Claire McCaskill

McCaskill: House GOP Is Skirting Its Own Earmark Ban

Igor Bobic | May 19, 2011, 4:40PM

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO)

When it comes to earmarks, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) is accusing House Republicans of wanting to have their cake and eat it too.

House Republicans, she told reporters earlier this week, have added numerous line items for special projects into the defense-authorization bill, and thus, are violating their own self-imposed earmark moratorium.

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Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Why Republican Demands To Debate DADT Repeal For Two Weeks Are Bogus

Brian Beutler | December 6, 2010, 10:08AM

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Senate Republicans have been playing a neat trick to squeeze Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal off the Senate calendar. On the one hand, as the year comes to an end, they're eating up the last days of floor time and refusing to debate any issues until the tax cut fight is resolved and the federal government is funded into next year. On the other hand, they're laying out arbitrary -- and totally new -- benchmarks for how long it should take to debate the Defense Authorization bill (the vehicle for DADT repeal) to argue that there isn't enough time to debate it this Congress.

Speaking on the Senate floor back in September, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell claimed, "The Defense authorization bill requires 4 or 5 weeks to debate."

This weekend on "Meet the Press," he revised that figure down to two weeks. "Once you get on the defense bill, it typically takes two weeks," he claimed.

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Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Lieberman: Senate Has 60 Votes To End DADT (VIDEO)

David Taintor | December 1, 2010, 2:07PM

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT)

On the heels of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the Pentagon calling for a repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) told MSNBC today that he's "convinced" the Senate has more than the 60 votes required to get it done -- provided they have enough time to debate the bill.

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Defense Authorization

GOP To Oppose Defense Bill Over 'Unrelated' DADT, Immigration Provisions

Christina Bellantoni and Jon Terbush | September 21, 2010, 1:13PM

The Senate today is poised to vote on the Defense Authorization bill, a critical measure setting military policy but which also includes provisions to complete the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the DREAM Act allowing illegal immigrant children the chance for a college education.

Handicappers think the Don't Ask, Don't Tell and immigration amendments stand a slim chance at passage, and Senate aides say leadership is likely to set aside the bill to consider it for final approval later after the fall elections. Reports from Capitol Hill suggest enough Democrats -- like Sen. Jim Webb (VA), according to MSNBC's Rachel Maddow -- will join with Republicans to filibuster the measure.

The defense authorization measure also lays out policy positions on Guantanamo Bay detainees, Pentagon priorities and more. But it's political season, which means Senate Republicans are bound to be a little, shall we say, hypocritical about what they think should be in and out of the bill. After all, when the Republicans were in charge, plenty of measures unrelated to defense spending made their way into the defense authorizations.

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