Balanced Budget Amendment

Senate Dems Align Against GOP Balanced Budget Amendment

Brian Beutler | December 14, 2011, 1:12PM

From right: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Sen. John Thune, (R-SD).

A provision in this summer's debt limit bill required both the House and Senate to vote on a version -- any version -- of a constitutional amendment requiring the federal government to maintain a balanced budget.

Today was the day in the Senate, and as it turns out two balanced budget amendments went down in flames. One, crafted by Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO), was designed to give Dems who wanted to vote for some kind of BBA a vehicle to support. It would have explicitly protected Social Security from being raided to balance the budget, and a ban on cutting taxes for millionaires unless there's a budget surplus. It failed 21-79 -- far short of the two-thirds supermajority required to pass a constitutional amendment.

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UT-SEN

Report: Chaffetz Won't Challenge Hatch For GOP Senate Nomination

Eric Kleefeld | August 22, 2011, 2:43PM

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), who had long been eyeing a primary challenge against long-time Sen. Orrin Hatch, is expected to announce later today that he will not seek the Senate, and instead run for re-election to the House, the Salt Lake Tribune reports -- thus removing the single greatest threat to Hatch's re-election.

The Hatch and Chaffetz camps had already been fighting it out in public, in expectation of the likely contest. In addition, polling had shown that Hatch was vulnerable after 35 years securely in office, thanks in part to the overall anti-incumbent restlessness that has seen the rise of the Tea Party movement.

However, Chaffetz would have had to have risked a lot -- a secure spot in the House, and a position as a major voice among House conservatives -- for a Senate bid that would not have been any sure thing. In addition, Hatch has been going further to the right, with his support for a "Balanced Budget Amendment" proposal that would limit government spending and put up roadblocks to tax increases. Perhaps as a result, a more recent survey was showing Hatch with a lead over Chaffetz.

UT-SEN

Poll: Chaffetz Leads Hatch In Potential Senate Primary Challenge

Eric Kleefeld | July 13, 2011, 3:54PM

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

A new survey of Utah from Public Policy Polling (D) shows longtime Sen. Orrin Hatch vulnerable for the Republican nomination, trailing his potential opponent Rep. Jason Chaffetz.

The numbers: Chaffetz 47%, Hatch 43%. The survey of Republican primary voters was conducted from July 8-10, and has a ±4.9% margin of error.

Chaffetz, who was first elected to Congress in 2008 by defeating an incumbent in the GOP primary, has been considering a challenge against Hatch. The poll gives Chaffetz a favorable rating of 61%, to 17% unfavorable. Hatch's approval rating is actually a very similar 60%, to a disapproval of 28%.

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UT-SEN

Poll: Could A Democrat Get Elected To The Senate From Utah?

Eric Kleefeld | July 12, 2011, 12:46PM

Rep. Jim Matheson (D-UT)

A new survey of Utah from Public Policy Polling (D) finds a surprising result: That in this deep, deep, deep-red state, Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson could potentially be a competitive -- or even winning -- candidate for U.S. Senate.

Matheson, a Blue Dog Democrat, was tested against incumbent six-term Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, plus GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who could potentially challenge Hatch for the Republican nomination. The result showed Matheson edging out Hatch by 45%-44%, and leading Chaffetz by 47%-42%.

The poll showed Matheson with a 59% favorable rating, to 28% unfavorable. Two other Democrats were tested -- former state Attorney General Jan Graham, and 2010 Senate nominee and state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control chairman Sam Granato -- and they both trailed Hatch and Chaffetz by martins of about 20 points in all cases.

Of course, it should be noted that the idea of a Democratic senator from Utah does fall into the category of "believe it when you see it." And even then, you'd still have your doubts.

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Orrin Hatch

Hatch Invokes Thurston Howell III; Says He Doesn't Want To Tax 'Truly Poor' (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | July 11, 2011, 4:52PM

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) took to the floor of the Senate on Monday afternoon to defend comments he made last week about the poor needing to "share some of the responsibility" for shrinking the national debt.

Breaking out an image of the character Thurston Howell III from Gilligan's Island, Hatch said those with incomes of over $200,000 shouldn't be lumped in with "Warren Buffet or Gilligan's Island's resident millionaire."

