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U.N. gives mixed signals on Tehran cooperation as nuclear talks intensifySenate Democrats on Tuesday backed away from a bipartisan push for immediate new sanctions on Iran, bowing to President Obama’s call not to undercut international talks to get Tehran to curb its nuclear programs in the coming weeks. The shift, announced Tuesday by Sen. Robert Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat and one of the party’s outspoken hawks on Iran, came amid a series of mixed signals from the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency over the question of whether Tehran was honoring promises to put its suspect nuclear programs on hold as...

Unless there is any doubt, the vast majority of Democrats value partisan support for a failed president over support for our own national security and for that of Israel. Hence, they want to delay once again a vote on the Menendez-Kirk bill imposing sanctions on Iran unless it agrees to an acceptable final deal. The bill was introduced more than a year ago. The timing just isn’t right, you see. Will it ever be? A letter by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) signed onto by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.),...

President Obama used his State of the Union address to urge Americans not to fear terrorists: “We lead best, when we don’t let our fears blind us to the opportunities that this new century presents.” But his words reached Americans when the Gallup Poll notes that 40 percent of Americans are very or somewhat worried that they will become a victim of terrorism — a higher percentage than when Obama took office in 2009. They have reason for concern. From Day One, this administration has downplayed the terrorist threat from Islamic extremists. It declared the terrorist attack at Fort Hood,...

Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California says that inviting Prime Minister Netanyahu to address Congress during an Israeli election period is “highly inappropriate” and that imposing new sanctions on Iran at this time is “reckless and dangerous.” Feinstein’s statement to Haaretz comes against the backdrop of the growing backlash against Netanyahu’s upcoming March 3 speech to Congress, which is already causing some Democratic lawmakers to rethink their support for the Iran sanctions bill proposed by Democratic Senator Robert Menendez from New Jersey and Republican Senator Mark Kirk from Illinois. According to journalist Laura Rozen of Al-Monitor, Menendez is trying to...

Everyone involved seems to be trying to put the best face on it, but Barack Obama went so far as to suggest senior Democrats like Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), who take a hard line on Iran, are doing so purely to appease their donors. Obama said that as a former senator himself, he understood how outside forces — like special interests and donors — can influence senators to act, one of the senators recounted.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A heated exchanged between President Barack Obama and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey) broke out Thursday over whether the U.S. should reimpose sanctions on Iran amid ongoing negotiations over the country's nuclear program, according to two senators who were in the room. Menendez, the leading Democrat pushing for additional sanctions against Iran, forcefully pressed Obama on the need for additional sanctions during a meeting in which Obama urged Menendez and other senators to drop their efforts to pass sanctions legislation. Additional sanctions, Obama argued, could torpedo ongoing negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. The unusually sharp exchange, between...

Menendez: Obama Admin Statements on Iran 'Sound like Talking Points Straight out of Tehran'

Top White House officials have reportedly been holding private meetings with lawmakers this week to boost support for the president’s foreign policy strategy, although the outreach effort appears to have left some lawmakers confused and upset. Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) described a meeting with White House chief of staff Denis McDonough and National Security Adviser Susan Rice earlier this week as “one of the most bizarre I've attended on Foreign Relations on foreign policy in our country.” “I know several of us were involved in a very bizarre discussion last night. This continues a very bizarre discussion,” Corker added, according...

Video at link. The federal criminal investigation into New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez is broader than previously known, NBC 4 New York has learned. The Department of Justice is investigating Menendez's efforts on behalf of two fugitive bankers from Ecuador, multiple current and former U.S, officials tell NBC 4 New York. The probe into Menendez’s dealing with the bankers comes as federal authorities are also investigating his relationship to a big campaign donor from Florida. The criminal investigation is focusing in part on the senator’s ties to William and Roberto Isaias and whether the senator crossed a line in trying...

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) triggered controversy with a fiery floor speech in the Senate on Tuesday night, during which she declared that "we cannot let Israel determine when and where the United States goes to war." Breitbart reports that the speech was made during a debate on a bill that would impose new sanctions on Iran if it fails to comply with the nuclear deal that was reached with it in November. The bill includes a provision offering support to Israel in the event of an Israeli pre-emptive strike on Iran. Feinstein chairs the Select Committee on Intelligence and is...

