Mitt Romney

Awkward! Republicans Who Opposed Auto Bailout Stumped By Romney Claiming Credit For It

Brian Beutler | May 8, 2012, 1:57PM

Sen. John McCain and Mitt Romney - Jan 12, 2012

As long as Mitt Romney publicly claims credit for the auto industry's recovery, he's going to put his fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill in an awkward position. Nearly all of them have attacked the Obama administration's bailout in exceptionally harsh terms, despite the fact that the administration's actions are widely understood to have saved the industry.

In the Capitol on Tuesday, two Senate Republicans struggled to respond.

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Medicare

New GOP Medicare Privatization Plan: Obamacare For Seniors Only?

Brian Beutler | March 15, 2012, 12:45PM

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)

You're a Republican senator. How do you sell a plan to privatize Medicare?

One way is to fashion the massive overhaul as an extension of the private system members of Congress enjoy -- the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan -- and then trumpet the merits of that system over existing Medicare.

"We have to convince [seniors] this is something better," said Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), flanked by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Rand Paul (R-KY), authors of a new Medicare privatization plan, at a Capitol press conference on Thursday. "If we thought Medicare was better, we would be on it as senators."

DeMint is 60 years old. Graham is 56. Paul is 49. Medicare eligibility age is 65.

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Senate Democrats

Top Democrats Raise Expectations For Holding The Senate

Sahil Kapur | March 11, 2012, 10:36AM

Their Senate majority widely believed to be in peril this November, top Democrats are invoking favorable events of late to raise expectations for holding on to the chamber, expressing a bullishness about the prospect that has been previously unforeseen.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), asked Sunday if he believes his party will stay in control, responded, "I sure do."

"We feel really good," Reid said on CNN's State of the Union. "We've have some tremendous -- we've had some good fortune in North Dakota, in Massachusetts, in Nevada, in Arizona. We have good candidates all over. And I feel very comfortable about where we're going to wind up in November."

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Iran

Senators Promise War With 'Nuclear Capable' Iran, Don't Define 'Capable'

Ryan J. Reilly | February 16, 2012, 4:20PM

Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT)

A bipartisan coalition of senators essentially promised Thursday that the U.S. would take military action against Iran if they become capable of producing nuclear weapons. Just don't ask them to define "capable."

Thirty-two senators have signed on to sponsor the six-page resolution that "rejects any United States policy that would rely on efforts to contain a nuclear weapons-capable Iran." Some believe it amounts to a promise that the U.S. would use force against Iran if they become capable of producing nuclear weapons, though what precisely "capable" means is up in the air.

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Defense Spending

The GOP's Plan To Avoid Defense Cuts Without Raising Taxes

Brian Beutler | February 2, 2012, 12:00PM

Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ) walks from his office to a policy lunch with fellow GOP members on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on September 7, 2011.

Senate Republicans unveiled a proposal Thursday to avoid or delay looming, automatic cuts to defense and security programs by reducing the federal work force by five percent and freezing federal pay for two and a half years.

In a bid to recruit Democratic support for their legislation, the authors of the plan say it saves enough money to forestall automatic cuts to domestic programs, also set to kick in on January 2013. But they continue to oppose using any new tax revenues to offset any of these costs -- and in so doing they exposed a contradiction at the heart of their fiscal policy. They oppose tax increases, they say, because of their impact on economic growth -- yet their plan to avoid tax increases involves deliberately shrinking demand for jobs.

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Lindsey Graham

Protestors Occupy Lindsey Graham's D.C. Fundraiser (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | December 8, 2011, 5:33PM

The same group that crashed Newt Gingrich's fundraiser on Wednesday night invaded a private fundraiser Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) held at a D.C. restaurant on Thursday.

Demonstrators with Take Back The Capitol walked into Johnny's Half Shell as Graham and his supporters were enjoying their salad course. Graham listened to the protestors tell stories about being unemployed as other attendees either listened to the protestors or awkwardly stared at their plates.

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Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Graham: Obama 'Failed' In Iraq

Igor Bobic | October 23, 2011, 10:17AM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Sunday blasted the Obama administration's handling of Iraq as a failure and dictated by nothing more than campaign tactics.