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Orrin Hatch

Dems Go After Hatch For Saying Poor Need To Do More To Shrink The Debt

Ryan J. Reilly | July 7, 2011, 5:20PM

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is going after Sen. Orrin Hatch for saying that the poor need to "share some of the responsibility" for shrinking the debt.

"The top 10 percent are paying 70 percent of all income taxes. The top 50 percent pay something like 98 percent of all income taxes. Fifty-one percent don't pay anything," Hatch said.

"Democrats say they [the 51 percent] pay payroll taxes. Well, everybody does that because that's Social Security. They pay about one-third of what they're going to take out over the years in Social Security," Hatch said. "Obamacare -- a family of four earning over $80,000 a year -- gets subsidies. Think about that. That's what we call the poor?"

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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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UT-SEN

Chaffetz vs. Hatch -- On The Radio

Eric Kleefeld | June 17, 2011, 5:45AM

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

Two top Utah politicians are starting to line up against each other in the state's Senate race, with longtime Sen. Orrin Hatch facing a likely challenge for the Republican nomination from two-term Rep. Jason Chaffetz -- and they're fighting it out via talk radio.

Chaffetz, who first came to Congress after defeating incumbent GOP Rep. Chris Cannon, has been sending lots of signals that he could try to harness the Tea Party anti-incumbent fervor and turn it against Hatch. And in turn, Hatch was sent a serious message in 2010, when his fellow Sen. Bob Bennett was defeated at the state GOP convention, unable to even advance to a primary under the procedures used in the state.

It is important to note that the state convention system used in Utah -- in which a candidate can win a nomination outright by a vote of 60% of delegates at the state convention, without need for a primary -- can seriously empower the party's right-wing activist base. As such, the early phase of this fight is not fought out through a wider primary electorate, but through activists and a caucus system. Thus, targeted radio shows and the activities of activist groups will be the initial field of battle.

Now, Hatch and Chaffetz have hit the radio hustings.

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Deficit

Republicans: Sending Biden To Negotiate Economy = 'Phoning It In'

Evan McMorris-Santoro | June 8, 2011, 1:28PM

Republican candidate for Senate Ron Johnson (WI).

President Obama has dispatched Vice President Biden, the number two man in the government and nominally the head of the U.S. Senate, to handle negotiations with the GOP over deficit reduction.

Today, Republicans said that shows Obama doesn't really care much about getting the economy back on track.

"As a business person, the people I know running businesses, if their business was in jeopardy of going out of business, they'd be rolling up their sleeves, they'd be working 16, 17, 18 hours a day to solve a problem," Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) said. "And yet our president is totally disengaged. He sent his Vice President to negotiate what, maybe once a week? Twice a week?"

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Scott Walker

Orrin Hatch: Wisconsin Gov. Walker "Did A Great Job"

Igor Bobic | June 7, 2011, 6:45PM

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker stopped by the Hill today to discuss his accomplishments with Senate Republicans, seeking to garner support for the embattled state senators facing recall petitions in the aftermath of a vote to seriously curtail public employee bargaining rights.

"He was trying to buoy us up a little bit ... basically to fill us in on on some of the travails that [he's] had," said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) in response to a question from TPM shortly after a weekly GOP policy lunch that hosted the governor.

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Health Care

GOP Sens Threaten To Block Key Element Of Health Care Law -- And They Can

Brian Beutler | May 24, 2011, 9:11AM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Senate Republicans are preparing to foreclose on the Democrats' single best hope for addressing the country's structural deficit without shifting a huge cost burden on to seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries. It's a testament to the deep division between the parties on the key driver of future U.S. debt -- which might not matter if debt wasn't the high-stakes issue du jour in Washington.

Broadly speaking, there are two competing schools of thought about how best to reduce federal Medicare spending. One version works much like the House GOP budget's Medicare privatization plan -- it involves capping overall Medicare spending, and outsourcing the financing of seniors' health care to private insurers. This shifts a significant cost on to seniors themselves, but Republicans like the idea for two reasons: (1) It reduces federal spending by fiat; and (2) It rations health care via the private sector -- based on what services seniors think they'll need, and what services insurers will agree to pay for.

