Tag: Patrick Leahy

Senate Republicans on Wednesday used a controversial procedural tactic called the “nuclear option” to change the chamber's rules to make it easier to confirm lower-level Trump nominees. The effort, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, comes after Republicans failed to adopt a resolution to change the chamber's rules so that non-Cabinet level executive and district court nominations would face only two hours of floor debate rather than 30 before a confirmation vote. The Senate's action on Wednesday lasted through the afternoon. The chamber first voted 51-48 largely along party lines to change its rules to slash debate time for sub-Cabinet level executive branch nominees, and took the same action, also mostly on party lines, in the early evening for district court judges. “We cannot set this new precedent that the Senate minorities will systematically keep an administration understaffed down to the least controversial nominees anytime they wish somebody else had won the election.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said before the floor vote, “I am sorry, so sorry, my Republican colleagues have gone along with Senator McConnell's debasement of the Senate. To do this for such blatantly political ends is simply unworthy of this institution." In 2013, Democrats used the move to eliminate the 60-vote threshold to confirm executive branch and non-Supreme Court judicial nominations under President Barack Obama. Democrats opposed Wednesday's action, arguing it would reduce the role of debate in the Senate and diminish the minority party's power, making its operations more like those of the House. McConnell has made confirming judges nominated by President Donald Trump a priority during Trump's first term. The rule change will also help Republicans confirm other Trump nominees who have yet to receive a full Senate vote.

President Donald Trump's nominee for Attorney General William Barr was asked by Sen. Patrick Leah (D-VT) under what conditions Barr might terminate Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Follow live updates here: https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/william-barr-confirmation-hearing/index.html #barr #mueller #CNN #News

It was years later in 1980 when her political involvement grew larger. "The real wake-up call was the 1980 election," she said. Sgorbati's first question to Snelling and McCulloch-Lovell asked whether times have changed for women in politics, given that an astounding number of women were elected last Tuesday. She spoke of women translating their desires and anger into politics, attempting to change a situation they felt discouraged by. She recalled that what is now called "women's issues" used to be people's issues: childcare, healthcare, and a living wage. Sen. Brian Campion, also director of public policy programs at the college, asked Snelling and McCulloch-Lovell what they believe compels women to support Trump, despite Trump's rhetoric that many view as sexist. "I don't know either," laughed McCulloch-Lovell as she mulled over the question. "But I also suspect that a lot of the women who voted for Trump were voting with men who were...angry white men and that they were in solidarity with a partner, or a father, or a brother," she said. "It's a classic disdainful male who says that the only good women are according to his scale of beauty," Snelling said. If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us.

Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, member of the Judiciary Committee, joins Andrea Mitchell. » Subscribe to MSNBC: http://on.msnbc.com/SubscribeTomsnbc About: MSNBC is the premier destination for in-depth analysis of daily headlines, insightful political commentary and informed perspectives. Reaching more than 95 million…

In testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Christine Blasey Ford said she remembers Brett Kavanaugh and a friend "having fun at my expense" as she was being attacked. Kavanaugh has denied all allegations made by Ford.

The head of FEMA on Wednesday accused a Democratic senator of "playing politics" for claiming that the Trump administration had diverted $10 million from the agency to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to support immigration enforcement. Brock Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, defended the transfer in an interview on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports," saying that it had nothing to do with response efforts and that the agency spends billions of dollars to manage disasters. FEMA's annual budget is estimated to be $15 billion. The story broke Tuesday night on MSBNC's "The Rachel Maddow Show," when Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., alleged that money earmarked for disaster relief and emergency response efforts had been taken out of FEMA's accounts and shifted to ICE. However, the movement of the funds is raising questions about FEMA's preparedness as Hurricane Florence charges toward the Carolinas and Virginia. "I think it came as a shock to everyone that in the first month in the hurricane season, knowing what happened a year ago, that FEMA agreed to have $10 million taken out of its accounts, including significant amounts out of its response and recovery account and another significant amount out of its preparedness and protection account," he said. "So those are very relevant for responding to disasters, such as the approaching challenges from Hurricane Florence that's approaching the shore." "I think what the American people would like to hear is what can we learn from Puerto Rico, from the Virgin Islands and from Texas, so we can do it better," he said. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said: "It has been no secret that President Trump's obsession with his wall, mass deportation, and the indiscriminate detention of children comes at a hefty price — a price that robs our country of its values and its resources. This case is no different, and now our Eastern Coast is left even more vulnerable in the path of Hurricane Florence."

Supreme Court nominee avoided answering Sen. Patrick Leahy's (D-VT) question on whether a sitting president can pardon themselves if they're the subject of an investigation. » Subscribe to MSNBC: http://on.msnbc.com/SubscribeTomsnbc About: MSNBC is the premier destination for in-depth analysis of…

Image WASHINGTON — As President Trump prepares to name a new justice, one reality is increasingly clear about the Supreme Court — it has become another polarized institution in the polarized capital of a polarized nation. The string of politically charged 5-to-4 decisions that punctuated the end of the court’s term highlighted how thoroughly the tribal politics that have engulfed the White House and Capitol Hill have now ensnared the court. “It is clearly the most partisan court ever, where you can actually look at Republican and Democrat and use that as a proxy for voting and behavior on the court,” said Neal E. Devins, the Sandra Day O’Connor professor of law at the College of William and Mary, who has studied the partisan evolution of the court. With one recent poll showing that half of American voters believe the Supreme Court is driven mainly by politics, lawmakers in both parties worry that the perception is destroying trust in the court as a supposed neutral arbiter of the United States’ political and policy disputes. “People expect that the executive and legislative branches are going to be political, but the judiciary is supposed to be above the fray,” said Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, whose vote is likely to be pivotal in the coming confirmation fight. But polishing the reputation of the court for its independence can be very difficult when the most notable decisions are being decided mainly along partisan lines and when political reliability has become a chief attribute presidents look for in making their Supreme Court picks. His tweet no doubt caused some discomfort for Chief Justice Roberts and others who pride themselves on the tradition of judicial independence, but it also represented exactly how many Americans view the courts. Mr. Devins, the law professor, said the difference between the current court and those in the past was that there was typically either a conservative appointed by a Democratic president or a liberal named by a Republican. “The parties now seek political advantage by demonstrating on that issue they are not like the other party,” he said of the nomination process. The hearings will be to replace Justice Kennedy, the last member of the court to be seated with a unanimous Senate vote.