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(CNSNews.com) - Senate Democrats were able to confirm the former director of Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island to a lifetime federal judgeship after 11 Republicans voted to close debate on the nomination and allow it to come up for a final vote. As a lawyer, the new judge was also involved in litigation against the tobacco industry and a failed lawsuit against former manufacturers of lead paint. The cloture vote on the nomination of John J. “Jack” McConnell was 63 to 33 with 1 senator voting present and 2 senators not voting at all. Had 4 of the 11...

One interesting development among squishy Senate Republicans. I heard from Sen. McCain’s office yesterday asking me to remove his name from the list of fence-sitters. An aide wrote: McCain has “clearly expressed his opposition to the DREAM Act and will be voting against it when it eventually comes to the floor.”

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 111thCongress - 2nd Session as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the SenateVote Summary Question: On the Motion to Proceed (Motion to Proceed to S. 510 ) Vote Number: 251 Vote Date: November 18, 2010, 05:59 PM Required For Majority: 1/2 Vote Result: Motion to Proceed Agreed to Measure Number: S. 510 (FDA Food Safety Modernization Act ) Measure Title: A bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to the safety of the food supply. Vote Counts: YEAs 57...

That 56-43 vote on Tuesday’s Defense Authorization Bill troubled me. Four votes down, the senate Democrats must have known this motion for cloture would not succeed. And if so, they would have essentially intended it to fail, by loading it with all its perverse, non-defense provisions: adding taxpayer funded abortion on military bases to its nightmarish DREAM proposal, to repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” So odd, to go through this exercise, of inflaming the country yet again, so close to the General Election, just to cause a bill necessary for funding the American military to fail. But one must...

Oppose DISCLOSE! The Senate will hold another cloture vote on the First Amendment-shredding DISCLOSE Act as soon as Wednesday, July 28. Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard and urge your Senators to OPPOSE DISCLOSE! Call US Capitol toll free at the following numbers 1-877-851-6437 or 1-866-220-0044 1-866-340-9281 or 1-800-417-7666

[snip] Update 3:55pm Eastern Cloture vote falls short, DISCLOSE Act fails 57-41.Schumer won’t let go:Sen. Charles Schumer, the sponsor of the stalled campaign finance bill, promised Tuesday that Democrats would hold round-after-round of votes on it until it passes.Schumer (D-N.Y.) spoke to reporters following the weekly caucus luncheons, slamming Republicans for holding up the response to the Citizens United Supreme Court case, which allowed unlimited political spending by corporations and unions.“And we will go back at this bill again and again and again until we pass it,” he said. “It’s that vital, not to Democrats, not to Republicans, but to...

Here is video of Democrat Rep. John Dingell being asked what he would do if he could use a “magic wand” to change things in Congress. Dingell went immediately to the U.S. Senate, saying it is slower than a “snail,” and faulted the 60-vote cloture rule for making it very difficult to get anything done. Dingell said the rule has made the Senate “undemocratic.” It’s interesting that Democrats are all worried about the cloture rule when they are in the majority. But when they were in the minority, they did everything they could to block the agenda of President George...

Well, whadda ya know....the Republicans held firm against a cloture vote on the Democrat's financial reform bill. For the moment, Republicans have successfully beaten back the Democrat financial regulation overhaul, defeating a cloture motion to begin debate on the partisan bill with 42 votes. Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.), who has been most active in working with Democrats on the bill, voted no on cloture. So did other Republican question marks, including the Maine Ladies Collins and Snowe, Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa), who voted for Democratic derivatives language in committee, and Scott Brown (R., Mass.). In somewhat of a surprise...

As the battle over health care raged for 15 months, no institution saw its reputation battered quite as much as the U.S. Senate. Jousting over parliamentary maneuvers and partisan acrimony dominated the headlines as the nation fixated on the debate over President Obama's top domestic initiative. But behind that struggle, other signs of institutional strife were abundant. A nominee to the federal bench took nine months to win confirmation on a 99 to 0 vote. One senator held up dozens of nominations over a parochial dispute. And on Wednesday, one of the most basic functions of the chamber -- committee...

