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Increasingly impatient Senate Democrats have started speaking out about their desire for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to turn over impeachment articles. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) told Politico that House Democrats “should move on” and send the articles to the Senate. “I think [the trial] needs to start, I really do. I can’t tell the House how to do their business. I would never try to tell Speaker Pelosi … Let us do what we have to do over here,” the red-state Democrat told a Washington Post reporter. He also acknowledged that Pelosi’s holdout did accomplish one thing: pushing former national...

Sen. Susan Collins said Wednesday that she was upset a Senate Aging Committee hearing had been blocked after Senate Democrats invoked a rule to prevent committee hearings from being held until more details emerged on the possibility of getting an independent review of Russian interference in the U.S. elections. "We have witnesses who have come here from four different states," the Maine Republican said. "How does that contribute to solving anything that has to do with Jim Comey's firing? I mean, it's just ridiculous." Collins spoke on the Senate floor about her frustrations that the hearing, which was set to...

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) delighted Republicans across the country this morning by announcing that he will not seek reelection. “On the verge of losing his own election and after losing the majority, Senator Harry Reid has decided to hang up his rusty spurs,” the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s Ward Baker says in a statement. “Not only does Reid instantly become irrelevant and a lame duck, his retirement signals that there is no hope for the Democrats to regain control of the Senate. With the exception of Reid, every elected statewide official in Nevada is Republican and this...

No Senate Democrats block measure backing Bibi’s speechThe Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution welcoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to America and endorsing his speech before a joint session of Congress. Critics of the Obama administration view the unanimous approval as a rebuke to the White House and Democrats, who have vowed to boycott Netanyahu’s address and work to counter his warnings about the dangers of a nuclear Iran. No Senate Democrats sponsored the measure, which attracted 50 Republican cosponsors. However, none attempted to block its passage, signaling that support for Israel and Netanyahu’s message has outweighed a pressure...

For weeks, Harry Reid and his Senate Democratic minority -- with the explicit blessing of the White House -- have been blocking all debate on a House-passed bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security. The House legislation provides full appropriations for DHS, with the small exception of stripping out funds targeted for the implementation President Obama's unpopular and illegal (according to both a federal judge and Obama himself) executive amnesty fiat. Democrats in the upper chamber had already filibustered three attempts to take up, discuss, or amend the House's bill. Last night witnessed round four. Kudos to CNN for...

The Affordable Care Act is casting a shadow over Democrats’ chances in Senate battleground states, putting pressure on vulnerable Senate Democrats to distance themselves from the law’s clumsy rollout. Five vulnerable Democratic incumbents who this week called for extending the law’s enrollment period and delaying penalties for not signing up on time come from states where voters hold unfavorable views of the law. Some Democratic strategists, however, argue the issue is not as potent as Republicans think and predict it could boomerang on conservatives who have pushed for a full repeal of the law without offering detailed proposals to replace...

If it’s not instantly clear to you why they might want to do this, you weren’t following the news when they tried to pass comprehensive reform in 2006 and 2007. Mickey Kaus had a post on that very subject yesterday. The tangle of interest groups in immigration reform is such that the public is almost guaranteed to dislike a proposed bill the more time it spends looking at it. Possible solution, then: Don’t let them look at it. Pass the damned thing as quickly as you can, with as little debate as you can, and then let voters make peace...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- At least they're still talking. While President Barack Obama and congressional Republican leaders have publicly dug in their heels on critical debt-limit negotiations, Obama's spokesman said Tuesday the president and Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell will continue discussions. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden spent more time in the Oval Office on Monday with McConnell than they did with a fellow Democrat, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The president and vice president have scheduled another meeting for Wednesday to consult with Reid -- and also invited Sens. Dick Durbin and Charles Schumer, both members of the Democratic...

WASHINGTON – Senate Democratic liberals are seeking expansion of two large federal programs, Medicare and Medicaid, in exchange for dropping a government-sold insurance option from health care legislation sought by President Barack Obama, several lawmakers said Monday. Under the potential trade-off with party moderates, near-retirees beginning at age 55 or 60 who lack affordable insurance would be permitted to purchase coverage under Medicare, which generally provides medical care beginning at 65. Medicaid, the federal-state health care program for the poor, would be open to all comers under 300 percent of poverty, or slightly over $66,000 for a family of four....

WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats, under pressure from party colleagues in the House, agreed Thursday to an economic rescue package that would add checks for Social Security retirees and disabled veterans but leave out extended jobless benefits and additional business subsidies. The package would rush tax rebates of $500 for individuals and $1,000 for couples to most taxpayers and grant business tax cuts to revive the economy. Leaders in both parties and in both chambers of Congress had agreed by Wednesday night on the idea that 20 million seniors whose sole or main income is Social Security and 250,000 veterans living...

