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On the day of the latest government shutdown, Congress passed a two-year $300 billion, 652-page budget under 18 hours, much to the dismay of conservatives. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) struck a deal on Wednesday to fund the government for two years, featuring substantial increases in domestic and defense spending. Both the House and Senate passed the $300 billion two-year budget on Friday morning, halting a temporary government shutdown. The House passed a stop-gap spending bill on Tuesday that funded the government through March 23; the bill funded the Defense Department for...

The Senate Republican leadership would like to make Mitt Romney the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) if elected to the Senate, according to Republican donor sources. The Atlantic reported last Friday that according to a Republican donor with direct knowledge of the discussions, the Senate Republican leadership expressed interest in making Romney the next leader of the NRSC. Romney would replace current chair Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO). The NRSC chairman plays an influential role in fundraising and recruiting future Senate Republican candidates.

Mitt Romney signaled that he is moving toward a run for a US Senate seat from Utah, tweeting Thursday that he will make a formal announcement about his plans on February 15. "Looking forward to making an announcement on February 15th about the Utah Senate race," he tweeted.

One Republican consultant connected to the White House told Business Insider he thinks Romney's move after being elected is pretty clear: succeed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as the GOP leader after 2020. "If anything, it's Romney setting himself up to replace Mitch McConnell," the consultant said. Romney would enter the body with much more clout than his Republican colleagues, including Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and John Thune of South Dakota, both possible contenders for the leadership position. And, he added, McConnell, who has the lowest approval rating in the Senate, may decide not to put himself through what...

As Mitt Romney considers whether to run for an open US Senate seat in Utah, the person who can most influence him is encouraging him to get into the race: his wife, Ann. Ann Romney — a confidante for nearly all of Romney’s adult life and frequent catalyst for his political ambitions — is fully supporting a campaign for Senate, another strong indicator he will run, according to four people close to the Romneys. Her own battle with multiple sclerosis is not a major factor, with all signs indicating that her health remains strong, the people said.

Well, 2018 brought us some Senate news for the upcoming midterm elections. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) decided to not run for an eighth term in the Senate. The road is clear for Mitt Romney who is a heavy favorite to replace Hatch. Also, how will the Trump White House feel about a vocal Never Trump politician catching a second wind in public life? Yet, for now, it’s what if Romney runs, he hasn’t made it official yet. If he does, he’s pretty much guaranteed to win the election. As we all speculate, Hillary Clinton’s former campaign staff sort of blew...

The idea that the corporate media is floating about Mitt Romney “assuming” the senate seat of Orin Hatch is disheartening and underscores the short memories of political pundits who have forgotten the cloud of corruption and crimes that surround Unfit Mitt. We are going to remind you of that history and put into perspective the crimes that Unfit Mitt carried out with seeming impunity. Mitt’s true history cannot be told unless the criminal milieu that he worked within is described beforehand. Only when you get the picture of this crime syndicate and their incredible power and political reach, will you...

With Sen. John McCain in the twilight of his career, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee sees a coming void in the Trump era. As he's expressed his desire to join the U.S. Senate, Mitt Romney has privately revealed that a driving purpose of his service would be to emulate a former rival and fellow foiled Republican presidential nominee: Sen. John McCain. "There's got to be somebody who can stand up to the president," Romney told members of the Utah congressional delegation in recent weeks, according to a person with knowledge of his comments. "Who's going to stand up to Trump?"

Outgoing Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said Wednesday that former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney would have his support if he runs to take his place in the Senate. Hatch's remarks come a day after the 83-year-old senator announced his retirement. President Trump had urged Hatch to stay in the seat, reportedly as an attempt to block Romney from taking the Senate spot. "There's no question that he loves Utah and wants to support Utah any way he can. And I'm hopeful he'll run, because he would be just fine," Hatch said in a radio interview on Utah's Morning News program....

