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Weich advised Democratic senators on O’Connor succession, new book says
University of Baltimore School of Law Dean Ronald Weich assisted Senate Democrats as they prepared in July 2005 to advise President George W. Bush on whom he should name to succeed U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, journalist Joan Biskupic reported in her new biography of Chief Justice John Roberts. O’Connor had announced on […]
Fingerprinting lawyers reveals past convictions
Welcome to Monday, the 56th anniversary of the premiere of the television soap opera “General Hospital.” Here are some news items to get your week started: — California’s mandatory fingerprinting of lawyers reveals past convictions. — In trial testimony, ex-Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, explains conflicting reasons for leaving Senate. — Pacific Gas and Electric Co.[...]
Senate Democrats pushing tax cuts for business
WASHINGTON — Democrats want to push tax cuts through the Senate for companies that hire new workers, give raises or buy major new equipment this year. With neither party eager to let the other claim campaign-season victories, the ultimate fate of the roughly $29 billion legislation seems dubious. Debate was to begin Tuesday, though it […]
Senate GOP blocks Democrats’ equal pay bill
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked a Democratic bill calling for equal pay in the workplace. But President Barack Obama and his congressional allies aren’t finished appealing to women on the No. 1 concern for all voters: the cash in their wallets on the heels of recession. As expected, the pay equity bill failed […]
Highway bill fails to clear hurdle in U.S. Senate
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are under pressure to find a way to keep federal aid flowing to highway and transit programs beyond the end of this month after a transportation bill failed to clear a procedural hurdle in the Senate. The government’s power to spend federal Highway Trust Fund money on transportation programs and to levy […]
Obama signs debt bill after final Senate vote
WASHINGTON — The Senate emphatically passed emergency legislation Tuesday to avoid a first-ever government default, rushing the legislation to President Barack Obama for his signature just hours before the deadline. The vote was 74-26. Obama signed the bill little more than an hour later. Tuesday’s vote capped an extraordinarily difficult Washington battle pitting tea party Republican [&h[...]
Debt and spending deal picks up momentum in Senate
WASHINGTON — The White House and congressional leaders worked Monday to align lawmakers from both parties behind their formula for averting a financial meltdown and halting the government’s prolific spending habits. Despite resistance from both liberals and conservatives, momentum appeared to be building in support of the compromise deficit-reduction plan. A member of the Republican [&hell[...]
Obama, Congress reach a debt deal
WASHINGTON — Ending a perilous stalemate, President Barack Obama announced agreement Sunday night with Republican congressional leaders on a compromise to avoid the nation’s first-ever financial default. The deal would cut more than $2 trillion from federal spending over a decade. Default “would have had a devastating effect on our economy,” Obama said at the […]
GOP retools plan as Congress seeks debt fix
WASHINGTON — Six days away from a potentially calamitous government default, House Republicans appeared to be coalescing Wednesday around a work-in-progress plan by House Speaker John Boehner to increase the U.S. borrowing limit and chop $1 trillion in federal spending. But the measure got a thumbs-down from both Senate Democrats and tea party activists, a […]
Boehner, Reid preparing to move on debt limit
WASHINGTON — Democratic and Republican congressional leaders shopped competing debt-crisis solutions and President Barack Obama canceled fundraising appearances Monday, as a politically gridlocked capital lurched into a climactic last full week before the Aug. 2 default deadline. Even amid acknowledgments by U.S. leaders of the need to reassure jittery investors, world markets slipped and both [...]
Debt face-off shifts to Congress, bargain in play
WASHINGTON — Negotiations to increase the nation’s debt ceiling shifted to Congress where Republican and Democratic leaders were assessing the mood of their members even as an intricate but potentially face-saving deal to avoid an unprecedented government default was taking shape in the Senate. With an Aug. 2 deadline looming and no compromise jelling at […]
Obama, Biden plan debt session with Senate Dems
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will meet with Senate Democratic leaders Wednesday to continue discussions over debt negotiations. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will meet with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Sens. Dick Durbin and Charles Schumer. The meeting comes two days after Obama met separately with Reid and with Senate Republican Leader Mitch […]
