Ted Cruz’s wildfire relief reversal sparks accusations of hypocrisy
Cruz voted against a 2021 effort to help farmers impacted by wildfires
By Jesse Valentine - May 10, 2024U.S. Senate
Much attention has been given to how successful Donald Trump’s fundraising efforts have been in the first year of his presidency. A month ago, Trump held a massive fundraiser at his D.C. hotel that netted $10 million. And despite the fact that their president is lurching from scandal to scandal, Republicans generally have been outraising […]
By Matthew Chapman - August 11, 2017In between rounds of golf during his taxpayer-funded vacation at his own golf resort, Donald Trump attacked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s work ethic. Trump tweeted, “Mitch, get back to work and put Repeal & Replace, Tax Reform & Cuts and a great Infrastructure Bill on my desk for signing.” The missive was in reference […]
By Oliver Willis - August 10, 2017The majority of the country breathed a sigh of relief after the Senate GOP’s late night yet spectacularly public failure to repeal and — supposedly — replace Obamacare. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his conservative colleagues were not ready to give up at that point, though, as the pleas from millions of Americans apparently weren’t […]
By Alison R. Parker - August 08, 2017It has been troubling to see the limited but vocal rumblings against California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris — and particularly against her prospects as a future presidential candidate — already emerging from some corners. As SiriusXM’s Zerlina Maxwell wrote for Shareblue, Harris is quickly becoming one of the most attacked Democratic leaders — even while […]
By Alison R. Parker - August 05, 2017Please let’s not do this again. Do not preemptively attack a rising bonafide star in the Democratic Party who happens to be an imperfect human being who shares a gender with Hillary Rodham Clinton. No politician is perfect. Sometimes they make mistakes and take positions that aren’t progressive enough, only to evolve over time. (Hey […]
By Zerlina Maxwell - August 04, 2017A dead-of-night vote saw the dramatic failure of Senate Republicans’ fraudulent “skinny repeal,” which even they knew would be a disaster and tried to pretend they were only voting for so that the House could change everything in it. The vote was a huge victory for the resistance and already has conservative pundits predicting Obamacare […]
By Matthew Chapman - July 29, 2017Republicans released the text of the health care repeal bill they drafted in secret — and then scheduled a vote for two hours later. While the bill was originally pitched as a “skinny” repeal, the version ultimately released is a robust gutting of the American health care system that defunds Planned Parenthood and threatens coverage […]
By Jess McIntosh - July 27, 2017Having lost the support of key Republican women senators on the health care debate, Donald Trump, in his typical cowardly manner, has set out to bully and mock them in public. Using his Twitter account to try to personally shame U.S. senators, Trump this morning attempted to belittle Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) after she, along […]
By Eric Boehlert - July 26, 2017The United States Congress has a message for Donald Trump: Are you with us, or with Russia? After reaching a deal to proceed with bipartisan legislation on sanctions against Russia, in response to the foreign adversary’s interference in our election, the House of Representatives passed the bill Tuesday with overwhelming support, 419 to 3. The […]
By Alison R. Parker - July 25, 2017Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was interrupted by protesters in the Senate gallery as he began the process to consider the Republican Party’s unpopular and destructive health care repeal bill. The protesters repeatedly chanted “kill the bill,” “don’t kill us” and “shame,” prompting a call for the sergeant-at-arms to come in and remove them […]
By Oliver Willis - July 25, 2017Despite the fact that it is, as The New York Times notes, a “still-unclear plan,” Republicans in the Senate are planning to move ahead with a procedural vote Tuesday to take up the debate on their disastrous health care repeal plan. Even as some Republicans are openly stating that they don’t even know what they […]
By Alison R. Parker - July 25, 2017In a stunning move that has even some Republicans shaking their heads in disbelief, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) debuted a campaign ad on Monday that features the audio of the gunshots that erupted last month while Republican congressmen, including Brooks, were holding a baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia. The 30-second ad, as part of Brooks’ […]
By Eric Boehlert - July 24, 2017Donald Trump’s multiple meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the G-20 summit — which Trump insists were mere “pleasantries” touching on adoption policies — were not enough to dissuade Congress from meting out appropriate punishment for that country’s interference in our election. Saturday morning, the House and Senate reached a bipartisan agreement to implement […]
By Alison R. Parker - July 22, 2017Josh Mandel, Ohio’s state treasurer and a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, has voiced his support for two fringe right-wing figures involved in the pro-Trump white supremacist movement described as the “alt-right.” Mandel, who lost to Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in 2012, is running again against the incumbent in the 2018 election. Already, a […]
By Oliver Willis - July 20, 2017Republicans thought nothing of drafting their health care repeal plan with zero input from women, including those in their own party. Now those women are having their say, and it’s a simple one: “No.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been frantically struggling to find a way to force through some kind of attack on […]