ABC’s Z. Byron Wolf reports: Scott Brown is proving to be an elusive vote on matters of cloture. During his month in the senate, Brown is just about evenly split, siding half the time with Democrats and half the time with Republicans. For a man ushered into the Senate as someone Republicans should “exalt in” and signaling the death knell of Democrats’ super-majority, Brown has shown himself to be no fan of Senate Republicans’ slow-everything-to-a-snail’s-pace strategy. In two cases now Brown joined several other Republican moderates to buck his party and help Democrats narrowly defeat filibuster. The most recent occurred...

Reid Orders Cloture Vote Mr. REID. Mr. President, the next vote will be at 5:30 p.m. Monday. That will be on the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Patricia Smith to be Solicitor for the Department of Labor. I announced earlier that the vote on Monday will end at 5:50 p.m. If somebody’s plane is late, or whatever the situation, that is what it is going to have to be. We have to close that vote for procedural purposes, as everybody knows. ............................The results of that cloture vote is as follows: YEAs 60 NAYs 32 Not Voting...

Politics: Sen. Mary Landrieu was the new "Louisiana Purchase." Sen. Ben Nelson got the federal government to pick up his state's future Medicaid tab. Maybe we should just put Senate votes up on eBay. Nelson, the 60th vote in the middle-of-the-night Senate party line vote on health care reform, will go down in American political history as the inventor of the permanent earmark. His seemingly principled stand against including federal funding for abortion evaporated like the morning dew as he decided to take what was behind door No. 1. The deal for Nelson includes special Medicaid funding for Nebraska, along...

Congress has been working on a health care bill for the better part of a year. The coverage of the legislation inevitably takes on a day-to-day, blow-by-blow account of the political machinations in Washington, D.C. The public option is in, then it's out, then maybe it's in with a trigger, then it's out, then maybe Medicare is expanded to include some as young as 55, then that's out. The legislation will have changed more between the time we write this and you read it. Anything to come up with 60 votes in the Senate in a big hurry. What's easy...

Did Congress pass Obamacare at 1:00 a.m. this morning? One could be forgiven for thinking so. But one would be wrong. Today's vote was only a cloture vote to shut off debate. But months of vigorous opposition by the American people and a civil war in the Democrat Party has raised the profile of the legislation to unprecedented heights in the public eye. The cloture vote was widely reported to be 'the' vote. To 'Kerry' something is no longer a safe hiding place. If a Senator tries to Kerry this thing by telling his constituents that he 'voted for it...

Pass it on!

UPDATE: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid just filed for cloture on the motion to proceed to debate on his health care bill. That pretty much seals it. Unless conservative Democrats take a very public stand by voting "no," the bill unveiled yesterday will be the bill the Senate hashes out on the floor.

WASHINGTON--Senate Democratic leaders said Saturday morning they have secured the 60 votes needed to ensure passage of health overhaul legislation after reaching agreement with Sen. Ben Nelson to address his concerns with the bill's handling of abortion. "Every Democrat realized...we had to get it done," said Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat who helped broker the final deal. Sen. Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat, told reporters Saturday he intends to vote for the legislation.

Senate Democrats have 60 votes to pass their Health Care Bill. Senator Ben Nelson will vote yes. Vote will be Monday.

The entire Democratic Senate caucus is headed to the White House on Tuesday afternoon to talk health care with President Obama, just as the administration urges Majority Leader Harry Reid to cut a deal with Sen. Joe Lieberman, who is emerging as the skunk at the party for supporters of the massive package to create a new entitlement. Lieberman opposes a proposal that would expand Medicare for people between the age of 55-64. Lieberman has also said he would oppose a government-run insurance option and on Sunday said that Senate leaders need to scale back the bill, removing both provisions...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Democrats who thought they had found a workable compromise on health care reform learned otherwise from independent Sen. Joe Lieberman over the weekend. The Connecticut senator, whose vote is critical to the bill's prospects, threatened Sunday to join Republicans in opposing health care legislation if it permits uninsured individuals as young to 55 to purchase Medicare coverage.

