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In an interview Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that the White House's delayed response to the coronavirus pandemic cost American lives. "The president, his denial at the beginning was deadly," she told CNN's Jake Tapper. "His delaying of getting equipment to where it continued -- his continued delay in getting equipment to where it’s needed is deadly. ... (snip) Tapper asked: "Are you saying his downplaying ultimately cost American lives?" "Yes, I am," Pelosi replied. Pelosi also hinted there would be an investigation into the administration's handling of the pandemic once things go...

HONOLULU (AP) - Warning from President Barack Obama to congressional Republicans: I have a veto pen and, come January, I won't be afraid to use it. Continue reading Since taking office in 2009, Obama has only vetoed legislation twice, both in fairly minor circumstances. But with Republicans set to take full control of Congress next year, Obama is losing his last bulwark against a barrage of bills he doesn't like: the Senate. "I haven't used the veto pen very often since I've been in office," Obama said in an NPR interview airing Monday. "Now, I suspect, there are going to...

Blackburn told TheBlaze that 356 bills made it through the House and are languishing in the Senate. Additionally, according to the congresswoman, 98 percent of those bills were passed with bipartisan support. She also pointed out that 200 of the bills were passed in the House with unanimous support from the entire chamber and more than 100 were passed with 75% support of House Democrats. To make her point that the House is working, but the Senate is where the obstruction exists, Blackburn printed all of the bills that the House has passed and stacked them on a desk with...

Yes, it is frustrating. The government should run smoothly and efficiently, going about its business and getting things done without much pomp and circumstance. Having the government shut down, well, it's inconvenient for many of us -- no museums, zoos or national parks. For others, who either work in nonessential government jobs (and who are not working and not getting paid) it's more than an inconvenience. Just imagine if you were suddenly told that you should not go to work and you would not get paid. Then there are those who do not work directly for the government, but provide...

For the past three years the United States Senate, under the leadership of Obama toady Harry Reid, has been an embarrassment for the United States. Now the so-called "Upper Body" has merely kicked the can down the road for two months on an extension of the payroll tax cut, and the House has rightly rejected the Senate's maneuver. Americans need to kick the Harry Reid Senate down the road not for a period of months, but for a lifetime. We have a clear message for Harry Reid and his utter failure to lead the Senate: The nation is angry and...

(Reuters) - The United States should "put the brakes on" new nuclear power plants until fully understanding what happened to the earthquake-crippled nuclear reactors in Japan, the chairman of the U.S. Senate's homeland security panel said on Sunday.

For weeks, pressure has been mounting in Congress to approve more domestic oil drilling, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has held the line, using her power to block a vote on offshore drilling. President Bush has made almost daily calls for Democratic leaders to take action. House GOP leaders, citing a new poll showing that a slim majority of Californians now favor offshore drilling, issued a release Thursday saying "even (Pelosi's) own California neighbors oppose her efforts to block new drilling far off American coasts." GOP lawmakers are so disgruntled they're urging Bush to deny Congress its August break by...

WASHINGTON - The Senate has rejected a Republican energy plan that calls for opening an Alaska wildlife refuge and some offshore waters to oil development. Supporters of the measure couldn't get the needed 60 votes to overcome a Democratic-led filibuster threat. Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said more domestic oil production is needed to keep prices in check and to reduce U.S. dependence on oil imports. Opponents said areas such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and coastal waters that have been off limits to drilling for 25 years ought to remain that out of bounds to oil companies....

Tom Daschle, who endorsed Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for president, said he would consider being Obama's running mate if asked. The Democrat and former South Dakota senator said he had not been contacted by any of the Democrats seeking their party's presidential nomination, and that his endorsement of the Illinois senator doesn't mean he's looking for a spot on the Democratic ticket. "Theres not been any talk about it at all," he said Friday. "I have to say thats not something you can campaign for and its not something that you can plan or expect." Daschle, who explored...

Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) plans to announce today that he will seek a ninth term, ending months of speculation the 87-year-old lawmaker was considering retiring next year to avoid a grueling re-election campaign.

"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. "For the traitor appears not a traitor – he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots...

