Franken back at Senate job despite soon-to-be-gone status – Tue, 12 Dec 2017 PST

Al Franken is the Senate's dead man walking, still doing his day job despite his soon-to-be-gone status. The two-term Minnesota lawmaker told a somber Senate last Thursday he would resign amid multiple allegations of sexual misconduct and in the face of vanishing support from fellow Democrats.

Merrill: Turnout about 25 percent today statewide

Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill said this afternoon it looked like about 25 percent voter turnout in today's special U.S. Senate race between Democrat Doug Jones and Republican Roy Moore. The special election to replace Jeff Sessions, who became U.S. attorney general early this year, is expected to cost the state $15 million - $5 million each for the primary, runoff and general.

Sessions: terror attacks show immigration a security issue

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced in a conference and official press release that he would recuse himself from any probe into Russian interference in the U.S. election. DAVID McFADDEN Associated Press BALTIMORE - A botched suicide mission on the New York City subway system showed in the "starkest terms" that the failures of the U.S. immigration system are a national security issue, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Tuesday during a stop in Baltimore with the new Homeland Security chief.

DelBene, Jayapal join call for probe of Trump sexual misconduct

U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash, says women making accusations of sexual misconduct against President Trump "should be heard." U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash, says women making accusations of sexual misconduct against President Trump "should be heard."

Female workers sue McCormick & Schmick’s over lewd behavior

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions says attack on New York City subway system showed in "starkest terms" that the failures of the U.S. immigration system are a national security issue. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions says attack on New York City subway system showed in "starkest terms" that the failures of the U.S. immigration system are a national security issue.

Republicans considering bumping corporate rate to 21 percent in tax plan as deal nears

House Speaker Paul Ryan arrives at a news conference regarding tax legislation, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 12, 2017. Ryan here praised a one-page study released Monday by the Treasury Department showing the tax plan more than paying for itself, but only if high growth forecasts are met and if other Trump administration economic policies proposals are enacted.

Trump attacks Gillibrand in tweet critics say is sexually suggestive and demeaning

Democrats accused the president of making unsavory insinuations. , D-N.Y., who had called for Trump's resignation a day earlier because of allegations of sexual misconduct, called Trump's attack as a "sexist smear attempting to silence my voice."

Tax package would ease hit to residents of high-tax states

This Sept. 27, 2017 file photo shows Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., center, joining Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and other GOP lawmakers to talk about the Republicans' proposed rewrite of the tax code for individuals and corporations, at the Capitol in Washington.

Dems say Trumpa s tweets about Gillibrand sexist, crude

By NANCY BENAC and JONATHAN LEMIRE, Associated Press WASHINGTON - Plowing into the sexual harassment debate in a big way, President Donald Trump laced into Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Tuesday, tweeting that the New York Democrat would come to his office to get them.

Kirsten Gillibrand Fires Back at Donald Trump: – You Cannot…

"You cannot silence me or the millions of women who have gotten off the sidelines to speak out," tweets the New York Senator Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand hit back on Tuesday after President Donald Trump called her a "flunky" who "would do anything" for campaign contributions. "You cannot silence me or the millions of women who have gotten off the sidelines to speak out about the unfitness and shame you have brought to the Oval Office," the New York senator wrote.

Dems accuse Trump of unsavory insinuations about Gillibrand

President Donald Trump laced into Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Tuesday, tweeting that she would come to his office "begging" for campaign contributions and "do anything" to get them. Democrats accused the president of making unsavory insinuations about the New York senator.

Gillibrand to Trump: ‘You cannot silence me’

Here's the latest for Tuesday, December 12th: Alabama votes in Senate special election; NY bomb suspect claimed Islamic State allegiance; Some Congressional Democrats say Trump must resign; California fire moving towards Santa Barbara. U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, speaks during a news conference on health care Sept.

Alabama Senate: Turnout for vote could reach 25 percent

Alabama's top election official estimates that turnout for the hotly contested U.S. Senate election now underway will likely be around 18 to 20 percent of registered voters. Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill tells The Associated Press there's also a chance that turnout for the special election could be as high as 25 percent.

Increase in lawsuits on sex-based workplace harassment

More than 3,500 federal civil lawsuits related to harassment in the workplace have been filed so far this year, an increase over 2016, according to Lex Machina, a Menlo Park analytics firm that tracks litigation. Federal data show that the number of sex-based-harassment complaints filed in 2016 increased from the prior year.

VA funds additional justice outreach positions in Maine

U.S. Sen. Angus King is praising the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for funding for three new staff positions in Maine. The VA announcement on Tuesday means there will be a second veterans' justice outreach specialist along with the first re-entry specialist in more than eight years to help veterans confronting homelessness and mental health and substance abuse issues.

White House rejects demand for Congress probe into sexual misconduct allegations against Trump

The White House today rejected calls for a congressional investigation of claims Donald Trump sexually harassed women, saying the American people had spoken on the matter by electing him president. Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand called on Trump to resign, meanwhile, echoing a demand made the previous day by two other Senate Democrats.