musk for “chasing Chinese dollars” and having “shamefully supplicated China’s Communist rulers”, in order to advance his own interests as chief executive of companies including Tesla and SpaceX.

It’s an explosive charge from the Republican chair of the powerful Senate intelligence committee, given that Musk, the world’s richest person, is a major donor and close adviser to Donald Trump, now working at the heart of the president’s administration to slash costs and reshape the federal government.

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US Democrats call for more aggressive tactics against Trump and Musk: ‘We’re going to be the opposition’

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As Trump aims to dismantle large swaths of US government, growing outcry from Democrats appears to be having an effect

When organizers announced a “Nobody Elected Elon” protest at the treasury department’s headquarters in Washington – in response to the revelation that Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency” (Doge) had accessed sensitive taxpayer data – not a single Democratic lawmaker had agreed to attend.

But as public outrage mounted over Donald Trump’s brazen assault on the federal government, the speaking list grew. In the end, more than two dozen Democratic members of Congress including Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, spoke at the event, which drew hundreds of protesters outside on a frigid Tuesday last week. In speech after speech, they pledged to do everything in their power to block Trump from carrying out his right-wing agenda.

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US Senate confirms Trump nominee Pam Bondi as attorney general

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Bondi approved 54-46 as staunch political ally of president propelled to top perch of US law enforcement

The US Senate confirmed Pam Bondi on Tuesday as the next attorney general to steer the justice department through Donald Trump’s second term and his clear intent to turn it into an extension of his executive power, especially as a cudgel against his personal and political adversaries.

The 54 to 46 vote to confirm Bondi was largely across party lines. All Republicans voted to confirm and all but one Democratic senator, John Fetterman, voted against.

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