Portman among 47 GOP senators to sign letter to Iran WASHINGTON — In a move Democrats denounced as trying to sabotage the Obama administration’s foreign policy, Sen. Rob Portman and 46 other Senate Republicans yesterday warned Iran’s leadership that any agreement to limit Tehran’s apparent efforts to build a nuclear bomb would need Senate approval to stay in effect beyond 2016. More
Coalition on immigration bill clears first tests The bipartisan coalition behind a contentious overhaul of immigration laws stuck together on a critical early series of test votes Thursday, turning back challenges from conservative critics as the Senate Judiciary Committee refined legislation to secure the nation's borders and offer eventual citizenship to millions living illegally in the United States. More
Republicans to back Obama's student loan plan House Republicans are willing to give President Barack Obama a rare win, the chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee said Thursday in outlining a deal that would let college students avoid a costly hike on their student loans. More
A Republican strategist is lashing out at Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) months after he says he fired her as a client, dubbing the far-right lawmaker a “pitiful embarrassment,” the Daily Beast reports.
Said Wesley Donehue: “I fired Nancy Mace as client a few months back because I’m a political consultant and not a babysitter, a sex therapist or a doctor who can prescribe fixes for chemical imbalances.
“The 118th Congress ended almost exactly as it began: with chaos in the House of Representatives that threatened to consume its GOP leader and shut down the government,” the Washington Post reports.
“While he avoided the ignominious event of a government shutdown, with just hours to spare, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) still faces a daunting vote at the start of the next Congress, on Jan.
“Justice Clarence Thomas failed to disclose two additional trips from a billionaire patron that had not previously come to light, Senate Democrats revealed on Saturday after conducting a 20-month investigation into ethics practices at the Supreme Court,” the New York Times reports.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) said he voted against the stopgap spending bill in “protest” of how the government is run, CNN reports.
Said Romney: “While I support keeping government open, I voted no on the CR—a simple protest of the absurd way this is to run government.”