Tag: US Senate

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Poll: 53% Of Americans Don’t Want Senate To Block Obama SCOTUS Nominee

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has stated that he and his fellow Senate Republicans feel Americans should have a voice in who selects the next Supreme Court justice.

Well, it looks like “the people” want President Obama to name a nominee, and they don’t want the Senate to block that nomination.

A new poll from Rasmussen Reports, a typically right-leaning polling outfit, shows that voters would rather Obama to fill the vacancy rather than waiting until after the next presidential election.

The poll found that 51 percent of likely voters believe that Obama nominate Scalia’s successor, and 53 percent believe the Senate should not “reject or refuse to consider” the nomination.

Only 35 percent favor the kind of obstruction advocated by McConnell.

In the last couple of days, at least three Republican Senators – Sen. Ron Johnson, Sen. Thom Tillis and Sen. Chuck Grassley – have signaled they might be open to hearings or a vote on an Obama nominee.

More at Think Progress.

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Only Female Senators Show Up For Work After Jonas Blizzard Last Week

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Only Female Senators Showed Up To Work After The SnowstormOnly female Senators showed up to work during the giant blizzard of 2016Posted by NowThis on Wednesday, January 27, 2016

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Openly Gay Eric Fanning Finally Has A Confirmation Hearing Date For Army Secretary

After months of waiting, openly gay Eric Fanning will finally get a confirmation hearing for his nomination as Army Secretary in the U.S. Senate.

Via The Hill:

Fanning was nominated in September, but was designated “acting” Army Secretary when then-Army Secretary John McHugh retired in October.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) told reporters last week he raised concerns with the administration that Fanning serving as “acting” secretary without being confirmed violated the Vacancies Act.

“I wasn’t going to have a hearing while they were in violation of the law, that’s you know sort of fundamental in the way I do business,” he told reporters on Monday.

Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) has threatened to block Fanning’s confirmation should the vote reach the full senate. Roberts plans to block the confirmation over President Obama’s intentions to close Guantanamo.

Fanning has previously served as Acting Army Secretary as well as chief of staff to the Secretary of Defense and Under Secretary of the Air Force.

Eric Fanning’s confirmation hearing is set for Thursday at 9:30 A.M.

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South Florida Sun-Sentinel To Sen. Marco Rubio: Do Your Job Or Resign

Sen. Marco Rubio recently shared with the Washington Post that he was “frustrated” serving in the U.S. Senate.

Today, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel published an editorial telling Rubio, frustrated or not, he needs to spend more time doing the job Floridians sent him there to do.

Sorry, senator, but Floridians sent you to Washington to do a job. We’ve got serious problems with clogged highways, eroding beaches, flat Social Security checks and people who want to shut down the government.

If you hate your job, senator, follow the honorable lead of House Speaker John Boehner and resign it.

Let us elect someone who wants to be there and earn an honest dollar for an honest day’s work. Don’t leave us without one of our two representatives in the Senate for the next 15 months or so.

You are paid $174,000 per year to represent us, to fight for us, to solve our problems. Plus you take a $10,000 federal subsidy — declined by some in the Senate — to participate in one of the Obamacare health plans, though you are a big critic of Obamacare.

You are ripping us off, senator.

[snip]

Your job is to represent Floridians in the Senate.

Either do your job, Sen. Rubio, or resign it.

U.S. Senators are paid $174,000 a year. In addition, Rubio takes a federal subsidy to participate in Obamacare to the tune of $10,000.

Rubio has missed over 60 Senate votes, in part because he’s busy campaigning for the GOP presidential nomination.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, by comparison, has been campaigning for the Democratic nomination and only missed 10 votes in the Senate.

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U.S. Senate Votes 98-1 To Give Congress A Say Over Emerging Nuclear Iran Deal

The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly to pass a bill intended to give Congress a say in the emerging nuclear deal between Iran, the U.S. and its five negotiating partners.

The final vote was 98 to 1, with Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) as the lone no-show and junior Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) casting the only dissenting vote.

More at Huffington Post.

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U.S. Senate Republicans Vote With Dems On Equal Federal Benefits For Same-Sex Married Couples

Eleven Senate Republicans crossed the aisle to vote with all of the Democrats last night in approving an amendment to guarantee equal Social Security and veterans benefits to married same-sex couples based on where the marriage was GRANTED, not the state of residence.

Via Buzzfeed:

The amendment, proposed by Sen. Brian Schatz, addressed the fact that both Social Security and some provisions of veterans’ benefits are, by statute, provided to spouses on the basis of whether a couple’s marriage is recognized by the state in which they live. The amendment would provide for benefits for spouses for all married same-sex couples, regardless of where they live.

Schatz praised the bipartisan support the measure received.

“Tonight, eleven Republicans joined Democrats in recognizing that gay couples deserve equal treatment, regardless of where they live,” he said. “We still have work to do to, but this is progress and a win for equal rights.”

Six of the 11 Republicans voting for the measure are up for re-election in 2016. They know where the arc of history will bend.

The 11 Republicans were Ayotte (NH), Burr (NC), Collins (ME), Heller (NV), Johnson (WI), Kirk (IL), Moore Capito (WV), Murkowski (AL), Portman (OH), and Tillis (NC).

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President Obama On GOP Senator’s Letter To Iran: “I’m Embarrassed For Them”

Andrea Mitchell talks with State Dept. spokesperson Jen Psaki ahead of Secretary John Kerry’s arrival in Switzerland for another round of talks with Iran negotiators – his first meeting with Iran’s foreign minister since Senate Republicans’ letter.

(via MSNBC)

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Newspapers Across America Condemn Iran Letter From 47 US Senators

Republican Sens. Ted Cruz and Mitch McConnell

Newspapers across the country continue to condemn the open letter signed by 47 Republican U.S. Senators to the leaders of Iran meant to sabotage current ongoing sensitive negotiations regarding nuclear weapons.

Just a few samples from at least 22 so far:

The Kansas City Star wondered if it was the Iran letter, or the Republican senators who were treacherous, “Given the Republicans’ pure hatred of Obama, it also seemed extra personal, yet another politically motivated attempt to stop him from doing anything that might be perceived as a victory for his administration.”

The editorial board of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette wrote that the senators who signed the letter should be ashamed, “America’s partners in the talks are among the world’s most important nations — China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom. They can only be appalled at seeing Secretary of State John Kerry and the president, who are charged with making the nation’s foreign policy, hit from behind by one house of the federal legislature. The senators who signed the letter should be ashamed.”

The Baltimore Sun pulled no punches, “The poison pen note was a shocking example of just how far President Barack Obama’s GOP critics in Congress are willing to go in an effort to undercut his foreign policy goals…The GOP senators might just as well have put up a big sign over their chamber warning the mullahs in Tehran to prepare for war because that’s the practical import of rejecting any possibility of a negotiated resolution of the two countries’ differences.

More at PoliticusUSA.