The Democrats’ Biggest Senate Recruits Have One Thing in Common

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…

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With Bove Nomination, Senate Again Becomes a Judicial Battlefield

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…

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

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…

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

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…

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MoveOn: Shameful Senate Vote Will Cut Medicaid and Social Security to Enrich Billionaires

WASHINGTON – In response to the Republican-led Senate and a handful of Democrats voting to advance a bill that will slash Medicaid to pay for billionaire tax cuts, MoveOn Civic Action Chief Communications Officer Joel Payne released the following statement: “Clearing the way for Donald Trump and Elon Musk to gut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid is unacceptable. It’s past time for Democrats to fight and stop acting like it’s business as usual. MoveOn members will be demanding answers from their elected officials about why they are letting the richest…

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House passes bill to fund federal agencies through September, though prospects unclear in Senate

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House passed legislation Tuesday to avert a partial government shutdown and fund federal agencies through September, providing critical momentum as the measure now moves to the Senate, where bipartisan support will be needed to get it over the finish line. Republicans needed overwhelming support from their members to pass the funding measure, and they got it in the 217-213 House vote. Just one Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, voted against the measure. And just one Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, voted for it.…

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