Free Republic

Chuck Schumer is set to get a big promotion -- and that's welcome news to Wall Street. The veteran Democratic senator from New York is widely expected to take Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid's job when he retires at the end of 2016. Reid, who announced he would not be running for reelection Friday morning, quickly endorsed his New York colleague for the role. Schumer's ascension to the top Democratic position in the Senate -- and even possibly to Senate majority leader if his party regains control of the chamber -- is a boon for the finance and business communities,...

It might be fun to poke fun at Texas Senator and GOP Presidential candidate Ted Cruz for signing up for Obamacare but he is far from alone. As a matter of fact some other top GOP candidates for the 2016 Republican nomination are right there with Cruz. In fact almost every member of the House and the Senate who have voted over 50 times to repeal Obamacare are enrolled in the plan. It is important to be clear there is no such thing as being “on Obamacare.” It’s not an insurance plan, or a single program like Medicare or Social...

Dirty Harry is getting out of town why? He's afraid of a Republican Attorney General! A Republican Attorney General would be almost certain to initiate a criminal investigation into Reid’s abuse of his political power in a brazen intervention in the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) issuance of EB-5 visas to investors in a Las Vegas casino and hotel that was represented by his son, Rory Reid, as was highlighted in a report released by the Inspector General of DHS last week.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) explains his shocking decision to not seek re-election and retire when his term ends in 2016 by telling the New York Times, “he was worried his race would consume campaign money that would be needed in other competitive states as Democrats try to regain control of the Senate.” “I think it is unfair for me to be soaking up all the money to be re-elected with what we are doing in Maryland, in Pennsylvania, in Missouri, in Florida,” Reid told the Times. Reid said neither his recent eye injury nor concern over his chances...

After the Senate gave approval to its budget plan early Friday morning, Sens. Rob Portman, Ohio Republican, and Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire Democrat, got a version of their energy efficiency legislation passed by voice vote. The measure, passed when only Mr. Portman and Ms. Shaheen were on the floor, includes provisions exempting certain water heaters from pending Department of Energy regulations, and requires federal agencies to develop an implementation strategy for employing more energy-efficient technology, among other items. Mr. Portman said the bill has garnered widespread support and is part of an energy plan for the country “that can help...

Remember when a disagreement between Republicans on the budget was “cataclysmic” for GOP claims to governance? Democrats last passed a normal budget resolution six years ago, but Republicans went all of seven days before both chambers finally passed budget resolutions. Our long national nightmare, at least as envisioned by Politico, is over: The Senate passed a Republican-authored budget plan early on Friday that seeks $5.1 trillion in domestic spending cuts over 10 years while boosting military funding.The 52-46 vote on the non-binding budget resolution put Congress on a path to complete its first full budget in six years. It...

Rush Limbaugh was talking about this yesterday so WHO beat up Harry Reid? Nobody except Kool-Aid drinking liberals really believes the exercise equipment excuse. Reid did make some mumblings about suing the exercise equipment company but seems to have let that dropped. Also strange is that he never NAMED the company who made that exercise equipment. If I was similarly injured by exercise equipment I would be warning people away from the brand. So the big question is WHO beat up Harry Reid? Was it more than one person. And WHY? Also interesting is that Reid felt he needed to...

One unfortunate day in the future, America will again have a Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate. And when that day happens, conservatives had better start digging foxholes, because their worst nightmare will be the majority leader. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, the former hyper-partisan majority leader (and present minority leader) announced yesterday that he will retire at the end of his term in 2017. He named Chuck Schumer, D-New York, as his heir apparent. As a Westerner from a blue state that could flip to red at any time, Reid was forced to take account of libertarian views. Nevada is,...

LAS VEGAS — Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid's decision to retire next year leaves no clear successor in his home state of Nevada, where a popular Republican governor appears reluctant to change jobs and the pending loss of Reid's clout in Washington is causing anxiety over who might replace him. As of Friday, the list of potential candidates came down to Gov. Brian Sandoval and everyone else. The political centrist who was easily re-elected last year is likely to face intense pressure from national Republicans and business interests to pick up where Reid leaves off on Capitol Hill. Sandoval didn't...

Well, theyÂ’re not horrible. But Democrats canÂ’t be too happy about their present chances of replacing outgoing Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid with another Democrat in the U.S. Senate could certainly be better than they are right now. Reid was no lock to win reelection even if he decided to run again in 2016. He polls as poorly today as he did in 2010, when the Nevada electorate appeared ready to jettison the Silver StateÂ’s longtime senator, but a majority of voters just couldnÂ’t bring themselves to pull the lever for Sharron Angle. At the yearÂ’s open, veteran Nevada...