WASHINGTON - Seven Republican senators will determine the outcome of a showdown this week between the president and Congress — and a minority within it — over who is going to shape the federal courts. Barring any unforeseen developments, these are the lawmakers in the make-or-break position when it comes to deciding whether to allow a Senate minority to block a president's nominees for the federal bench. The senators are Susan Collins of Maine, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, John Warner of Virginia, Mike DeWine of Ohio, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and John Sununu of New Hampshire....

I have been wracking my brain for a while now for a good reason for Republicans in the Senate not to get rid of the filibuster in the case of judicial nominees. You know, something about the higher need for comity, respect for the traditions of the "world's greatest deliberative body," the need for majorities to act with restraint so that minorities do not feel oppressed, etc. I give up. There are no principles at stake here. The prerequisite for a Senate rule that requires 60 votes for cloture is sufficient institutional comity to ensure that the filibuster is not...

DULUTH, Ga. - A prosecutor said Sunday that he wants to review whether the runaway bride-to-be who admitted she made up a kidnapping story should be charged for making false statements to the police. Jennifer Wilbanks returned to this tight-knit town on Saturday after a cross-country bus trip took her through Las Vegas, Nev., to Albuquerque, N.M., as hundreds of volunteers searched for her. She initially told authorities she had been abducted while jogging, but eventually admitted her kidnapping story was fabricated and she had run away because she had cold feet for her wedding, which was planned for Saturday....

NEW YORK If the Democratic Party wants to figure out how to win national elections again, it has an unexpected guide: Hillary Rodham Clinton. . . [snip]The first lesson Clinton is demonstrating is the need to talk much more openly about God and prayer. That resonates in a country where a Pew poll found that 60 percent of Americans pray at least once a day. . [snip]"I've always been a praying person," Clinton declared recently. . [snip]Democrats are usually more comfortable talking about sex than God. But that doesn't work in a country where 70 percent say that "presidents should...

One of the tactics frequently employed by left-leaning politicos and activists (including Teddy Kennedy, Barbara Boxer, and Harry Reid, who represent the phalanx of the left wing of the Democrat Party in the U.S. Congress) is to introduce into the public debate a "MacGuffin," to use film director Alfred Hitchcock's term for a plot device that diverts viewers' attention from the real issues at hand. Under Hitchcock's not infrequently perverse direction, the MacGuffin became a means of manipulating the audience away from discovering in advance the ultimate resolution of a film's conflict. The Democrat Party has most recently employed this...

If you ever needed proof that the Democrats were playing obstructionist partisan politics you need look no further then their leadership, both past and present. While Senator Harry Reid and Representative Nancy Pelosi extol the evils of personalizing Social Security some troubling words have been found in the history books and the news files that should paint their faces a pristine shade of crimson, and it’s not because they just got back from Alabama. Recently, Reid, the Senate Minority Leader, made a statement that rang ominously through the halls of Capitol Hill. When asked about the president’s suggestion that those...

WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- As a vote draws near for the confirmation of White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales to succeed Attorney General John Ashcroft, Democrats in the Senate floated the idea of mounting a filibuster to the nomination. Talk of a possible filibuster drew quick rebuke from Gonzales supporters. RNC Deputy Communications Director Danny Diaz commented on a potential Democrat filibuster of Judge Alberto Gonzales' nomination. Gonzales would succeed Attorney General John Ashcroft. "Democrats should understand that filibustering America's first Hispanic nominee for attorney general is neither good policy nor good politics." Diaz said. "Numerous Senators on both sides of...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Democrat in the Senate on Tuesday predicted that President Bush's plan to revamp social security by diverting taxes into private investment accounts would fail to pass Congress. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid was speaking as Bush prepared to use his State of the Union address on Wednesday to argue for his proposals and then follow up with a five-state tour to campaign for the new investment accounts. "President Bush should forget about privatizing Social Security," the Nevada Democrat said. "It will not happen. The sooner he comes to that realization, the better off we are."...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Brian Jones 202-863-8614 “Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid’s obstructionist remarks today were full of pessimism and personal attacks but lacked any vision for winning the War on Terror or preserving Social Security for future generations. While President Bush is looking to work with Democrats in confronting the challenges facing our nation, the Democrat leaders’ attacks on a speech that has not even been delivered are a sad reminder of their determination to score partisan political points even at the cost of accomplishing the business of the American people.”  -Brian Jones, RNC Communications Director   Pelosi’s Record: Obstruction,...