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Video at link. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the longest-serving GOP senator in U.S. history, announced Tuesday that he'll retire at the end of his term. Hatch made the announcement in a video posted on Twitter. The announcement is a blow to President Trump, who has publicly encouraged him to run for reelection. The 83-year-old senator appeared to be signaling in recent weeks that he’d run for an eighth term in 2018, even though he previously said he’d retire when his term is up in January 2019. The powerful Senate Finance Committee chairman played a significant role in helping Republicans pass...

Mitt Romney: Your country needs you. The 2012 Republican presidential nominee has been reluctant to announce a primary challenge to Sen. Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, the longest-serving Republican senator in history. But America needs Romney to step up, to restore dignity to the Senate -- and to save the country from the embarrassment Hatch has become. Hatch, long the picture of conservative rectitude, was once a conscientious legislator, even partnering with Ted Kennedy when he thought poor kids were getting a raw deal. But Hatch, the Senate president pro tempore, has undergone a grotesque transformation this year, his 84th...

Donald Trump is president. Mitt Romney isn't. And the individual mandate is now toast! Gloria in excelsis Deo!

President Trump’s trip to Utah Monday was ostensibly about eliminating national monument status for two Utah landmarks. But most speculate that the real reason for the trip was a subtle effort to block Mitt Romney from reentering politics. Romney has made noise about a potential run for Senator Orrin Hatch’s seat, should the longtime Utah senator choose not to seek reelection next year. Monday’s presidential visit seemed to turn into a full-on lobbying effort to get Hatch to stay put. Or perhaps more to the point, to get Romney to stay far away from Washington. And Romney was all too...

He’s not saying Moore should go “if” the sexual assault allegations are true. He’s telling him to get out now. Mitt Romney called on Roy Moore to step aside from the Alabama Senate race Friday, becoming one of the only Republican politicians to say, unequivocally, that Moore should go in light of accusations that he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl. (TWEET-AT-LINK) On Thursday, The Washington Post reported that four women said Moore pursued them when he was in his 30s and they were between the ages of 14 and 18. The most serious case involves Leigh Corfman, who was 14...

Mitt Romney told wealthy donors gathered at a high-dollar campaign fundraiser that there’s a group of voters he believes he can never win over: people who pay no taxes. "There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what," Romney said. "All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the...

 (KUTV) Senator Orrin Hatch basked in praise on Friday, speaking before a supportive crowd at the Women Tech Awards, downtown at the Grand America. Meantime, a report in The Atlantic, said Hatch has been telling friends he's leaving the Senate, to make way for a likely election victory for Mitt Romney. "Right now, you are planning to run?" KUTV2News asked the senator. "I'm planning on running again," Hatch replied, but added what seemed to be two caveats. First, concerns from his wife Elaine, who is against race number eight. "She's always worried about me," said Hatch. "Certainly I'm going to...

Should Mitt Romney run for the U.S. Senate? By all means. Indeed, Sen. Orrin Hatch should step aside. The Old Souls in the House and Senate will be taking a beating this coming year and Judge Roy Moore, newly nominated gunslinger from Alabama, will lead the charge. Possibly on horseback. For with the rise of Donald Trump to the Oval Office, America has entered a new age of Andrew Jackson. Trump has even placed a portrait of Jackson in the Oval Office to boldly indicate the dramatic shift in paradigm. But it was a long time in coming. I’d written...

Crooked Hillary, Low-Energy Jeb, Very Fake News - we've all seen Trump masterfully take down his opponents by re-branding them with names like these. And yet for some reason, as it relates to one of his major campaign promises, he has not yet used this effective tool against the label of "Obamacare" - which arguably serves the purposes of the left by associating "caring" with not only that horrific law, but with all things "Obama". So I propose that Trump and folks on the right start calling this law some other fitting name. Here are a few of my own...

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., predicted Wednesday that President Trump would soon move on his own to make health insurance more affordable, after the Senate failed again this week to advance any bill to reform federal healthcare policy. Paul he has been pitching the idea of using the Employee Retirement Income Security Act to let people buy insurance across state lines. That law already allows corporations to buy insurance across state lines for their workers if they are located in several states. Paul's idea is to let individuals form associations and do the same thing, and he said Trump administration officials...