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Posts Tagged ‘Congress’

December 5th, 2024 - 6:20 pm § in Biden, Democrats, Donald Trump, Law and Courts, Politics, Republicans

Biden should pardon Trump’s “enemies”

A few days ago I argued (here) for pardoning Trump “because it would take the wind out of any efforts by him to seek retribution.” “How would it look,” I asked, “if he’s forgiven, but won’t forgive?” But let’s say Biden doesn’t pardon Trump, or doe[...]

December 5th, 2024 - 3:42 pm § in Democrats, Donald Trump, Politics, Republicans

Why Trump’s big plans could hit a brick wall in Congress

New presidents like to get off to a fast start; journalists speak of “the first hundred days.” President-elect Trump has big plans: For taxes, restructuring government, finishing his border wall, and rounding up immigrants, among other things. And, it increasingly appears, taking another[...]

October 6th, 2024 - 4:18 pm § in Democrats, Politics, Republicans

Will there be surprises in Senate races?

As of October 2024, Democrats have a 51-49 edge in the U.S. Senate, counting the 4 nominally “independent” senators who caucus with them. They are Joe Manchin (WV), Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), Bernie Sanders (VT), and Angus King (ME), of whom Sanders and King are reliable Democratic votes, and [...]

September 23rd, 2024 - 1:05 pm § in Donald Trump, Politics

How two assault rifles cost taxpayers $231 million

The just-agreed-upon stopgap funding bill includes a $231 million budget increase for the Secret Service. That agency justifiably needs more personnel, and has been pressing Congress for more funding, but the impetus for getting Republicans to go along is the two assassination attempts against Trump[...]

May 24th, 2024 - 4:56 am § in Biden, Hypocrisy, Politics, Republicans

Stupid ideas department

That could be a running feature of any blog featuring politics, but I’ll start with this. There was a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing last week that degenerated into a circus. Chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the ringmaster, apparently expects committee members to be somethi[...]

January 4th, 2023 - 1:29 pm § in Democrats, Politics, Republicans

Don’t give GOP speaker holdouts what they want

What they want is to dismantle the federal government. In the 2023 Congress, the GOP has 222 House seats, and needs 218 to elect a speaker. Because of intraparty divisions, it isn’t enough. At this writing (Wednesday, January 4, 2023), five roll calls have fallen short of producing a majority [...]

December 31st, 2022 - 5:44 pm § in Politics

What do Congress employees earn?

Being a congressional aide can be grueling, with long hours and possibly frequent travel required. And it doesn’t pay all that well. Some are employed by the House or Senate, others by committees, and many by individual members. Duties vary by position, and range from managing a member’s[...]

November 19th, 2022 - 12:55 am § in Democrats, Politics, Republicans

How 3 Republicans could elect a Speaker

Assuming a 220-215 GOP House majority, as NBC News has projected, it would take only 3 GOP votes to elect Justin Amash as speaker if Democrats cooperated. And on Friday, November 18, 2022, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado endorsed Amash, which could bring along other Democrats (read story her[...]

October 21st, 2022 - 10:50 am § in Law and Courts, Politics, Republicans

Steve Bannon isn’t in jail yet

Hooray for rule of law! It’s what stands between us and the jungle. But the wheels of justice grind slowly, and Steve Bannon — domestic abuser, thief, and seditionist — has yet to answer for a criminal career that began 26 years ago. Bannon was charged in 1996 with domestic violenc[...]

July 30th, 2020 - 2:54 pm § in Politics

Relief bill stalls in Congress; who will get blamed?

$600 extra weekly benefits, evictions on the brink The extra $600 a week of unemployment benefits and eviction moratorium that have kept millions of households afloat and in their homes while shut out of their livelihoods by Covid-19 are ending on July 31, and Congress has failed to extend them. Eve[...]