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☆ At the Capitol, Even the Attending Physician Can’t Escape Politics
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Kayla Guo | More About Kayla Guo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, 81, wanted to quiet concerns about his health after two alarming on-camera episodes in which he appeared unable to speak or move, he turned to Dr. Brian P. Monahan. Dr. Monahan, the low-profile and mild-mannered Navy doctor who has served for nearly 15 years as the on-site physician in the Capitol, quickly provided a clean bill of health for the longtime Republican leader. The brief and carefully worded statement matter-of-factly shot down several of the leading medical theories for what might be wrong with Mr. McConnell, including a seizure disorder, stroke and Parkinson’s disease. The note drew criticism from some physicians and medical experts — including at least one who as a senator is among Dr. Monahan’s patients — and shone a spotlight on the unique and politically tricky job of the attending physician of Congress. Dr. Monahan, whose job entails serving 535 members of Congress, the justices of the Supreme Court, staff aides and even tourists at the Capitol, has long sought to stay out of politics.

Persons: Mitch McConnell of, Brian P, Monahan, Dr . Monahan, McConnell, . Monahan Organizations: Capitol, Republican Locations: Mitch McConnell of Kentucky

☆ Six Takeaways From Romney’s Tea-Spilling Biography
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Annie Karni | More About Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Mr. Romney lives a hermitlike existence in Washington. Mr. Romney, 76, has few friends in Washington, and he did not follow President Harry S. Truman’s adage to get himself a dog. Publicly, Mr. Romney has long been on an island in a party subsumed by Trumpism. Mr. Romney also recalled a 2019 visit Mr. Trump made to the weekly Senate Republican lunch in the Capitol. But as soon as Mr. Trump left the room, the senators all burst out laughing.

Persons: Romney, Harry S, Ann, “ Ted Lasso ”, Saul, ”, Lisa Murkowski, Romney —, Trump, Mitch McConnell of, Donald J, ” Mr, Coppins, “ Organizations: Capitol, Republican, Publicly, Trumpism, Trump, Mr Locations: Washington, Alaska, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Russia

He added, “I think that is a national security problem and a national security issue. Defense officials say Tuberville is jeopardizing American national security. Senators in both parties, including Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, also have criticized Tuberville. Tuberville has refused to budge, saying will not drop the holds unless majority Democrats allow a vote on the policy. In the meantime, he said, “To hold up the top brass from being promoted and lower brass, I think is paralyzing our Department of Defense.”

Persons: Michael McCaul, CNN's, Alabama Sen, Tommy Tuberville, McCaul, Mitch McConnell of, Tuberville, “, ” Organizations: Alabama, of Defense, Pentagon, Defense, Senators, CNN Locations: Texas, CNN's “ State, American, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky

☆ Here Are the 20 Oldest Members of Congress
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Annie Karni | More About Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the 81-year-old longtime Republican leader, has batted away questions about his health after twice freezing on camera, insisting he has no plans to step down ahead of schedule as the leader of his party in the Senate. Representative Nancy Pelosi, 83, the long-serving former House speaker, announced she would run for re-election in 2024, surprising some colleagues and observers by seeking a 20th term that she would finish at age 86. Both were reminders that some veteran lawmakers are still hanging onto their jobs running the country at an age when most people are well into retirement. Ms. Pelosi, who runs predominantly on a diet of chocolate and hot dogs, still hustles around the Capitol in her signature stilettos and shows little sign of age slowing her down. She did, however, step aside from leadership at the end of last year after Democrats lost the House majority.

Persons: Mitch McConnell of, Nancy Pelosi, Ms, Pelosi Organizations: Republican, Capitol Locations: Mitch McConnell of Kentucky

☆ What Happens if Mitch McConnell Retires Before His Senate Term Ends?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Neil Vigdor | More About Neil Vigdor | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

For the second time in a little over a month, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the longtime Republican leader, froze up during a news conference on Wednesday, elevating concerns about his health and his ability to complete his term that ends in January 2027. At an event hosted by the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Mr. McConnell, 81, who was elected to his seventh term in 2020, paused for about 30 seconds while responding to a reporter’s question about his re-election plans. The abrupt spell — like one at the U.S. Capitol in July — happened in front of the cameras. He suffered at least two other falls that were not disclosed by his office. Mr. McConnell has brushed off past questions about his health, but speculation is swirling again about what would happen in the unlikely event that he retired in the middle of his term.

