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Former Vermont U.S. Sen. James Jeffords, who in 2001 tipped control of the Senate when he quit the Republican Party to become an independent, died Monday. He was 80.

The former U.S. senator from Vermont who in 2001 tipped control of the Senate when he quit the Republican Party to become an independent has died. James Jeffords was 80. Jeffords had announced in 2005 that he would not seek a fourth term, citing his and his wife's health problems. His wife, Liz, died in 2007. Jeffords served more than 30 years in Washington. He won election to the House in 1974 as a Republican. He was the only Republican in the House to vote against President Ronald Reagan's tax cuts in 1981. A decade late, upset with President George...

MONTPELIER, Vt. - Former Vermont U.S. Sen. James Jeffords, who in 2001 tipped control of the Senate when he quit the Republican Party to become an independent, died Monday. He was 80. Jeffords died in Washington, said Diane Derby, a former aide to Jeffords. He had been in declining health, she said. Jeffords had announced in 2005 that he would not seek a fourth term, citing his and his wife's health problems.

"At the memorial service for the victims of the shooting in Tucson, Arizona, President Obama said that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords opened her eyes for the first time after his (Wednesday) visit. It was the first time she had opened her eyes since the shooting that wounded her Saturday outside a Tucson grocery store. "We all started crying," Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said in a phone interview from Air Force One later Wednesday night. "Other than the birth of my children, it was the most incredible moment I have ever had." Also in the room were Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand...

Washington.IT is disheartening and disconcerting, at the very least, that here we are today — almost exactly eight years after Senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party — witnessing the departure of my good friend and fellow moderate Republican, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, for the Democratic Party. And the announcement of his switch was all the more painful because I believe it didn’t have to be this way. When Senator Jeffords became an independent in 2001, I said it was a sad day for the Republicans, but it would be even sadder if we failed to confront and learn...

When the Vermont Republican became an independent, Specter lost a committee chairmanship in the Senate's resulting power shift. An angry Specter proposed a ban on such party switches. Reporting from Washington -- When a Senate Republican left his party in 2001, elevating the Democrats to majority status, one member of the GOP was especially vocal about his displeasure: Arlen Specter. Specter said then- Vermont Sen. Jim Jeffords' decision to become an independent was disruptive to the functioning of Congress. He proposed a rule forbidding party switches that had the effect of vaulting the minority to majority status in the middle...

A stinging rebuke from another prominent Republican quickly followed Sen. James Jeffords' departure Thursday from the GOP. In a written statement, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, blamed "short-sighted party operatives" whom he accused of targeting Jeffords. "Perhaps those self-appointed enforcers of party loyalty will learn to respect honorable differences among us, learn to disagree without resorting to personal threats, and recognize that we are a party large enough to accommodate something short of strict unanimity on the issues of the day," said McCain. "Tolerance of dissent is the hallmark of a mature party, and it is well past time for the...

It is being reported on the Rusty Humphries show that John McCain and not Jim Jeffords planned on switching to the Democrat party in 2001.

Who could possibly agree to a title ripped off from one of the most courageous documents in the world, the Declaration of Independence? Only our Jim. Many of the signers of that document suffered pain and loss because of their deed. Not so our junior senator. He reaps rewards. Not so for Simon and Schuster, publishers of "My Declaration of Independence." The book has climbed up the Barnes and Noble charts to 17,644th from 24,607th last week. Simon and Schuster might as well consider it all a campaign contribution. Surely Jeffords will take their call should they need help from ...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was close to leaving the Republican Party in 2001, weeks before then-Sen. Jim Jeffords (Vt.) famously announced his decision to become an Independent, according to former Democratic lawmakers who say they were involved in the discussions. In interviews with The Hill this month, former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and ex-Rep. Tom Downey (D-N.Y.) said there were nearly two months of talks with the maverick lawmaker following an approach by John Weaver, McCain?s chief political strategist. Democrats had contacted Jeffords and then-Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) in the early months of 2001 about switching parties, but in McCain?s...

NASHVILLE -- The Republican majority in the Tennessee Senate was short-lived: Sen. Mike Williams of Maynardville declared an independent today and no longer a member of the Republican Caucus. Williams blamed dissatisfaction over the arrival of what he called "Washington-style partisanship and gridlock" -- which he said he wants no part of -- for the switch. His move left the makeup of the state Senate at 16 Republicans, 16 Democrats and one independent. That won't have an immediate impact on the organization of the Senate -- Republican Ron Ramsey was elected to a two-year term as the Senate speaker in...