"At a time when we need troops in Iraq to secure the country, we have none," Graham told Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday." "It was his job to end this right [and] they failed."

Graham, a long-standing critic of the Obama administration's foreign policy, also scolded the President for letting politics guide his decisions, rather than strategy.

"I think he's made some poor decisions on the strategic level. Israel has been thrown under the bus by this President. Iraq and Afghanistan [are] being run by Chicago and not Washington for these past six months."

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Libya

GOP Senator Supports 'Infrastructure' Spending ... In Libya (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | October 20, 2011, 3:42PM

Republicans have made blanket opposition to big federal spending projects a cornerstone of their policy agenda. That means even historically bipartisan programs like infrastructure investment are DOA in Congress, at least for the time being.

So it came as a bit of a surprise to hear a GOP senator who's up for re-election this cycle say on Fox News, "We can go over there and help them build their infrastructure up."

That's Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). He wasn't talking about a forlorn corner of the United States, though. He was talking about Libya. And the 'infrastructure' he was talking about didn't really include schools and bridges.

"One of the problems I have from leading from behind is when a day like this comes we don't have the infrastructure in place that we could have," Graham explained. Here he's talking about the metaphorical infrastructure of U.S. forces and appointees on the ground who can help direct events. However, he soon moved on to talking about another type of infrastructure -- the kind that helps with extracting oil.

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AFL-CIO

AFL-CIO Launches Last-Minute Blitz Against Graham's Anti-NLRB Bill

Susan Crabtree | September 21, 2011, 3:22PM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

The AFL-CIO launched a furious lobbying spree Wednesday just hours before a key Senate Committee is set to vote on an anti-union proposal that would prevent the National Labor Relations Board from filing suits against companies who move operations to right-to-work states.

The biggest union in the nation is trying to prevent Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) from adding the anti-NLRB language to a spending bill funding the agency as well as the Labor and Health and Human Services Departments.

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Lindsey Graham

Graham Attempting to Force Feed Senate Anti-NLRB Bill

Susan Crabtree | September 21, 2011, 7:50AM

Labor Unions are furiously trying to quash a stealthy maneuver aimed at preventing the National Labor Relations Board from pursuing its suit against Boeing for moving a production line from Washington state to South Carolina.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has been leading the charge against the NLRB ever since the agency slapped Boeing with a suit earlier this year charging the defense giant with illegally retaliating against union workers in Washington state by moving a factory to South Carolina, a right-to-work state.

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Libya

McCain And Graham Say US Should Have Pushed Harder For Fall Of Qaddafi

Thomas Lane | August 22, 2011, 9:42AM

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Senator John McCain (R-AZ)

Since the beginning of the Libyan conflict, Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have been on the side of the hawks. They kept that stance Sunday night, issuing a joint statement that celebrated "the end of the Qaddafi regime" but bemoaning how long it took.

It's useful to recall the background to this conflict. After much diplomatic wrangling to win a UN resolution authorizing air strikes for the "protection of civilians," NATO forces including the US began military operations on March 19, 2011. Just over five months later the 42 year-long rule of Qaddafi is basically at an end.

But that wasn't enough for McCain and Graham. From their statement:

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Defense Spending

Senate GOP Deeply Divided on Cuts To Military

Susan Crabtree | August 1, 2011, 3:21PM

Some of the Senate's most committed hawks are parting company over the debt deal's prospects for broad defense cuts if Congress gridlocks on entitlement or tax reform.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is supporting the debt deal despite its potential for severe defense cuts while his usually likeminded colleague, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) says he's a solid no in large part because of the threatened reductions in military spending.

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Debt Ceiling

GOP Senators Worried About Constitutional Nuclear Option On Debt Ceiling

Benjy Sarlin | July 7, 2011, 11:40AM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Republicans are pushing back against suggestions from Democrats that the debt ceiling is unconstitutional and can be ignored by the White House.

The notion has generated increased interest among Democrats in recent weeks as debt ceiling talks have lost momentum and rests on language in the 14th Amendment stating that "The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law...shall not be questioned." President Obama didn't rule the idea out in his Twitter town hall yesterday, telling the audience that he wanted a deal before it became a relevant debate.

