Halfway to the fabled 100-day mark that can define the early stages of a presidency, the White House touted with gusto the news that employers added 235,000 new workers to the payrolls in February . And never mind that Trump has previously called that data “totally fiction” and more.
Category: US Senate
Ny Us attorney among those told to submit resignation letter
In this Dec. 21, 2016, file photo, United States District Attorney Preet Bharara announces charges in New York against Navnoor Kang, Deborah Kelley and Gregg Schonhorn. Bharara was not commenting Friday, March 10, 2017, after he was included on a list of prosecutors asked to submit resignation letters as Attorney General Jeff Sessions clears space for prosecutors that can be appointed by President Donald Trump.
Trump administration purges Obama-era attorneys
All 46 remaining U.S. attorneys were asked to resign immediately . Many others had already left, but now, the rest are being forced out.
GOP plan less generous than Obamacare for older Americans
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, left, spoke with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. during a Tuesday news conference on health care, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Cruz Pushes Obamacare Repeal Gambit That Could Roil the Senate
Ted Cruz is pushing a novel strategy to blow up Obamacare, but it just might blow up the Senate too. The Texas senator is unhappy with what many conservatives consider a half-baked repeal-and-replace effort racing through the House, a plan that GOP House leaders say was narrowed to meet Senate rules.
Opening Arctic for Drilling Is Trump Priority, Key Senator Says an hour ago
Senator Lisa Murkowski said President Donald Trump is interested in opening up new coastal waters for oil and gas drilling and reversing Obama-era policies that restrict energy development in Alaska. Both Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke are weighing ways to expand opportunities to drill in Arctic waters though the changes could take years to accomplish administratively, Murkowski said in an interview on the sidelines of the CERAWeek conference in Houston. “It’s fair to say we are looking at how we might be able to — how the administration might be able to — allow for opportunities within this important area, offshore Alaska,” Murkowski said.
Arkansans Invited to Attend Workshop for Veterans History Project
The office of U.S. Senator John Boozman will host a workshop for the Veteran’s History Project on March 18 at 1p.m. at the Plantation Agriculture Museum State Park in Scott, Arkansas. The workshop will be led by Col.
Say a where’s the Democratic plan to fix ObamaCare, anyway?
Remember “mend it, don’t end it”? Democrats have floated that slogan for three years while trying to convince voters that their unhappiness with ObamaCare doesn’t mean throwing it out entirely. A year ago, Chelsea Clinton argued that the “crushing costs” of the ACA needed immediate attention, but not repeal.
The Latest: Man gets extension to seek deportation stay
Catalino Guerrero, center left, stands with U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, left, and Newark Archbishop Cardinal Joseph Tobin, center right, during a rally outside of the Peter Rodino Federal Building before attending an immigration hearing, Friday, March 10, 2017, in Newark, N.J. Guerrero, who arrived in the U.S. illegally in 1991, is facing deportation. Organizers claim he is an upstanding citizen and should not be deported.
Ted Cruz sends school choice letter to every Republican in Texas Legislature
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz sent a letter to state lawmakers Thursday urging them to make Texas the next state that gives parents taxpayer dollars to send their children to private or religious schools, or educate them at home.
Peter Lucas: Mayor Obama would be most powerful man in D.C. again
According to my imaginary, non-existent Russian intelligence sources, the real reason the former president decided to live in Washington is so that he can run for mayor of Washington, D.C. Incumbent Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser would have to step aside, of course. Otherwise Obama would crush her in a primary the way he crushed Hillary Clinton in 2008.
LETTERS: Hard working immigrants; Frontier flights in the Springs
I wonder when I hear people talk negatively about refugees and immigrants – why? Here in Colorado Springs we have experienced several natural disasters in the past few years. Fire, hail and windstorms have caused much damage to our homes.
US spies still won’t tell Congress the number of Americans caught in dragnet
In 2013, a National Security Agency contractor named Edward Snowden revealed US surveillance programs that involved the massive and warrantless gathering of Americans’ electronic communications. Two of the programs, called Upstream and Prism , are allowed under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
New administration seeks resignations of 46 US attorneys
Attorney General Jeff Sessions is seeking the resignations of 46 U.S. attorneys who were holdovers from the Obama administration. Many of the federal prosecutors who were nominated by President Barack Obama have already left their positions, but the nearly four dozen who stayed on in the first weeks of the Trump administration have been asked to leave “in order to ensure a uniform transition,” Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said Friday.