EXCLUSIVE–FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: DOJ SHOULD OPEN A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION INTO HARRY REID PUSHING EB-5 VISA EXPANSION Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) says he intends to retire at the end of his term in 2017. But he may still face legal pressure before he leaves. Former U.S. Attorney Joseph diGenova, a leading legal expert on the prosecution and defense of white collar criminals, tells Breitbart News there is enough public evidence to launch a criminal investigation of Reid. “Here’s the issue,” diGenova tells Breitbart News in an exclusive interview. “Because his son was involved representing the SLS Casino and Hotel...

WASHINGTON — Senator Harry Reid, the tough tactician who has led Senate Democrats since 2005, will not seek re-election next year, bringing an end to a three-decade congressional career that culminated with his push of President Obama’s ambitious agenda against fierce Republican resistance. Mr. Reid, 75, who suffered serious eye and facial injuries in a Jan. 1 exercise accident at his Las Vegas home, said he had been contemplating retiring from the Senate for months. He said his decision was not attributable either to the accident or to his demotion to minority leader after Democrats lost the majority in November’s...

Many of the key figures cited in a scathing inspector general’s report this week are allies of Hillary Rodham Clinton, marking the latest in a series of stumbles for the former first lady and secretary of state that likely forced her to delay her planned presidential campaign announcement.A Democratic strategist familiar with her team’s thinking said they are scrambling to limit the damage and readjust the campaign rollout schedule after the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general revealed an apparent cronyism scandal that ensnared Mrs. Clinton’s brother, Anthony Rodham, and two of her political confidants, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and former...

The No. 2 official at the Homeland Security Department intervened several times in projects with connections to insiders, including Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and a brother of Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to a report issued by the department's watchdog Tuesday. Alejandro Mayorkas, while head of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, created an "appearance of favoritism" in a program that offers visas to wealthy foreigners willing to invest in American companies, the report says, though it stops short of saying Mayorkas was guilty of wrongdoing. More than 15 whistle-blowers came forward to complain that Mayorkas was giving special treatment to...

The Senate’s top Democrat was more deeply involved than previously known in an effort to secure U.S. visas for Chinese investors in a Las Vegas casino despite the concerns of career federal officials, according to an inspector general report released on Tuesday. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) and his staff received weekly updates from top officials at U.S. Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) regarding the status of visas for investors in the SLS Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, the report reveals. Executives at the casino’s parent company, a client of Reid’s son Rory, donated thousands of dollars to...

The No. 2 official at the Homeland Security Department improperly intervened on behalf of foreign investors in three cases involving the U.S. government soliciting investments in exchange for American visas, the agency's inspector general said Tuesday. Investigators said he helped secure the visas, and created the appearance of favoritism and special access. The investigation could not suggest a motive for the official's involvement.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid helped steer billions of federal tax dollars to companies supporting a green energy group run by two of his former staff members and a current campaign operative.The Nevada Democrat pushed for millions of dollars in grants and billions more in federal loan guarantees for corporations that donated to the Clean Energy Project, a nonprofit founded by a pair of former staffers with close ties to both Reid and to a major Democratic PAC associated with the senator, Lachlan Markay of the Washington Free Beacon reported.One such company, California-based Fulcrum Bioenergy, received a hefty federal grant...

Corporate donors to a green energy nonprofit operated by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid’s (D., Nev.) former staffers and a current campaign operative have received billions of dollars in federal loan guarantees and grant money as a result of Reid’s advocacy. Fulcrum Bioenergy began contributing to the Clean Energy Project (CEP) in 2013. One year later, the Nevada Democrat steered tens of millions of dollars in federal grant money to the California biofuel company.

Politics and Policy Senator Reid Scores Early Victory as Opposition Leader But minority leader warns fellow Democrats against taking victory laps after homeland security win By Siobhan Hughes and Michael R. Crittenden WASHINGTON—Senate Democrats think they have had a good couple of weeks, including a win in a battle over immigration and homeland security funding, but their leader is warning members of his caucus against taking any victory laps. “We cannot be gloating,” Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said he told his caucus at a closed-door meeting on Tuesday. “We have a lot of things we have to...

Key Senate Democrats led by Minority Leader Harry Reid announced their opposition Wednesday to fast action on a bill giving Congress final say on any nuclear deal with Iran. The development appeared likely to upend GOP plans to move swiftly on the bill following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Tuesday speech to Congress in which he railed against the emerging agreement. "I think we are better off on things relating to the Iran deal to wait until we see if there can be something negotiated," Reid said in an interview with The Associated Press. "And if there is something negotiated...