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Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday said he planned this week to advance a long-stalled national security spending package to aid Israel, Ukraine and other American allies, along with a separate bill aimed at mollifying conservatives who have been vehemently opposed to backing Kyiv. It came days after Iran launched a large aerial attack on Israel, amplifying calls for Congress to move quickly to approve the pending aid bill. lawmakers on his plan, Mr. Johnson said he would cobble together a legislative package that roughly mirrors the $95 billion aid bill the Senate passed two months ago but that is broken down into three pieces. Lawmakers would vote separately on a bill providing money for Israel, one allocating funding for Ukraine and a third with aid for Taiwan and other allies. “We know that the world is watching us to see how we react,” Mr. Johnson told reporters.

Persons: Mike Johnson, G.O.P, Johnson, “, Mr, Putin, Xi, ” Organizations: Congress, Israel, Ukraine, Republicans Locations: Israel, Ukraine, Iran, Taiwan, America

☆ Opposition to Muslim Judicial Nominee Leaves Biden With a Tough Choice
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Three Democrats have said they intend to oppose the confirmation of Mr. Mangi to the Philadelphia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in response to objections from local law enforcement groups. He has also faced what his backers label an unfounded bigoted assault from Republicans who have accused him of antisemitism and sympathy with terrorists. If Republicans remain united against him, as expected, and the Democrats cannot be persuaded to change their position, Mr. Mangi would lack the votes to be confirmed. The showdown is a new obstacle for the Biden administration and Senate Democrats as they try to fill as many federal court openings as they can before November. It has also angered Democrats who believe Mr. Mangi, a litigator from New Jersey and partner in a New York law firm, has been subjected to a baseless and ugly assault by Republicans because of his religion.

Persons: Biden, Mangi Organizations: Appeals, Third Circuit, Republicans, Democrats Locations: American, Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York

☆ New Senate Leadership Tussle Is a Throwback to the Old Days
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Senator Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican and longest-serving Senate leader, decided to step aside from his leadership role at the end of the year, it signaled the turning of a new page in the chamber. For all the power they wield in Congress, Senate leaders have not had to fight too hard for their positions in recent years. Mr. McConnell, the current record-holder with almost 18 years at the top, did not face an opponent when he first won the job in 2006. Before Senator Harry Reid’s retirement in 2017, the Nevada Democrat and party leader passed the reins seamlessly to Senator Chuck Schumer of New York. Mr. Reid himself had quickly sewn up the Democratic job when it suddenly came open in 2004.

Persons: Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn of, John Thune of, McConnell, Rick Scott of, Harry Reid’s, Chuck Schumer, Reid Organizations: Kentucky Republican, Nevada Democrat, Democratic Locations: John Cornyn of Texas, John Thune of South Dakota, Rick Scott of Florida, New York

☆ The Far Right Lost Badly and Wants Its Revenge
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As 2023 opened with Republicans newly in control of the House, the far-right members of the party considered themselves empowered when it came to federal spending, with increased muscle to achieve the budget cuts of their dreams. But it turned out that many of their Republican colleagues did not share their vision of stark fiscal restraint. Or at least not fervently enough to go up against a Democratic Senate and White House to try to bring it into fruition. Instead, Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday pushed through a $1.2 trillion bipartisan package to fund the government for the rest of the year, with none of the deep cuts or policy changes that ultraconservatives had demanded. Those on the right fringe have been left boiling mad and threatening to make him the second Republican speaker to be deposed this term.

Persons: Mike Johnson, ultraconservatives, ”, Thomas Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Johnson Organizations: Democratic, White House, Republican Locations: Kentucky, Georgia

☆ When Debuts Flop: Katie Britt Is the Latest in a Long Line of Botched Opening Acts
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Senator Katie Britt, Republican of Alabama, had not finished delivering her breathless, overly dramatized and fact-challenged response to President Biden’s State of the Union address last week when the ridicule and criticism began pouring in from Republicans and Democrats alike. Her delivery from an oddly empty kitchen was stilted and awkwardly strident. And, as a freelance journalist soon discovered, she used a misleading account of sex trafficking to criticize border policies, falsely implying that it had taken place in the United States under Mr. Biden. In fact, it happened many years ago in Mexico during the administration of President George W. Bush. It will no doubt shadow her budding Senate career as the single thing most Americans know about her.

