Tax bill thrown into uncertainty as first GOP senator comes out against it

Uncertainty gripped the Senate on Wednesday over efforts to pass a sweeping $1.5 trillion tax cut after a Wisconsin Republican became the first senator in his party to declare that he could not vote for the tax bill as written, and other senators expressed serious misgivings over the cost and effect on the middle class. The House is set Thursday to pass its own version of the tax bill, which would cut taxes by more than $1.4 trillion over 10 years and broadly rewrite the business tax code.

GOP Swamp Leaders Plotting ‘Drastic Plan’ To Steal Senate …

As Steve Bannon warned at CPAC back in February, "If you think they're going to give your country back to you without a fight you are sadly mistaken." Republican leaders are plotting a "drastic plan," to block Judge Roy Moore from becoming the next Senator of Alabama.

The Latest: Senate bill adds tax break for family leave

A new tax break for businesses that give their workers paid family leave has been put into the Senate Republican tax bill now moving toward approval. The proposal by Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., was included in a late revision to the bill written by Sen. Orrin Hatch, chair of the Senate Finance Committee.

GOP senators from NC come out against Trump EPA nominee

North Carolina's two Republican senators said Wednesday they oppose President Donald Trump's pick to oversee chemical safety at the Environmental Protection Agency, putting his nomination at serious risk. Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis issued statements saying they will vote against Michael L. Dourson to serve as head of EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.

Trump’s sanctions seek regime change in Venezuela

On November 3, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro proposed a meeting with creditors, for November 13 in Caracas, to discuss a restructuring of Venezuelan public debt. On November 8, the US administration reacted by warning US bondholders that attending this meeting could put them in violation of US economic sanctions against Venezuela.

North Carolina senators oppose Trump’s EPA nominee: reports

North Carolina Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis said they will not support the Trump administration's nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency's chemical safety office, media reports said. If one more Republican votes against Michael Dourson, he likely wouldn't be confirmed to the post, the Hill reported on Wednesday.

Roy Moore lawyer calls accuser’s account into question, demands yearbook

Attorney Phillip L. Jauregui says Judge Roy Moore has been falsely accused, wants Gloria Allred to release Beverly Young Nelson's yearbook for handwriting analysis. An attorney for Alabama Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore on Wednesday called into question the account of the fifth woman to accuse the candidate of past sexual misconduct, demanding she turn over evidence for an expert to review.

Senate Judiciary Committee member Ben Sasse, Nebraska Republican .(Associated Press) ** FILE **

The American Bar Association said Wednesday it didn't ask one of President Trump's judicial nominees about his personal opinions on abortion, saying the ABA's negative evaluation of him was instead based on peers who doubted he could leave his politics behind if he becomes a federal judge. Pamela Bresnahan, chair of the ABA's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, was defending her organization's role in the vetting process for federal judges, which involves rating a president's picks.

Blumenthal, Leahy reveal consumer data security bill

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal in October 2017 in Washington, D.C. On Wednesday, Nov. 15, Blumenthal announced alongside U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy and four other senators a proposed Consumer Privacy Protection Act that among other aims would penalize companies if they do not notify consumers promptly of breaches in their payment card systems and other databases storing sensitive information.

The Drug Price Relief Act, defeated soundly in Ohio last week, is coming to a state near you in 2018

People in Ohio, including some residents of Steubenville, voted against a ballot initiative that would require the state to pay no more for prescription drugs than the federal Department of Veterans Affairs does. However, the man behind the ballot, Michael Weinstein, hopes to get it on several states' ballots ahead of next year's mid-term elections.

Roy Moore’s lawyer challenges Alabama woman’s claim of sexual assault

The Senate campaign of Roy Moore of Alabama sought Wednesday to discredit a woman's accusation that he sexually assaulted her when she was 16, suggesting that what looks like his signature on her high school yearbook could be a forgery. Moore's attorney, Phillip L. Jauregui, Jr., also disputed a statement by Beverly Young Nelson that she'd had no contact with Moore since the alleged assault took place in 1977 in Gadsden, Ala.

The GOP Has Its First Casualty In Tax Reform Push

Well, the smooth road to tax reform just it a bump with Sen. Ron Johnson signaling that he will be a "no" vote on the legislation. The Wisconsin Republican is the first to definitively say he will be against the bill, as he feels it gives too much to corporations at the expense of other businesses.

2017 Silver Eagle Award Honors Merlyn Carlson

Nebraska Farm Bureau has selected former Nebraska Director of Agriculture Merlyn Carlson as the 2017 recipient of its highest honor, the Silver Eagle Award. The award will be presented to Carlson on Merlyn Carlson and his wife Janice raised their family on their ranch near Lodgepole, where they raised cattle.

1st GOP senator opposes tax bill in early sign of problems

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., points to boxes of petitions supporting the Republican tax reform bill that is set for a vote later this week as he arrives for a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tue... WASHINGTON - Wisconsin's Ron Johnson on Wednesday became the first Republican senator to say he opposes his party's tax bill, signaling potential problems for GOP leaders. Passage of a similar package seemed certain Thursday in the House, where a handful of dissidents conceded they expected to be steamrolled by a GOP frantic to claim its first major legislative victory of the year.

Trump Court Pick Says He Was Joking When He Compared Gay Marriage To Marrying Bacon

One of President Donald Trump 's judicial nominees, Don Willett, said Wednesday he was just kidding that time he compared gay people's constitutional right to marriage with a right to marry bacon. Willett, nominated for a lifetime seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, told the Senate Judiciary Committee he wasn't mocking same-sex marriage when he tweeted in April 2015 that he "could support recognizing a constitutional right to marry bacon" - a day after the Supreme Court heard arguments in the landmark marriage equality case.