AP Explains: What’s behind ouster of South Korean leader
In a historic rulin… . Protesters react after hearing the Constitutional Court’s verdict during a rally calling for impeachment of President Park Geun-hye near the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 10, 2017.
Which Side Is Gen. Mattis On?
Aa debate over the military’s budget is emerging between defense hawks on Capitol Hill and fiscal hawks in the Trump administration. The fiscal hawks, chief among them Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney, want the next annual defense budget set at $603 billion, a 3 percent increase from the last Obama budget request.
Huntsman in exile: Did appointment make way for Hatch?
For a second time, a president is sending Jon Huntsman overseas on an assignment that could block his political ambitions. President Donald Trump’s decision to tap the Republican former Utah governor as the US ambassador to Russia puts Huntsman on the sidelines the day before veteran Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch announced his plans Thursday to run for another term in 2018.
Noel J. Francisco, Trump’s solicitor general pick, fought Obama on recess appointments
President Trump ‘s pick for solicitor general – the government’s chief lawyer to the Supreme Court – has been there before. Noel J. Francisco won a 9-0 spanking of President Obama over his illegal recess appointments, fought the administration to a draw on the Obamacare contraceptive mandate and won the release of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell after convincing the justices that the corruption charges were bogus.
Tillerson steps away from possible pipeline decisions
Secretary of State designate Rex Tillerson pauses during a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 4, 2017. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson , who previously served as the CEO of oil and gas giant ExxonMobil , has recused himself from any decisions regarding the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
ACLU Proves (Again) They Are Partisan Left-Wing Hacks
Jeff Sessions gave answers in his confirmation hearing some people do not like. Senator Al Franken, who is more comfortable writing scripts, didn’t ask the right questions and Sessions responses in context were about contacts with Russian officials about matters of the Presidential campaign.
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The mayor of the Mississippi city where a train hit a bus, killing four Texas tourists, is vowing to close some railroad crossings and make others safer. Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner’s new deputy governor is scheduled to receive half of her pay out of an employee health care account that is more than $4 billion behind on its bills due to the state’s budget crisis.
Trump tests dealmaker image to sell healthcare bill
President Donald Trump has launched a charm offensive of the type not seen before in his brief and chaotic tenure, forcefully rallying behind legislation to repeal the Obamacare healthcare law while trying to placate the bill’s opponents. U.S. President Donald Trump walks from Marine One as he returns to the White House in Washington, U.S., March 5, 2017.
Besides the whole killing people thing, Trumpcare has a potentially fatal flaw
Donald Trump has won the presidency after narrowly carrying a few states to put him above 270 electoral votes. But… At his Senate confirmation hearing, Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied under oath that he had never had contact with the… Despite promising to release his tax returns in a televised debate with Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump continues to show that… There are lots of things brewing in the House’s version of Trumpcare, which has now passed out of both the Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees, that are going to be a big problem for the Senate.
6 days later, no more clarity from Trump on wiretapping claims
Six days after he accused his Oval Office predecessor of wiretapping him, President Donald Trump on Thursday again avoided questions about the charge, leaving his aides and allies still-struggling to explain his Saturday-morning broadside. Trump was initially scheduled to come before cameras twice in the Roosevelt Room Thursday.
FBI Director James Comey meets with Congress ‘Gang of Eight’
FBI Director James Comey went to Capitol Hill on Thursday to meet with eight members of Congress who represent those who have access to the most highly classified intelligence information, a source told CNN. In the Senate, that includes Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Intelligence committee, Republican Sen. Richard Burr and Democrat Mark Warner respectively.
Tim Kainea s son arrested protesting against pro-Trump rally
The youngest son of U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, who was Hillary Clinton’s running mate last year, was one of six people arrested while protesting against a rally in support of President Donald Trump at the Minnesota state Capitol building last weekend.