Persons: Katie Britt, Biden, George W, Bush, Ms, Britt Organizations: Republican, Union, Republicans, Democrats Locations: Alabama, Biden’s, United States, Mexico, Montgomery , Ala, United States of America

☆ Is the End of the Filibuster Near?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Time may be finally running out on the filibuster, the signature dilatory tactic in the Senate embraced by some as a protector of minority rights and reviled by others as an outdated weapon of partisan obstruction. With the announcement by Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona that she will not seek re-election, the filibuster is now on track to lose the two senators who preserved it in 2022 over the objections of the rest of their party. She and her fellow filibuster defender, Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, who is also retiring, left Democrats just two votes short of ending the filibuster when it came to voting law changes that were backed by a majority. Perhaps just as significantly, Senator Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican who has enthusiastically deployed the filibuster to his advantage for decades, is stepping down from his top party leadership post, reducing the influence of one of the chief practitioners and defenders of filibuster maneuvering. Depending on how the November elections shake out, the pressure to reduce the power of the procedural tool — which effectively requires 60 votes to move any legislation forward in the Senate — could be substantial.

Persons: Kyrsten Sinema, Joe Manchin III, Mitch McConnell Organizations: Kentucky Republican Locations: Arizona, West Virginia

Their November collision began to look even more likely after Mr. Trump scored a decisive win in Iowa in January. Already, Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden had shifted their focus away from the primaries. But Mr. Biden has already been using the political and financial apparatus of the Democratic National Committee. Mr. Biden is viewed unfavorably by a majority of Americans — a precarious position for a president seeking re-election — although so is Mr. Trump. Mr. Biden and his allied groups also have a significant financial advantage over Mr. Trump, whose legal bills are taking a toll.

Persons: Biden, Donald J, Trump, Mr, Nikki Haley, Biden’s, “, Joe Biden, ”, Haley, Trump’s, California’s, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Dean Phillips, Marianne Williamson, Juan M Organizations: Tuesday, Associated Press, Democratic, Republican, Mr, Washington State, Democratic National Committee, Republican National Committee, D.C, Dean Phillips of Minnesota, Manhattan Locations: Iowa, Georgia, Georgia , Mississippi, Hawaii, Vermont, Washington, Gaza, New York

☆ The Functional Dysfunctional Congress
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For days before a Friday midnight deadline, there is no official word of a compromise between Republicans and Democrats that will avert the crackup. But behind the scenes, members of the appropriations committees in both parties are hammering out complex deals among themselves. He puts the legislation on the floor using a maneuver that effectively deprives hard-right Republican rebels of the means to block it. The archconservatives breathe fire and condemn it, but the bill passes easily, with far more Democratic than Republican support. The Senate sends the measure to President Biden, who quickly signs it.

Persons: Mike Johnson hems, haws, Johnson, Biden Organizations: Republicans, Democrats, Republican, Democratic, Senate

☆ McConnell’s Early Decision to Step Aside Fuels G.O.P. Fight to Succeed Him
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A contest that had been simmering in the background was suddenly thrust front and center this week by Mr. McConnell’s earlier-than-expected announcement that he would not seek to remain his party’s leader. The contenders immediately began wooing their colleagues for the chance to become the first new face of their party in the Senate in almost two decades. “It is a lot of runway,” Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Republican, said about the months remaining before the party’s first seriously contested leadership race since Mr. McConnell took over in 2007. The true electorate is not even known yet, since those voting for next year’s leader will include anyone who wins a seat in November — and exclude anyone who loses.

Persons: Mitch McConnell, McConnell’s, John Thune of, McConnell Organizations: Capitol Locations: John Thune of South Dakota

☆ McConnell Ends an Era for Himself, His Party and the Senate
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mitch McConnell has confessed over the years that as a junior member of the Senate, he longed to be the one whom reporters chased down for information as he jealously watched his more senior colleagues being pursued by the media while he was ignored. He noted that President Ronald Reagan had once misidentified him as Mitch O’Donnell. Then, after Mr. McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, had accumulated real power in the Senate as both majority and minority leader over a 17-year stretch and deftly applied it to bend the Senate to his will, he clammed up. He often refused to even acknowledge the existence of the press as reporters posed questions and he strolled by, sphinx-like. He reiterated that view on Thursday in his first day as a lame-duck leader.

