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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news
11 GOP Senators Ask for 24/7 Schedule to Accomplish Trump’s Agenda
Eleven GOP senators wrote a letter asking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to extend the chamber’s work hours to a 24/7 schedule “ to advance the president’s agenda.” “1,200 nominations are subject to Senate confirmation,” said Caroline Vanvick, deputy communications director to Sen. David Perdue, one of the signers of the letter, in an email… -
news
3 Senators Talk Next Steps on Health Care
As two Senate lawmakers float yet another plan to fix problems with Obamacare, another wants to revisit legislation that he says would more substantially repeal the health care law. “Actually, we could have more coverage under Graham-Cassidy than under the status quo,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said Wednesday at an event hosted by online media… -
news
Citing National Debt, Need for Reform, 69 GOP Lawmakers Vote Against Disaster Relief Bill
Sixty-nine Republican lawmakers voted against a $36.5 billion bill for disaster relief, citing concerns about the growing national debt and the lack of reforms for the National Flood Insurance Program. “I voted to provide more money for emergency hurricane relief a few weeks ago, and I’m happy to provide additional aid for Puerto Rico in… -
news
House Lawmakers Push Legislation to ‘Stop the Spread of Catastrophic Wildfires’
Some House lawmakers are calling for a change in policy to help prevent wildfires. “Active forest management is needed to stop the spread of catastrophic wildfires,” Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., said in a recent statement. “Irreplaceable natural resources and human lives are at stake, and we must focus on the immediate solutions available. It is time… -
opinion
6 Takeaways From the Senate Budget Proposal
Last week, the Senate Budget Committee released its long-awaited fiscal year 2018 budget resolution. The purpose of such a resolution is twofold. First, as a visionary document, it lays out the policy priorities of the majority party. And second, it is a necessary step in invoking reconciliation, a powerful tool in the hands of senators…. -
opinion
Why Trump’s Appeals Court Nominees Are Backed Up in the Senate
President Donald Trump’s nominations for judgeships on federal courts have been excellent so far, and his just-announced nominees to fill four appeals court vacancies in Texas and Louisiana are no exception. The four are among a slate of new judicial nominations rolled out Thursday by the president as he makes steady progress toward filling more… -
news
What Conservative Lawmakers Want to See in a Tax Reform Package
Republicans are set to release further details of their tax reform plan this week, and lawmakers in the House’s most conservative caucus says the plan must lower the tax rate and simplify the code. “Our leadership has to stay strong and so the must-haves are just the basic pieces, deep cuts so we get the… -
news
Lawmaker Says Congress Will ‘Have to Be on Our Toes’ After Failing to Scrap $900 Million ‘Earmark’
After failing to stop what he called an “earmark,” one Republican lawmaker is preparing to fight the possible return of pork-barrel spending in Congress. Rep. Ted Budd worked to block $900 million in a transportation funding bill bound for an Amtrak project in New Jersey, saying the funding violated the House’s ban on earmarks. The… -
news
Lawmaker Seeks to Derail $900M for Amtrak Project as Earmark
A North Carolina congressman is working to stop $900 million in a transportation funding bill bound for an Amtrak project in New Jersey that he says violates the House’s ban on earmarks. “We are in the era of no earmarks and we certainly see one, essentially a $900 million earmark … called the Gateway Project,”… -
news
Conservative Lawmakers: Hiking Debt Ceiling Is ‘Wasted Opportunity’ If Passed Without Reforms
With the Treasury set to be unable to continue borrowing more Sept. 29, due to the debt limit, conservative lawmakers are looking ahead to what they should do. “This is my third summer in Congress and it’s the same song and dance every year,” Rep. Mark Walker, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a caucus… -
news
Democrat Senator Proposes Removal of All Confederate Statues From US Capitol Building
Sen. Cory Booker plans to propose a bill to remove all Confederate statues from the United States Capitol building, he announced Wednesday. “I will be introducing a bill to remove Confederate statues from the US Capitol building,” Booker, D-N.J., tweeted. “This is just one step. We have much work to do.” He did not offer… -
opinion
Senate Democrats Are Trying to Undermine Trump’s Ability to Govern
Before leaving for its summer break, the U.S. Senate confirmed 67 of President Donald Trump’s nominees to positions in 12 different executive branch departments and agencies. These include deputy, under, and assistant secretaries, as well as administrators, commissioners, general counsels, and ambassadors. Unfortunately, this was merely a temporary respite in the confirmation war. The Constitution… -
news
GOP Lawmakers Ask Jeff Sessions to End Operation Choke Point
Five high-ranking House Republicans have asked formally that the Trump administration end Operation Choke Point, an Obama administration program that critics say unfairly targets politically unpopular industries such as firearms sellers and payday lenders. In a letter sent Thursday to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the four lawmakers request that the Justice Department “repudiate” the program… -
news
Lawmaker Works to Save Taxpayers’ Money With New Energy Bill
An Arizona congressman is working to remove energy subsidies that are part of the 2014 farm bill. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., recently released legislation that he says could save the American taxpayer more than a billion dollars over five years. Biggs told The Daily Signal in an interview that he wants his bill “to actually… -
opinion
Senate Agriculture Appropriations Bill Would Expand Crony Handouts for Cotton Industry
What are Senate appropriators doing to address two new farm programs whose costs are spiraling out of control? They are increasing the costs even more. Cotton growers just can’t seem to get enough handouts, and many Senate appropriators are happy to funnel even more money their way at the expense of taxpayers. The Senate agriculture… -
opinion
Oregon Lawmakers Vote to Bail Out Planned Parenthood
The demand for abortion in Oregon is going down, so why do pro-abortion lawmakers there seem so determined to increase it? From 2011 to 2014, Oregon saw a 15 percent decline in the number of abortions. It also saw a 7 percent decline in the number of abortion providers. But, apparently that isn’t a trend… -
opinion
House and Senate Set to Protect Consumers From an Overreaching Federal Agency
On Thursday, Republicans in both the House and Senate took a major step toward nullifying the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s harmful arbitration rule. In the House, Financial Services Committee member Rep. Keith Rothfus, R-Pa., sponsored a resolution of disapproval that will allow Congress to invalidate the rule through the Congressional Review Act. At almost the… -
opinion
Senate Health Care Bill Could Be Greatest Entitlement Reform in a Generation
The Senate health care bill (the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017) would fundamentally reform federal Medicaid payment. As Washington Post columnist George Will has written, the bill’s Medicaid provisions, as crafted by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., “makes it this century’s most significant domestic policy reform.” Will is correct. Medicaid financing needs reform. Jointly financed… -
news
GOP Lawmakers Say Their Budget Plan Spotlights ‘Path Back to Solvency’
The House’s largest caucus of conservatives is throwing its weight behind a budget proposal that it says would cut more government spending and advance conservative principles further than the official Republican plan. The Republican Study Committee’s budget plan, released Tuesday, “is a showcase of reform measures” introduced by caucus members, Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., told… -
opinion
Why the Revised Senate Health Care Bill Is a Major Improvement Over the Status Quo
On Thursday, the Senate Republican leadership unveiled an updated version of the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017. While it is an imperfect legislative product, it is nonetheless a major improvement over the status quo. Obamacare has wrecked both the individual and small group health insurance markets. After seven years, millions of Americans enrolled in…