Persons: Mitch McConnell of, McConnell Organizations: Republican, Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Mr, U.S, Capitol Locations: Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, —

☆ McConnell Freezes Up a Second Time While Addressing Reporters
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Annie Karni | More About Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the longtime Republican leader who suffered a serious head injury in a fall earlier this year, experienced another alarming freeze-up at a news conference on Wednesday in Covington, Ky., the second such episode caught on camera in recent weeks. Mr. McConnell, 81, was taking questions from reporters after an event hosted by the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce when he was asked for his thoughts on running for re-election in 2026. Mr. McConnell, who appeared thinner and frailer than he has in recent months, began to answer the question with a slight chuckle when he abruptly stopped speaking, standing motionless behind a lectern with his mouth pursed and his eyes wide. When an aide approached to ask if he had heard the question, he mumbled “yes,” but he seemed unable to continue speaking or to move. It was the second such incident in two months, and the scene intensified questions about Mr. McConnell’s future in the Senate.

Persons: Mitch McConnell of, McConnell, McConnell’s Organizations: Republican, Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Mr Locations: Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Covington , Ky

☆ NATO unity will be tested at upcoming summit. Ukraine's possible entry may be the biggest challenge
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Patriot long-range air defence systems of the German Bundeswehr armed forces are deployed at Vilnius Airport ahead of the upcoming NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania on July 7, 2023. "I don't think it's ready for membership in NATO," President Joe Biden told CNN in an interview airing Sunday. More than two-thirds of alliance members have banned the weapon because it has a track record for causing many civilian casualties. As for Ukraine's possible entry into NATO, the alliance said in 2008 that Kyiv eventually would become a member. "That's an issue that will cause tension and dissent, and that's not what the Vilnius summit is all about," he said.

Persons: NATO's, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Biden, Douglas Lute, Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Lute, Mitch McConnell, Putin, Daniel Fried, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Finland, Erdogan, It's, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Max Bergmann, They've, Bergmann, Viktor Orban, Idaho Sen, Jim Risch, aren't, Risch, I'm, we've, Jens Stoltenberg, who's, Mette Frederiksen, Stoltenberg, Rasmussen, Skip Davis, that's Organizations: German Bundeswehr, Vilnius Airport, NATO Summit, NATO, CNN, Republican, Kentucky, Associated Press, Putin, Atlantic Council, Ukraine, State Department, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Senate Foreign Relations, Danish, Center for Locations: German, Vilnius, Lithuania, Russian, Ukraine, Sweden, Eastern Europe, United States, Israel, Moscow, Finland, U.S, Russia, Kyiv, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Czech Republic, Turkey, Stockholm, Idaho, Hungary, Baltic, Norwegian, Danish

☆ Biden and McCarthy to Discuss Debt Limit as a Possible Default Looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Peter Baker | Jim Tankersley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — President Biden will meet with Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the White House on Tuesday in a critical face-to-face confrontation that will frame their showdown over the federal debt and spending in the weeks before the nation is set to default on its obligations for the first time in history. With the American and perhaps the global economy hanging in the balance, the meeting will be the first sit-down session between the Democratic president and Republican speaker since February. But even the terms of the discussion are in dispute: Mr. McCarthy insists the president negotiate a debt ceiling deal with him, while Mr. Biden insists the meeting will just be an opportunity to tell the speaker that there will be no negotiations over the limit. The meeting in the Oval Office will feature Mr. Biden, Mr. McCarthy and three other congressional leaders: Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic leader in the House, and Senators Chuck Schumer of New York and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Democratic and Republican leaders in the Senate. But Mr. Biden and Mr. McCarthy are the key players, locked in a political game of chicken to see who will blink first on raising the debt ceiling.

☆ Republicans want to push Manchin out of a reelection bid because they think he's the last Democrat who can win in deep red West Virginia: 'You can't say that it's impossible for him to win'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Republicans are looking to nudge Joe Manchin out of a Senate reelection bid in 2024. Still, Republican leaders aren't dismissing Manchin, as he has withstood the GOP lean of the state. And the state Senate and state House of Delegates, which had robust Democratic majorities just over a decade ago, now have GOP supermajorities. But if Manchin does run, Republicans should expect a tenacious campaigner who has shown that he won't be outworked. "He has that Clinton-esque ability to make everybody feel like he's your friend and he's listening to you and he's concerned about you," Hickey told Politico.

☆ West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is running for Joe Manchin's pivotal Senate seat
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice (R) and US Senator Joe Manchin (L), Democrat of West Virginia, attend a roundtable discussion on the opioid epidemic with local and state officials at the Cabell-Huntington Health Department in Huntington, West Virginia, July 8, 2019. West Virginia's Republican governor, Jim Justice, filed official paperwork to kick off a 2024 campaign for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by incumbent Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin. If Manchin decides not to run for a third term, Democrats are widely expected to lose the seat to whichever Republican nominee emerges from West Virginia's Senate primary. A Trump campaign spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. With his seat under threat, Manchin has appeared increasingly critical of President Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats.

