Senate Republicans

Senate Republicans Block Obama Recess Appointments

Susan Crabtree | May 26, 2011, 8:13PM

Elizabeth Warren, Chairman of the Congressional Oversight Panel for TARP

Senate Republicans are using a parliamentary trick to block President Obama from making any recess appointments during the Senate's Memorial Day break -- including a long-awaited nomination of Elizabeth Warren to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The Senate will remain in pro-forma session because Republicans objected to the unanimous consent required to adjourn. The parliamentary maneuver prevented the Senate from officially going into recess for a week, denying Obama a chance for recess appointments even though Republicans openly acknowledge that they don't expect any.

"Senate Republicans are doing this just in case," said a House GOP aide.

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Medicare

Cornyn On Senate Vote To End Medicare: We're Not Ending Medicare

Brian Beutler | May 26, 2011, 9:39AM

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) has taken issue with the media's coverage of Wednesday's Senate vote on the GOP's Medicare-privatizing budget.

On the Senate floor Wednesday, Cornyn claimed "I will say that Republicans do not want to end Medicare as we know it. That is an intentional falsehood. That is a lie."

In response to two people who tweeted TPM's write up of the vote, Cornyn called the headline -- "Senate Republicans Vote Overwhelmingly To End Medicare" -- a "lie."

As Democrats are fond of pointing out, an early Wall Street Journal article about the GOP budget made the same claim. And the facts bear it out.

To reiterate, the plan 40 GOP senators voted for Wednesday night would do the following:

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Medicare

Senate Republicans Vote Overwhelmingly To End Medicare

Brian Beutler | May 25, 2011, 5:52PM

Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

The GOP continued its bloody walk into the Medicare buzzsaw Wednesday, when 40 out of 47 Senate Republicans voted in support of the House GOP budget, and its plan to phase out and privatize the popular entitlement program.

The test vote failed by a vote of 57-40. But the roll call illustrates that Medicare privatization -- along with deep cuts to Medicaid and other social services -- remains the consensus position of the GOP despite the growing political backlash against them.

Voting with all of the Democrats against debating the plan were Sens. Scott Brown (R-MA), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) -- both 2012 incumbents -- along with Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). Rand Paul (R-KY) voted against it because it wasn't radical enough.

Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Pat Roberts (R-KS), and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) did not vote.

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Elizabeth Warren

Dems Press Obama To Recess Appoint Elizabeth Warren To Run Consumer Bureau

Brian Beutler | May 19, 2011, 8:28AM

Elizabeth Warren

With Senate Republicans committed to blocking all potential directors of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, congressional Democrats are pressing President Obama to accept reality and offer Elizabeth Warren a recess appointment to head the agency she conceived of.

"Regretfully, Republicans in the Senate have now made it clear that they oppose reform," reads a letter from House Democrats that will be delivered to President Obama.

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Senate Republicans

Republicans Poised To Filibuster Liu Nomination

Susan Crabtree | May 18, 2011, 3:05PM

Goodwin Liu

Republicans in the Senate are poised to block one of the youngest and most promising liberal legal minds from ascending to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit more than a year after President Obama appointed him.

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) Tuesday night filed a motion to limit debate on Liu's nomination. The motion requires 60 votes to pass, but Republicans are signaling strong opposition and may have enough votes to sink the motion and effectively filibuster the nomination when it comes to the floor Thursday.

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Oil Subsidies

Republicans Filibuster Bill To Repeal Oil Subsidies

Brian Beutler | May 17, 2011, 7:16PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) with Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Charles Schumer (D-NY)

As expected, a Democratic bill that would have stripped big oil companies of multi-billion annual tax subsidies failed to overcome a Republican filibuster Tuesday evening. The heavily partisan 52-48 vote fell well short of the 60 required to achieve cloture. Three Democrats -- Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Mark Begich (D-AK), and Ben Nelson (D-NE) -- voted with Republicans to maintain the subsidies. Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Susan Collins (R-ME) voted with the Democrats.

Democrats have turned oil subsidies into a major issue as Congress looks at ways to tame high deficits and the national debt. They've been fueled in their efforts by soaring gas prices and extraordinary industry profits. And party leaders have vowed to include the tax breaks in any grand fiscal bargain tied to raising the debt limit.

But this effort was all about politics. Democrats want to highlight the GOP alignment with oil companies this election season and Tuesday's vote will help them do that. But if it had passed it would have run smack into a pretty big problem -- because, er, it was unconstitutional.