Persons: Mitch McConnell, ”, Ronald Reagan, Mitch O’Donnell, “, McConnell Organizations: Senate, Kentucky Republican Locations: Kentucky, United States, Soviet Union

☆ McConnell to Step Down as Leader at the End of the Year
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Carl Hulse | More About Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Senator Mitch McConnell, the longtime top Senate Republican, said on Wednesday that he would give up his spot as the party’s leader at the end of this year, acknowledging that his Reaganite national security views had put him out of step with a party now headed by former President Donald J. Trump. “Believe me, I know the politics within my party at this particular time,” Mr. McConnell, who turned 82 last week, said in a speech on the Senate floor announcing his intentions. Misunderstanding politics is not one of them.”His decision, reported earlier by The Associated Press, was not a surprise. Mr. McConnell suffered a serious fall last year and experienced some episodes where he momentarily froze in front of the media. Mr. McConnell had said that he would serve out his full Senate term ending in 2027, but had been more opaque about whether he would try to remain leader after the November elections.

Persons: Mitch McConnell, Donald J, ” Mr, McConnell, “ Organizations: Republican, Trump, Associated Press Locations: Ukraine

☆ How Senate Democrats Flipped the Border Issue on Republicans
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To Mr. Schumer of New York, the majority leader, the ultimatum revived unpleasant memories of his participation in difficult immigration negotiations in 2013 that yielded a compromise, only to collapse despite strong bipartisan support in the Senate. But saying no could doom the Ukraine aid and leave Democrats holding the bag. He and his staff grappled with the problem for a week, then gathered for a conference call on Sunday, Nov. 5. “We had an epiphany — sort of, lightning strikes,” Mr. Schumer recalled in an interview. The final package notably did not contain new border security provisions, after Senate conservatives opted to kill that element of the legislation despite their initial insistence that it be included.

Persons: Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, Schumer, “, ” Mr, it’s Organizations: Kentucky Republican, Democratic, Capitol Locations: Ukraine, New York, Israel, U.S

☆ Prevailing on Ukraine Funding, McConnell Took Political Hits
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Senator Mitch McConnell put his standing on the line in aggressively pursuing military assistance for Ukraine over deep Republican resistance, and he achieved the outcome he wanted: a strong Senate vote to bolster embattled U.S. allies at a critical moment. “History settles every account,” Mr. McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the minority leader, said in a statement issued early Tuesday, minutes after the Senate voted 70 to 29 for a $95 billion foreign aid package. “And today, on the value of American leadership and strength, history will record that the Senate did not blink.”But his hard-fought legislative victory came at a cost. The bitter Senate fight over the aid package — money that Mr. McConnell framed as essential to preserving Western power — exposed serious divisions among Senate Republicans not just over Ukraine and border security policy but over his leadership. The fallout underscored Mr. McConnell’s waning influence over his party’s rank and file and raised new questions about his future.

Persons: Mitch McConnell, ” Mr, McConnell Organizations: Republican, Senate, Republicans Locations: Ukraine, U.S, Kentucky

☆ Here Are the Republicans Breaking With Their Party to Back Ukraine Aid
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-12 | by ( Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Seventeen Senate Republicans have bucked a majority of their party and former President Donald J. Trump in joining Democrats to push military assistance for Ukraine toward approval in the Senate, highlighting a widening foreign policy divide in the contemporary Republican Party. The 17 senators, mainly national security hawks who include several military veterans, have provided the votes necessary to overcome multiple filibusters backed by a majority of their colleagues, clearing the way for approval within days of $95 billion in aid to Ukraine, Israel and allies in the Pacific region. “The thread that binds that group together is national security,” said Senator Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican who is one of the 17. “America’s national security, the belief that what happens in Ukraine matters to the United States, the belief that what happens in Israel matters and the belief that what happens in the South Pacific matters.”Backing the funding could draw condemnation from Mr. Trump and his allies, a possibility that was most likely a factor in the decision of some to oppose it.

Persons: Donald J, ”, Jerry Moran, “, Trump Organizations: Republicans, Trump, Democrats, Republican Party, Kansas Republican Locations: Ukraine, Israel, Pacific, Kansas, United States, South Pacific

☆ Is the Senate Becoming the House?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In 2008, as the nation faced a catastrophic financial crisis, the House did what it sometimes does — veered off the rails. It was the steadier Senate that had to step in and take over, find a way to approve the legislation and show the House how it was done. When the unruly House, with its treacherous two-year election cycle, melts down, the Senate is expected to step up, providing the adult supervision needed in the legislative world. The august Senate — at least on the Republican side — is becoming more like its chaotic counterpart across the Rotunda every day. The Senate Republican Conference, as it is known, is more publicly divided and feuding than at any time in recent memory, a rare development for a group led by Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the minority leader, who has always taken great pains to conceal internal disputes.

