Free Republic

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is under intense pressure heading into Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation hearing. His nomination puts the 85-year-old California senator, who is seeking reelection, at the center of one of the Senate’s most partisan fights of the year. If confirmed, Kavanaugh, 53, is expected to tilt the Supreme Court to the right for years by giving conservatives a fifth vote on a host of controversial issues. The nationally televised hearing will be a high-profile test for Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee who has taken fire from progressives worried that her collegial personality is...

At a Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) event in Amarillo this week, he was visited by a protester who is supporting his opponent, Beto O'Rourke. The protester didn't like what Cruz had to say about gun control, so he made a scene. A Cruz supporter spoke up and shouted at him to "come and take it!" As in, come and take their guns. The O'Rourke protester offered a surprisingly honest response. Emily Miller ✔ @EmilyMiller Beto O’Rourke protester yelling in town hall on gun control. Texan man- “Come and take it!” Beto guy, “We will!” Then @tedcruz said, That exchange...

Liberal advocacy groups are criticizing Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) for cutting a deal on judges with Republicans days before confirmation hearings are set to kick off for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Schumer agreed with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to speed up votes on 15 of President Trump’s judicial nominees, which will give vulnerable Senate Democrats more time to campaign at home this week. A senior Democratic aide pointed out that most of the judges have received Democratic support and were going to get confirmed anyway since the minority party does not have the power to...

President Trump on Wednesday threw his support behind GOP Rep. Martha McSally’s run for Senate in Arizona. Mr. Trump stayed on the sidelines during the hard-fought Republican primary in which Ms. McSally on Tuesday bested two opponents who were closely allied with the president. “Martha McSally is an extraordinary woman. She was a very talented fighter jet pilot and is now a highly respected member of Congress. She is Strong on Crime, the Border and our under siege 2nd Amendment. Loves our Military and our Vets. Has my total and complete Endorsement!” Mr. Trump tweeted.

The Senate confirmed seven of President Trump’s district court nominees on Tuesday after Republicans struck a deal with Democrats to shorten the usual vote times. And the GOP set up another eight votes on district judges for next week, when the Senate returns after a brief Labor Day vacation. The seven approved this week now give Mr. Trump 35 districts court judges approved so far. He’s also won 26 judges to federal circuit courts appeals, and one Supreme Court justice.

Full title: Senate Dems: We Must Not Hold Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearings Because of the Trump Investigation, Or Something Mitch McConnell and Chuck Grassley (and even Susan Collins ) have basically responded to this hackery with a polite versions of " pound sand ," but this attempted obstructionism by all ten Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats should be mind-focusing and instructive nevertheless. Following Chuck Schumer's cynical lead , Democrats on the panel -- all drawn from their party's left flank -- are pouncing on the Manafort and Cohen news to invent a justification to stymie the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the...

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) will wait until the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is buried before naming his successor. "Out of respect for the life and legacy of Senator John McCain and his family, Governor Ducey will not be making any announcements about an appointment until after the Senator is laid to rest,” Ducey's senior adviser Daniel Ruiz II said in a statement to the Arizona Republic. "Now is a time for remembering and honoring a consequential life well lived." McCain died Saturday at 81 after a fight with brain cancer. His death came after his family announced Friday...

Beto O’Rourke, the Democrat challenging GOP Sen. Ted Cruz in the midterm elections, is being slammed by Republicans for saying there is “nothing more American” than kneeling during the national anthem. “Comments like his are a slap in the face to every man and woman who has ever served our nation and put their lives on the line to defend American values,” Republican Party of Texas Chairman James Dickey said Thursday. O’Rourke, a Democratic congressman, was asked at a recent campaign event about NFL players who kneel during the anthem. O’Rourke replied, “I can think of nothing more American than...

Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner on Friday said he plans to present an amendment preventing President Trump from “arbitrarily revoking security clearances.” Warner’s announcement came after Trump earlier this week revoked the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan and hinted Friday that he would soon do the same for Department of Justice official Bruce Ohr. “I will be introducing an amendment next week to block the President from punishing and intimidating his critics by arbitrarily revoking security clearances,” Warner tweeted. “Stay tuned.”

The Senate confirmed two more appeals court judges Thursday, continuing to make progress on President Trump’s goal of revamping the federal judiciary after a maverick Republican dropped his blockade. Sen. Jeff Flake earlier this summer had halted progress on judges, staging a protest over Mr. Trump’s trade policies. But after getting the chance to vote on a non-binding statement of pushback against Mr. Trump, the Arizona Republican relented last month and the GOP was able to clear more judges through the committee pipeline, readying them for floor votes. The latest two to earn full Senate approval were Marvin Quattlebaum and...

