Tag: Senate

Senate Goes ‘Nuclear,’ Clears Way for Confirming Dozens of Trump Nominees

Senate, nuclear, goes, Trump, clears, Nominees, Dozens, confirming0 comment

After months of a Democrat blockade of President Donald Trump’s nominees, Republicans in the Senate have gone nuclear. By a vote to 53 to 45 on Thursday afternoon, the Senate voted in favor of what is commonly referred to as the “nuclear option,” the creation of a new Senate rule by a simple majority vote, rather than the two-thirds typically required. The rule that will result from the deployment of the nuclear option will allow the Senate to confirm presidential nominees in batches, rather than one by one. Next week,…

Read More...

Senate sets date for vote on 2026 defense policy bill

Policy, Senate, Vote, Defense, Bill, Sets, date, 20260 comment

  The Senate will vote on its version of the 2026 defense policy bill on Sept. 2. The House has not yet scheduled a floor vote on its version of the National Defense Authorization Act, though the House Committee on Rules has set an Aug. 28 deadline for lawmakers to file NDAA amendments. The Senate bill authorizes nearly $ 925 billion for national defense, while the House version aligns with the White House’s $ 883 billion request. Congress has passed the NDAA every year for the past 64 years. (Senate…

Read More...

The Democrats’ Biggest Senate Recruits Have One Thing in Common

Biggest, recruits, Democrats, Senate, thing, common0 comment

When news broke this week that Sherrod Brown would run next year to reclaim a Senate seat in Ohio, Democrats cheered the reports as a huge coup. Before losing a reelection bid last year, Brown had been the last Democrat to win statewide office in a state that has veered sharply to the right over the past decade. His entry instantly transforms the Ohio race from a distant dream to a plausible pickup opportunity for the party. If most Democrats were ecstatic about Brown’s planned comeback bid, Amanda Litman was…

Read More...

With Bove Nomination, Senate Again Becomes a Judicial Battlefield

Becomes, Nomination, again, Judicial, Bove, Battlefield, Senate0 comment

The Senate has again become the scene of a titanic battle for control of the judiciary under President Donald Trump. Emil Bove III, Trump’s nominee to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, continues to face harsh criticism from Democrats, but Senate Republicans want to confirm him this week. Bove has previously represented Trump in criminal cases during the 2024 election cycle and currently serves as principal associate deputy attorney general. Democrats point to whistleblower allegations that, while serving as an official in the Justice Department, Bove urged lawyers to…

Read More...

Cuts to civil service protections remain in Senate committee’s reconciliation proposal

Service, cuts, Proposal, remain, Civil, Protections, committee's, reconciliation, Senate0 comment

Despite taking some proposed cuts to federal benefits off the table, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is still looking to remove civil service job protections for federal employees as part of the GOP reconciliation process. The Senate committee’s proposal for the “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” released Thursday, kept three of four key sections impacting the federal workforce that House lawmakers passed last month. HSGAC’s legislative text also made a handful of revisions and added several new provisions not seen in the House’s version. In total, the committee…

Read More...

Senate Democrats seek to restore, strengthen PMF program with new legislation

Democrats, Senate, seek, Program, restore, Legislation, strengthen0 comment

Two Senate Democrats hope to reinstate the recently eliminated Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) program and permanently secure the nearly 50-year-old effort for recruiting and retaining federal talent. The Training Aspiring Leaders Emerging Now to Serve, or TALENTS Act, which Sens. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) introduced Thursday, would reestablish the PMF program. The bill comes in response to President Donald Trump eliminating the PMF program by executive order in February. Under the TALENTS Act, the PMF program would not only be restored, but also codified in federal regulations, effectively…

Read More...