Persons: Mitch McConnell, McConnell Organizations: Senate, Republican, Republican Conference Locations: Washington, Kentucky

We don’t have enough judges,” Mr. Biden said on Monday. “Why won’t they give me the help?”A Senate bill introduced over the weekend tries to do just that. But Mr. Biden lifted Title 42 after the pandemic receded, and the legal pathway for using it again would be uncertain without an ongoing public health crisis. Immigration experts said that Mr. Biden probably could have taken some steps without the legislation. Mr. Biden could have done that without the legislation.

Persons: Biden, Donald J, Trump, ” Mr, ”, Ben Johnson, John Moore, Mike Johnson, Mr, Johnson, Biden’s, Trump’s Organizations: House Republicans, United, American Immigration Lawyers Association, “, Migrants, El Paso . Credit Locations: United States, Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, El Paso .

☆ On the Border, Republicans Set a Trap, Then Fell Into It
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Congressional Republicans thought they had set a clever trap for Democrats that would accomplish complementary political and policy goals. Their idea was to tie approval of military assistance to Ukraine to tough border security demands that Democrats would never accept, allowing Republicans to block the money for Kyiv that many of them oppose while simultaneously enabling them to pound Democrats for refusing to halt a surge of migrants at the border. But Democrats tripped them up by offering substantial — almost unheard-of — concessions on immigration policy without insisting on much in return. Now it is Republicans who are rapidly abandoning a compromise that gave them much of what they wanted, leaving aid to Ukraine in deep jeopardy, border policy in turmoil and Congress again flailing as multiple crises at home and abroad go without attention because of a legislative stalemate. Even Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader and foremost Republican advocate of helping Ukraine, and Senator James Lankford, the Oklahoma Republican who invested months in cutting the border deal, suggested they would vote to block it on the floor in a test vote set for Wednesday.

Persons: flailing, Mitch McConnell of, James Lankford Organizations: Republicans, Oklahoma Republican Locations: Ukraine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky

☆ As Biden Judicial Confirmations Slow, Senate Gains Ground on Red-State Judges
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-28 | by ( Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Biden and Senate Democrats have fallen behind the rapid pace set by Republicans in shaping the federal courts during the Trump era, but they have made fresh headway in advancing judicial nominees in states represented by Republicans. By negotiating with Republicans over judicial picks, Mr. Biden and majority Democrats have been able to exert some influence over the makeup of trial courts in red states and install people of color on the bench for the first time in some regions. “It has worked because I think I have convinced the White House that it is better to get a moderate Republican today than a MAGA Republican tomorrow,” said Senator Richard J. Durbin, the Illinois Democrat who chairs the Judiciary Committee. Still, the Senate would need to confirm at least 63 more judges this year to match or better the record of the Trump years, when Senator Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican who was then the majority leader, pushed through 234 conservative-leaning jurists, including three to the Supreme Court.

Persons: Biden, Trump, ”, Richard J, Durbin, Mitch McConnell Organizations: Senate, Republicans, Republican, MAGA Republican, Illinois Democrat, Kentucky Republican, Supreme Locations: MAGA

☆ The House Speaker Is Safe (for Now)
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Speaker Mike Johnson yesterday did exactly what got his predecessor fired last year: He pushed through legislation to keep the government open with mainly Democratic votes. Ultraconservative House members were sputtering mad that Johnson, the novice speaker, didn’t drive a harder bargain with Senate Democrats on a short-term funding bill to prevent a shutdown this weekend. But they aren’t yet ready to depose him as they did with Speaker Kevin McCarthy in October. So they felt better about swallowing a spending agreement that seemed inevitable anyway — since it had to be negotiated with Senate Democrats and the White House. Because of the resistance from the hard right, Johnson faced a choice.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Johnson, Ultraconservative, Kevin McCarthy, They’re, McCarthy Organizations: Democratic, Democrats, Senate Democrats, White

☆ Senate to Pass Stopgap Spending Bill as Congress Moves to Avert Shutdown
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Carl Hulse | More About Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Senate was expected to pass legislation on Thursday to fund the government through early March, putting pressure on the House to quickly follow suit to avoid a partial government shutdown beginning Saturday. Senator Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat and majority leader, cleared the way on Wednesday for a midday vote on the measure. It is intended to give Congress time to pass spending bills totaling $1.66 trillion to fund the government through the fall, holding most federal spending steady while bolstering the military. The legislation “will give Congress time to continue working on the appropriations process to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year,” Mr. Schumer said. He will need significant numbers of Democrats to back the measure given expected Republican opposition.