The Obama administration's alternative is a gentle twist on government rationing. It preserves Medicare as a single-payer system but shaves off waste-creating incentives so that over time the provision of care to beneficiaries is more affordable, more efficient, more research-based than it is now without explicitly "rationing" by declining more services over time. Or at least that's the goal.

And that's where the Independent Payment Advisory Board comes in. It's the most promising of the many new cost-cutting initiatives created by President Obama's health care law. IPAB will be tasked with implementing new ways to reduce Medicare spending, and, though its powers are limited in several key ways -- for instance, it's explicitly forbidden to "ration" health care -- its recommendations take effect almost automatically.

There's just one problem: Each of the board's 15 members has to be confirmed by the Senate. That means filibusters and 60 vote requirements stand in the way of staffing a panel that Republicans decry as a government rationing board. And months ahead of the nominations, they're telling Obama "good luck with that!"

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Israel/Palestine

Hatch To Introduce Senate Resolution Opposing Obama On Israel-Palestine

Eric Kleefeld | May 20, 2011, 6:11PM

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) has hopped on the Republican bandwagon against President Obama's call for a return to negotiations for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict -- and has now announced that he will introduce a Senate resolution opposing the president's proposals.

Hatch released a statement, entitled "Hatch Condemns President's Demand that Israel Revert to Pre-1967 Borders."

"Israel is the United States' strongest friend and ally. By calling for a return to the pre-1967 borders, President Obama has directly undermined her," Hatch declared. "Rather than stand by Israel against consistent unprovoked aggression by longtime supporters of terrorism, President Obama is rewarding those who threaten Israel's very right to exist. This is not only ridiculous, but dangerous. There is strong disapproval in Congress for the President's new posture towards Israel, and I will introduce a resolution next week affirming Israel's right to maintain its territorial integrity."

In fact, Obama did not call for a direct return to the 1967 borders for Israel, as Republicans and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have represented. Instead, he reiterated the longstanding conventional wisdom of the international diplomatic community, and indeed the position of previous U.S. administrations, that those lines should be the initial basis for talks, and with additional land swaps to be agreed upon in further adjusting those lines.

Goodwin Liu

Cornyn: Democrats To Blame For Republican Filibuster Of Goodwin Liu

Ryan J. Reilly | May 19, 2011, 2:57PM

Sen. Cornyn (R-TX) and Goodwin Liu

Republicans just filibustered President Barack Obama's judicial nominee Goodwin Liu, and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) says Democrats should take the blame.

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Gas Prices

Senate Dems and Oil Execs Face Off Over Tax Breaks

Susan Crabtree | May 12, 2011, 12:15PM

Oil executives testify at a Senate Finance Committee hearing.

Executives of the five largest U.S. oil companies received a harsh public flogging for near-record gas prices coupled with high profits for the first quarter of the year at a Senate Finance Committee hearing Thursday.

Democrats excoriated the executives for rejecting calls to end tax breaks for the industry when they stand to make record profits and gas prices are reaching an all-time high at the pump.

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17th Amendment

The GOP's New Constitutional Amendment: Give States Veto Power Over Federal Laws

Evan McMorris-Santoro and Ryan J. Reilly | May 11, 2011, 4:50PM

Republicans say they've found the problem in America -- and that problem is the basic framework of the Union as we know it today.

A group of Republicans in the House and Senate are proposing an amendment to the Constitution that would allow a vote by two-thirds of the states' legislatures to override any federal law they did not agree with.

The proposed constitutional amendment, a tea party favorite, is being touted by Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) in the Senate and co-sponsored by Sens. John Barasso (R-WY) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT). In the House, Reps. Rob Bishop (R-UT), Morgan Griffith (R-VA) and Paul Broun (R-GA) are leading the charge.

The goal, according to proponents, is to stop the tyranny of Washington over the economy and circumscribe other federal powers.

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Labor

Top Union Presses Senators To Ditch Union-Busting Push By House GOP

Brian Beutler | April 20, 2011, 12:43PM

A powerful union is lobbying Democratic and Republican congressional negotiators to make sure they don't curtail worker rights when they finalize new FAA legislation.

A conference committee composed of a bipartisan group of senators and congressmen will soon sort out differences between two different versions of the bill. But the House bill contains a provision that would make it much more difficult for airline and rail workers to form unions. More on that provision here -- it would reinstate old rules that count abstentions as "no" votes in union elections, thus stacking the deck against pro-union workers.