☆ G.O.P. Vows to Block Feinstein Swap, Leaving Democrats in a Conundrum
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Pressure is mounting for Ms. Feinstein, 89, who was hospitalized with shingles in February and has announced she will not seek re-election in 2024, to resign now. Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said later Tuesday that he still planned to move forward with a request to replace Ms. Feinstein temporarily with Senator Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland. But the move would take the unanimous consent of the Senate — or at least 60 votes — and Mr. McConnell made it clear that would not happen. “Senate Republicans will not take part in sidelining a temporarily absent colleague off a committee just so Democrats can force through their very worst nominees,” Mr. McConnell told reporters. The sentiment was echoed throughout the Republican conference.

☆ Tim Scott, prominent Black conservative, is one step closer to joining other Republicans in challenging Trump for the 2024 nomination
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

"Our country is once again being tested," Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, said in a 3-minute video announcement. Once he does so, he'll be the fourth Republican to enter the Republican primary contest against former President Donald Trump. Nikki Haley of South Carolina announced that she was appointing then-Rep. Tim Scott to the Senate on December 17, 2012. Haley and Scott could potentially be competitors to win the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. Haley, who was South Carolina governor at the time, appointed Scott to the seat in 2013 after then-Sen. Jim DeMint resigned.

☆ Republican lawmakers urge Supreme Court to overturn Biden's student loan forgiveness plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Annie Nova | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky at the U.S. Capitol Building on Feb. 13, 2023. Dozens of Republican members of Congress have filed briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the Biden administration's student loan forgiveness plan should be ruled unlawful. "Congress authorized the forgiveness of federal student loan debt only in specific, narrow circumstances," argued the brief filed by more than 40 GOP senators, among them Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. They say that "petitioners' assertion of power to forgive everyfederal student loan in the country, potentially even a decade after the Covid-19 pandemic ends, raises significant separation of powers concerns." The briefs were filed this month, as the Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments, scheduled for Feb. 28, on the Biden administration's student loan forgiveness plan.

☆ Florida GOP Sen. Rick Scott on his relationship with Mitch McConnell after a failed challenge to lead Senate Republicans: 'Well, he just kicked me off a committee. So that was pretty petty.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sen. Rick Scott said it was "petty" of Sen. Mitch McConnell to take him off the Commerce Committee. McConnell in a separate Fox News interview denied retaliation and said he had "no animus toward Rick Scott at all." And I gave it to two other senators, no particular reprisal in mind, no animus toward Rick Scott at all," he added. "That was the Scott plan. That was the Rick Scott plan.

Since the start of the pandemic, Americans have been able to access free weekly credit reports. "Even when consumers are successful in having their complaint addressed, complaints call into question the underlying data contained in consumers' credit reports," the report read. Navigating the credit reporting system in the United States requires skill and often a good deal of patience. Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters of California, who chaired the panel at the time, said during the hearing that a public credit reporting agency "would be a major upgrade over today's broken, biased credit reporting system." Consumer advocates stress that not only should credit reports be easily accessible but that Americans should be able to scrutinize the information contained in credit reports.

☆ Indiana's Senate race will show the depths of the fault lines within the GOP. Early signs show it's still Trump's party.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Mitch Daniels would have been an ideal GOP Senate candidate. Daniels' decision offers a look at the obstacles that the party continues to face headed in 2024. Mitch Daniels would have been seen by most traditional conservatives as an ideal candidate to run for the Senate. Eric Holcomb is a potential candidate in the 2024 Indiana Republican Senate primary. AP Photo/Manuel Balce CenetaIndiana could drive the GOP Senate roadmapAhead of the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans anticipated making major gains in Congress, which eventually didn't come to pass.

☆ Arizona Senate hopeful Ruben Gallego posts record-breaking fundraising haul in bid for Kyrsten Sinema's seat, breaking state record
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Kevin Breuninger Christina Wilkie | Kevin Breuninger | Christina Wilkie | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Rep. Ruben Gallego's Senate campaign said Tuesday it raised more than $1 million in one day after the Democrat launched his bid for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's coveted seat in the 2024 election cycle. "There's a lot of really important work left on the table to get done for Arizona," Sinema said in that Friday interview. That Senate math shifted after Democrats outperformed expectations in the November midterms, extending their hold to an outright Senate majority, 51-49. When Sinema left the Democratic Party last month, she called the change "a reflection of who I've always been." "I think it is a big dilemma for the Senate Democratic majority to decide whether to support her or to support somebody running on the Democratic ticket," McConnell said.

