Mitch McConnell

Surgeons successfully replaced Pelosi’s wounded hip Saturday morning

Pelosi, 84, fell down marble stairs while traveling with a congressional delegation to Luxembourg.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., a polio survivor, warned any incoming members of the Trump administration not to undermine confidence in the polio vaccine.

The future of congressional investigations could be defined by Republican eagerness to probe private industry and less willingness to defer to the Justice Department, experts say. House Republicans promised an avalanche of investigations when they took over the House after the 2022 midterms, which included an impeachment inquiry into President Biden based in large part [...]

Trump's nominees in the FTC and DOJ's antitrust division will test the "Khanservative's" commitment to antitrust

This is the latest health incident for the 82-year-old McConnell, who has been in the Senate since 1985 and has led the Senate GOP since 2007.

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McConnell delivered remarks at the lunch event before he fell

The veteran Kentucky senator stepped down from his perch as the top Republican senator after he froze up in front of cameras last year.

The measure spreads out the establishment of the new district judgeships over about a decade to give three presidential administrations the chance to appoint the new judges.

President Joe Biden is weighing whether to issue sweeping pardons for officials and allies who the White House fears could be unjustly targeted by President-elect Donald Trump’s administration.

The deliberations so far are largely at the level of White House lawyers, but Biden reportedly discussed the topic with some senior aides.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, here at the Capitol in September, is set to succeed Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow as the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate.

A House-passed bill to reform aspects of Social Security is lingering in the Senate as questions bubble up over its path forward. The House approved the bill — which would do away with rules backers say have led to unfair reductions in benefits for some who have worked in public service — by a wide [...]

With the election at an end, states prepare for electors to cast their official votes.

'The Senate will keep working to confirm more of President Biden's judicial nominees. It's already been a very productive week,' Majority Leader Schumer said.

How many? And how fast? That’s the question for the Senate in January as it will sprint to confirm as many of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees as possible.

"The Democrats are trying to stack the Courts," Trump fumes as JD Vance and other Republicans skip votes

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) called Wednesday for President-elect Trump's health administration appointees to face "extensive committee investigations" as part of the Senate's confirmation process.Why it matters: Collins' comments echo concerns from some on Capitol Hill that Trump may forgo the traditional confirmation process in favor of recess appointments, and skip several vetting steps for appointed candidates. What she's saying: Opting to allow recess appointments without congressional approval, would "avoid and evade the Senate's constitutional duty to do advice and consent," Collins said at an Axios event on the future of cognitive care.To her, "that means a background check, it means extensive committee investigations and questionnaires and public hearings," she told Axios' Peter Sullivan.Collins, who called for additional federal funding for Alzheimer's and other cognitive care research, said there "could be" an upheaval at the NIH, FDA and other key divisions due to Trump's health agency administration picks.The big picture: Trump has tapped ex-Independent presidential nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services — an agency he could dramatically reshape.He also selected TV personality Mehmet Oz to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Oz has no experience running a large government bureaucracy.While the Senate Finance Committee ultimately confirms the HHS secretary, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP), on which Collins serves, will also hold a hearing, she told Axios.The HELP committee will handle Oz's confirmation hearings.State of play: Incoming HELP chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.) has applauded Oz's appointment and said he will "look forward" to learning more about Kennedy's policy positions. He also lauded him for having "championed issues like healthy foods and the need for greater transparency in our public health infrastructure."Collins told Axios earlier this month she has not taken a position on Kennedy's nomination.When asked about Kennedy's pending promotion, Cassidy told Axios, "You need to speak to the person who you're considering before you make up your mind."Zoom out: The conversation over Trump's request for recess appointments threatens to bubble into a battle between the next commander-in-chief and Senate Republicans who do not wish to shirk their advice-and-consent role.Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has signaled an openness to the idea — but not all of his Republican colleagues in the chamber agree, including outgoing Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).Go deeper: Meet the GOP's Senate resistance