GOP-run committee backs Trump’s pick for US envoy to Israel
A Republican-led Senate committee on Thursday narrowly approved the nomination of the combative lawyer selected by President Donald Trump to be ambassador to Israel, setting aside concerns that David Friedman lacked the temperament for such a critical diplomatic post. Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted largely along party lines, 12-9, to recommend that the full Senate consider Friedman’s nomination.
Enslaving debt has soared to almost $20 trillion
Within 40 days our national debt is likely to be $20 trillion; four of which is from eight years of George W. Bush and 10 from eight years of Barack Obama – the two biggest spending presidents in U.S. history. Obama alone accumulated more debt than all previous presidents put together.
Democrats: a Trumpcarea is a a tax break for the richa
Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer head for a news conference with people who may be negatively affected by the proposed American Health Care Act, the Republicans’ attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare, outside the U.S. Capitol. March 9. Democrats, who’ve struggled for a way to separate President Trump from the voters who powered his upset victory, believe they’ve found one with the American Health Care Act.
Why We Support the Gorsuch Nomination
We are Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and independents; progressives, conservatives and moderates; religious and non-observant; married, single and divorced; men and women; straight and gay. Our group includes citizens residing abroad and a U.S. resident holding a green card.
Can Republicans Blame Dems for a Health Reform Failure?
Lock up President Trump’s phone — Breitbart hates the new Republican health care bill. So do Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin, the conservative House Freedom Caucus, moderate Republicans, hospitals, the seniors lobby, doctors, Democrats and who have we left out? Forty hours after introducing it Monday, House GOP leaders started the bill on its legislative journey that most of their members believe will end in a painful death.
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Harris: Progressives shouldn’t apply purity tests to Dems
The progressive left should not apply ideological purity tests to Democratic senators who face tough re-election campaigns in 2018 in states President Donald Trump won handily last year, says Sen. Kamala Harris. “We need those numbers,” the California Democrat told David Axelrod on “The Axe Files,” a podcast from the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN.
Analogies Fly Over Net Neutrality
Both senators and FCC head Ajit Pai avoided any great discussion about net neutrality, one of the biggest and most contentious issues facing the FCC. However, a brief exchange between Pai and Republican Senator Ron Johnson is worth noting because it demonstrates just how the name net neutrality is the opposite of the harm it actually inflicts: Senator Ron Johnson : I know net neutrality sounds great and in trying to convey why [it] harms investment and innovation, I’ve come up with an analogy.
Tim Kaine’s Son Arrested In St. Paul Protest, Charges Possible
The son of a United States Senator and a former vice presidential candidate was one of six people arrested in a violent protest Saturday inside the Minnesota State Capitol. Twenty-four-year-old Linwood “Woody” Kaine, son of Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, was one of a group of protesters who disrupted a rally in support of President Donald Trump.
Repair, don’t repeal
After years of demanding a nix and a fix of President Obama’s signature legislation on health insurance, a Republican president and Congress are finally getting their chance. House Speaker Paul Ryan.
EPA head stacks agency with climate change skeptics
Days after the Senate confirmed him as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt appeared at the Conservative Political Action Conference and was asked about addressing a group that probably wanted to eliminate his agency. “I think it’s justified,” he responded, to cheers.
Trump Courts Cruz in WH Dinner to Help Grease AHCA
President Donald Trump appears to be courting former foe Sen. Ted Cruz, hoping the Texas conservative can rally support for the GOP House leadership’s healthcare plan. The president and first lady Melania Trump hosted Cruz, his wife Heidi, and their two daughters for dinner at the White House on Wednesday night a family friendly event that is a stark contrast to the bitter clashes between Trump and Cruz during their primary presidential race.
Ryan disappoints his friends with Obamacare replacement bill
Exclusive – Sen. Rand Paul on Paul Ryan’s Obamacare Lite : Speaker ‘Trying to Pull the Wool Over the Eyes of the President’ – Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a top conservative in the U.S. Senate, unloaded on House Speaker Paul Ryan’s Obamacare 2.0 replacement plan – that does not repeal Obamacare
Trump SEC Pick Made Millions Representing Banks, Hedge Funds
President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission has earned $7.62 million since 2015 representing some of Wall Street’s biggest firms, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management, according to a federal disclosure form. Jay Clayton, the Sullivan & Cromwell partner tapped by Trump, outlined his clients — and his potential conflicts — in a filing to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics that he signed in January.