The chaos unfolding in the new Republican-controlled House shows that analysis, if it was ever true, certainly doesn’t hold today. Since the new Congress began Tuesday, every time Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has called a vote to be elected speaker, he has gotten no closer to the gavel. Though there is no shortage of backroom deal-making going on among House Republicans, either, the public nature of the leadership fight means many of the concessions McCarthy is offering have been announced by his opponents. Back in 1995, Newt Gingrich nudged aside longtime House Republican leader Bob Michel of Illinois to become the first Republican speaker of the House in 40 years after President George H.W. That helped oust House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, in 2015 and then his successor, Paul Ryan, R-Wis., once a conservative darling.

☆ Here are the 14 Republican senators who may have doomed their bills in the new GOP House by voting for a major spending bill
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Kevin McCarthy even vowed to block House consideration of bills sponsored by GOP senators who voted for it. But a slew of GOP senators voted for it anyway, including 4 who are retiring and 14 who will remain. "Kevin's in a tough spot," Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, a former House Republican and an opponent of the omnibus himself, told CNN's Manu Raju. "Statements like that... is the very reason that some Senate Republicans feel they probably should spare them from the burden of having to govern." Additionally, four Republican senators who voted for the bill are retiring, making the threat meaningless to them.

☆ Florida GOP to hold no-confidence vote in RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

The Florida GOP plans to hold a no-confidence vote in Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel next month, a crucial test of the embattled leader’s strength just days before her own re-election. He issued the petition in response to Republican Party of Florida Chairman Joe Gruters sending out a letter Tuesday endorsing McDaniel. The messy race for national chair reflects broader troubles in the Republican Party. The two candidates vying to succeed Gruters as Republican Party of Florida chair, Leon County Chair Evan Power and Sarasota County Chair Christian Ziegler, both told NBC News they support Dhillon. "This is about who is best to be RNC chair, and that's Ronna."

☆ Veterans accuse Congress of abandoning Afghan allies after help for refugees is left out of spending bill
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Dan De Luce | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Julie-Tsirkin-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Refugee advocates and veterans accused Congress of abandoning Afghans who fled to the U.S. after a bill designed to resolve the legal status of tens of thousands of Afghan refugees was left out of a year-end spending bill. The Afghan refugees were granted a two-year temporary “humanitarian parole,” which has left them in legal limbo and unable to work. The bill would have granted Afghan refugees a pathway to permanent legal residency before their parole expires. To address concerns raised by some Republican lawmakers, sponsors of the bill added language to ensure the Afghan refugees undergo thorough security vetting by U.S. authorities. But the proposal failed to win support from 10 Republican senators needed to add it to the omnibus spending package.

Joe Biden beat Donald Trump once, and Democrats are crafting a strategy to try to beat him again in 2024 — even if his name isn’t on the ballot. But Democrats interviewed about the emerging 2024 strategy said they plan to make sure this particular comment isn’t soon forgotten. (Trump issued another statement on his Truth Social platform insisting he hadn’t said he wanted to “terminate” the Constitution.) A Trump ally, former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, said he doesn’t believe Trump will suffer a backlash over his comment about the Constitution. Trump’s comment “is very serious,” said longtime Biden confidant Ted Kaufman, a former U.S. senator from Delaware.

Federal authorities on Tuesday charged FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried with using what they said was tens of millions of dollars of misappropriated customer funds to make illegal political donations to both Democratic and Republican candidates. He then used those funds to make "large political donations," to make investments and buy "lavish real estate," the SEC complaint alleged. The campaign finance allegations come days after a private watchdog group asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate Bankman-Fried's political contributions. Most of Bankman-Fried's publicly disclosed campaign contributions, which totaled nearly $40 million in the 20222 election cycle, went toward Democrats, FEC records show. "The question is whether regulators, including the SEC, backed off from aggressive investigation of FTX because of this political influence," Painter said.

☆ Inside the turbulent, doomed campaign of Herschel Walker
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +14 min

Republican candidate Herschel Walker's campaign was starved for cash as it faced Sen. Raphael Warnock and his deep-pocketed Democratic allies. Beyond highlighting an intense clash in a nationally watched political campaign’s crucible, the blowup underscored the core problem of Walker’s campaign: Walker. The so-called “oppo” book, however, didn’t have information about the abortion story, which rocked Walker’s campaign. And despite the damaging information that could come out in a campaign, Walker decided to run anyway. By Election Day, Walker campaign staffers knew they were likely to lose.

☆ Senate MAGA mutineers work on new ways to punish Mitch McConnell
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Some Senate Republicans recently tried and failed to strip Mitch McConnell of his leadership post. Ted Cruz is among the conservatives determined to "stand up and fight" against business as usual. He called any such compromise "indefensible," and urged others to also dig in their heels so House Republicans have a better negotiating position next year once their narrow majority takes effect. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who is trying to fend off House conservatives determined to deny him his dream of becoming speaker, has also been pushing to quash any lame duck breakthroughs. "Any Republican that's out there trying to work with them is wrong," McCarthy recently said on Fox News.

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