U.S. Senate News
This section focuses on the upper chamber of Congress, from major policy debates to confirmation hearings. The Daily Signal provides a conservative look at Senate priorities.
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Lawmaker: ‘Big Brother’ Shouldn’t Force Americans to Participate in Abortions
Recently-introduced federal legislation would protect doctors, nurses, hospitals, and health care providers from being forced to provide abortion as part of their practice or insurance plans. The Conscience Protection Act, House Resolution 4828, introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives at the end of March by Rep. John Fleming, R-La., currently has 49 co-sponsors….Leah Jessen -
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The Problem With This Senator’s Plan to Help Businesses Deal With the Tax Code
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has released a plan to update the way businesses deduct the cost of capital expenses. Wyden is right to focus on capital cost recovery as a key way to improve the economy, but his plan does not go far enough to fix the problem because it focuses on administrative issues rather…Curtis Dubay -
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Senate’s First Spending Bill Expected to Advance Without Major Conservative Policy Rider
While Senate leaders are hoping to earn final passage on a $37.5 billion energy and water spending bill this week, the legislation lacks amendments pushed by conservatives and boosts spending above President Barack Obama’s budget request. One of those amendments would have blocked funding for a major Environmental Protection Agency rule. Last week, Senate Republicans…Josh Siegel -
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A Preacher Turned Lawmaker and His New Campaign to Win the Old War on Poverty
Greensboro, N.C.—Mark Walker spent his childhood in and out of prison. He wasn’t an inmate, but the chaplain’s son at one of Alabama’s minimum-security state prisons, Berrydale Forestry Camp. And starting in elementary school, he followed his father while he made the rounds offering a message of salvation to inmates. “I remember the joy on…Philip Wegmann -
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Mike Lee Forces Senate Republicans to Clarify Leadership Rules
After a week of campaigning, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, has called it quits on a short-lived effort to win a post inside Senate leadership. A conservative upstart, Lee tried to break into the GOP’s upper ranks and win the fourth-ranking position as chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee. If successful, the effort would have…Philip Wegmann -
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Establishment Senators Push GOP Unity Ahead of Conservative Values
The Senate is often referred to as a “club” — a term that certainly fits. The nickname was reinforced last week by a behind the scenes account of GOP senators who view their “club” as a pretty exclusive place. Basically, conservative ideas, opinions, and research need not apply. The main focus of The Hill’s article was about…Genevieve Wood -
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Senators Lobby Consumer Bureau in Letter That Appears to Be Written by Agency’s Own Adviser
The Daily Signal has obtained a draft letter from two Democrat senators urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to continue addressing what they call “discriminatory and unfair lending practices” in the auto industry. But, according to metadata found in the document’s properties, it appears the letter may not have been written by the two senators…Kelsey Bolar -
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Iran-Boeing Talks Raise Importance of Senate Delay on Ex-Im Nominee
Officials of the Obama administration teamed up with Boeing executives last week to lobby for Senate confirmation of the president’s nominee to the board of the Export-Import Bank, which lacks a quorum and thus is barred from approving deals in excess of $10 million (that is, the deals that most benefit the multinational conglomerates that…Diane Katz -
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Conservative Lawmaker on the House Budget: ‘We’re Not There Yet’
Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., sat down with The Daily Signal to talk about the next round in the budget battle now that Congress is back from recess. Meadows told me, “We’re not there yet” in terms of finding offsets to bring down the spending levels currently being pushed by House GOP leadership. In talking with…Genevieve Wood -
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Reinforced by Grassroots, Senate Republicans Hold Line on Supreme Court Nomination
Conservatives who are normally at odds with Senate leadership are turning out to be important allies in their ongoing campaign to block President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee. When the Senate recessed in March, conservative groups quickly mobilized activists across the country to reinforce the Republican blockade against Merrick Garland. Organizations like FreedomWorks, Heritage Action,…Philip Wegmann -
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Lawmakers Debate What Kind of Lifeline to Throw Drowning Puerto Rico
Republicans, Democrats, and Wall Street investors agree that lawmakers must do more work on a plan to save Puerto Rico from looming fiscal disaster. They just disagree on the direction Congress should take to tackle the problems plaguing the U.S. territory. A rough draft released Tuesday by House Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, wasn’t…Philip Wegmann -
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Key GOP Senators Say There’s ‘No Crack’ in Vow of No Hearings, No Votes
The battle over whether to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia has escalated since President Barack Obama submitted U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Merrick Garland as his nominee. Though Senate Democrats continue to push for hearings and one GOP Senator, Mark Kirk of Illinois, met with…Genevieve Wood -
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Lawmakers in Both Parties Are Addicted to Spending
Congress is at it again…the budget train is about to leave the station, and guess what’s on board! Almost $60 billion above what House Republicans proposed in last year’s budget. And this from the party that claims to be for limited government and fiscal discipline. The reality is that the majority of lawmakers in both parties…Genevieve Wood -
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Lawmakers Want Big Brother to Get a Warrant Before Looking in Your Inbox
If the Email Privacy Act becomes law, the inboxes of millions of Americans will get a security update overnight. The bill would prohibit the government from accessing private email accounts without a warrant. But civil rights and law enforcement advocates remain at odds over the legislation. Proponents say the bill secures privacy rights online while…Philip Wegmann -
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Why Did Senate Leadership Close This Policy Avenue to House Conservatives?
The Senate keeps making it harder for House Speaker Paul Ryan to sell an unpopular budget to the Republican conference. Appropriators in the upper chamber have complicated Ryan’s task by calling for “clean” spending bills free of controversial policy riders. A major selling point for conservatives, these amendments–known as policy riders–are attached to larger bills…Philip Wegmann -
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Liberals Told Senators ‘Do Your Job’ on Court Nominee. What the Constitution Says.
Following President Barack Obama’s nomination of Chief Judge Merrick Garland of the D.C. Circuit to fill the vacancy left by sudden passing of Justice Antonin Scalia, there has been an intense clamor from the left for the Senate to “do your job!” By this, they mean that the Senate has a constitutional obligation to give Garland a…John G. Malcolm -
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Conservative Leaders Back Senate Republicans’ Stand on Supreme Court Seat
Over 100 conservatives from 29 states and Washington, D.C., voiced their support for Senate Republicans in a memo commending them for their resistance to any Supreme Court nominee put forward by President Barack Obama. “We applaud Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, for promising not to hold a…Kristiana Mork -
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Senate Bill Would Effectively Support Mandatory Labeling of GMOs
Last year, the House passed a bill to pre-empt states from imposing mandatory labeling of genetically engineered food, also known as GMOs. While it looked like the Senate was going to follow suit, in the last minute, the new Senate bill would actually effectively mandate the labeling of genetically engineered food. In the Senate bill,…Daren Bakst -
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49 Senators OK Common Core Advocate as Education Secretary
The Senate voted 49-40 Monday evening to confirm John B. King Jr., President Barack Obama’s nominee, as secretary of education. A total of 11 senators did not vote on King’s confirmation, while those who voted against him cited his loyalty to the system and support for Common Core education standards. >>> Here's the roll call vote for…Leah Jessen -
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GOP Senator’s Energy Bill Is Not So ‘Clean’
Some Senate appropriators are already settling for business as usual going into the federal budget process. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., has stated that only a “clean” energy and water development appropriations bill will be considered by the subcommittee, according to a Washington Examiner article. As with many words in Washington, “clean” does not mean what…Katie Tubb