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Votes in hand, Senate Republicans are charging ahead with plans to confirm President Donald Trump’s pick to fill the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Supreme Court seat before the Nov. 3 election, launching a divisive fight over Democratic objections before a nominee is even announced. Trump said Tuesday he will name his choice Saturday, confident of support. Democrats say it’s too close to the election, and the winner of the presidency should name the new justice. But under GOP planning, the Senate could vote Oct. 29. “I guess we have all the votes we’re going to need,” Trump told WJBX...

The Senate shot down Sen. John McCain’s latest immigration legalization proposal Thursday as lawmakers finally began their long-awaited floor fight over the fate of “Dreamers.” Mr. McCain and Sen. Chris Coons, Delaware Democrat, had proposed an amnesty for perhaps 3 million illegal immigrants in exchange for a study of border security and a promise of action by 2021. But the plan had been rejected by President Trump and garnered only 52 votes in support, which was well shy of the 60 senators had set as the needed threshold for action. Votes were expected in quick succession on a plan to...

The Senate approved the Republican tax-cut bill in a 51-48 vote on Wednesday morning, inching closer to finishing off the first major legislative victory of President Trump’s tenure. The party-line Senate vote came hours after the House on Tuesday approved the sweeping legislation in a 227-203 vote. But the House will have to vote again on Wednesday to get the bill to the White House because of a ruling by the Senate parliamentarian that two provisions in the House-passed bill didn't comply with budget rules that Republicans are using to prevent Democrats from mounting a filibuster. The 11th hour procedural...

My Friend, Earlier this week when the Senate was asked to vote on confirming Loretta Lynch as the next Attorney General of the United States, I voted no. During her confirmation hearing before the Judiciary Committee, Ms. Lynch stated her belief that the President's recent executive actions on immigration were "reasonable" and "constitutional." My Friend, I could not support anyone to be the highest law enforcement official in America who supports the President's clearly unconstitutional actions. That's why I cast my vote "NO." The job of the U.S. Attorney General is to represent the people of the United States and...

Grouped By Vote PositionYEAs ---74 Akaka (D-HI) Alexander (R-TN) Barrasso (R-WY) Baucus (D-MT) Begich (D-AK) Bennet (D-CO) Bingaman (D-NM) Blumenthal (D-CT) Blunt (R-MO) Boozman (R-AR) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Brown (R-MA) Burr (R-NC) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Cochran (R-MS) Collins (R-ME) Conrad (D-ND) Coons (D-DE) Corker (R-TN) Cornyn (R-TX) Crapo (R-ID) Durbin (D-IL) Enzi (R-WY) Feinstein (D-CA) Franken (D-MN) Hagan (D-NC) Hoeven (R-ND) Hutchison (R-TX) Inouye (D-HI) Isakson (R-GA) Johanns (R-NE) Johnson (D-SD) Kerry (D-MA) Kirk (R-IL) Klobuchar (D-MN) Kohl (D-WI) Kyl (R-AZ) Landrieu (D-LA) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Lieberman (ID-CT) Lugar (R-IN) Manchin (D-WV) McCain...

FreedomWorks Breaking News: Obamacare Repeal Vote in Senate Dear Robert, Our latest intel indicates that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell plans to offer a Repeal Obamacare amendment to the FAA reauthorization bill today! Click (link removed) to start calling your Senators now and urge them to vote YES on the McConnell Amendment to repeal Obamacare! Take Action Button Now is the time to put pressure on moderate Democrats to repeal Obama's government takeover of health care. Below is our list of moderate Democratic Senators to call. Call these Senators now because if all Republicans vote with McConnell we still need...

I said yesterday it wouldn’t be long before Obama’s Jokers posters started popping up across the country.First, Claire McCaskill.Now, Nebraskans have Jokerized Ben Nelson. (Or rather, he Jokerized himself, didn’t he?)Reader Tim e-mails the photos and this message:“Saw this in small town Nebraska today less than 50 miles from Ben Nelson’s home town. This is pretty surprising to me because this is strictly an agricultural area. Nelson has consistently catered to the agricultural interests in Nebraska and so is pretty popular among the farmers and ranchers in the area. Federal subsidies are a huge percentage of area farm income. But...

With the clock ticking toward a self-imposed Christmas deadline, Senate Democrats scrambled on Friday to win over a potential defector and line up the 60 votes needed to pass a broad healthcare overhaul.Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and others spent hours negotiating with wayward Democratic Senator Ben Nelson, an abortion rights opponent who refuses to pledge his support until he gains stronger restrictions on the use of federal funds to pay for abortions.

NTERACTIVE GRAPHIC Health-Care Reform: How The Bills Stack Up Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid unveiled a revised health-care bill Dec. 19 that includes concessions on abortion and other issues needed to secure a 60-vote Democratic majority to overcome a Republican filibuster. The Senate is expected to vote Christmas eve.