By Alison R. Parker - July 18, 2017As opposition from the public against the callous health care repeal plan grows louder, the Republican Party is fraying at the seams. And the tension is increasingly on embarrassing display. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was already in a precarious situation. Since he is jamming the bill through, with no hearings and no input from a single Democratic […]
By Dan Desai Martin - July 18, 2017One of the most disastrous new changes Senate Republicans made to their Obamacare repeal bill in the latest draft is the addition of the so-called “Consumer Freedom” amendment authored by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Under the amendment, insurers would only have to offer one policy covering essential benefits and pre-existing conditions — and could sell […]
By Matthew Chapman - July 14, 2017The Senate bill to repeal Obamacare is wildly unpopular and has been hemorrhaging support from Republican senators as constituents speak out. On Thursday, Senate Republicans unveiled a new draft of the bill, which is as terrible as ever. It includes the “Cruz amendment” to let insurers sell barebones plans without guaranteed issue for pre-existing conditions, […]
By Matthew Chapman - July 14, 2017Desperate at this point to collect enough support to even get the Republican Party’s health care bill to the Senate floor for a vote, let alone with enough backing to pass it, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is using billions in funds to try to win over reluctant GOP senators. Even if that means writing […]
By Eric Boehlert - July 13, 2017Rev. William Barber led a group of Christian and Jewish clergy to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office on Capitol Hill in an act of “Moral Resistance” against the deadly GOP health care repeal bill. Approximately 10 protesters, including Barber, were arrested. Call and response chants of “If we don’t get it? Shut it down!” and “What […]
By Leah McElrath - July 13, 2017Pressing Christopher Wray as he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on his nomination to be the next FBI director, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham urged him to make to clear to all American politicians that if the Russian government offers to deliver dirt on your political opponent, the first call should be to the FBI. […]
By Eric Boehlert - July 12, 2017Even as the White House remains consumed in scandal headlines about how Donald Trump’s campaign may have worked with Russia to influence last year’s U.S. election, the White House remains focused on trying to thwart would-be sanctions levied against Russia for its meddling. The sanctions bill was passed by the Senate last month 98-2 and […]
By Eric Boehlert - July 11, 2017The future of the Senate Obamacare repeal bill is in grave jeopardy. Republicans hoped that by writing their bill in secret, they could blunt the political backlash against stripping health insurance from 22 million people and cutting hundreds of billions from Medicaid, but their strategy backfired. Faced with intense public opposition and an increasing number […]
By Matthew Chapman - July 10, 2017On the heels of Donald Trump’s embarrassing trip abroad — in which he buddied up to Vladimir Putin and let his daughter take his seat during a meeting with world leaders — the White House is making it painfully obvious how hard they are trying to flip the script. Trump had nothing on his schedule for […]
By Alison R. Parker - July 10, 2017The Republican push to repeal Obamacare, destroy Medicaid, and eliminate coverage for 22 million poor and sick Americans is temporarily stalled in the Senate. Facing GOP defections and intense public opposition, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell conceded he may not have the votes to do it. Democrats are wasting no time using this window of opportunity […]
By Matthew Chapman - July 07, 2017Recent polling sends a strong, unequivocal message to Republican senators in swing states: If you vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act, you will likely face serious consequences in your next re-election bid. Voters in Colorado, Iowa, and North Carolina disapprove of repealing the ACA by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. Even among Republican-identified voters, support for […]
By Leah McElrath - July 04, 2017Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has begun offering cash to Republican senators who are holding up passage of the destructive health care bill. McConnell has so far been forced to hold off on submitting the legislation for a final vote since he lacks the support to get it passed. The Washington Post reports that McConnell […]
By Oliver Willis - June 29, 2017It comes as no surprise that Donald Trump, who repeatedly praised torture during his campaign and said he would bring back waterboarding, wants to bring an author of the infamous torture memo under President George W. Bush to his administration. Trump nominated Steven Bradbury to be general counsel at the Department of Transportation. But during his […]
By Alison R. Parker - June 28, 2017While Donald Trump claims the Medicaid cuts will be “great for everybody,” protests are intensifying against the Republican efforts to enact those cuts and to repeal Obamacare. Many see the Senate decision to delay a vote on the bill as a victory, and that victory has further empowered resistance to it. Protesters gathered at Republican […]
By Leah McElrath - June 28, 2017Senate Republicans kept the details of their health care repeal bill a secret for as long as they could. No wonder, since the plan was revealed to be just as callous and harmful to vulnerable people — and as friendly to the bank accounts of the wealthy — as was to be expected from Majority […]
By Alison R. Parker - June 28, 2017