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112th Congress

GOP Senators Blocking New Commerce Secretary Until Trade Deals Go Through

Benjy Sarlin | March 14, 2011, 5:25PM

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) took a break from budget negotiations this week to get back to one of the Senate GOP's most popular pastimes: blocking presidential nominees. McConnell, along with Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), pledged in a letter on Monday to hold up any White House nominee to replace departing Commerce Secretary Gary Locke as well as nominees for any other trade-related posts until trade agreements with Colombia and Panama clear the Senate.

"My fear is in trying to appease their union allies the administration is willing to let these two agreements wither on the vine," Hatch said at a press conference Monday announcing the move. "We are here today to make clear that we will not allow that to happen."

President Obama said that the agreements were a priority in his State of the Union this year, but U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said last month that the Latin American countries must address their own outstanding labor issues, including accusations of violence against labor leaders in Colombia, before a final deal is reached.

Orrin Hatch

Orrin Hatch: 'Obamacare' A 'Dumbass Program'

Evan McMorris-Santoro | February 28, 2011, 5:24PM

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

In his quest to transform himself from establishment elder statesman to tea party insurgent, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) just took a few steps down the path toward becoming the Melissa Leo of the U.S. Senate.

A spokesperson confirms to TPM that the Senior Senator from Utah referred to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as "an awful piece of crap" and a "dumb-ass program" during an appearance at Utah State University last week.

Hatch immediately apologized for dropping the twin PG-13 bombs on the room full of college Republicans, and promised to "repent for using the words that he did."

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Senate '12

Poll: Majority Of Utah Voters Think Sen. Hatch Should Go

Jon Terbush | February 24, 2011, 9:27AM

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

Last year, Utah voters ousted incumbent Sen. Bob Bennett (R) -- and now, a majority of them say it's time for the state's other Senator, Orrin Hatch (R), to go as well.

In a new Utah Policy poll, 54% of Utah voters said it was time to send someone else to Washington in Hatch's place, while only 31% said Hatch should be reelected to the seat he has held for 34 years. The poll also had dire news for Hatch's chances of surviving a primary challenge. In a hypothetical match-up with two-term Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Hatch only managed a tie at 42% apiece.

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Wisconsin Protests

Orrin Hatch Makes Wisconsin His Latest Tea Party Rallying Cry

Evan McMorris-Santoro | February 17, 2011, 6:29PM

Orin Hatch (D-UT)

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), who appears to currently be in the midst of a tea party conversion out of fear he'll become the next Bob Bennett, has found a new conservative hard line to cling to. At CPAC last week, it was beating up Washington. On Thursday, it was taking swings at Wisconsin protestors.

In a statement to reporters, Hatch said the thousands of state union workers gathered in and around the Wisconsin State Capitol were crossing the line by exercising their right to Freedom of Assembly.

"This is not the way public servants should behave," Hatch said.

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UT-SEN

Poll: Hatch Under 50 Percent Against Chaffetz

Eric Kleefeld | February 15, 2011, 12:27PM

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

A new poll out of Utah finds Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch leading his possible challenger for the GOP nomination in 2012, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, but nevertheless measuring under the crucial 50% mark for his own support.

The new numbers from Dan Jones: Hatch 44%, Chaffetz 34%. The poll of Utah residents has a ±4.4% margin of error.

Chaffetz, who was elected to the House in 2008, has responded to the poll, Deseret News reports. "Not bad for a rookie. I'm excited. What an honor," said Chaffetz. "I was nine years old when he (Hatch) took office."

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Orrin Hatch

Hatch: 'I'm Prepared To Be The Most Hated Man In This Godforsaken City'

Jillian Rayfield | February 11, 2011, 5:52PM

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

Sen. Orrin Hatch spoke at CPAC earlier today, and in what was perhaps an attempt to appeal to the unfriendly forces in the tea party movement, he said that he is "prepared to be the most hated man in this godforsaken city in order to save this country, and I need your help."

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UT-SEN

Mike Lee: 'Not My Intention To Support Any Candidate' In Hatch's Primary (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | February 11, 2011, 1:00PM

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), who effectively won his Senate seat when he defeated incumbent Sen. Bob Bennett for the Republican nomination, now says he won't take any position in the next GOP Senate contest in Utah -- where his senior Senator, Orrin Hatch will likely face a primary challenge of his own.