Nervous that Democrats might be saving the move as an emergency option, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and John Cornyn (R-TX) are putting forward a Senate resolution affirming Congress' right to determine the debt limit.

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Debt

Leave 'Em Alone! Republicans Explain How The Rich Can Contribute To Debt Reduction

Brian Beutler | July 7, 2011, 6:00AM

Mitch McConnell (R-KY), John Boehner (R-OH), and Eric Cantor (R-VA)

Whether the country pays its bills on time or not rests for now on the answer to a key question: Which, if either, party will cave first on the question of tax revenues? At best, Republicans say they're willing to look at new Dem-proposed revenue sources...but only if they can give that money right back to stakeholders in the form of additional tax cuts.

"If the President wants to talk loopholes, we'll be glad to talk loopholes," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) told reporters at a Wednesday Capitol briefing. "But, listen, we are not for any proposal that increases taxes, and any type of discussion should be coupled with offsetting tax cuts somewhere else."

So rigid are Republicans on this score that Senate Democrats plan to force a symbolic vote Thursday, asking whether wealthier Americans should have to contribute to deficit reduction at all, in any way. The so-called "sense-of-the-Senate" resolution is a clever gambit -- a theatrical bid to illustrate the point that Republicans don't really want shared sacrifice if "shared" includes rich people.

But the outcome won't clarify whether Republicans do in fact see other ways for well-off Americans to help reduce the national debt short of increasing their tax burden. So we put that question to several high-profile Republican senators. Their answers are best summed up in the form of another question: What more do you want them to do?

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National Labor Relations Board

Judge Rules For NLRB Over Boeing, Graham Piping Mad

Susan Crabtree | June 30, 2011, 6:02PM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

A federal judge denied Boeing's motion to dismiss a National Labor Relations Board lawsuit that charged the aerospace giant with unfairly penalizing Washington workers' collective bargaining rights by moving a new production line to South Carolina.

Administrative Law Judge Clifford Anderson is allowing the case against Boeing to proceed to trial. The NLRB charged Boeing executives with retaliating against union workers in Washington state for striking by opening up the South Carolina factory, which Boeing flat-out denies.

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Afghanistan

Obama's Afghan Plan With Will Be Major 2012 Foreign Policy Test

Susan Crabtree | June 22, 2011, 5:45AM

President Barack Obama

President Obama is facing one of the most difficult political challenges of his two and a half years in office in making the case to a skeptical American public and an impatient Congress that the longest war in U.S. history is still worth fighting and funding while he incrementally withdraws troops.

Obama is scheduled to outline his plans for a Afghanistan troop drawdown in a primetime address on Wednesday. The following day he will travel to Fort Drum in upstate New York to begin selling the proposal to the American people, the same day Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

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Labor

WH Commerce Secretary Pick John Bryson Defends Boeing From NLRB Suit

Benjy Sarlin | June 21, 2011, 5:37PM

John Bryson

President Obama's pick to lead the Commerce Department, John Bryson, got caught in a political crossfire over a lawsuit between the National Labor Relations Board and his employer, Boeing, at his confirmation hearing on Tuesday. He chose to side with Boeing, where he holds a seat on the board.

The NLRB has filed a complaint against Boeing alleging that the company is building an assembly line in South Carolina as retaliation against its unionized Washington State workers. A large number of Republican lawmakers, especially in South Carolina, have waged all-out war over the decision and are even threatening to cut off the agency's funding in response.

At the hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison whether the NLRB decision was "regulatory excess," prompting Bryson to defend the corporation.

"I think it's not the right judgment," he said. "Maybe if I'm ... I wasn't thinking of it so much as regulation, it seemed like such an unexpected kind of legal proceeding that none of us on the board - we thought we were doing the right thing for the country and we looked hard at maintaining the jobs in Washington and expanding the jobs elsewhere for the benefit of the country and never thought for example of putting those jobs outside the U.S."

