Senate
March 9, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Heading into this session of Congress, any list of young, rising Republican Senators would have included not just Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Rand Paul, but also Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire. However, that was before she joined the McCain-Graham-Ayotte trio. The formation of that trio seemed like a good idea at the time. It offered McCain and Graham a fresh, diverse face. And since Susan Rice and Hillary Clinton
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March 8, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Remember when we were told that the Republican Party, cowed by the Tea Party and other “extremists,” was marching in lockstep towards its doom to the tune of a single drummer? If that seems to you like only yesterday, you aren’t far off. But check out the Senate. The Democrats are in lockstep on virtually every vote. Even in response to President Obama’s controversial, seemingly illiberal drone policy, the only
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March 3, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Caitlin Halligan is the general counsel for the Manhattan district attorney’s office. President Obama nominated Halligan to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2010. In 2011, she failed a cloture vote by a count of 54 for proceeding with her nomination to 45 vote against. Since then, Obama has re-nominated her four times. But until recently, Harry Reid has not brought her nomination back to the Senate floor for
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February 12, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
The Republican National Senatorial Committee has issued a memo called “Cementing A Liberal Legacy While Ignoring 2014.” Its thesis is that “while President Obama and his team burns [sic] the political capital that he believes was earned last November, he is lighting an inferno under the electoral prospects for a number Democratic Senate candidates in 2014.” The Committee promises that it is “prepared to pounce” on the opportunity Obama is
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February 6, 2013 — Steven Hayward
There’s been a lot of chatter about whether Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch McConnell might be vulnerable to a challenge in next year’s election, especially if he was challenged by the telegenic Ashley Judd. But I’m guessing Judd might think twice about the idea when she takes on board this prototype ad from American Crossroads:
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February 4, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
As expected, American Crossroads, the largest Republican super PAC during the 2012 general election, has announced that it will also become a player in Republican Senate primaries in the upcoming cycle. The Karl Rove-led group explained, via its president Steven Law: There is a broad concern about having blown a significant number of races because the wrong candidates were selected. We don’t view ourselves as being in the incumbent protection
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February 2, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Politico notes that nine current Democratic members of the Senate voted against the last immigration reform package in 2007. They are: Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Tom Harkin (Iowa), Debbie Stabenow (Michigan), Claire McCaskill (Missouri), Mary Landrieu (Louisiana), Max Baucus (Montana), Mark Pryor (Arkansas), Jay Rockefeller (West Virginia), and Jon Tester (Montana). How many of these members will defect this time around? Brown, Harkin, and Stabenow opposed the 2007 legislation from the
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January 30, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Yesterday, the Senate confirmed John Kerry as Secretary of State. The vote was 94-3. Kerry’s confirmation was never in doubt. Unlike Susan Rice, Kerry did not recently exhibit willful disregard for the truth on a matter of deep public conern (the Benghazi killings), although he did slander the U.S. military four decades ago in connection with the war in Vietnam. And unlike Chuck Hagel, Kerry’s stated views on foreign policy
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January 28, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Like John, I probably will have much to say about the immigration proposal that was outlined today by a small bipartisan group of senators. For now, I want to expand on John’s concern about the cast of characters that has put this bipartisan deal together. Even if one agrees with the concepts this group has built its deal around (and I don’t agree with the “path to citizenship” component), the
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January 11, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller says that he will not run for reelection in 2014. Rockefeller would have been very hard-pressed to win in his increasingly conservative state, particularly against the popular Shelley Moore Capito. As I noted, in November, when Capito announced her candidacy, she leads Rockefeller in the polls. And during her congressional career, she has represented roughly 40 percent of the state’s voting population. As things stand
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January 3, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Ted Cruz joined the Senate today, and oh my, what a welcome addition he is. Please take a moment to read his op-ed in the Washington Post, called “What the GOP should stand for: Opportunity.” Cruz calls for Republicans to adopt “opportunity conservatism.” This means conceptualizing and articulating every domestic policy “with a single-minded focus on easing the ascent up the economic ladder.” For example: Don’t just say no to
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January 2, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
With the “fiscal cliff” averted, the Democratic Senate will turn its attention to attacking the filibuster. I wrote about this issue here. As I explained: Republicans alone cannot prevent the Democrats from changing the Senate rules pertaining to the filibuster. In theory they can because under Senate rules any rule change requires a two-thirds majority. However, the Democrats apparently intend to violate that rule by pretending, contrary to what the
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January 2, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Mitch McConnell has many virtues as a legislator. Unfortunately, brokering deals advantageous to Republicans is not one of them. McConnell’s defenders will say that his most recent deal was the best any Republican could do under the circumstances. Perhaps. But this defense ignores the fact that it was McConnell’s prior deal — the one creating the “fiscal cliff” — that established these adverse circumstances. Let’s step back and consider the
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December 6, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
Jim DeMint’s resignation from the Senate is a loss for conservatives. Perhaps a conservative Senator will emerge who combines DeMint’s stature and principled adherence to traditional conservatism across-the-board. But no one comes immediately to mind. DeMint’s move to the Heritage Foundation, as its new president, seems like a plus for Heritage. As Bethany Mandel explains, fundraising is a major part of that job, and a challenge for any successor to
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December 3, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
While conservatives fixate on the “fiscal cliff,” the left, characteristically, is thinking further ahead about how to advance a transformative agenda in the Senate during the next two years. With only 55 Democrats in the new Senate, Republicans can block the passage of left-wing legislation under the existing filibuster rules. So the left has committed itself to changing the rules. And, as discussed below, the left intends to break the
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November 26, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
I don’t recall any of us commenting on the plan of Senate Democrats to reform, and perhaps end, the filibuster. But Harry Reid and his crew seem prepared to push for major changes in the filibuster come January. If they do, it will trigger quite a battle and probably extinguish whatever chances exist for cooperation between congressional Democrats and Republicans. It isn’t clear just what Reid has in mind. One
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November 26, 2012 — Paul Mirengoff
As it stands now, Republicans will have to pick up six seats in 2014 in order to take control of the Senate. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the Democrats will be defending a number of vulnerable seats. One of the most vulnerable is the West Virginia seat occupied by Jay Rockefeller. Today, Republican Shelley Moore Capito is expected to announce that she will challenge the 75-year-old
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