It is widely expected that Hatch will face a stiff challenge from Rep. Jason Chaffetz, already leading in recent polls . Hatch has recently gone out of his way to impress the Tea Partiers, most notably appearing at the Tea Party Express town hall in Washington this week. TPMDC's own Evan McMorris-Santoro asked Lee at that event whether he would endorse Hatch -- and got no answer.

Lee appeared this morning on The Daily Rundown on MSNBC, where Chuck Todd asked him: "Senator Lee, does your colleague in Utah, Senator Orrin Hatch, deserve re-election?"

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Orrin Hatch

Utah's Tea Party Senator Not Ready To Endorse Orrin Hatch

Evan McMorris-Santoro | February 9, 2011, 10:50AM

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT)

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) spent more than a few minutes on stage together last night at a Tea Party Express town hall in Washington. But for some strange reason, Hatch's impending reelection fight -- which will pit him against frustrated home-state tea partiers and could cost him his party's nomination -- didn't come up. It's especially odd because Lee is intimately familiar with how important it is for an incumbent Utah Republican senator to reach out to the tea party these days. He got his current job largely because the man who held it before him, Sen. Bob Bennett (R), was on the wrong side of angry tea party conventioneers.

After the town hall, I caught up with Lee and found out why Hatch's 2012 prospects weren't a topic of discussion on stage: Lee is not interested in discussing them. Not only was he unwilling to call Hatch a tea party Republican, but he was also not interested in talking about endorsing the fellow Republican he represents Utah with.

"He is--uh--well, he was here tonight," Lee told TPM when asked if Hatch is a tea partier. "I look forward to welcoming him into the tea party caucus."

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Orrin Hatch

#InviteGate: Just How Did Orrin Hatch Make His Way To The Tea Party Tonight?

Evan McMorris-Santoro | February 8, 2011, 9:24PM

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) showed up at tonight's Tea Party Express town hall in downtown DC to take a few questions about the budget and push his tea party cred by sharing a stage with movement heavyweights like Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Rep. Allen West (R-FL) and Sen. Mike Lee, the tea party Republican who booted Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT) last cycle.

Hatch rose to the occasion, offering up the kind of anti-tax, anti-big government, anti-Obamacare messaging that the tea party thrives on. It's clear why Hatch was there -- he wants to avoid the fate that befell Bennett, who ignored the tea party rumblings in his home state only to be run out of the Senate by Republicans back home.

What's not clear is how Hatch, who presumably is just the type of incumbent Republican the tea party would like to take out in 2012, came to be introduced as a supporter of the movement before a nationwide tea party audience.

Hatch told TPM he was invited. Tea Party Express president Amy Kremer told TPM he invited himself. And Tea Party Express strategist Sal Russo (who incidentally used to work for Hatch) told TPM that anyone who says Hatch wasn't extended an invitation from his group is mistaken.

Welcome to Invite Gate.

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Orrin Hatch

Tea Partiers To Meet, Greet, Likely Yell At Orrin Hatch In DC Tonight

Evan McMorris-Santoro | February 8, 2011, 1:24PM

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

A group of the most conspicuous names in tea party politics will gather at the National Press Club tonight for the Tea Party Express' first Washington town hall since their big wins in November. Expected at the event are the pantheon of tea party pols, including Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT).

Also in attendance will be a man who very much wants some tea party cred these days: Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT). A top name on many tea party target lists, Hatch doesn't want to go down the way his former comrade, Sen. Bob Bennett, did last year. The objectively conservative Bennett was booted from the Senate after tea partiers used his TARP vote against him at the state convention and denied him the GOP nomination.

Hatch clearly wants to avoid the same fate, and his appearance at tonight's Tea Party Express event could turn a love fest into a shouting match.

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Health Care

Republicans See Opportunity To Capture Health Law If SCOTUS Strikes Mandate

Brian Beutler | February 3, 2011, 12:17PM

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

An interesting dynamic is taking shape in Congress as health care lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the individual mandate wind their way up to the Supreme Court.

One potential outcome -- and the one that Republicans are hoping for -- is that the Supreme Court will invalidate the mandate and sever it from the law, leaving an unstable health care policy in place.