The NLRB is an independent agency and its lawsuit was not filed in consultation with the Obama administration, so Bryson's words don't contradict the White House. But Republicans, led by South Carolina Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint, have been waging all-out war on the issue and will doubtless jump on the exchange. Already the RNC is out with video:

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Social Security

Growing Chorus Of Republicans Demand Social Security Cuts In Deficit Deal

Benjy Sarlin | June 21, 2011, 12:11PM

Add Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) to the list of Republican lawmakers unsatisfied with the party's reluctance to back Social Security cuts.

The longtime Senator, who will retire at the end of her term in 2012, called on both parties to include the program in debt ceiling talks on Tuesday in a speech at the Heritage Foundation. She's releasing her own legislation to spur talks, a bill that would raise the retirement age gradually to 69 and reduce benefits by trillions over the next several decades by pegging the annual cost-of-living- adjustment (COLA) to one percent below inflation every year.

"We could have waited and let things settle after the debt increase vote," she said. "I'm introducing my legislation because I don't think we can wait and I do think it should be part of the overall debate on raising the debt limit."

Hutchison told the audience that the move was necessary, because without changes to the system, recipients would receive a 23% cut to their core benefits in 2036. But an audience member noted to Hutchison that a 1% cut in benefit increases over a similar period of time could produce comparable decreases. Hutchison responded that a key part of her plan was gradually introducing seniors to lower benefits.

"You're right that as you accumulate the cuts it's like anything else over time, it does get to be more," she said. "But if you take it one year at a time, it's a very small lowering of the increase. I don't think at any point would you go into core benefits."

House Republicans avoided Social Security in their budget, which most of the caucus voted for in the Senate as well, and Hutchison isn't the only member of her party annoyed at its exclusion. Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Mike Lee (R-UT) have introduced a bill that would means-test benefits while also raising the retirement age. A group of House members led by Pete Sessions (R-TX) recently introduced legislation that would create an optional privatized Social Security program.

unions

GOP, Dems Square Off Over NLRB Case Against Boeing

Susan Crabtree | June 17, 2011, 4:17PM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)

Republicans and Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee repeatedly clashed Friday over the politically charged National Labor Relations Board complaint against Boeing Co. and its decision to locate a nonunion plant in South Carolina.

Even before the field hearing in Charleston, S.C., got underway, Democrats were accusing Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) of trying to intimidate the NLRB by hauling the agency's top lawyer, Lafe Soloman, before the panel.

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Lindsey Graham

Graham Plans to Grill Obama's Commerce Secretary Pick On Labor Issues And Service On Boeing's Board

Susan Crabtree | May 31, 2011, 5:25PM

Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC)

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) plans to question President Obama's choice for Commerce secretary on an issue related to union bargaining rights and Boeing.

John Bryson, who Obama tapped Tuesday to replace outgoing Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, serves on Boeing's board of directors though he will be forced to step down and recuse himself from any matters dealing with the defense giant, if confirmed by the Senate.

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Oil

GOP Closes Ranks Around Continuing Oil Subsidies

Brian Beutler | May 17, 2011, 1:15PM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Republicans senators who in the past have supported ending tax subsidies to big oil companies are prepared to vote Tuesday night with their party leadership to keep those subsidies in place.

"I'm going to vote with my party," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) during a Senate vote Tuesday afternoon. "I just think oil subsidies have to be part of a bigger package. If you had expanded drilling, I would consider reducing the subsidies or eliminating them if you got more drilling as part of the package.

"I'm leaning against it because it looks like it's political," said Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL).

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Lindsey Graham

Senate Republicans Vow to Keep Guantanamo Bay Open

Igor Bobic | May 11, 2011, 4:58PM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

In response to the Obama administration's renewed efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, Senate Republicans introduced legislation on Wednesday that would codify the detention facility as the primary location for current and future detainees.

"Attorney General Holder and President Obama: Guantanamo Bay is not going to close," Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said at a press conference introducing the bill. "I respect Holder, but let me say categorically there is no pathway forward when it comes to closing Guantanamo in the foreseeable future."