All President Obama wants for Christmas is Senate Passage of the Harry Reid Heath care bill. The Democrats are still desperately trying to round up 60 votes for cloture debate to allow a vote/passage of the bill before December 25th. Today it President Obama moved a bit further from his Christmas present, and the rest of America a bit closer to ours, as some key Senators came out against the bill in its present form. On television Sunday, Mr. Lieberman said: “We’ve got to stop adding to the bill. We’ve got to start subtracting some controversial things. Mr. Lieberman described...

Per Fox. Title says it all. Gonna happen in time for Christmas. Gutless conservatives have been rightfully excluded from government.

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fl.) is urging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to propose revisions to the Senate's cloture rules so that only 55 votes, instead of 60, would be required to end floor debate. His effort -- spearheaded with the help of an online campaign at StopSenateStalling.com -- takes special aim at the healthcare debate, which Grayson said has fallen victim to countless overused and unfair filibuster threats over the past few months. "Why should launching wars and cutting taxes for the rich require only 50 votes while saving lives requires 60?" asked Grayson, who listed a series of...

Sadly, he is right. Senator Reid, the other 57 Democrats, and both Independents voted to move the Senate Health Care Bill forward for debate, and ultimately, a vote. Not one Republican voted for the bill. I expected that Joe Lieberman (I-CT) would have had a bit more sense than to be willing to debate a bill with the same people who had not the slightest bit of intellectual honesty during the Bush Administration. Incredibly, he bought the line that Reid was selling. If you could see the smug look on Reid's face, then you would be able to tell that...

Democrats succeeded tonight in winning the first cloture vote on the Senate Health Care Bill which allows it to move forward to an debate / amendment phase. But Martin Gold and Tom Curry spell out just how far "ObamaCare" has to go before it becomes a reality. It's a longer road than I understood, and than you may think: With the Senate having approved a motion to proceed to debate on the health insurance overhaul, legislation is still far from being signed into law. Here's what happens next: Step 1Senators debate the bill and offer amendments to change or remove...

Democrats on Saturday clinched the votes needed to advance the Senate's version of President Obama's health care overhaul to the floor for a historic debate scheduled to begin shortly after 8 p.m..

Dems snare 60 votes to move ahead on health careBy ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Writer – 4 mins ago WASHINGTON – Democratic leaders secured the last two votes to move ahead on historic health care legislation, clearing the way for a Saturday night showdown on President Barack Obama's top domestic initiative. In long-awaited speeches, centrist Sens. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana said they would stand with their party and vote "yes" on the crucial test vote despite deep reservations with elements of the 2,074-page bill to remake the nation's health care system. "The truth is this...

Here is video of Democrat Sen. Blanche Lincoln announcing that she will vote for Cloture today on the Senate Health Care Bill. Lincoln claims her vote does not mean she will vote "Yes" on a future cloture vote that will be needed to proceed to a final vote on the bill. In fact, in her remarks, Lincoln said she will vote "No" on the next 60-vote Cloture vote if the Reid bill remains in its current form. Whether she will hold true to those words is a matter of great uncertainty. . . . (VIDEO)

Government run Health Care, rounding third and heading for home....(Video of Landrieu on the Senate floor)

C-SPAN 2 is carrying the Senate floor debate live this afternoon.The Democrats control the floor right now. Earlier, Republican Senators Judd Gregg, Kit Bond, Jeff Sessions and David Vitter gave good speeches and dialogues on the budget-busting effects of ObamaCare.Maria Cantwell is speaking now. Mary Landrieu is excpected to speak shortly.The cloture vote is scheduled for 8 p.m. EST tonight.

