Lisa Murkowski

Robert Kennedy, Jr., nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, arrives for his meeting with Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., in the Hart Senate Office Building on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024.

Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s embattled nominee to lead the Department of Defense, is now flip-flopping on bigoted positions he has held.Politico reports that Hegseth told Republican senators on Thursday that he backs allowing gay people to serve in the military. This a stark change from the view he took in his 2024 book, “The War on Warriors,” where he claimed that the repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy—which banned gay service members from serving openly—was a “gateway” to advancing a “Marxist” agenda.In his meetings with senators, Hegseth also reportedly praised women serving in the armed forces. But in a November podcast appearance, Hegseth said, “I’m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles. It hasn’t made us more effective, hasn’t made us more lethal, has made fighting more complicated.”The shift in Hegseth’s rhetoric has come while he tries to win the votes of female Republican senators, most notably Sens. Joni Ernst of Iowa, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Susan Collins of Maine. And it seems to be working, with Ernst signaling openness to voting to confirm him. But Hegseth’s comments undermine the bluster that brought him to Trump’s attention. As with many of his other Cabinet nominees, Trump came to know Hegseth from his frequent appearances on Fox News. In those appearances, Hegseth often wore his bigotry on his sleeve.Hegseth’s flip-flops have accompanied a slew of negative stories being unearthed about him, increasing pressure on Republican senators, who could face blowback for backing the pick.A recently released poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research underlines this. In the poll, fielded Dec. 5-9, only 2 in 10 Americans support Hegseth’s nomination, though 4 in 10 say they don’t know enough about him. However, Hegseth has support from roughly a third of Republicans, while 16% oppose his nomination.Those anemic numbers follow the disclosures that Hegseth has been accused of sexual assault, described as abusive by his own mother, and has faced allegations of public drunkenness and mismanagement of funds at a conservative veterans’ charity.Now, in addition to those damning charges, Hegseth appears unable to stand by his own words when it comes to currying favor with the powerful.Campaign Action

'Democrats will have a majority on the five-person NRLB'

MAGA influencers turned up the pressure on Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) after she appeared to be waffling on whether to support Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is mounting a last-ditch fight to keep the National Labor Relations Board under Democratic control for the next two years under President-elect Trump. Why it matters: For big labor and big business, the NLRB is crucially important.It has broad discretion to referee disputes between employers of workers across the economy, from Amazon to Starbucks.Democrats have an opportunity to lock in a 3-2 majority, but only if they can find 50 votes to extend Lauren McFerran's tenure.Schumer filed cloture on Monday on another five-year term for McFerran, setting up a procedural vote on Wednesday.Schumer has two paths to win confirmation:He'll need GOP absences or defections, or assurances from either Sens. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) or Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) that their concerns about the NLRB have been addressed. Those two haven't indicated how they'll vote.Driving the news: Senate Democrats and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders —have privately pressed Schumer to grandfather McFerran in as chair until August 2026, when vacancies will give Republicans a shot to create their own NLRB majority.With two weeks left in session, time is running out, raising concerns in the labor movement that the vote isn't a top priority for Schumer.Without reconfirmation, the board will likely tip in favor of Republicans early next year when Trump starts filling open seats after his inauguration. McFerran's term expires next week.What we're watching: No one seems to know if Manchin is still as angry with the NLRB when he voted against the last Democratic nominee in September 2023.But his staff isn't giving Schumer any reason to be optimistic.In that 2023 vote, Democrat Gwynne Wilcox relied on the votes of the two Alaska senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, to win confirmation.Another x-factor is Sinema's attendance. She didn't vote last week.The bottom line: Schumer has been focusing on confirming federal judges to lifetime positions before Democrats hand over the majority to Republicans next year.While judges wear their robes for life, there are nearly 1,500 of them.There are five seats on the NLRB.

'As I support Pete through this process'

While many of these Republicans supported Biden's cabinet confirmations, they now seem tentative about Trump's selections.

Pete Hegseth and his wife Jennifer on the move between meetings with senators on Thursday.

President Biden's sweeping pardon of his son Hunter protects him from charges dating back to 2014 when the family's alleged influence pedaling began.

'Gabbard has been subject to personal attacks'

7 GOP Senators Most Likely To Stand Between Trump And His Dream Cabinet

Ultimately, Hegseth may have been chosen because he scored well on Trump’s singular test – loyalty – but the issues surrounding him risk damaging the U.S. military, and those dangers outweigh Hegseth’s loyalty to Trump.

Democrats are set to lose the Senate and the White House in 2025.

Native American women could not vote until 1948. As with Black women in the American South, laws like literacy tests and poll taxes made it difficult for them to cast ballots.

Coming up on a month since the presidential election, some things are starting to become clearer, though many questions remain. We will release a Viewpoints article in the next week that will be a more in-depth assessment of the implications of what is known about both the incoming Trump administration and congressional priorities. So, be sure to keep an eye out! In the meantime, we wanted to highlight some new energy-related programs and announcements from the Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other agencies, building off the views in our November update.Trump’s Cabinet PicksPresident-elect Trump has named Chris Wright, currently CEO of Liberty Energy, an energy services company headquartered in Denver, as his nominee for Secretary of Energy. Wright’s announcement led many to view a video posted on LinkedIn where he pushed back hard against language about an “energy transition,” “clean energy,” “carbon pollution,” and a “climate crisis,”... Read the complete article here...©1994-2024 Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. All Rights Reserved.

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.

