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Congress Tag

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on September 02, 2017 31 Comments
In a puzzling move, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced last month that the Department of Justice would be ramping up asset forfeiture. Mary wrote at the time:
Civil forfeiture remains a controversial issue in America since it’s “a process by which the government can take and sell your property without ever convicting, or even charging, you with a crime.” The procedures are civil, which means defendants do not receive the same protections given to criminal defendants. It’s one of the few issues that garners bipartisan support.
That bipartisan support is now even more evident as Congress moves to defund asset forfeiture.

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 31, 2017 3 Comments
As Congress is scheduled to return from recess next week, President Donald Trump traveled to Missouri on Wednesday to encourage Congress to tackle tax reform and actually get the job done...unlike the ordeal with Obamacare. From Yahoo! News:
“I don’t want to be disappointed by Congress, do you understand me,” Trump said, pointing into a crowd that included much of the state’s GOP Congressional delegation. “Do you understand?” “I think Congress is going to make a comeback,” the president added. “I hope so.”

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on June 16, 2017 9 Comments
The Congressional Baseball game is a 108-year-old tradition and one of the best annual showings of bipartisanship. This year, a day after Rep. Steve Scalise was shot and severely injured during baseball practice, a public display of unity and civility was desperately needed. And that's exactly what happened.

Before the game began, both Republican and Democrat teams held a moment of silence and prayer at second base, where Rep. Scalise was supposed to play

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 11, 2017 47 Comments
Puerto Ricans went to the polls today to vote on possible statehood with America. The majority of people voted yes, but only 23% of the people voted, which could call into question the validity "of the nonbinding referendum." From The Wall Street Journal:
According to early results on a government website, statehood drew 97% of support with more than 90% of votes counted Sunday afternoon, but a turnout of about 23% reflected the success of a boycott effort led by opponents.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 11, 2017 40 Comments
In May, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin asked Congress to raise the debt ceiling before members take their summer recess in order for America to pay its debts. The ability to borrow money expired on March 16. Now Mnuchin has said that he and the department have started to formulate plans to fund the government until September if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling. From The Wall Street Journal:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 05, 2017 20 Comments
Donald Trump's accusation that the Obama administration "wiretapped" his phones and/or Trump Tower, continues to reverberate. The accusations have refocused the argument over Trump's alleged Russia ties, which amount at this point only to innuendo, into a discussion of Obama surveillance practices. As discussed in my prior post, which is getting a lot of attention, the focus on the term "wiretap" and whether Obama "ordered" surveillance under FISA, may be a distraction, Some curious language in both Trump’s “wiretap” accusation and Obama’s defense. The media, however, is being dragged into another direction, one focusing on Obama administration surveillance practices. This morning Donald Trump, through Sean Spicer, called for a congressional investigation of Obama administration election surveillance.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on February 26, 2017 49 Comments
At the Republican National Convention last year, Ivanka Trump stated:  "As President, my father will change the labor laws that were put into place at a time when women were not a significant portion of the workforce, and he will focus on making quality childcare affordable and accessible for all." Apparently following up on this promise, Ivanka met with members of Congress last week in order to sell them on her unfunded $500 billion child care tax credit.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 10, 2016 11 Comments
One of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump's promises on the campaign trail was to "drain the swamp," and a part of that, he announced during his "Gettysburg Address," would be his push for a Constitutional amendment requiring term limits for members of Congress. In October, I wrote about this promise:
Trump on draining the swamp: "[O]n the first day of my term of office, my administration will immediately pursue the following six measures to clean up the corruption and special interest collusion in Washington, DC:
  • FIRST, propose a Constitutional Amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress;"

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on November 27, 2016 14 Comments
The Obama administration's agencies are in a frenzy of activity as they push new regulations before Obama leaves office in January. Republicans, however, are warning against such activity, saying that they will overturn them via the Congressional Review Act (CRA). Politico reports:
Federal agencies are rushing out a final volley of executive actions in the last two months of Barack Obama’s presidency, despite warnings from Republicans in Congress and the reality that Donald Trump will have the power to erase much of their handiwork after Jan. 20. Regulations on commodities speculation, air pollution from the oil industry, doctors’ Medicare drug payments and high-skilled immigrant workers are among the rules moving through the pipeline as Obama’s administration grasps at one last chance to cement his legacy. So are regulations tightening states’ oversight of online colleges and protecting funding for Planned Parenthood.