Here is video of GOP Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell calling the Democrats' Senate Health Care Bill a "legislative train wreck." McConnell was reacting to news that Democrats now have the 60 votes to invoke cloture and move to a vote on final passage on the bill. They hope to do so on Christmas Eve. McConnell said the bill will lead to higher taxes, and that it includes "permissive language" on government-funded abortions. He said the bill will cut back on Medicare, Medicaid, and Hospice funding. McConnell pointed out that the bill now contains a special deal for Medicaid funding...

There was an air of unreality in the United States Senate when I entered the Capitol building on Wednesday to record some PJTV interviews. I sat down with five U.S. senators to discuss the imminent future of the long-embattled health care bill. We are approaching the eleventh hour for Sen. Harry Reid’s (D-NV) slowly dying health care legislation, which he insists will be passed before Christmas. This is the same bill that was to be enacted last summer, then by August, then after Labor Day, and then before Thanksgiving. Now it may be a Christmas present for the country. The...

WASHINGTON — Don’t touch that C-SPAN dial. The Senate is planning a midnight session tonight as Democrats and Republicans fight fire with fire over health care reform. Tonight’s session is not even about health care but rather the annual Department of Defense spending bill. Senators have a 1 a.m. vote on the Pentagon bill. But with just one week to go before the Christmas deadline on health care, neither side is making this easy. Democrats have little room to spare as the health bill must go through a series of potentially time-consuming procedural votes in coming days if Senate Majority...

Dear Every Senator:You shall not pass this monstrosity Harry Reid calls health “reform” because in your twisted arrogance you are blind, unable to see everyone around you recoiling in horror, from the left to the moderate to the right to the voice of the American people expressed in every last poll spewing from the MSM. You know when CNN reports, actually reports, such widespread discontent that you people haven’t the capacity to see beyond the fog of the Twilight Zone surrounding your District of Criminals.

A number of centrist Democrats in the Senate are turning what normally is a simple procedural vote into a cliffhanger. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) wants the healthcare debate to formally begin this week, before the chamber recesses for the Thanksgiving break. But the absence of both a final bill and a cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has made some centrists anxious about offering their support for an otherwise routine test vote that typically unites a majority party.

Lindsey Graham: House Health Bill "D.O.A." In Senate, Public Option "A Disaster"(VIDEO)

EDITOR'S NOTE: The column below was first posted on the Illinois Family Institute's website on 10/1/2009. Today, the Senate Finance Committee will vote on a health care bill. Here is another reason why Senators should vote "NO". Liberal Media Does Not Tell Whole Story By Daniel T. Zanoza The issue of President Barack Obama's proposal that would reform America's health care system has certainly received a great deal of attention. However, sometimes, it's what the liberal press doesn't reveal that is most telling. When Obama recently addressed a joint session of Congress, he said illegal immigrants would not be covered...

The bailout bill that the U.S. Senate passed late Wednesday night is not the remedy for what ails this nation's economy. While we are all anxious to take action to help America recover from it's current financial crisis, it does us no good to pass a bill that does not address the underlying problem before us, and that's the credit crunch. After the defeat of the original proposal in the House on Monday, Congress had an opportunity to really address some of the shortfalls of the failed bill. Instead they loaded on millions of dollars in pork barrel spending and...

RUSH: Both Senators McCain and Obama made campaign rally appearances today before flying back to Washington to vote on the Senate version of the bailout bill tonight. Obama was in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and McCain was in Independence, Missouri, close by the Harry Truman library. McCain said, (paraphrasing) "Look, the blame game is for later. We have to fix this." I don't know how you can address this without affixing blame right now. All of this talk about earmarks and inflated spending that Senator McCain talks about doesn't connect without mentioning why we got here in the first place. Obama...

I’ve been listening to his economic speech in Independence, Missouri. He has basically echoed Nancy Pelosi’s line that opposing the bailout is unpatriotic. Here’s what he said: We are square in the greatest financial crisis of our lifetimes. And I am pleased to report that today, I will be returning to the floor of the Senate to vote on a bill that marks a decisive step in the right direction. The original proposal was flawed. I urged additions of taxpayer protections, stronger oversight, limitations on executive compensation and more protections for people’s bank accounts. I am pleased that these are...

Hill sources buzzing. A Senate bailout vote is scheduled tomorrow at 9pm Eastern. No bill details seen yet. How it will go down…There will be up to 6 roll call votes on the following items: (1)Motion to concur on the House message, H.R. 2095, Rail Safety; (2)a Dorgan amendment relating to H.R. 7081, the U.S. - India Nuclear agreement; (3)a Bingaman amendment relating to H.R. 7081, the U.S. - India Nuclear agreement; (4)passage of H.R. 7081, the U.S. - India Nuclear agreement; (5)a Dodd amendment to H.R. 1424, relating to the bailout package; and (6)passage of H.R. 1424, the bailout....