Republican, maverick, Matthew Cory has been declared the winner of the Republican U.S. Senate primary in the great state of Connecticut, this evening. He will face, the boring useless, incompetent, do nothing, Trump hating, Democrat, Chris Murphy, who has been declared a "safe seat" for the Democrat Party. Mr. Cory is a blue collar worker, a building window washer and owner of a local bar. He has little money or funds for campaigning. Thus far, he has held local, small, little house meetings as best he could. But...I think folks in Connecticut have taken heed of this talented, self-taught, human...

With early voting beginning Monday in some Florida counties, the Senate race there was jolted as Republican Gov. Rick Scott kept up the pressure on Sen. Bill Nelson’s thus far unsubstantiated claims that Russian operatives have already compromised Florida elections. In the hotly contested race, Democratic Sen. Nelson’s comments seemed to dovetail with the narrative of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. elections —international shenanigans many in the American intelligence community have concluded were real. But Mr. Nelson’s pointed remarks triggered a storm of protest not only from his Republican challenger, Mr. Scott, but from other Florida officials, too. Mr....

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday he still wants to have Judge Brett Kavanaugh confirmed and sitting on the Supreme Court by the start of the new term in October. That is an aggressive schedule that means senators would hold a final vote well before all of the documents they’ve requested about his background would be released to the public by the National Archives ~snip~ “He’ll get confirmed. It won’t be a landslide, but he’ll get confirmed,” the senator said.

Full title: The left's obstruction of qualified Trump nominees is yet another front in the war against the presidentMore than a year and a half after the inauguration of Donald Trump’s presidency, the left continues to obstruct the confirmation of nominees to critical posts in both the executive and judicial branches. The unprecedented obstructionism denies leadership to executive branch departments and agencies and impedes the fair and swift administration of justice. It is also an abuse of the Senate’s constitutional obligation to provide “Advice and Consent” regarding presidential nominations of judges and key “Officers of the United States.” The Senate...

Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill was hit with another politically damaging report Tuesday when her local newspaper revealed businesses tied to her husband have gotten more than $131 million in federal subsidies since she took office. According to an investigation by The Kansas City Star, Joseph Shepard's personal income also has grown since McCaskill took office in 2007. He reportedly made between $1,608 and $16,731 in 2006. But by 2017, Shepard reportedly earned between $365,374 and $1.2 million "from investments in housing projects that received federal subsidies." The information came from the senator's financial disclosure forms, which only provide a range...

Top Democratic Sen. Charles E. Schumer shot down suggestions Tuesday that his party would boycott committee meetings or Senate floor action to try to derail President Trump’s Supreme Court pick. Liberal activists have demanded Mr. Schumer use every tool at his disposal to try to thwart the elevation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the high court, including parliamentary delays. Mr. Schumer, though, said there aren’t a lot of good tools left to the minority party to delay action now that both parties have curtailed the filibuster, and he said boycotting the committee or floor would just leave Republicans more space...

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer launched a preemptive attack Monday on President Trump’s looming Supreme Court pick, saying the nominee must “share their personal views” on abortion in order to be confirmed. Mr. Schumer, New York Democrat, said senators should no longer accept general promises of fealty to precedent, and will instead demand...

Government leaker and transgender rights advocate Chelsea Manning entered the U.S. Senate race in Maryland to huge fanfare this year, but her campaign is poised to wind down quietly Tuesday when voters head to the polls on primary day. Ms. Manning promised to shake up the race, using her high profile to push a platform that included creating a universal health care system, abolishing federal law enforcement agencies such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and combating what she called the American “police state.” But the strain of being in the public eye after seven years in prison for leaking...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Tuesday that he will cancel the August recess, citing "historic obstruction" by Democrats. “Due to the historic obstruction by Senate Democrats of the president’s nominees, and the goal of passing appropriations bills prior to the end of the fiscal year, the August recess has been canceled," McConnell said in a statement. He added that senators would stay in session "to pass legislation, including appropriations bills, and to make additional progress on the president’s nominees.” The Senate had been expected to leave town on August 3 for a four-week break and not return...

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Tuesday quietly met with Sen. John McCain (R) and his wife, Cindy, at the couple’s home outside Sedona, Ariz., GOP sources in the state told The Hill. The meeting, which was not on the governor's official schedule, comes amid speculation over whom the Republican governor would appoint to fill the Senate seat should the ailing 81-year-old senior lawmaker and Vietnam War hero unexpectedly leave office. McCain is battling an aggressive form of brain cancer known as glioblastoma and has remained in Arizona since mid-December. GOP sources with knowledge of the meeting Tuesday said they did...