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Labor

South Carolina Emerges As Next Labor Flashpoint In Boeing Dispute

Benjy Sarlin | May 9, 2011, 9:56AM

An ugly spat between a huge corporation, organized labor, the White House, and a Tea Party governor whose union-busting rhetoric would make Chris Christie blush, is becoming the next national flashpoint in this year's ongoing war on unions.

The dispute centers around a planned Boeing airplane production line for its 787 Dreamliner in South Carolina using nonunion labor. The National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint earlier this month looking to halt operation of the new plant after members of the International Association of Machinists at Boeing's Washington state production line claimed the decision to expand outside the state was retaliation for previous strikes. The NLRB is demanding that Boeing open a second production line in labor-friendly Washington state.

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Osama Bin Laden

With Pakistan Under Fire Over Bin Laden Hideout, Officials Urge Patience

Benjy Sarlin | May 4, 2011, 10:03AM

As elite opinion rapidly sours on Pakistani's government following the revelation that Osama bin Laden was hiding in an elaborate compound outside a major city there, key officials and regional experts are counseling patience with what they admit is a tense and difficult alliance.

While lawmakers on the relevant House and Senate committees acknowledged that bin Laden's discovery raised new questions about whether elements of Pakistan's government and military are tied to terrorism, many also warned that there are few alternative options when it comes to engaging the government. In doing so, they pushed back against growing calls from some lawmakers to review America's aid and ties to the country.

"Pakistan," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said at a press briefing Tuesday. "You can't trust them and you can't abandon them."

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Osama Bin Laden

Lindsey Graham: Obama Made "Bold And Right Decision" On Bin Laden Raid

Benjy Sarlin | May 3, 2011, 1:10PM

Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC)

Lindsey Graham (R-SC) offered one of the most gracious Republican assessments of President Obama's role in overseeing the killing of Osama Bin Laden, telling reporters on Tuesday that he made a "bold and right decision" to send in a special forces team.

"The president made the correct decision to send boots on the ground," he said at a pen and pad briefing with the Senate press. "His concern was that an airstrike, while it may accomplish the job, you could never prove that we got Bin Laden. He had three options and I want to compliment the President for making what I thought a bold and right decision. Candidate Obama said in 2008 if we find Bin Laden in Pakistan and we believe the Pakistanis are unreliable or can't help I reserve unto myself as President the ability to go after this guy. He made the correct decision."

TPM SLIDESHOW: Osama Bin Laden: 9/11 Mastermind, Longtime U.S. Enemy Killed In Pakistan

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Torture

Senate Intel Chair: Torture Did Not Lead To Bin Laden In Any Way

Brian Beutler | May 3, 2011, 12:59PM

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)

More and more evidence suggests a key piece of intelligence -- the first link in the chain of information that led U.S. intelligence officials to Osama bin Laden -- wasn't tortured out of its source. And, indeed, that torture actually failed to produce it.

"To the best of our knowledge, based on a look, none of it came as a result of harsh interrogation practices," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee in a wide-ranging press conference.

Moreover, Feinstein added, nothing about the sequence of events that culminated in Sunday's raid vindicates the Bush-era techniques, nor their use of black sites -- secret prisons, operated by the CIA.

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Republicans

The Winners And Losers Of The GOP's First 100 Days In Power

Brian Beutler | April 19, 2011, 10:33AM

Republicans have controlled the House of Representatives for just over 100 days. In that time, they've worked with Democrats to prevent a government shutdown, and worked alone to pass a budget. They've put the big entitlements on the table, and proposed slowly phasing out one of them -- Medicare -- altogether. In so doing, they've fundamentally shifted the center of the debate on Capitol Hill significantly to the right.

Along the way some individuals have enjoyed the limelight, others have suffered embarrassments, and yet more have just gone along for the ride. But in the end it's not about the personalities -- John Boehner, Harry Reid, or even Barack Obama. It's about the very things that have born the brunt of the impact of the new direction in Washington. Here are our top five winners and losers at the 100 day milestone.

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Lindsey Graham

Showdown Over Port vs. Pork Averted: Graham and Reid Reach Deal

Susan Crabtree | April 14, 2011, 7:34PM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Another shutdown showdown averted -- this time the shutdown of the Senate over the paltry sum of $50,000.