“Let’s be clear: Any senator who votes to proceed to this bill is voting for a government takeover of health care. Senators who hide behind procedure and claim they just want to allow for debate are not being honest, they are trying to deceive their voters while helping to pass this terrible bill that will make health care more expensive."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid closed in on clinching 60 votes for a public health insurance option Friday as two key moderates signaled they wouldn’t stand in his way – clearing a path for Reid to finish work on a bill as early as Tuesday, Democratic officials said. The moves came a day after Reid presented his idea for a public plan with a state “opt-out” to a skeptical President Barack Obama, who didn’t balk at the idea but questioned whether Reid could truly round up the votes, two sources familiar with the Oval Office meeting said. So Reid (D-Nev.)...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid closed in on clinching 60 votes for a public health insurance option Friday as two key moderates signaled they wouldn’t stand in his way – clearing a path for Reid to finish work on a bill as early as Tuesday, Democratic officials said. The moves came a day after Reid presented his idea for a public plan with a state “opt-out” to a skeptical President Barack Obama, who didn’t balk at the idea but questioned whether Reid could truly round up the votes, two sources familiar with the Oval Office meeting said. So Reid (D-Nev.)...

Just called Burr's office; Sen. Burr intends to vote YES cloture re S. 1776. The bill's passage will help hide the total cost for Obamacare. Yesterday his office stated that would be voting against cloture. This is a big turnaround. Call Sen. Richard Burr (NC) at 202-224-3154 and tell him to vote NO on cloture.

'Doc fix' no longer up for cloture on MondayBy Tony Romm - 10/18/09 02:34 PM ET Senate Democrats have decided to postpone Monday's scheduled cloture vote on a bill that would reform how Medicare reimburses doctors and hospitals. Initially, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) scheduled his motion to end floor debate and bring the so-called 'doc fix bill' to a final vote at the beginning of next week. But the leader reportedly changed his mind on Friday, deciding instead to he would vitiate Monday's vote so both parties' lawmakers could broker an agreement on a few remaining amendments, his...

Right before the Senate adjourned for the August recess today, Senate Majority Leader Reid filed for cloture on the nomination of Chicago/Harvard law professor Cass Sunstein to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. The motion means a Senate floor debate will take place in September, with confirmation expected. Senate Republicans have apparently lifted their holds against Sunstein, but several want an opportunity to speak about the nomination on the floor (and about regulatory policy, one hopes). Objections to Sunstein over animals rights and the Second Amendment still turn up in the blogosphere, but in his confirmation hearing and...

The web page for the Elections Division for the Massacusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth does not show any information about the Special Election to replace the Late Senator Ted Kennedy, which is to take place five months from yesterday, on or before January 26, 2010. This election must be scheduled as a matter of existing law. The Secretary of the Commonwealth has no standing to violate the law as it exists.

President Obama will have to wait a bit longer to round out his Cabinet. Senate Republicans refused today to allow a confirmation vote on his health secretary nominee Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D-Kan.). She is the last Cabinet member awaiting Senate approval. At the start of the session today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) proposed taking a vote after five hours of debate. But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) objected, arguing that lawmakers needed more time to consider her "fairly contentious" selection. A handful of Republicans have complained about Sebelius' support for abortion rights and her failure to report...

The man in charge of electing more Republicans to the Senate said it will be difficult to stop the Democrats from winning a 60-seat majority in 2010. Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), the new head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), knows he has a difficult road ahead of him. “That’s going to be real hard, to be honest with you,” Cornyn said of keeping Democrats from reaching 60 seats, adding: “Everybody who runs could be the potential tipping point to get Democrats to 60. We’ve not only got to play defense; we’ve got to claw our way back in...

"Reconciliation" is proving a divisive word on Capitol Hill, where it could trigger one of the biggest partisan brawls of the year. <snip> "Oh, I love 51 compared to 60," Mr. Reid said Thursday when asked if he was considering putting the administration's energy cap-and-trade bill on the budget reconciliation measure. "We certainly know that it is an alternative."