Theoretically, Congress could just change that mandate in a way that would easily pass constitutional muster -- simple tweaks that could pass in a matter of days and leave the implementation process largely unmolested.

But for that to happen, Republicans would have to play ball -- and that would mean giving up new-found leverage to really undercut the law. Don't fool yourself into thinking they'd give up that power willingly.

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Club For Growth

Club For Growth May Target Orrin Hatch In 2012

Jillian Rayfield | January 31, 2011, 6:17PM

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

Sen. Orrin Hatch may have gotten a pass from the Tea Party Express on a 2012 challenge from the right, but the anti-tax group Club For Growth says it still hasn't made any decisions about him.

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UT-SEN

Tea Party Express Loves Orrin Hatch: 'An Original Tea Partier'

Eric Kleefeld | January 27, 2011, 3:56PM

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

In some good news for Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), he will not be targeted for defeat from the right by the Tea Party Express, which in 2010 supported such primary insurgents (and general election losers) as Sharron Angle and Christine O'Donnell. And far from attacking Hatch as a RINO, National Review reports, Hatch is being hailed as "an original tea partier" -- apparently thanks to some old connections.

Just this past cycle in 2010, Hatch's fellow Utah Sen. Bob Bennett was defeated for renomination at his state GOP convention, following an activist uprising motivated in part by his vote for the TARP bailout. Hatch -- who also voted for TARP -- has also had some weak polling and could face a challenge from Rep. Jason Chaffetz.

An important thing to note: While Tea Party Express, a project of Our Country Deserves Better PAC, is branded as an outsider organization, their chief strategist is Sal Russo. For his part, Russo is a longtime GOP strategist who has worked for Republican politicians such as Jack Kemp, George Pataki -- and Orrin Hatch, with whom he has a long history.

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Senate '12

Poll: Hatch Could Face Tough Road Back To Senate In 2012

Jon Terbush | January 18, 2011, 12:43PM

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

In 2010, Utah Republicans ousted Sen. Bob Bennett at the party's nominating convention, and according to a new Utah Policy poll, they may be ready to give the state's other incumbent Senator the boot in 2012.

In the poll, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R) trailed two challengers in a hypothetical primary contest. Forty-eight percent of respondents said they'd support former Governor Jon Huntsman if he made a bid for the party nod, while 23% said they'd back Rep. Jason Chaffetz, and 21% said they'd support Hatch.

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Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Blame The Lame Duck: Republicans Find A New Reason For 'No' Votes

Jillian Rayfield | December 23, 2010, 8:37AM

This year's lame duck Congress has been described as the most productive since World War II, with the passage of a tax cuts deal, a repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, ratification of the new START treaty, and the passage of a bill to provide health care to 9/11 first responders.

But despite the Democrats' legislative victories, and even some bipartisan support, many top Republicans this week have been offering up the lame duck session itself as the latest sacrifice on the "Party of No" altar...

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Earmarks

Attention GOP Porkers: Hatch Had His Earmark Requests Stripped From Spending Bill

Brian Beutler | December 15, 2010, 3:45PM

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

Republican Senators whose earmark requests pepper the much-maligned omnibus spending bill are having a really hard time explaining how they went from requesting earmarks earlier this year to decrying the legislation... because of all the earmarks. But never let it be said that those requests were baked into the spending package before the anti-pork wave hit in November.

After the Republican caucus voted to impose an earmark moratorium last month, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) -- who's likely to face a primary challenge from the right in 2012 -- asked Senate appropriators to strip his earmarks from the omnibus.

"I did," Hatch confirmed to me this afternoon after a Senate vote, "because I decided I voted for the moratorium, and I thought 'well, I need to do that.'"

He's having an easier day than a lot of Republican senators who are having to answer charges of hypocrisy.

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Chuck Grassley

Snowe, Hatch Poised To Take Top GOP Slots On Major Committees In January

Brian Beutler | November 10, 2010, 12:14PM

Republicans didn't pick up the Senate last week. But they did pick up six seats and will have several new members coming to town next year, which means the committees will be rejiggered -- and the leaders of those committees will play the biennial game of musical chairs.

According to top aides, the reshuffling won't be too dramatic this time around. On any particular committee, Democrats adhere to a seniority system to determine who moves up the ladder. Republicans let the members choose who gets the top spot.