A fight over judges is serving as incoming Senate GOP leader John Thune's (R-S.D.) first showdown against Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).Why it matters: Schumer is racing to jam through dozens of President Biden's judicial confirmations before the end of the year to break Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) record during the first Trump administration. Thune personally presented a plan for an aggressive defense against Biden's last batches of judicial nominees during a regular leadership meeting Monday night, sources familiar told Axios.It's Thune's first big moment since being elected to serve as the next GOP leader.It's also sure to please some conservatives whose support he needed to get his leadership bid across the finish line — senators very familiar with procedural protest tactics.Zoom in: That led to the Senate floor staying open past midnight as Republicans forced procedural votes to drag out the confirmation process.Republicans are mad at Schumer for prioritizing judges over other must-pass legislation like the Farm Bill, defense authorization and appropriations.President-elect Trump is egging on the fight, demanding Republicans prevent new judicial confirmations ahead of his inauguration.🚪 Behind closed doors, Republican vs. Republican frustrations bubbled over Tuesday after missed votes that helped Schumer move forward on the nominations.Vice President-elect Vance (R-Ohio), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.) were specifically called out, sources in the room told Axios.Vance defended himself in a since-deleted post on X by saying even if he had shown up to vote Monday night, it would not have changed the outcome.Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, took point in urging colleagues not to skip inconvenient votes in case no-shows and a slim majority during the lame-duck session end up working in Democrats' favor.🔥 Zoom out: Look for Schumer to consider repaying the favor next year when it's time to confirm Trump's nominees.Schumer and Democrats ground through GOP stall tactics Monday night into Tuesday and are expected to continue to do so.Schumer has dozens of federal judges he can tee up for floor votes over the next few weeks, and the Senate Judiciary Committee will put even more in the pipeline each Thursday.The bottom line: Schumer has confirmed 217 federal judges under the Biden administration. He is 18 short of matching the 234 confirmed by McConnell.

Jon Stewart is angry. He’s also tired of Democratic lawmakers’ reliance on “norms.” On Monday night’s “The Daily Show,” he laid into the Democratic Party for not exploiting the same kinds of loopholes the Republican Party has used to control our government.Stewart points out that Donald Trump’s newest demand to circumvent background checks and the confirmation process for Cabinet picks is just the latest example of the GOP taking advantage of our country’s laws in ways that create an uneven playing field."I've said it before, and I'll say it again,” Stewart said. “Republicans are playing chess, and the Democrats are in the nurse's office because they glued their balls to their thigh.”

Sen. Rick Scott detailed a number of areas in which Republicans overwhelmingly want change ahead of the new Congress.

A reporter takes a picture of the name plate of former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., in the Rayburn House Office Building.

President-elect Trump is rounding out his administration with Cabinet picks, but there are several GOP senators whose votes could prove decisive in rejecting some nominations.

Sen. John Thune of South Dakota insisted to Republican senators he intends to carry out Trump's agenda and support him as the Senate leader.

IN SEPTEMBER, I wrote, “No matter who wins, the next president will declare that they have a ‘mandate’ to do something. And they will be wrong.”

The Beltway Buzz is a weekly update summarizing labor and employment news from inside the Beltway and clarifying how what’s happening in Washington, D.C., could impact your business.Looking Ahead to 2025. The U.S. Congress is back this week for its lame-duck session, but even with a lengthy to-do list, all eyes are on 2025, as the labor, employment, and immigration policy landscapes are already coming into clearer focus after last week’s elections. Here are the latest post-election developments:Congressional leadership. This week, Republicans began the process of sorting out their leadership ranks for the 119th Congress. In the U.S. Senate, Republicans elected John Thune of South Dakota to be Senate majority leader in the 119th Congress. It has been eighteen years since anyone other than Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has led Republicans in the Senate. In the U.S. House of Representatives, Mike Johnson (R-LA) will be the Republicans’ nominee for Speaker of the House in a floor vote that... Read the complete article here...© 2024, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C., All Rights Reserved.

Democrats have been blasting President-elect Trump's cabinet appointments as unqualified, while many officials in the Biden administration have also been labeled with the term.

President-elect Donald Trump has already shot his second administration in the foot — specifically in its authoritarian Achilles heel, a political columnist contends. Salon writer Amanda Marcotte argued Friday that Trump's decision to demand former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) become his attorney general was an attempt to strong-arm Republican allies he'll need as president — and whose patience has already begun to run thin."It's the Achilles heel of authoritarians throughout time," Marcotte wrote. "They relish conflict, but conflict drives away potential allies, sows chaos and can often grind the gears of their agenda."Marcotte argued Trump's choice of Gaetz was a direct shot at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Republican allies who expressed disdain at the former president's attempts to overturn the 2020 election.ALSO READ: A second reign of terror: Inside Trump’s blueprint for home raidsShe admitted she took a dark joy in watching Trump do it. "Trump has worked to humiliate them by nominating the worst possible people for high-level federal appointments," wrote Marcotte. "It is a great pleasure to watch all the Republican leaders who repeatedly intervened to protect Donald Trump from himself now reap their reward: a big ol' contempt loogie in their eyes."But Marcotte struck a more serious tone when she discussed the main reason critics fear Gaetz is the wrong man for the job — namely accusations, which he denies, that he sexually assaulted a woman who had not reached the age of consent. She cited an ABC News report confirming a woman testified to the House Ethics Committee that Gaetz 'had sex with her when she was 17 years old.'"Marcotte argued Trump's demand that Gaetz head the Justice Department amounted to the latest loyalty test in a series of challenges with increasing stakes. "Trump's loyalty tests of congressional Republicans have escalated quickly from 'walk naked through the streets' levels to 'eat puke' levels," she wrote. Marcotte argued Trump's strongman tactics were to blame for the few accomplishments of his first term and predicted this doubling-down would foretell a similar lack of action in his second. "Trump will have sown resentment throughout the GOP before he even gets inaugurated," Marcotte concluded. "Trump's sociopathic tactics — while alarmingly charming to a lot of voters — tend to backfire in the art of the deal on Capitol Hill. Since all he wants to do is bad, it's good if his biggest obstacle to his agenda is his own terrible instincts."

