Blog - Articles Tagged 'Senate'

Sen. Arlen Specter [R, PA] is one of the Republicans most likely to vote with Democrats and help them overcome Republican filibusters on key votes. According to our voting trend analysis (scroll down half page here), he votes with his party, the Republicans, only 48 percent of the time. Not surprisingly, he is facing a very difficult primary race in 2010. Specter's best chance for remaining a U.S. senator after this session likely involves switching parties and running as a Democrat:

New Hampshire Republican Sen. Judd Gregg has withdrawn his name from consideration for Secretary of Commerce in the Obama administration and will return to his seat in the Senate.

Nate at 538 looks at voting unity on 13 amendments to the stimulus that the Senate has voted on this week. >So far, Senate Democrats have voted in accordance with what we believe to be the administration's position 97.4 percent of the time - or 98.1 percent of the time if the most common "Democratic" dissenter, Joe Lieberman, is excluded from the tally. > >By contrast, the Republicans have voted against the administration's position an average of 89.2 percent of the time. That's fairly unifi...

A few days ago, the Democrats' all-but-forgotten dream of a 60-seat, filibuster-proof majority in the Senate was suddenly renewed by rumors that Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) was under consideration to be Obama's Secretary of Commerce. New Hampshire's Governor, John Lynch, is a Democrat, so the immediate assumption was that he would appoint a Democrat to fill Gregg's Senate seat. Usually when there's a vacancy in the Senate to be filled by gubernatorial appointment, governors choose someone from their...

Roll Call is reporting that President Obama is thinking about naming Republican Senator Judd Gregg (NH) to serve as his Secretary of Commerce. Sam Stein, the Huffington Post's D.C. reporter, is calling it a "strong possibility." Here's why this is a potentially big deal: if Gregg accepts the job, New Hampshire Governor John Lynch, a Democrat, would appoint Gregg's replacement, giving Senate Democrats the 60-seat majority they have been hoping for (assuming Al Franken is seated in Minnesota). ...

New York Governor David Paterson will appoint Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) to fill Hillary Clinton's vacated Senate seat, several agencies are reporting tonight. Gillibrand, who is currently serving her second term in the House, is a member of the conservative Blue Dog Coalition and is one of only two Democrats at the federal level to have been endorsed by the NRA. Click through for more resources to learn about her.

This afternoon by unanimous consent in the Senate: * Steven Chu to be Secretary of Energy * Arne Duncan to be Secretary of Education * Peter Orszag to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget * Tom Vilsack to be Secretary of Agriculture * Janet Napolitano to be Secretary of Homeland Security * Ken Salazar to be Secretary of Interior * Eric Shinseki to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs Clinton's confirmation vote is set for tomorrow and Geithner's will likely happen on Thursda...

Between road tripping up the East Coast, weathering a Nor'easter and celebrating 2009, I've lost track of the Congress rumor mill a bit. So, rather than try to fall right back into step, here's a rundown of what's been happening over the past few days with some of the major themes shaping up as the 111th Congress gets ready to convene on Tuesday. Click through for news on the massive stimulus package, the battle brewing over Roland Burris, Caroline Kennedy and