Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and his Democratic colleagues want to draw attention to the closed-door nature of the GOP health care talks. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer had a warning for his Republican colleagues on Monday.
“If Republicans won’t relent and debate their health care bill in the open for the American people to see, then they shouldn’t expect business as usual in the Senate,” the New York Democrat said.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley is holding up the nomination of the assistant attorney general for legislative affairs. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley is tired of his requests to the Justice Department going unanswered — and he’s fighting back yet again.
The Iowa Republican announced Thursday that the committee won’t advance the nomination of Stephen Boyd to be assistant attorney general for legislative affairs until he gets responses to at least 15 letters, some due more than six months ago.
Sens. John McCain, left, and Lindsey Graham have been briefed on the new plan for Afghanistan.(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Sen. Lindsey Graham is elated about President Donald Trump’s new Afghanistan strategy.
Vice President Mike Pence and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster briefed Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain and Graham Wednesday on the new plan for the fight in Afghanistan.
Tennessee Rep. Chuck Fleischmann tells reporters about the scene at the Republicans’ baseball practice on Wednesday in Alexandria, Virginia, where a gunman wounded five people, including Majority Whip Steve Scalise. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
BY LINDSEY MCPHERSON AND ERIC GARCIA
Republican congressmen described frantic efforts to find cover as they felt like “sitting ducks” when a gunman opened fire on them during their practice Wednesday in Alexandria, Virginia, for the Congressional Baseball Game.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono prepare to sample Spam musubi at last year’s Taste of Hawaii. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)
The fourth annual Hawaii on the Hill begins today. The itinerary includes the Taste of Hawaii reception this evening, hosted by Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii.
It’s a 21+ event, which means guests can enjoy mai tais from Koloa Rum, beer from Maui Brewing Company, and food from the 69 different companies showcased. If you received tickets beforehand, you can get in an hour early. General admission opens at 6 p.m. in Russell’s Kennedy Caucus Room.
Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby says many people have complained to him that “the press gets in their way.” (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)
The chairman of the Senate Rules Committee on Tuesday attributed the confusion over a possible change to the chamber rules governing media access to a discrepancy between staff on the panel and the Senate sergeant-at-arms staff.
“I think they had a discussion, I wasn’t there, of existing rules because a lot of people have complained, not to me, [that] the press gets in their way,” Sen. Richard C. Shelby told reporters. “I told them to stand down.”
Arizona Sen. John McCain is among the senators concerned about the effect of President Donald Trump’s positions on foreign policy. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
Senators on both sides of the aisle are raising alarms about President Donald Trump’s foreign policy and questioning whether the administration’s actions threaten the United States’ position as a global leader.
Trump has rattled the international community and lawmakers say it has left U.S. allies scrambling for certainty from an administration that often sends conflicting messages about its positions on major diplomatic issues.
President Donald Trump changes positions and contradicts himself while Republicans scramble to defend him, Mary C. Curtis writes. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
When my parents were good Republicans — my mother a party activist, in fact — the label meant something entirely different than it does today.
It was the party of Lincoln, imagine that, and the GOP tolerated differences with a tent that was indeed big. You could be pro-civil rights and fiscally conservative, a working-class African-American family in Maryland, then, as now, a mostly blue state, and there was someone such as Republican Sen. Charles Mathias. With his streak of independence and loyalty to principle, he could represent you, your party and even those who didn’t vote for him.
President Donald Trump delivers a speech Wednesday at a Cincinnati, Ohio, marina during a week that the White House wanted to be all about his infrastructure plan. Trump, however, has not stayed on message. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
“On Monday, the president will launch ‘infrastructure week,’” White House Chief Economic Adviser Gary Cohn declared last Friday. Three days later, however, President Donald Trump began his remarks during a kick-off event in the ornate East Room by talking about military veterans.
The president already was off message. And his veering from his staff’s carefully laid out “infrastructure week” plans would only continue.
President Donald Trump delivers a statement with Israeli President Reuven Rivlinon on Monday in Jerusalem. The White House says its first Middle East visit was a big success, but some Democrats are skeptical. (Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images)
The White House is describing President Donald Trump’s first dose of Middle East diplomacy as a “historic” success, but some lawmakers are skeptical that the optimistic rhetoric will become policy, and at least one is looking to block a major announcement from the trip.
Trump spent all or parts of four days huddling with Muslim and Israeli leaders before heading to Europe on Tuesday afternoon. So confident was the White House that the first leg of Trump’s overseas diplomatic debut had gone well that they did not wait to land in Italy to declare victory.
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