The incoming Republican majorities in the House and Senate mean Trump can enact a tax bill without making concessions to Democrats.

'Ten GOP members have endorsed a candidate so far'

A growing coalition of Trump allies, including Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have endorsed Scott for Senate leader.

All three candidates for Senate GOP leader are making MAGA appeals, committing to more floor debate and amendments and better communication as they make their final pitch ahead of Wednesday's leader elections. Why it matters: A growing number of senators want a new style of leadership after nearly two decades under Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — and years of battles between him and President-elect Trump. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) is promising more amendments, more power and input from average senators, a focus on getting young, conservative judges confirmed and to spend time over the lame duck discussing how to make the chamber work better, he told colleagues in a letter on Tuesday, obtained by Axios.Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) plans to tell senators in a Tuesday night meeting that he won't assume bills get 60 votes, and he will encourage floor debate and amendments. He also is promising weekly meetings with the House Speaker and Vice President Vance as well as a December conference on GOP priorities, a source familiar tells us.Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) launched his bid as the leader most committed to significant change. He has taken a notably more public approach to his bid for leader, blanketing the airwaves and riding a wave of support from influential voices in Trump world.The intrigue: One source close to Scott points out that many of the plans for a more open process that are being laid out by Thune and Cornyn mirror the kind of changes Scott has been pushing for the past two years.How it works: The candidates will make their final argument to be leader tomorrow morning before the vote — including nominating speeches from two colleagues, each.If none of the three candidates win 27 votes in the first round, the candidate with the lowest vote total is removed and they all vote again.Scott won 10 votes when he ran against McConnell in 2022. He'd need to nearly triple his level of support to win a majority of Senate Republicans in 2024.If Scott is eliminated in the first round, it is a big question whether Thune or Cornyn will be more likely to gain his supporters' votes.

The Florida lawmaker wants to be Senate majority leader, but guns rights advocates are lobbying against him, as they dislike his support for the state's gun control legislation enacted after the Parkland school shooting. Senators are to vote Wednesday on a new leader in a secret ballot.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., speaks during the 2024 Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago in August.

Former President Donald Trump takes the stage during a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Nov. 5.

Questions swirl about whether a new Trump administration will try to block abortion care, especially in states like Maryland that have enshrined access.

A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know.Don Jr. gets to be the favorite kid in his dad's second White HouseNot that the competition is exactly fierce.The race to replace Mitch McConnell is on—and the worst one winsTalk about scraping the bottom of the barrel.Fox News hosts suggest 'death penalty' for Trump legal foesYikes.Cartoon: Mexico's got itBuild a wall, indeed.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) officially rolled out his bid to run the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) on Friday, a move that would put him at the helm of the party’s midterm efforts to maintain and possibly grow its majority next cycle. Scott had been mulling a run for the post since mid-October. He is [...]

Cornyn made a final pitch based on his fundraising prowess ahead of the Republican leader race to succeed McConnell next week.

Donald Trump's victory in the 2020 election was aided by Mitch McConnell's refusal to convict him in his second impeachment trial, and Taylor Swift's endorsement of Kamala Harris, which backfired due to her unfavorable ratings among Republicans, led to her defeat.

Republican electoral wins in both the presidential race and the Senate are changing the game on government funding, as Congress braces for a battle over federal spending when lawmakers return next week. The increasing likelihood of a trifecta of Republican control in Washington is positioning GOP leaders squarely in the driver's seat in deciding whether [...]

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content.

Donald Trump delivered a profane and conspiracy-laden speech two days before Tuesday's presidential election, talking about reporters being shot and suggesting he “shouldn't have left” the White House after his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Sen. Ted Cruz criticized Sen. Mitch McConnell as a "one-man dictator" on "Sunday Morning Futures," just a few days after slamming the Senate leadership super PAC.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., referred to an independent candidate in Nebraska's race as a pickup opportunity for Democrats to potentially keep their majority.

“That must have been a painful day in his life,” the former president said of the Senate minority leader.