Just as the Senate takes on the question of how best to place judges on the federal bench, some in the House are considering a measure on how best to undermine them once they’re there. Two members of the U.S. House reintroduced a bill yesterday to prevent federal courts from outlawing recitation of the Pledge […]
Just to clarify a point that’s come up in a few emails I’ve received, the Senate is debating Priscilla Owen’s judicial nomination today, but the vote on the nuclear option probably won’t come until early next week. Mike Allen and Jeffrey Birnbaum had a helpful rundown in today’s Washington Post of what to expect in […]
If you haven’t already seen the Think Progress post about Bill Frist’s off-message arguments on the Senate floor this morning, it’s worth checking out. Chuck Schumer: Isn’t it correct that on March 8, 2000, my colleague [Sen. Frist] voted to uphold the filibuster of Judge Richard Paez? Frist: The president, the um, in response, uh, […]
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * As expected, Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa easily defeated Mayor James Hahn in Los Angeles’ mayoral race yesterday. With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Villaraigosa had 59% to Hahn’s 41%. Villaraigosa will become the […]
Bill Frist will be bringing the Owen and Brown nominations to the floor any minute now, sparking the fight we’ve all been waiting for. Most news outlets reported this morning that a compromise effort has largely fallen apart, but it’s worth noting that Roll Call is reporting that a deal may be fairly close, with […]
In advance of this week’s showdown over judicial nominees, it’s helpful to take a step back to remember history. Very recent history. In August 2000, Rick “Man on Dog” Santorum was standing firm in blocking a number of President Clinton’s judicial nominees, including some slated for the bench in Pennsylvania. As Santorum saw it at […]
To follow up on yesterday’s post on stem-cell research, Slate’s William Saletan has written a fascinating item on conservative efforts to protect “pre-life.” As Saletan explained, the political fight has been moving backward, slowly but surely, through the stages of development, to the point now that the right is worried about embryos even when they’re […]
I can appreciate that the Newsweek-Qur’an story is a much bigger deal to the right than, say, a misguided foreign policy that has cost thousands of lives and inflamed the Middle East, but GOP efforts to punish the magazine are surprisingly ridiculous. Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) is planning to introduce a resolution in the House […]
Ordinarily, a congressional transportation bill is about as politically provocative as a telephone book. Hardly the stuff of interesting blog posts. But the $295 billion highway bill that passed the Senate yesterday is more interesting than most. The Senate is uniting on a $295 billion highway bill aimed at building bigger, better roads while creating […]
I suspect Tom DeLay is thrilled to have right-wing allies who are prepared to spend generously to defend his tarnished name, but I have to wonder if they’ve thought through the wisdom of their message. Stephen Moore’s Free Enterprise Fund announced yesterday that it would run TV ads nationwide on DeLay’s behalf. The point of […]