Trump budget plan draws strong opposition _ from Republicans

President Donald Trump's plan to impose sharp cuts to foreign aid and domestic programs is running into opposition on Capitol Hill - and that's just from his Republican allies. Trump's proposal to slash the foreign aid budget by more than one-third, for example, came in for criticism from the Senate's top Republican, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Big surge for military in Trump budget, big cuts elsewhere

President Donald Trump is proposing a huge $54 billion surge in U.S. military spending for new aircraft, ships and fighters in his first federal budget while slashing big chunks from domestic programs and foreign aid to make the government "do more with less." The Trump blueprint, due in more detail next month, would fulfill the Republican president's campaign pledge to boost Pentagon spending while targeting the budgets of other federal agencies.

NY Times’ Rutenberg Tries to Enlist Republicans to Defend Media, Oppose Trump

Sunday's New York Times featured the latest installment in easily-freaked media reporter Jim Rutenberg's crusade against President Trump: " Trump's Undermining Reporters May Haunt Republicans ." The online headline foreshadowed Rutenberg's unlikely attempt to enlist Republicans in defense of the press and against Trump: "Will the Real Democracy Lovers Please Stand Up?" while the text box delivered an empty threat: "This strategy could push Republicans into a corner later."

At town halls, GOP caught between Trump, angry voters

In this Feb. 21, 2017 file photo, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., speaks at the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the American Legion Post 34, in Lawrenceburg, Ky. President Donald Trump has been in the White House only a little more than a month and already he's making things awfully uncomfortable for some of his fellow Republicans.

Pricey tickets, lots of police, swank hotel and still McConnell endures protesters

Hundreds of protesters gather outside the Hotel Covington in Covington, Kentucky, to greet Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell before he gives remarks to a group of local business leaders on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017. Scott Goebel, of Fort Thomas, Kentucky, and Claire Robinson, of Union, Kentucky, came to greet Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell when he arrived for a lunchtime speech at the Hotel Covington in Covington, Kentucky, on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017.

McConnell allies label Bannon a white supremacist, angering Jewish conservatives

As former White House strategist Stephen Bannon declares war on the Republican establishment, a faction linked to the Senate GOP leadership is firing back with the kind of charges previously heard from Democrats and Never-Trumpers when Bannon ran Trump's campaign and sat in the White House. Namely: that the head of Breitbart News and self-described "economic nationalist" is, in fact, an anti-Semite and a white supremacist.

1,000 protesters greet Mitch McConnell at Kentucky speech

Nearly a thousand people have crowded behind a chain link fence to try to catch Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's attention as he made his first stop on a tour of Kentucky during the congressional recess. The protesters on Tuesday chanted, "No ban, no wall, Mitch McConnell take our call," a reference to the senator's clogged voicemail system during the first month of Donald Trump's presidency.

Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch should not be confirmed

Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch should not be confirmed for many reasons, but primarily his record suggests he will be a real threat to the legal protections for women, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, working men and women, broadly applied religious liberty and limits on money in politics. In short, his record suggests he will be the court's most conservative member - no easy feat considering the presence of Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

Senate confirms Scott Pruitt to lead EPA

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt today won Senate confirmation to head the Environmental Protection Agency, a federal agency he repeatedly sued to rein in its reach during the Obama administration. The vote was 52-46 as Republican leaders used their party's narrow Senate majority to push Pruitt's confirmation despite calls from Democrats to delay the vote until requested emails are released next week.

US Senators from both parties pledge to continue Mel Brooks-style remake of McCarthy era

"Top Republican and Democratic senators pledged Tuesday to deepen their [security theater over alleged, so far with little if any evidence,] Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election in the wake of Michael Flynn's resignation as President Trump's national security adviser, opening a new and potentially uncomfortable chapter in the uneasy relationship between Trump and Capitol Hill.

For GOP, a dimmed zeal for investigations in Trump era

Th... WASHINGTON - The Republicans' ardor for investigations and oversight, on display throughout the Obama administration, has cooled off considerably with Donald Trump in the White House. Each day seems to bring a new headache or near-crisis from Trump, the latest being the departure of his national security adviser under questionable circumstances involving Russia.

Rand Paul on investigating Trump controversies: ‘I just don’t think…

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky on Tuesday suggested he's not sold on the need for investigations into the mounting controversies roiling President Donald Trump's administration. Paul said in a radio interview on the "Kilmeade and Friends" radio program Tuesday that he didn't think it was prudent to launch "investigation after investigation" on fellow members of the Republican Party.

Trump Resurrects ‘Pocahontas’ Dig Against Elizabeth Warren

"Pocahontas is now the face of your party," he tells Democratic senators in a bid to build support for his Supreme Court nominee. In the same bipartisan meeting where Donald Trump stunned participants by again complaining about nonexistent voter fraud , the president also resurrected an offensive dig at Democrat Elizabeth Warren , calling her " Pocahontas ."

1902 fistfight gave rise to arcane rule that silenced Warren

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. reacts to being rebuked by the Senate leadership and accused of impugning a fellow senator, Attorney General-designate, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017, on Capitol Hill in Washington Warren was barred from saying anything more on the Senate floor about Sessions after she quoted from an old letter from Martin Luther King Jr.'s widow about Sessions.

3 lessons from Republicans’ (failed) attempt to silence Elizabeth Warren

Sen. Elizabeth Warren speaks to members of the media Wednesday in the Russell Senate Office Building rotunda in Washington. By a vote of 49 to 43, Senate Republicans on Tuesday night formally silenced Sen. Elizabeth Warren during the debate over the nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions to be attorney general.

Senate GOP silences Elizabeth Warren over criticism of Jeff Sessions with words of Coretta Scott King

In this image from Senate Television, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks on the floor of the U.S. Senate in Washington, Feb. 6, 2017, about the nomination of Betsy DeVos to be Education Secretary. Warren was given a rare Senate rebuke Tuesday night for impugning a fellow senator, and she was barred from saying anything more on the Senate floor about attorney general nominee and current Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.