Tag: US Senate

Posted on

Democrat Kyrsten Sinema Wins Arizona Senate Seat

The Cook Political Report is projecting that Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema will win her US Senate race in Arizona.
Democrat Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona

UPDATE: Republican Martha McSally has conceded the US Senate race to replace retiring Jeff Flake. Democrat Kyrsten Sinema will be the next Senator from Arizona.

She is the first female to represent the Grand Canyon state in the Senate as well as the first openly bisexual US Senator.

******************************************

The Cook Political Report is projecting that Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema will win her US Senate race in Arizona.

According to the latest counts, Sinema has expanded her lead over Republican Martha McSally to 1.5%.

McSally lead on election night with partial returns being counted, but the next day many ballots were still uncounted in Democratic leaning areas of the state.

Sinema will be the first female senator from Arizona, and the first Democratic senator since Sen. Dennis DeConcini left office in 1995.

She will also be the first openly bisexual US Senator.

The folks at ThinkProgress point out that Democratic House candidates are on track to win the national popular vote by as much as 7 points, yet Republicans gained seats in the Senate.

There are still two outstanding Senate races: one in Florida which is heading to a recount, and one in Mississippi which will hold a runoff later this month.

Posted on

Mitt Romney To Announce Run For US Senate Thursday

Mitt Romney


The Associated Press is reporting Mitt Romney will announce his plans to run for the Utah Senate seat currently held by Sen. Orrin Hatch.

Hatch has previously announced he will not seek reelection.

The 70-year-old Romney, once a harsh critic of President Donald Trump, will release an online video Thursday announcing his Senate bid. His first public appearance as a Senate candidate will come Friday night at a county Republican dinner in Provo.

Those with knowledge of his plans spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

Despite a drama-filled history with Trump, Romney is not expected to address the combative president directly in the announcement video. Those close to him say he plans a hyper-local focus on Utah issues throughout the Senate campaign.

His announcement video will suggest that Washington has much to learn from Utah.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and one of the most famous Mormons, is widely liked and respected in Utah, which is heavily Mormon.

Romney is considered a shoe-in for the Senate seat.

Posted on

BREAKING: U.S. Senate Votes To End #TrumpShutdown With Conditions

The U.S. Senate just passed a key procedural hurdle to end debate on a Continuing Resolution to reopen the government and fund it through Feb. 8th.

The measure passed by a wide margin of 81-18.

From NBC News:

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced the agreement shortly ahead of the vote: “After several discussions, offers, counter-offers, the Republican leader and I have come to an arrangement. We will vote today to reopen the government to continue negotiating a global agreement, with the commitment that, if an agreement isn’t reached by February 8, the Senate will immediately proceed to consideration of legislation dealing with DACA.”

The Senate still needs to vote on final passage of the bill before it goes to the House of Representatives.

Posted on

Democrat Doug Jones Sworn In As New Senator From Alabama

Standing next to Doug Jones’ right is his hottie gay son, Carson Jones

The balance of power in the U.S. Senate will shift ever-so-slightly today as Democrat Doug Jones will be sworn in as the new senator from Alabama.

Jones takes over from place-holder Republican Luther Strange who replaced current Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

After Vice President Pence swears Jones in at noon today, Republicans will have a one-vote majority 51-49.

Additionally, Minnesota’s lieutenant governor Tina Smith will be sworn in as the newest senator from Minnesota replacing Al Franken who resigned in the face of sexual misconduct allegations.

Smith’s ascension to the office means Minnesota will become the fourth state to currently be represented by two women in the U.S. Senate.

Additionally, this means the Senate now has a record 22 female senators.

Posted on

Congressional Budget Office: Senate Republican Healthcare Bill Would Increase Uninsured By 22 Million

The numbers are out from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office regarding the current Senate Republicans’ healthcare bill:

CBO and JCT estimate that enacting this legislation would reduce the cumulative federal deficit over the 2017-2026 period by $321 billion. That amount is $202 billion more than the estimated net savings for the version of H.R. 1628 that was passed by the House of Representatives.

The Senate bill would increase the number of people who are uninsured by 22 million in 2026 relative to the number under current law, slightly fewer than the increase in the number of uninsured estimated for the House-passed legislation. By 2026, an estimated 49 million people would be uninsured, compared with 28 million who would lack insurance that year under current law.

Bolding is mine.

The bill also calls for cuts to Medicaid to the tune of $772 billion over the next ten years.