Posted by New Neo on November 01, 2016 20 Comments
When Barack Obama took office in 2008, one of the most difficult things for conservatives was the fact that he soon had a compliant and Democrat-controlled Congress to do his bidding. With the defection of Arlen Specter in April of 2009 and the seating of Al Franken as a result of the disputed Minnesota senatorial race, the Republicans lacked even the 41 votes necessary to stop the Democrats in the Senate, although they finally gained exactly that number with the surprise election of Scott Brown of Massachusetts. However, after that point, the Republicans in Congress were able to stop some of the Obama agenda after gaining the ability to muster at least 41 votes in the Senate, and after they gained the House in 2010. That's why the Democrats in the Senate triggered the nuclear option for judicial appointments in November of 2013, when they still controlled both the presidency and the Senate but the Republicans had gained enough senators to block judicial confirmation under the old (non-nuclear) rules. But under the new nuclear option rules (see this for a full explanation of how it works), a simple majority of Democrats could successfully force a vote to confirm Obama's judicial appointments, rather than needing to gain 60 votes to close down debate.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on October 28, 2016 9 Comments
On October 14, 2016, Obama issued a "presidential policy directive" in which he laid out a multi-pronged approach "to promote engagement with the Cuban government and people, and make our opening to Cuba irreversible."  In this directive, Obama directs the Director of National Security to share intelligence with Cuba and to cooperate with Cuban intelligence. Members of Congress are concerned that U. S. intelligence will be shared by Cuba with Iran, particularly in light of Iran's recent assertion that it will "open a new chapter in relations with Cuba." The Washington Free Beacon reports:
Obama administration efforts to bolster the sharing of critical intelligence data with Cuba is likely to benefit Iran, which has been quietly bolstering its foothold in the country with the communist government’s approval, according to conversations with members of Congress and other sources familiar with the matter.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on September 28, 2016 17 Comments
Yesterday, I wrote about today's Senate vote expected to override Obama's veto and today they voted overwhelmingly to do just that. Fox News reports:
The Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to overturn President Obama’s veto of a bill letting families of Sept. 11 victims sue the Saudi Arabian government, bringing Congress within reach of completing the first successful veto override of Obama’s presidency. The Senate voted 97-1 to reject the veto. The measure heads next to the House, where lawmakers will need to muster a two-thirds majority, as in the Senate, to override.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on September 27, 2016 4 Comments
As Mary noted earlier this month, Obama's veto of the bill to allow 9/11 families to sue Saudi Arabia for its involvement is likely to be overridden by Congress.  The votes will occur this week:  in the Senate on Wednesday and in the House on Friday. ABC News reports:
For the first time in President Obama’s tenure, the Senate is set to override his veto of a bill that would allow the families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia in U.S. courts. The president vetoed the bill Friday, citing concerns that it could open the U.S. government to similar lawsuits.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 26, 2016 12 Comments
It's that time of year when Congress will fight over a short-term funding bill to avoid a government shutdown. We all know what will happen. They'll talk tough and then pass something at the last minute and go their merry ways. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has faced criticism from Democrats and members of his own party for the Senate's version of the bill. Some of his fellow GOP members believe the version "doesn't include conservative policy proposals." House conservatives want to do what they can to extend this stopgap bill into January so Congress isn't rushed to pass a full spending bill before Christmas.

Posted by Mike LaChance on September 15, 2016 79 Comments
You may recall the House Democrats' big gun control sit-in back in June. They've now moved on to phase two of their gun control campaign, demanding a vote. NBC News reports:
House Democrats Renew Push for Gun Control Votes House Democrats made a renewed push for votes on gun control measures on Wednesday — nearly three months after they staged a sit-in on that chamber's floor demanding action.
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