House Cloakroom: February 25 – March 1 Analysis: Sequester week begins in Washington! The House returns from a recess week to take up the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization. The Senate has passed a flawed reauthorization bill. The Senate version contains an unconstitutional expansion of tribal sovereignty, not to mention …
Senator James Inhofe (R–OK) has sent a letter urging members to vote against confirming former Senator Chuck Hagel (R–NE) for Defense Secretary. This letter follows on the heels of the letter from a group of 14 Senators urging President Obama to withdraw the nomination. The Senate returns from recess Monday, …
This afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced a potential filibuster deal that, among other problematic provisions, limits post-cloture debate on federal district court nominees (and non-Cabinet-level officials). Senators currently have up to 30 hours of post-cloture debate on the merits of …
In an interview on January 11, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D–NV) told a Nevada television station that the Senate would likely not take the radical step of overturning decades of Senate precedent to reinstate the “standing” or “talking” filibuster, which requires Senate members to be physically present to object …
Life is good when you’re in the majority—and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) seems to believe he’ll be there forever. Reid has already effectively shut down the opportunity for minority Senators to offer amendments to bills. Now he is angling to change the Senate’s rules so that minority members …
The threat of sequestration—the half-trillion dollar cut to defense set to occur January 2, 2013—has been debated and prevention plans have been discussed since before it was even written into law. The budgetary measure was written to be so unpalatable that Congress and the Administration would have to find a …
