Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took to the floor this morning to yet again rail against the House’s 2011 omnibus bill. He listed a number of the bill’s evils.
The last few days I’ve come to the floor and explained at length the damage that this Tea Party plan would do on the short term and on the long term. Let me now just again
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The Senate tomorrow is scheduled to begin deliberations on the long-term omnibus to fund the government for the rest of the year. In an example of why this will surely take longer than two weeks to decide, Dems aren’t even sure they can dispense with votes on both the House and Senate versions until Friday – even though every one …
Senator John Ensign is expected to announce in the next hour or so that he will not be seeking a third term in 2012. The Nevada Republican has been battling for his political life since copping to an affair with a former staffer and the wife of one of his closest friends. Ensign had been trailing GOP Rep. Dean Heller, who was widely …
For any kind of camel trader, used car salesman or politician the first bid in a negotiation is rarely the number they actually expect to get. Some suckers may agree to pay that price, but most people bargain. House Speaker John Boehner’s first bid was $32 billion in cuts, a number his freshmen laughed at. They jacked their bid up to …
Updated
Stop the presses! The federal government won’t shut down on Friday!! Okay, for anyone paying even a modicum of attention to the news in the last week, this shouldn’t come as much of a shocker. But, the two-week deferral passed by the Senate today 91-9 does nothing to bridge the $60 billion gap between the two chambers. So, …
UPDATED with House vote
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters Tuesday that he will accept House Republicans’ two-week extension of government funding that comes with $4 billion in cuts. The House this afternoon passed the bill 335-91 with overwhelming bipartisan support. Reid says he will push that measure through the …
The House is expected to pass a stopgap measure on Tuesday to fund the government for the next two weeks while House and Senate negotiators work on a longer-term solution. Senate Democrats are still mulling over whether they want to pass the House bill or send it back with amendments, but it’s looking likely that something will pass …
House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have been working behind the scenes to draft a two-week stopgap measure to avert a government shutdown that would include $4 billion in immediate cuts, according to House and Senate GOP aides.
The House would move first – the Rules Committee could meet as early as …
House and Senate leaders seem to be speaking over each other rather than to one another in the debate over spending cuts that could shutdown the government on March 4 – not a good sign.
House Speaker John Boehner today reiterated his position that the Senate take up the 2011 spending bill passed by the House early Saturday. …
I have a TIME.com story out today on what’s happening with the potential government shutdown and how 2011 is different from the last time this happened in 1995.
South Dakota Senator John Thune said Tuesday in a statement he will not seek the Republican nomination for President in 2012. Thune’s name had been floated as the sole sitting senator who might make a run. After beating Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle in 2003, Thune has quickly climbed the Senate ranks. He currently serves as chairman …
Democratic Senator Jeff Bingaman is expected to announce his retirement today, deepening the difficulty the party faces in its efforts to hold the chamber in 2012. Bingaman, who is in his fifth term, joins colleagues Virginia’s Jim Webb and North Dakota’s Kent Conrad in declining to run for re-election. (Sen. Joe Lieberman of …
Showing a little leg on deficit reduction is a highly risky proposition these days: display the scantest hint of skin and you risk losing a limb. The ink was still drying on the final edition of the Wall Street Journal‘s Thursday story detailing a grand bipartisan plan for deficit reduction when the angry missives began. Grover Norquist …