It's "very, very, very, very, very unlikely" Trump could unilaterally bypass Senate to install Cabinet picks

Vice President-elect JD Vance will make the rounds with GOP senators later this week to introduce them to former-Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s picks to head the Justice and Defense departments. GOP senators say that Vance, a Republican from Ohio who was elected to the Senate in 2022, is taking the [...]

Senate Republicans are rejecting a proposal floated by some advisers to President-elect Trump to take the job of conducting background checks for high-level nominees away from the FBI and give it to private investigators.

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.

Political leaders in Alaska have welcomed President-elect Donald Trump's pledges to expand oil production

East Bay Times Letters to the Editor for Nov. 17, 2024

A look at who has declined to express support for Gaetz, Kennedy, Gabbard and Hegseth.

"That is not the way we do things in the House," the Speaker wrongly insisted.

The state Supreme Court had earlier rejected an appeals court ruling that not counting undated ballots in a special election violated the state constitution.

The former Florida congressman could face an uphill battle for confirmation in the Senate.

As Senate Republicans prepare to vote Wednesday on a new majority leader, Trump is already weighing in with demands for recess appointments.

Colorado voters rejected Proposition 131, the proposal to establish open primaries and ranked-choice voting for statewide races, according to the unofficial results. As ballots continue to be counted, the measure is failing in Colorado by more than 10 points.

Chuck Schumer reacted to severe losses for Democrats across the country amid a red wave.

The Republican Party is now more primed to back former President Trump if he contests the results of the 2024 election than it was four years ago, when his efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s victory fell flat in courts and Congress. Trump’s unwavering claims about the nation’s election system being “rigged” have steadily gained more acceptance [...]

Vice President Kamala Harris has long made the Democratic Party’s support for abortion a defining issue in her presidential campaign. But her remarks during an interview Tuesday have pro-life groups [...]The post Kamala Harris' New Admission Means Christians 'Would Be Forced to Provide' Abortions, Baptist Group Says appeared first on The Western Journal.

Candidates running for two Interior Senate seats have raised more than half a million dollars during their respective campaigns, according to data from the Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC).

Vice President Kamala Harris was interviewed Tuesday by NBC News' Hallie Jackson at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C.

I am a voter and a nurse, and climate change is a top priority issue for me.

Fishing, hunting, hiking, skiing, wildlife watching, scenic driving, and camping are unique draws for visitors to Montana. Our outdoor recreation industry generates billions of dollars and thousands of jobs.

Donald Trump’s allies are downplaying his sweeping plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, which would tear apart families and harm the economy.

There are sparks of enthusiasm for Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, whose Carhartt-and-camo appeal resonates in a state of 734,000 people scattered across a land area more than twice the size of Texas.

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D) sparred in their lone debate this cycle Thursday night as they look to replace retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) next year. Alsobrooks has emerged as the favorite, with polls showing her squarely in the drivers seat. According to an aggregate of [...]

ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation (BHOF) is pleased to announce the 2024 recipients of our national award to recognize Members of Congress who have demonstrated outstanding leadership, advocacy, and commitment to protect and improve...

Two states and the nation's largest city will pick winners in November using ranked choice voting, an increasingly popular approach to elections.

On Tuesday, Senate Republicans successfully blocked a bill that would have provided legal protections for fertility treatments as well as required insurance companies to cover the treatments. The move comes after Donald Trump promised to make either the government or insurance companies pay for in vitro fertilization treatment last month, and just one week after Trump claimed he was "a leader on IVF" during his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.The Right to IVF Act, written by Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, whose two daughters were born with help from fertility treatments, was a direct response to the Alabama State Supreme Court ruling that embryos were “children” and not exempt from the state’s draconian anti-abortion laws. Also in direct response to that ruling, the Alabama legislature swiftly passed a law that provided criminal and civil immunity to both recipients and providers of the treatment.Since the drama in Alabama, Republicans have fallen over themselves backtracking and claiming to just love, love, love IVF. One such hypocrite is Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who has made a big to-do about his support of the service.On Tuesday, Cruz voted against protecting IVF.xTed Cruz votes to block the Right to IVF Act pic.twitter.com/v67nCPDZD8— DNC War Room (@DNCWarRoom) September 17, 2024All but two Republicans present, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, voted against the bill’s passage, while Trump running mate JD Vance skipped the vote to campaign in the Midwest. The final vote—51 for and 44 against—did not meet the 60-vote threshold of the Senate’s existing anti-democratic filibuster rules.xRepublicans vote to block the Right to IVF Act pic.twitter.com/qzgpjTDKsM— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) September 17, 2024This is the second time Republicans have blocked IVF legislation—the last time was in June. The GOP continues to give a lot of lip service to women’s reproductive rights while refusing to protect those rights.Campaign Action

Republicans have blocked for a second time this year legislation to establish a nationwide right to in vitro fertilization, arguing that the vote is an election-year stunt after Democrats forced a vote on the issue. The Senate vote was Democrats’...

Senate Democrats forced a vote on the Right To IVF Act, but it was blocked by Republicans who called it unnecessary and said they support in vitro fertilization.

Republicans on Tuesday blocked a bill that would have created a right to access IVF treatments and mandated that insurance plans cover the practice, deriding the vote as a political ploy. Senators voted against advancing the bill, 51-44, marking the second time Democrats have sought to put Republicans on the record on the contentious issue. [...]

WASHINGTON — The Senate will vote for the second time this year on whether to consider legislation that would establish a nationwide right to in vitro fertilization — Democrats’ latest election-year attempt to force Republicans into a defensive stance on women’s health issues.