And premiums for a 64-year old with middle income go from $6,800 under current law to $20,500 under the Senate Republicans legislation.

Click image to enlarge

So, good news for those conservatives looking to see deficit reduction, but 22 million uninsured isn’t much better than the 23 million uninsured predicted for the House Republican healthcare bill.

Posted on

Reporters Informed No More Hallway Interviews At U.S. Senate

Reporters have been informed today that they will no longer be allowed to conduct interviews in the hallways of the Senate without filing for permission for each interview in advance.

Trying to shut down press coverage of the Senate’s meetings on upcoming healthcare legislation, I’d imagine.

At least one Senator, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, said he can handle himself:

UPDATE – Whiplash, anybody?

Posted on

Senate Democrats Have The Votes To Filibuster SCOTUS Nominee Neil Gorsuch

Judge Neil Gorsuch accepting President Trump’s nomination to U.S. Supreme Court

Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware announced today he would vote against the confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court.

That makes Coons the 41st vote opposing Judge Gorsuch, meaning the only way Senate Republicans can confirm him would be to use the so-called “nuclear option.”

That would mean changing Senate rules to allow approval of judicial nominees with only a simple majority vote of 51. Currently, such appointments require 60 votes.

While the nuclear option would solve the Republicans’ problems for now, at some point in the future when Democrats regain control of the chamber, they would then have the same power to approval such nominations with a simple majority.

Last year, Senate Republicans refused to hold a vote or hearing on the nomination of Merrick Garland, who was tapped by President Obama in March after the passing of Justice Antonin Scalia.

At the time, Republicans said there shouldn’t be SCOTUS nominations in an election year. Democrats argued the President is elected for four years, not three. And it is part of a president’s responsibilities to nominate SCOTUS replacements.

A vote on the floor of the Senate is expected on Friday.

Posted on

Nevada: Dem Cortez Masto 40%-35% Over Republican Heck In U.S. Senate Race

The latest poll in Nevada’s all-important U.S. Senate race, conducted by JMC Analytics and Polling this week, show’s Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto with a five point lead over Republican Rep. Joe Heck.

The race will decide who fills the U.S. Senate seat left open after longtime Democratic Senator Harry Reid retires.

The results show Cortez Masto getting 40% support of respondents, while Heck received 35%.

Sixteen percent of those surveyed identified as “Undecided.”

Of those “Undecideds,” 41% say they lean in Cortez Masto’s direction, 36% say Heck.

(via News 8 Now)

Posted on

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: No Vote On Any SCOTUS Nominee This Year

In a speech from the floor of the U.S. Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) repeated his stance that Senate Republicans will not allow any nominee put forward by President Obama to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

“Presidents have a right to nominate just as the Senate has its constitutional right to provide or withhold consent. In this case, the Senate will withhold it,” McConnell said. “The Senate will appropriately revisit the matter after the American people finish making in November the decision they’ve already started making today.”

The U. S. Constitution tasks the president with the responsibility to appoint judges to the Supreme Court, and charges the Senate to “advise and consent.” No where in the Constitution does it say the Senate can “withhold” it’s responsibility.

And folks wonder why Congress has such low approval numbers?

Posted on

John Oliver On The Truth About Filling A Supreme Court Vacancy

John Oliver, host of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight,” kills it on this segment addressing the recent passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and the sudden brouhaha by Senate Republicans claiming SCOTUS justices simply aren’t nominated in the fourth year of a president’s term:

GOP presidential contender Ted Cruz established an arbitrary 80-year time frame during which he said no president ever got a hearing for a nominee in the last year of his term, but Oliver pointed out that Cruz was wrong.

Dead wrong. Five times wrong.

Five nominees came before the Senate during that period, with three making it onto the highest court in the land.

Oliver then turned his eye on the Judicial Crisis Network — a conservative advocacy group that stumps for hardline right-wing judicial appointments — for their ad claiming “We the people” should wait until a new president is sworn in and let that president choose.

Oliver pointed out that “We have a perfectly good president” right now who was re-elected three years ago and is entirely capable of making that decision.

Of course, the bottom line is President Obama was elected to a second FOUR year term, not three year term. And it is his responsibility to nominate a replacement for SCOTUS, and the Senate’s job is to “advise and consent.” Not block anything from happening.

It’s a bad move by Republicans as it just cements the perception that they are the party of “no,” and nothing else.