Sen. Chris Coons: Trump must pressure China ahead of N. Korea talks

Sen. Chris Coons on Sunday said President Trump needs to be using "every ounce of leverage" the U.S. has over China amid talk that a planned summit with Mr. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could proceed next month. Mr. Coons said it's possible to have a constructive summit, and commended Mr. Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for recently securing the release of three Americans who had been held in North Korea.

Trump’s VA choice bows out in latest Cabinet flame-out

President Donald Trump's White House doctor reluctantly withdrew his nomination to be Veterans Affairs secretary Thursday in the face of accusations of misconduct, the latest embarrassing episode highlighting Trump's struggles to fill key jobs and the perils of his occasional spur-of-the-moment-decision-making. The weeks-long saga surrounding the nomination of Navy Dr. Ronny Jackson leaves the government's second-largest agency without a permanent leader while it faces an immediate crisis with its private health care program.

Senate committee poised for vote on bill to protect Mueller

The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on a bill to protect special counsel Robert Mueller's job - legislation that has split Republicans as President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized Mueller's Russia investigation. Two Republicans and two Democrats introduced the bill earlier this month as Trump publicly criticized the special counsel.

Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on bill to protect special counsel Robert Mueller

The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on a bill to protect special counsel Robert Mueller's job -- legislation that has split Republicans as President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized Mueller's Russia investigation. Two Republicans and two Democrats introduced the bill earlier this month as Trump publicly criticized the special counsel.

In Senate nomination wars: No retreat, no compromise

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., is hugged by Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., on April 23, 2018, in gratitude for Coons's ending a tie vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's consideration of the nomination of Mike Pompeo to be secretary of state. less Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., is hugged by Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., on April 23, 2018, in gratitude for Coons's ending a tie vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's consideration of the nomination of ... more WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans, frustrated with Democrats' stalling tactics, begin their effort Wednesday to streamline the process for confirming presidential nominees, particularly those below Cabinet level and in low-level posts on the federal judiciary.

After close vote, panel sends Pompeo nomination to Senate

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., center left, reaches to shake hands with Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., seated lower left, to end a dramatic vote for Presiden... . Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the sole Republican who had earlier opposed President Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, tells the Senate Foreign Relations Committee he is changing his vote to yes, on Cap... .

Senate committee will vote on bill to protect Mueller from Trump

Chuck Grassley, Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says he will hold vote on bill which offers extra protection to Robert Mueller Mitch McConnell had said there would be no vote on the bill on the Senate floor as he did not believe Trump would move against the special counsel The leader of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee said on Thursday the committee would vote on a bill to protect Robert Mueller, the special counsel appointed to investigate Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election , despite objections by the chamber's Republican leadership.

Grassley ‘moving ahead’ with Mueller bill despite McConnell’s opposition

Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans are plowing ahead with their plan to pass a bill out of the committee that would protect special counsel Robert Mueller , despite Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's vow not to put the measure on the Senate floor. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, told CNN on Wednesday that he was "moving ahead" with the bipartisan legislation, which is expected to be marked up next week.

McConnell won’t allow vote to bill to protect Mueller Source: AP

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday thwarted a bipartisan effort to protect special counsel Robert Mueller's job, saying he will not hold a floor vote on the legislation even if it is approved next week in the Senate Judiciary Committee. His comments came amid widespread opposition to the bill among members of his caucus, with several GOP senators saying the bill is unconstitutional.

Senators try to protect the special counsel

Four senators -- two Republicans and two Democrats -- are taking a step to protect special counsel Robert Mueller's job as President Donald Trump has angrily mused about firing him. Legislation offered on Wednesday by Republicans Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democrats Chris Coons of Delaware and Cory Booker of New Jersey would give any special counsel a 10-day window to seek expedited judicial review of a firing.

Trump seethes over FBI raid, ponders firing those he blames

President Donald Trump was so incensed by the FBI's raid of his personal attorney's office and hotel room that he's privately pondered firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and publicly mused about ousting special counsel Robert Mueller. The raid, in which agents seized attorney Michael Cohen's records on topics including a $130,000 payment to a porn actress who alleges she had sex with Trump, left the president more angry than advisers had seen him in weeks, according to five people familiar with the president's views but not authorized to discuss them publicly.

As Trump fumes, senators craft a bill to protect Mueller Source: AP

A bipartisan group of four senators is moving to protect special counsel Robert Mueller's job as President Donald Trump publicly muses about firing him. Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democratic Sens. Chris Coons of Delaware and Cory Booker of New Jersey plan to introduce legislation Wednesday that would give any special counsel a 10-day window in which he or she could seek expedited judicial review of a firing, according to two people familiar with the legislation.

Senators move to protect Mueller as Trump criticizes probe

A bipartisan group of four senators is moving to protect special counsel Robert Mueller 's job as President Donald Trump publicly muses about firing him. Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democratic Sens. Chris Coons of Delaware and Cory Booker of New Jersey plan to introduce legislation Wednesday that would give any special counsel a 10-day window in which he or she could seek expedited judicial review of a firing, according to two people familiar with the legislation.

Sen. Coons Targeted With Fake Pages Before Zuckerberg Hearing

If you got a friend request from Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., on Facebook on Tuesday, it most likely was from one of the fake pages set up in his name just hours before he will sit down with other senators to question Mark Zuckerberg, the social media site's founder and CEO. "First thing this morning, I got a number of messages from longtime friends who asked if I had a new family, because there was a new Facebook page for Chris T. Coons that had my face, but the family of Sen. Dan Sullivan and a whole lot of Russian friends," the Delaware Democrat told MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports."

Senators want alerts when gun buyers fail background checks

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators want state law enforcement to be alerted when someone who isn't allowed to buy a gun tries to purchase one. U.S. Sens. Pat Toomey and Chris Coons on Monday said they will introduce a bill that requires federal authorities to notify states when a felon or a fugitive attempts to buy a firearm but fails the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

Supreme Court decision doesn’t change need for congressional action on DACA

In this Sept. 1, 2017 file photo, Loyola Marymount University student and dreamer Maria Carolina Gomez joins a rally in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA program, outside the Edward Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles.

President Trump Lashes Out at Oprah and Russia Investigation in Tweet Storm as Nation Mourns

As the nation mourned, President Donald Trump kept largely silent about the Florida school shooting victims and the escalating gun control debate, instead raging at the FBI for what he perceived to be a fixation on the Russia investigation at the cost of failing to deter the attack. From the privacy of Mar-a-Lago, Trump vented about the investigation in a marathon series of tweets over the weekend.

Trump fumes about Russia investigation as nation mourns

As the nation mourned, President Donald Trump kept largely silent about the Florida school shooting victims and the escalating gun control debate, instead raging at the FBI for what he perceived to be a fixation on the Russia investigation at the cost of failing to deter the attack. From the privacy of Mar-a-Lago, Trump vented about the investigation in a marathon series of tweets over the weekend.

no Deal: Senate hits immigration deadlock on Daca, Dreamers

Unable to find an acceptable middle ground on the politically explosive issue of immigration, and the future of well over a million illegal immigrant "Dreamers," Senators of both parties on Thursday voted to filibuster a pair of plans from each side, as a high profile legislative effort achieved only failure. "This is it.