Dear Pennsylvania constituent: After giving exhaustive consideration to the Employee Free Choice legislation, I have decided to oppose the bill for reasons specified in my Senate floor statement which is contained below or you may read here [link 1] and watch here [link 2]. I remain open to working to correct the imbalance which exists with so many jobs being exported and substantial labor losses in areas like pensions and health care. In my floor statement, I have also laid out some suggested revisions to the National Labor Relations Act which could provide the basis for correcting the current imbalance....

If anyone were still in doubt as to the importance of a Senate filibuster, we'd point them to Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter's announcement yesterday that he will not support "card check." Maybe Big Labor won't be able to up-end the economy, after all. Mr. Specter's decision means Republicans now have 41 votes against "card check" -- legislation that would do away with secret ballots in union organization elections. The Pennsylvanian was the only Senate Republican to have previously voted in favor of a debate on the bill, and as such had been the target of a furious lobbying fight by...

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) announced Tuesday he will oppose card check, giving an apparent death blow to the most important congressional issue to organized labor. Specter made the dramatic announcement in a floor speech. His opposition means Democrats can count on a maximum of 59 votes to move the bill forward, one short of the 60 required to clear Senate rules. Winning 59 votes would require Democrat Al Franken to beat Republican Norm Coleman in the still-contested Minnesota Senate race. Democrats also would have to count on holding the rest of their votes, and several centrists have raised doubts about...

AFTER MUCH PRESSURE, SPECTER TO OPPOSE CLOTURE & PASSAGE ON CARD CHECK… According to multiple sources, Senator Arlen Specter will vote against cloture and passage on Employee Free Choice Act legislation…

President Obama’s budget director said the White House would consider using a Senate procedural tactic so that only 50 votes would be rquired to pass major healthcare and energy reforms. Peter Orszag, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said the administration would prefer not to use the budget reconciliation process to push through its package. But he added: "We have to keep everything on the table. We want to get these.... important things done this year." Orszag called healthcare in particular "the key to our fiscal future." Orszag made the comments on ABC’s "This Week with George...

41 Senate Republicans Send Letter To President Obama Urging Consultation On Judicial Nominees March 2, 2009 President Barack H. Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C.  20500 Dear Mr. President: We look forward to working with you as you consider nominees for the federal judiciary.  Unfortunately, the judicial appointments process has become needlessly acrimonious.  We would very much like to improve this process, and we know you would as well.  It is in that spirit that we write early on to suggest two steps your Administration can take to achieve that shared goal.   First, in the beginning...

President Obama’s budget director said the White House would consider using a Senate procedural tactic so that only 50 votes would be rquired to pass major healthcare and energy reforms. Peter Orszag, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said the administration would prefer not to use the budget reconciliation process to push through its package. But he added: "We have to keep everything on the table. We want to get these.... important things done this year." Orszag called healthcare in particular "the key to our fiscal future." Orszag made the comments on ABC’s "This Week with George...

President Obama’s budget director said the White House would consider using a Senate procedural tactic so that only 50 votes would be rquired to pass major healthcare and energy reforms. Peter Orszag, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said the administration would prefer not to use the budget reconciliation process to push through its package. But he added: "We have to keep everything on the table. We want to get these.... important things done this year." Orszag called healthcare in particular "the key to our fiscal future."

“MR. PRESIDENT, I rise today to address the record number of filibusters in the Senate,...” So might begin the transcript in the Congressional Record if a senator were to discuss what may well be the most pivotal issue in American public policy these days — the filibuster and its only antidote: a cloture vote that ends debate. --snip-- “This is a sharp increase in the use of a filibuster as a routine mechanism,” said Norman J. Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute, a nonpartisan research group. “The Senate is set up culturally not to act on anything quickly. That’s a...

The Senate majority that voted yesterday to crush what is almost certainly the last opportunity to fix America's broken immigration system for at least two years was responding to constituents with unreasonable expectations. Flogged into a fury by talk-show agitators and Internet provocateurs, thousands of people called, wrote and e-mailed their senators to protest legislation they believed would do nothing to stop the flow of illegal entry into this country, would forgive millions of illegals already here and would burden taxpayers with the cost to schools and health care. No one is going to round up 12 million people here...