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have reached an accommodation to provide $50,000 for a study on deepening the Port of Charleston, and now Graham is standing down and is no longer threatening to "tie the Senate in knots" and block Obama's nominations from winning Senate approval.

"Now, it's not often that I'm a cheerleader for pieces of legislation that are suggested
and moved forward by Republicans, but I was on this one," Reid told Graham in a remarks on the Senate floor Thursday evening.

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Jim DeMint

Senator Tea Party In Bind Over Port vs. Pork

Susan Crabtree | April 14, 2011, 5:14PM

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)

Update: Sen. Jim DeMint's (R-SC) spokesman accuses Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) of being a johnny-come-lately to securing funds for the Port of Charleston. He says "era of earmarks is over" and earmarks are backlogged at Army Corps of Engineers, exacerbating the problem with the port funding. Instead of trying to directing the Army Corp to fund the study, he wants to create a commission to ensure projects are funded on their merits. More developments, including DeMint spokesman's full statement.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), or Senator Tea Party as he's sometimes known, has found himself between a bit of a rock and a hard place over spending for a job-dependent project in his district and his role as the leading anti-earmark crusader in the upper chamber.

Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), a prominent House Democrat, on Thursday issued a scathing indictment of DeMint, his GOP South Carolina colleague, for effectively killing jobs in the state by refusing to back money for a study on deepening the Port of Charleston.

But others, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who is threatening to "tie the Senate in knots" over the funds, have said DeMint supports federal funds for the port and is privately helping to secure them.

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Lindsey Graham

Graham's $50K For Port Was Originally An Earmark DeMint Killed

Susan Crabtree | April 13, 2011, 12:42PM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is waging a one-man war with the White House over $50,000 for a project in his home state that was nixed in the budget deal, but he really has his rock-ribbed conservative, Tea Party-loyalist South Carolina colleague Sen. Jim DeMint to blame for losing the money for a study on deepening the Port of Charleston.

Graham publicly blasted the Obama administration Tuesday for failing to include the funding for the study in its budget request laid out in February and threatened to block all of the President's nominations in the Senate because it was left out of the budget deal.

Graham on Tuesday took pains to say he is not requesting an earmark, but there have been several attempts to earmark money for the port study. DeMint effectively killed every one and refused to join a letter to the White House with the rest of the South Carolina delegation requesting the funds.

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Infrastructure

Lindsey Graham Offers Stirring Defense of Government Spending: "Will Allow Us to Create Jobs"

Benjy Sarlin | April 13, 2011, 12:31PM

Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC)

Questioned Wednesday about his threat to "tie the Senate into knots" over $50,000 for a South Carolina port left out of the shutdown-averting spending deal, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) launched into an impassioned defense of the role of government in job creation.

"If you're a Republican and you want to create jobs, then you need to invest in infrastructure that will allow us to create jobs," he said at a press conference with Sens. Rand Paul and Mike Lee on Social Security in response to a question from TPM. "Congress, Republicans and Democrats, talk about creating jobs. How can you create jobs by shutting a port down that 260,000 people depend on?"

Graham said the $50,000 study now on the chopping block was crucial to advancing a $350 million joint federal and state project to ready the port for larger ships. Without it, Graham said, President Obama would have difficulty meeting his goal of doubling exports within five years.

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Lindsey Graham

Tea Party Leader Slams Lindsey Graham For Whining About $50,000 Cut to Home State

Benjy Sarlin | April 13, 2011, 10:24AM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) went way off-message on Tuesday, threatening to "tie the Senate in knots" and hold up administration nominees unless lawmakers reverse just $50,000 in cuts affecting his home state that he claims would cost thousands of jobs.

Tea Party Patriots co-founder Mark Meckler is not happy with Graham's sudden burst of pro-spending zeal, telling TPM that the senator "sounds like a petulant child."

"If it's that important to his state, perhaps Senator Graham ought to pay the $50K out of his own pocket," he wrote in an e-mail to TPM. "Or perhaps the citizens of his own state would like to volunteer to fund it. Or perhaps the companies who would benefit from the deepening of the port might want to fund it."