With that in mind, here's one likely reshuffling scenario.

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Cordoba House

Republican Orrin Hatch Stands Up For Cordoba House (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | August 31, 2010, 1:26PM

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

A conservative Republican Senator has now come out strongly against efforts to block the construction of the Cordoba House Muslim community center near Ground Zero in New York: Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT).

In an interview with the local Fox affiliate in Salt Lake City, Hatch stated his support and past work for religious freedom. "So, if the Muslims own that property, that private property, and they want to build a mosque there, they should have the right to do so," said Hatch. He also discussed his past experiences dealing with discrimination against the construction of Mormon temples -- and when his late friend Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) helped him to resolve just such a dispute in Boston.

Hatch acknowledged that there have been objections to the construction of the center, on the grounds of sensitivity and whether it should be built, but ultimately he came down on the side of the right to build it without interference. He also added: "And there's a huge, I think, lack of support throughout the country for Islam to build that mosque there, but that should not make a difference if they decide to do it. I'd be the first to stand up for their rights."

It should be noted that there has been much discussion about a possible right-wing challenge against Hatch for his party's nomination in 2012, just as his co-Senator Bob Bennett lost renomination at the state convention this year. If that were to come to pass, don't be surprised to see these comments used against him.

(via Think Progress)

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Health Care

Republicans Plan To Increase Deficits By Repealing Health Care Reform

Brian Beutler | July 20, 2010, 4:32PM

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Republicans are at pains these days to present themselves as the party of fiscal austerity. They're also at pains to advertise themselves as the party that will repeal (or repeal and replace) the Democrats' new health care law.

The problem for them is that those two platforms are basically mutually exclusive. If Republicans attempt to repeal the health care bill, they'll run headlong into the Congressional Budget Office, which found that the health care bill reduces deficits by over $100 billion over its first 10 years. Repeal that, and Republicans will have to raise taxes or cut spending to keep from driving up the deficit they decry. Or they could simply ignore Congressional scorekeepers -- which is what top Republicans seem intent on doing.

"We all know that it's going to increase the deficit," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell at his weekly press availability, in response to a question from TPMDC.

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Elena Kagan

Hatch Will Vote Against Kagan Nomination

Jillian Rayfield | July 2, 2010, 10:20AM

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) will vote against Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court, according to a statement he released today.

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Elena Kagan

Last Justice Standing: Kagan's Five Funniest Moments On Tuesday

Evan McMorris-Santoro | June 30, 2010, 9:16AM

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan is a funny lady. Facing a somewhat skeptical Republican contingent on the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, Kagan slayed 'em in the aisles with a nearly nonstop stream of sarcasm and wit.

There were a lot of important issues discussed yesterday, and a lot of digging into Kagan's legal philosophy. But the main takeaway from the first day of questions and answers for Kagan was the nominee's ability to knock 'em dead.

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Supreme Court

GOPers Who Slammed Marshall's Activism Can't Name A Case Typifying It

Brian Beutler | June 29, 2010, 10:26AM

Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Jeff Sessions (R-AL)

Republicans raised eyebrows yesterday when they criticized the first African-American Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall, as a way to attack nominee Elena Kagan, his former clerk. One would think that, to avoid any appearance of racial dog-whistling, the senators attacking Marshall's record would be able to name the decisions or opinions with which they so vociferously disagreed.

After the hearing broke last night, TPMDC asked three of the top Republicans on the Judiciary Committee which of Marshall's opinions best exemplified his activism. And while two of the three were careful to praise Marshall the man, none of them could name a single case.

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Supreme Court vacancy

Thurgood Marshall Takes Center Stage At Kagan Hearings (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | June 28, 2010, 4:27PM

The late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

Looks like Senate Judiciary Republicans have at least one unified talking point today: Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American to ever serve on the Supreme Court, was an "activist judge." As Elena Kagan kept on her listening face, multiple senators slammed both Marshall's judicial philosophy and her service as his clerk in the late 1980s.

Ranking member Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) criticized Kagan for having "associated herself with well-known activist judges who have used their power to redefine the meaning of our constitution and have the result of advancing that judge's preferred social policies," citing Marshall as his son, Thurgood Marshall Jr., sat in the audience of the Judiciary Committee hearings.

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