Senate Republicans

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ND Sen. Dorgan Won't Run for Re-Election

Term is up this year; move a 'total stunner' to fellow Democrats

(Newser) - In a move one Democratic aide called a “total stunner,” North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan announced today that he won’t run for re-election this fall. Dorgan, 68, says “this decision does not relate to any dissatisfaction that I have about serving in the Senate,” and...

Dems Block GOP War Bill Filibuster

Gates slams tactic to delay health bill

(Newser) - Senate Democrats beat back a Republican attempt to filibuster a huge Pentagon spending bill in a post-midnight session last night. Republican success would have forced the government to seek a new stopgap way to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, delaying health care legislation in the process. Three Republicans...

Senate's Reading Marathon Ends Early
 Senate's Reading  
 Marathon Ends Early 
parliamentary maneuvers

Senate's Reading Marathon Ends Early

Sanders pulls amendment after GOP delaying tactic

(Newser) - Pity the poor Senate clerk's office, which finds itself at the center of parliamentary games. Staffers spent nearly three hours today reading aloud an amendment—a move forced by Republican Tom Coburn to gum up the works—before independent Bernie Sanders angrily yanked it back. They had gotten only to...

Senate Sends Obama $1.1T Spending Bill

3 Republicans vote yea, 3 Dems vote nay

(Newser) - Working on a second consecutive weekend, the Senate passed a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill today, with the support of three Republicans but the opposition of three Democrats. The measure has already cleared the House and now advances to President Obama, who is expected to sign it. With pressing...

GOP: Congress, Prez Must Go On Public Option
GOP: Congress, Prez Must Go On Public Option
bluff and counterbluff

GOP: Congress, Prez Must Go On Public Option

If there is one, which we hope there isn't. Good idea, say Dems.

(Newser) - In the circus that is the Senate these days, a couple of anti-public-option Republicans—Tom Coburn and David Vitter—rolled out an amendment to the health care bill Friday requiring members of Congress to enroll in any such plan that might come to pass. When Dems didn’t object—Sherrod...

Far-Right Challenger a Threat to McCain

 Far-Right 
 Challenger 
 a Threat 
 to McCain 
poll shows dead heat

Far-Right Challenger a Threat to McCain

Talk show host JD Hayworth gets close in new poll

(Newser) - Everyone’s favorite maverick could be unseated in 2010 by a hard-line conservative talk show host who's mulling a bid, a new Rasmussen poll suggests. John McCain leads potential primary opponent JD Hayworth, a local radio host and former House member, by a razor-thin 2%, which is within the poll’...

GOP Traffic-Jam Ploy Is Snarling Senate

 GOP Traffic-Jam Ploy 
 Is Snarling Senate 
OPINION

GOP Traffic-Jam Ploy Is Snarling Senate

Stalling tactics are making Democrats turn on each other

(Newser) - Senate Democrats are starting to turn on each other like angry drivers stuck in rush-hour traffic thanks to Republican obstructionism, writes EJ Dionne. Republican senators are eating every word they once said against filibusterism and are stalling even legislation that they support in a Machiavellian effort to keep the Democrats...

GOP Wants to Resurrect That Town Hall Feeling

Party hopes to drum up anger over health bills

(Newser) - Republicans are hoping to re-create the late-summer town hall meetings at which angry voters lashed out over proposed health care legislation. Sen. Lamar Alexander tells Politico the party is planning 50 phone and in-person gatherings over the next few weeks. "If every American has a chance to read the...

Obama Honors Senate Trailblazer Brooke

Republican senator wins Congress' highest honor

(Newser) - Hundreds of people packed into the Capitol Rotunda yesterday to honor Edward Brooke, the Massachusetts politician who in 1967 became the first black senator since Reconstruction. Now 90, Brooke was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the legislature's highest honor. Sitting to his right was another trailblazer—President Obama, who had...

Republicans Stonewall Obama's Judges
Republicans Stonewall Obama's Judges
Doug Kendall

Republicans Stonewall Obama's Judges

Procedural maneuvers help Senate GOP stall confirmation process

(Newser) - Despite the 95 yawning vacancies on the federal bench, Senate Republicans are blocking virtually all of President Obama’s nominees. Only three of Obama’s 22 nominees have been confirmed, as Republicans take the “partisan war over the courts into uncharted territory,” writes Doug Kendall for Slate. Both...