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Lindsey Graham

Graham Vows To 'Tie Senate In Knots' Over $50K Left Out Of Budget Deal

Susan Crabtree | April 13, 2011, 9:08AM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Update: Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-SC) office issued a detailed defense of his threats to "tie the Senate in knots" and block all of Obama nominations over $50,000 left out of last week's 11th-hour budget deal for a study on deepening the Port of Charleston.

For critics who said the state should come up with its own funds for the Army Corp of Engineers' study to deepen the port, Graham spokesman Kevin Bishop said such an easy solution is actually impossible under federal law.

The South Carolina State Ports Authority, which is responsible for operations of the Charleston Port, is ready to write the check for the state's share of the the study, but federal law requires Congress to cough up funds to enable the Army Corp of Engineers to move forward with the study. It would be the second step in the process; a first study already determined a federal interest in deepening the harbor.

"The Corps requires virtually all ports around the country to shoulder some of the costs of feasibility studies, engineering, and design on harbor deepening," Bishop said. "South Carolina is ready to go. Now we're waiting on the feds to kick in their share. Without that green light, our state is stuck in neutral and cannot proceed."

Not all Republicans were celebrating Tuesday about the fine print of the $38.5 billion in cuts House Republicans managed to wrangle in last week's 11th-hour budget showdown. Tea Party loyalists who wanted tens of billions more cut from this year's spending were shaking their heads, and at least one senator was lamenting a budget omission he said would hit his state's economy hard.

In fact, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was down right incensed over the decision not to include a mere $50,000 for an Army Corps of Engineers study on deepening the Port of Charleston in his home state and vowed to "tie the Senate in knots" by holding up Obama administration nominations.

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Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

Obama Praised, Pummeled on Gitmo and KSM

Susan Crabtree | April 4, 2011, 2:35PM

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

President Obama took a long-awaited drubbing on his broken campaign promise of closing the detainee prison facility at Guantanamo Bay after news broke Monday that Attorney General Eric Holder had reversed plans to try 9/11 conspirators in federal court in New York City and will instead have them stand trial before military commissions at the U.S. base in Cuba.

The administration's decision is a 180-degree about-face from earlier plans announced in November 2009.

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Libya

Senate Hawks Berate Gates Over Handoff Of Libya To NATO

Susan Crabtree | March 31, 2011, 5:46PM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Defense Secretary Robert Gates endured nearly six hours of grilling from Congress Thursday, with the most combative questioning coming from -- surprisingly -- Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and a group of Senate hawks on the Armed Services Committee who support military intervention in Libya.

McCain expressed grave disappointment about the decision to have the U.S. military forces step aside and allow NATO to take control before Muammar Qaddafi has been toppled from power.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) asked why the U.S. couldn't simply bomb Qaddafi like President Reagan tried to do in 1986 when he sent cruise missiles into the Libyan leader's palace, killing one of his daughters, and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said rebel setbacks over the last two days have been "unsettling."

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John Boehner

Strikes In Libya Divides GOP, Puts Boehner In A Bind

Susan Crabtree | March 21, 2011, 10:34AM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)

Freshmen House Republicans are already putting House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) in a bind over the budget, with a contingent of Tea Party-backed fiscal conservatives refusing to vote for any more continuing resolutions. Now a group of libertarian-leaning Republicans are balking at President Obama's missile strikes in Libya.

Republican Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Ron Paul (R-TX) and Justin Amash (R-MI) over the weekend objected to the President's decision to use military force to contain Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, with some questioning the constitutionality of the operation and others opposing U.S military intervention in another Arab country because they aren't convinced that the U.S. has a clear national interest in the action.

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Lindsey Graham

Graham On No-Fly Zone: At Least Be As Bold As The French

Susan Crabtree | March 16, 2011, 1:21PM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is pouring the pressure on the Obama administration to establish a no-fly zone or deal with the historical consequences.

"One test in foreign policy - at least be as bold as the French," Graham, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a release Wednesday. "Unfortunately, when it comes to Libya we're failing that test."

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