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) triggered controversy with a fiery floor speech in the Senate on Tuesday night, accusing supporters of the bipartisan Kirk-Menendez bill on Iran sanctions of wanting "regime change" and declaring that "we cannot let Israel determine when and where the United States goes to war." The bill includes a provision offering support to Israel in the event of an Israeli pre-emptive strike on Iran. Feinstein, who chairs the Select Committee on Intelligence and is considered pro-Israel, but her remarks, which echo those of anti-Israel critics, have provoked outrage. The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) called on her to...

President Obama urged Congress on Monday to "give diplomacy a chance," imploring lawmakers to hold off on additional sanctions against Iran as negotiators seek to take advantage of a six-month interim deal. "It's going to be difficult, it's going to be challenging, but ultimately this is how diplomacy should work," Obama said, adding that the negotiating window formalized over the weekend should give world powers "the time and space" they need to formalize a permanent deal with Tehran. "My preference is for peace and diplomacy, and this is one of the reasons why I've sent the message to Congress that...

House Speaker John Boehner’s declaration Wednesday morning that the House would not negotiate with the Senate on its comprehensive immigration reform bill drew some tough reaction from those who want to see the issue move forward. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., led with a tweet directed at Boehner’s comments to young immigrants that it’s “not easy, not going to be an easy path forward.” Pelosi begged to differ: “Actually it is easy, @Speaker Boehner,” she said. .... Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, one of the eight senators who crafted that chambers’ sweeping immigration bill passed in June,...

The Obama administration appears to be on the verge of a diplomatic breakthrough with Iran after three and a half decades of low-level warfare. Now comes the hard part: convincing Congress. Skeptical lawmakers are gearing up to thwart efforts to lift the pressure on Iran. Senate Foreign Relations ranking member Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) warned this week that he may introduce legislation making it harder for President Obama to loosen existing sanctions, while several others have vowed to slap on new ones. “The United States should negotiate from a position of strength, not weakness,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a possible 2016...

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee criticized the Obama administration at a hearing on Capitol Hill Thursday, calling the administration's reluctance to fully back Syrian rebels an “embarrassment.” "Today's hearing left me bewildered that this government does not have a strategy as to Syria," Sen. Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, said in an interview with CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper." Syria's chemical weapons post a threat to national security...

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Lonegan today urged House Republicans "not to capitulate to the president's unreasonable demands. When I win, Obama will fold." Lonegan says his internal polling shows a neck-and-neck race in the U.S. Senate contest and that all the momentum is in his favor. "My victory in this election on Wednesday will send a message to Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi that the American people want an end to Obamacare and the rest of the President's radical agenda." The former three-term Bogota mayor called on Republicans to stop listening to the same consultants and pollsters...

Via the Free Beacon and the Corner. No surprise that two of O’s few Syria allies in Congress would be outraged on his behalf by Putin’s latest humiliation, but honestly, I’ve been against striking Syria all along and I was irritated by the op-ed too. Makes me wonder how many doves on the Hill are starting to chafe at the obvious enjoyment the Kremlin and its client are taking in embarrassing the White House, notwithstanding the fact that our president spent a full year moronically bumbling his way into this mess. You may hate having Ryan Leaf at quarterback, but...

A controversial donor with ties to prominent Democrats who is under investigation by the FBI may not have the qualifications he claims. The resume of Dr. Salomon Melgen, a Florida-based ophthalmologist and controversial Democratic donor, boasts medical education and experience at Harvard University, Yale University, and the University of Missouri. But none of those schools says it can find any record of Melgen, who claims to be a Harvard alumnus, the former chief resident of the University of Missouri’s ophthalmology department, and a former Yale intern. Questions concerning Melgen’s background are also coming to light. According to his biography, posted...

METUCHEN – GOP Senate candidate Steve Lonegan opened his main headquarters here this morning, bashing Obama Democrats, dismissing Newark Mayor Cory Booker as a "failed mayor," and lustily embracing the movement conservative wing of the Republican Party. “You pick a mentor when you go to the U.S. Senate,” the Republican front-runner told a roomful of backers. “My two choices are Rand Paul and Ted Cruz.” Proudly pro life and pro gun, Lonegan said he couldn’t wait to see the look on the face of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) on the occasion of Lonegan’s inaugural escort at the Capitol Building....

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), a member of the Senate’s “Gang of Eight,” told liberal activists at the Center for American Progress (CAP) on Wednesday how the Democrats plans to enact amnesty for the 11 million illegal immigrants: Get the House to pass whatever immigration bills it likes, then go to “conference” with the Senate bill. “Get us to a conference," Menendez pleaded with the liberal activists, according to Slate’s Dave Weigel. "In a conference, we can negotiate the notion of bringing all those bills together and get to common ground."