GOP lawmakers mark success by flipping rules from Obama era

In this Jan. 18, 2017 file photo, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., right, confers with Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla. on Capitol Hill in Washington, during the committee's confirmation hearing for Environmental Protection Agency Administrator-designate, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt.

GOP wins in reversing Obama-era rules on guns, environment

In this Jan. 18, 2017 file photo, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., right, confers with Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla. on Capitol Hill in Washington, during the committee's confirmation hearing for Environmental Protection Agency Administrator-designate, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt.

Collins on all-male healthcare working group: ‘The leaders…

Susan Collins Collins on all-male healthcare working group: 'The leaders obviously chose the people they want' Collins: 'The Senate is starting from scratch' on healthcare Sunday shows preview: Republicans tout healthcare vote MORE on Sunday brushed off a question about why she is not part of an all-male group of senators working on the Republican bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare. "Well, the leaders obviously chose the people they want," Collins said in a Sunday interview on ABC's "This Week."

Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast promise they won’t sell your browsing history

Senate Republican leaders Senator Roger Wicker, John Barrasso, Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mc Connell and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn take questions from the media regarding the upcoming budget battle on Capitol Hill In a big blow to the privacy of American internet users, President Donald Trump has signed a resolution to repeal the FCC rules that forced the ISPs to seek customers' consent before selling their browsing information. Lawmakers voted March 30 to overturn Federal Communication Commission rules that would have required Internet service providers to get customers permission before collecting data on web-browsing and app usage.

Rules be damned: Republicans in the Senate want to forego rules to repeal Obamacare

Vice President Mike Pence, center, smiles as he joins Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., right, and Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., left, to speak with reporters about the Republican plan to replace Obamacare, Tuesday, March 7, 2017, on Capitol Hill in Washington. () The outright repeal of Obamacare was always going to be a grind , legislatively speaking.

Records show EPA’s Pruitt used private email, despite denial

Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt occasionally used private email to communicate with staff while serving as Oklahoma's attorney general, despite telling Congress that he had always used a state email account for government business. A review of Pruitt emails obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request showed a 2014 exchange where the Republican emailed a member of his staff using a personal Apple email account.

Senate confirms Trumpa s EPA pick as White House targets regulation

The U.S. Senate confirmed President Donald Trump's pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday over the objections of Democrats and green groups worried he will gut the agency, as the administration readies executive orders to ease regulation on drillers and miners. Senators voted 52-46 to approve Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, who Senator John Barrasso, a Republican and the head of the chamber's environment committee, said would reform and modernize the EPA.

Republicans Push Cabinet Nominees Through Committee

The Democratic Party's attempts to derail the confirmation process of President Donald Trump's cabinet nominees appear to be unsuccessful as GOP senators managed to pass two of his selections out of committee Wednesday morning. In an unprecedented move, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch opted to suspend the rules requiring one Democrat to be present for the vote - effectively advancing Department of Health and Human Services nominee Rep. Tom Price of Georgia and Treasury secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin out of committee by a 14-0 margin.

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Protesters assemble at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Jan. 28 after earlier in the day two Iraqi refugees were detained while trying to enter the country. A trio of Republican senators who occupy prominent positions on Capitol Hill expressed concern Sunday afternoon about President Trump's executive order banning refugees and barring citizens of seven mostly Muslim countries - commenting on Trump's move two days after the fact and in the wake of an explosive public outcry.

GOP chairman plans ‘wholesale change’ at EPA

John Barrasso GOP chairman plans 'wholesale change' at EPA Overnight Energy: Former Exxon chief Tillerson takes the hot seat Republicans scramble on ObamaCare replacement plan MORE , the new chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, wrote in a Fox News opinion piece Tuesday that he and Scott Pruitt, Trump's nominee to head the EPA, will implement a major turnaround at the agency. Barrasso outlined the EPA's failures under Obama, including the Gold King Mine disaster in Colorado and the Flint water crisis in Michigan, as well as expensive rules.

Tillerson: “Israel is our most important ally in the region”

President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, pledged on Wednesday to support Israel if his nomination is confirmed by the Senate. Testifying at the Senate hearing Wednesday, he said in answer to a question from Sen. John Barrasso : "Israel is, has always been, and remains our most important ally in the region.

Confirmations, conservative agenda on tap for GOP panels

Confirming Donald Trump's presidential Cabinet tops the immediate agenda for the Senate committees and their Republican chairmen, who then will focus on fulfilling long-sought goals by implementing a conservative agenda. The Senate GOP hasn't officially selected its committee leaders, but this is who is expected to hold the top spots: APPROPRIATIONS: Longtime Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran chairs the panel, which tries to work on a bipartisan basis while drafting 12 annual agency budget bills.

Some Republicans see attacking Obamacare through regulation

Congressional Republicans are looking for the quickest ways to tear down Obamacare following Donald Trump's election as U.S. president, including rapidly confirming a new health secretary who could recast regulations while waiting for lawmakers to pass sweeping repeal legislation. Trump's victory on Tuesday means Republicans will control the White House, Senate and House of Representatives.

US says money for Indian land buys will come up short

The Obama administration established the ``land buyback program'' under a $1.9 billion legal settlement that determined the government squandered billions of dollars it held in trust for tribes from royalties on oil and gas leases, grazing and other uses of Indian lands. As part of that deal, federal officials agreed to spend $1.6 billion to purchase so-called fractionated parcels of land that have multiple owners, which makes them hard to sell or develop.

Repeal or retain? Election opens final act for ‘Obamacare’

Election Day 2016 will raise the curtain on the final act in the nation's long-running political drama over President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. "We have an obligation to the people who voted for us to proceed with 'repeal and replace,'" said Sen. John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican.

Repeal or retain? Election opens final act for a Obamacarea

Election Day 2016 will raise the curtain on the final act in the nation's long-running political drama over President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. "We have an obligation to the people who voted for us to proceed with 'repeal and replace,'" said Sen. John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican.

Struggle to unify GOP evident as convention opens

Illinois delegate Christian Gramm, left, and other delegates react as some call for a roll call vote on the adoption of the rules during first day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Monday, July 18, 2016. less Illinois delegate Christian Gramm, left, and other delegates react as some call for a roll call vote on the adoption of the rules during first day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Monday, ... more Donald Trump promised a "monumentally magnificent" display of at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, which kicked off Monday.