Persons: Chuck Schumer, ” Mr, Schumer, Mike Johnson Organizations: New York Democrat

☆ The House G.O.P.’s Incredible Shrinking Majority
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Carl Hulse | More About Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Just a few canceled flights or cases of Covid can mean the difference between winning and losing on the floor. “It is tricky,” Mr. Schumer said. “It’s sort of magic,” said Mr. Schumer. Even on the issues that seemingly unite them against Democrats, like potential impeachments or contempt citations, Mr. Johnson will have to thread the needle precisely to succeed. In planning potential votes this week on holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress, Republican leaders said they would need absolutely all available hands on deck.

Persons: Johnson, Chuck Schumer, Kamala Harris, Mr, Schumer, “, ”, ” Mr, Hunter Biden Organizations: Senate Democrats, New York Democrat, Republican

☆ Behind Johnson’s Rise, a G.O.P. Consumed by the Far Right
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-25 | by ( Carl Hulse | More About Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In early 2009, congressional Republicans were staring down a long exile in the political wilderness. Barack Obama was about to assume the presidency, and Democrats were within reach of a filibuster-proof, 60-vote supermajority in the Senate and the largest House majority in more than 20 years after the economic crisis of 2008. Republicans seized on the Tea Party and associated groups, with their nativist leanings and vehemently anti-establishment impulses, as their ticket back to power. “We benefited from the anger that was generated against the one-way legislation of the Obama years,” said Eric Cantor, the former House leader from Virginia who became the No. 2 Republican after the 2010 midterm elections catapulted the party back into the majority.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Barack Obama, Obama, —, ”, Eric Cantor Organizations: Republican, Republicans, Tea Party Locations: Virginia

It was the latest failure on spending bills under Mr. Johnson, the speaker elected three weeks ago. Like his predecessor, Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, he managed to win approval of a temporary spending bill that took the threat of a shutdown off the table. Now, however, he is being punished for it by the far right, which is bent on slashing federal spending and conditioning it on conservative policies. In preventing a shutdown, Mr. Johnson essentially took the same bipartisan path that cost Mr. McCarthy the speakership last month. We want to see good, righteous policy, but we’re not going to be part of the failure theater anymore.”

Persons: Johnson, Kevin McCarthy of California, ”, Chip Roy, Roy, McCarthy, Johnson’s, “ We’ve, Scott Perry, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, “, we’re Organizations: Republicans, Commerce, State, Justice, Freedom Caucus Locations: Texas, Scott Perry of

☆ In His First Big Showdown, an Unyielding Conservative Yields
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Carl Hulse | More About Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Just weeks into his new job, Speaker Mike Johnson has already learned a valuable, if painful, lesson: Being an uncompromising conservative hard-liner is much easier from the backbenches of the House than it is from the leadership suites. The stopgap spending bill he pushed through the House on Tuesday with overwhelming support from Democrats over the objections of a solid bloc of Republicans was a near-exact replica of the funding package he had opposed six weeks ago, when he was still an obscure lawmaker from Louisiana. But as speaker, Mr. Johnson was forced to bow to the political reality that spending proposals designed to appease the far right cannot become law in a divided government. In doing so, he exhibited a pragmatic side that surprised Democrats and frustrated allies on the right who just days ago were exultant at his sudden rise. Mr. Johnson made the calculation that House Republicans, divided and known more for acrimony than accomplishment these days, could not afford to be held responsible for a crippling pre-Thanksgiving government shutdown.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Johnson Organizations: Republicans Locations: Louisiana

Speaker Mike Johnson’s proposal to avert a government shutdown at the end of the week ran into increasing opposition on Monday from hard-line Republicans. But with Democratic opposition softening, it appeared the plan could be headed toward bipartisan approval within days. The shifting alliances came as the House planned to take its first action on the bill as early as Tuesday. The move cost Mr. McCarthy his speakership. But Mr. Johnson — who is far more conservative than Mr. McCarthy — was not expected to face similar blowback from Republicans, who are not eager to repeat the dysfunction and paralysis that followed their last speaker’s ouster.

Persons: Mike Johnson’s, Kevin McCarthy, McCarthy, Johnson —, McCarthy — Locations: Israel, Ukraine

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