WASHINGTON - Democrats intend to begin debate in the Senate next week on a nonbinding measure declaring President Bush's planned troop increase in Iraq is "not in the national interest," officials said Friday, with a quick test vote likely. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the measure Wednesday on a near party-line vote of 12-9, acting one day after Bush implored lawmakers in his State of the Union address to give his revised war strategy a chance to work.

The Democrats are in such disarray that their constant scandal-mongering to no effect is starting to inflict friendly fire on their own ranks. It looks like it’s every man for himself. Nick Danger at RedState.Org noticed that Joe Biden was not exactly out in front defending Senate Minority Leader Reid, who may be implicated in the Abramoff scandals. Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) failed today to address rumors that Nevada Senator Harry Reid will step down next month as Senate Minority Leader. Reid has been stung by revelations that his political action committee (PAC) accepted more than $60,000 in contributions from...

A poll by SurveyUSA , as of January 26, 2006, should make the GOP very nervous. For example the top ten senators with the highest job approval consist of six Democrats, two RINOS and one maverick. Republicans in the top ten are Snowe (*RINO-ME) 75%, Collins (*RINO-ME) 72% -- and senate "president," John McCain71%. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Kay Hutchison (R-TX) share the tenth spot with a 63% approval. The bottom ten senators with the lowest ratings consist of eight Republicans and two Democrats. Two senators that deserve their low scores are Voinovich (R-OH) 49-40% and DeWine (R-OH) 47-41% The...

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Sunday that Democrats who took money from Indian tribes represented by Jack Abramoff and who did something on behalf of those tribes have "a big problem." Dean made the statement apparently unaware that Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has reportedly done exactly that. Under questioning by "Fox News Sunday's" Chris Wallace, Dean claimed that Democrats did no favors for Abramoff's Indian tribe clients: "Nobody got anything out of the Democrats from Jack Abramoff," the top Democrat insisted. "No Democrat delivered anything and there's no accusation and no investigation that any Democrat ever delivered...

    NEWS FOR THE WEEK OF JANUARY 23, 2006PDF Version       "Abramoff Assembled A Group Of Lobbyists That Some In The Media Have Dubbed 'Team Abramoff.' ... They Included Ayoob, A Former Aide To Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., Who Is Now The Senate Minority Leader." (Paul Barton, "Lincoln Aide, Others Say $2,000 Isn't Abramoff-Linked," Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 1/6/06)   "Of The Eight Tribes Ayoob Represented When He Was With Greenberg Traurig, Reid Acted In Behalf Of Or Moved Legislation Benefiting Six." (Rebecca Adams, "The Game's The Thing: Reid Has Been A Ready Ally To Abramoff-Linked Interests," Congressional Quarterly...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 /U.S. Newswire/ -- "Howard Dean can engage in all the Clintonian word games he wants, but the bottom line is Democrats have been on the receiving end of Abramoff affiliated money," said Tracey Schmitt, Republican National Committee press secretary. "Efforts by Abramoff Democrats to indicate otherwise only reminds Americans that their minority party is overtly hypocritical and will stop at nothing to score cheap political points. Our country expects its leaders to speak the truth, rather than engage in a partisan blame game when it behooves them politically." The DNC's Jack Abramoff Affiliated Money: DNC Has Received...

The reason Democrats and liberals did not get more popular traction in their opposition to the appointment of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court is that their worldview of what constitutes a good nominee is sharply at variance with that of the American public at large. To the likes of Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) et al., the Supreme Court is a kind of super-Congress — nine special Senate seats — and the criterion for confirmation is agreement with the nominee on the key issues likely to come before the court. But to the...

Apparently, C-Span has been editing its coverage of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the Alito nomination. Here's the tape they don't want you to see. At this time the Chair recognizes the senator from Delaware - Senator Biden.     I'll be with you shortly.     Senator, this committe is in session, so if you're not prepared, we'll come back to you later.     Just hold on, I think I'm almost done.     I'd like to remind my good friend that we don't have time to wait for him while he...     And I'd like to remind my good friend that the American people want...

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...

President George Bush today promised Senate Democrats that the National Security Agency (NSA) would not secretly listen in to their floor speeches during debate over the Supreme Court confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito, even though Democrats have promised to make the legality of NSA wiretaps a major issue during the debates. “We don’t want to impinge upon the Democrat’s civil rights,” said President Bush, “So I’ve received assurances from the NSA and most other government agencies that no one will listen in on their speeches.” The president said that Democrat Senators could “speak their minds without fear that anyone will...