GOP Plans Stall Tactics for Health Bill Fight

Opponents hope long debate will force voters to 'understand this thing'

(Newser) - Lacking the votes for a filibuster and increasingly resigned to the fact that Democrats will stand united, GOP senators have a novel strategy to stall the health care reform bill: They’re going to stall it however they can. The Democratic plan “is inconsistent with the American people,”...

Snowe, Not Palin, Is GOP's Real Maverick
 Snowe, Not Palin, Is 
 GOP's Real Maverick 
ANALYSIS

Snowe, Not Palin, Is GOP's Real Maverick

Maine senator's yes on health reform isn't first time breaking with the party

(Newser) - Today’s committee vote for a key health-reform measure isn’t the first time Sen. Olympia Snowe has broken with fellow Republicans—and leads Laurie Kellman to call her, and not former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the GOP’s real maverick. Snowe also voted for President Obama’s stimulus package,...

Lower-Key McCain Edges Back Into Picture

(Newser) - After 11 months licking his wounds, John McCain is getting back out there, appearing on TV more often and acting little like the man who gave a gracious, conciliatory concession speech last November. He's finding support within the GOP, where his combative approach hasn't always resonated, because his target is...

GOP Legislators Dominate Twitter —but Does It Matter?

Republicans have more followers, but benefits are unclear

(Newser) - If you think Twitter is the preserve of skinny-jeaned urbanites, think again; in the corridors of power, Republican microbloggers are leading the way. Politico reports that 101 GOP members of Congress have Twitter accounts to only 57 Democrats, and Republican legislators posted 932 messages over two weeks this summer—nearly...

Wilson Wasn't Only Republican Behaving Badly
Wilson Wasn't Only Republican Behaving Badly
ANALYSIS

Wilson Wasn't Only Republican Behaving Badly

Boorish foes steal show during president's speech

(Newser) - Rep. Joe Wilson was far from the only rude Republican at last night's joint session of Congress, Dana Milbank writes in the Washington Post. Shouts of "Shame!" and "Not true!" could be heard at various points, along with plenty of boos, hisses, and grumbles. Other...

Daschle: Leave Whiny GOP in the Dust if Necessary

Democrats may need to use reconciliation

(Newser) - It’s essential that Congress act on health care, and if that means working without bipartisan support, so be it, writes Tom Daschle in the Wall Street Journal. If we fail, 60 million people will be uninsured in 10 years, and typical families will have to pay $25,000 a...

Obama May Need the GOP on Afghan War
Obama May Need the GOP on Afghan War
ANALYSIS

Obama May Need the GOP on Afghan War

Republicans line up behind troop increases, while Democrats balk

(Newser) - If President Obama decides to send more troops to Afghanistan, based on Gen. Stanley McChrystal's grim review, he may have to rely on Republicans and not Democrats for support, writes the New York Times. The original narrative of the "good war" has faded over eight years, and August's...

Today's Senate Won't Produce Another Ted
 Today's Senate Won't Produce 
 Another Ted 
OPINION

Today's Senate Won't Produce Another Ted

(Newser) - If you ask leading Democrats who can replace Ted Kennedy as the Senate’s liberal standard-bearer, the most frequent answer is “nobody,” writes Doyle McManus of the Los Angeles Times. No one has a record to match Kennedy’s, and in today’s Senate, building one would be...

Republicans Gain Ground in Senate Races
Republicans Gain Ground in Senate Races
analysis

Republicans Gain Ground in Senate Races

Latest trends show even Reid, Spector, Dodd in trouble: Silver

(Newser) - Things are looking brighter for Republicans in the Senate, writes Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com. In his monthly ranking of which seats are most likely to switch parties in 2010, Republicans have made a big move. Of the 10 seats that look more likely to switch hands, seven favor Republicans....

GOP Backed 'Death Panels' ...in 2003
 GOP Backed 
 'Death Panels' 
 ...in 2003 
analysis

GOP Backed 'Death Panels' ...in 2003

End-of-life counseling provided in Medicare bill

(Newser) - They’re up in arms against it now, but Republicans voted for a measure providing end-of-life counseling in 2003, Amy Sullivan writes for Time. That year’s Medicare prescription drug bill, which boasted support from 204 GOP representatives and 42 senators, offered funding for “counseling the beneficiary with respect...

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