Seeks to clear way for independent in US Senate bid... Vermont's Democratic Party is maneuvering to keep the Democratic candidates for the state's open US Senate seat off the November ballot, as party leaders seek to clear the way for independent Representative Bernard Sanders in his bid for the Senate. State Democratic leaders are spearheading efforts to gather signatures to put Sanders on the ballot as a Democrat, even though Sanders has repeatedly said he would turn down the party's nomination if he wins the primary. At least three other candidates have announced their intention to run for the Democratic...

The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly voted to end a filibuster and moved closer to renewal of the USA Patriot Act. Senators voted 96-3 Thursday to stop debate regarding a compromise on the Patriot Act. All three of the senators who voted to keep debate going were Democrats ... Some aspects of the act were to expire at the end of 2005 but the White House sought to make the bill permanent. Congress gave the act short extensions, the most recent of which will end March 10.

ST. ALBANS — Adj. Gen. Martha Rainville made it official at a scripted campaign rally before more than 100 cheering supporters and the media: She’s a candidate for U.S. Congress. At a morning rally kicking off a two-day campaign swing through the state, Rainville told the crowd, “I want to serve in Congress as your advocate, as your voice on issues affecting you and your families, on issues affecting Vermont and America. Too much time and energy in Washington is being spent on finger-pointing and bickering across party lines.” “The focus seems to lie not on resolving issues, but on...

(Washington - AP) — US Senator Jim Jeffords says he will oppose the nomination of Samuel Alito to the US Supreme Court. Jeffords says that while he believes Alito is qualified to serve on the court, he does not believe the country would be served by his judicial philosophy. The independent senator says that he does not believe Alito fully appreciates the limits on the power of the presidency.

WASHINGTON — The lobbyist imbroglio consuming the nation’s capital has ensnared Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, a top Democrat, a Vermont Guardian review of campaign records has found. Two widely circulated lists place Leahy and fellow sen. Jim Jeffords on a list of senators who have received campaign contributions from clients or colleagues associated with super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The Guardian has found that much of these donations came from clients or associates who were either not being represented by Abramoff at the time or working with him. However, several donations have been confirmed and implicate both senators, according to a Guardian...

Tribal Clients And Associates Of Jack Abramoff Have Contributed Over $3.1 Million To Democrat Party Interests Between 1997 And 2004. (Campaign Finance Analysis Project Website, www.campaignfinanceanalysisproject.com, Accessed December 2005; Political Money Line Website, www.tray.com, Accessed December 2005) National Democrat Party Affiliated Committees Received Over $1.2 Million From Indian Tribe Clients And Lobbying Associates Of Jack Abramoff. (Campaign Finance Analysis Project Website, www.campaignfinanceanalysisproject.com, Accessed December 7, 2005; Political Money Line Website, www.tray.com, Accessed December 7, 2005; Internal Revenue Service Website, www.irs.gov, Accessed April 21, 2005) The Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Received Over – $430,000 The Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)...

WASHINGTON--DNC Chair Howard Dean, appearing on "Meet the Press" told hold host Tim Russert that a Socialist "is bascially a liberal Democrat."Dean, while discussing the race to replace outgoing Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords, insisted to Russert that potential candidate Bernie Sanders, an admitted socialist, was no different than the liberal wing of his own party:Russert: ...there's a vacancy for the United States Senate about to occur. Bernie Sanders, the congressman from Vermont, wants to run for that seat. He is a self-described avowed socialist. Dean: Well, that's what he says. He's really a populist. Russert: But is there room in...

"Well, you really botched it this time. Too bad your ego is bigger than your brain."

We live in a time of great change, in America and around the globe. Democracy is on the rise in parts of the world few thought possible, the Middle East of all places. But at the same time, nearly half of America is running toward socialism and most of them don’t even know it… The Democratic Party was full of glee when Vermont Senator Jumpin’ Jim Jeffords defected from the Republican Party, re-titling himself an "Independent", but becoming a boot licking lackey for the DNC in the process. He had a long history of voting the other side of the...