Joe Biden’s ignorance of Southern history could screw up his presidency

Oh, bless your heart, Joe Biden.

Joe Biden invoked two segregationist senators, James Eastland and Herman Talmadge, as he fondly recalled the “civility” of the Senate in the '70s and '80s https://t.co/DGJyIle7dH

— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) June 19, 2019

There’s something inherently destructive about a politics that preferences “civility” among powerful white senators over the humanity of African Americans, ...

As his state is ravaged by a drug epidemic, Mitch McConnell fundraises off ‘Cocaine Mitch’ T-shirts

Kentucky has been one of the states his hardest by drug addiction in recent years, with some of the highest rates of drug overdose deaths. Meanwhile, the state’s senior U.S. senator, Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, is selling T-shirts branding him “Cocaine Mitch” as a fundraiser for his 2020 re-election campaign.

The nickname stems from the 2018 West Virginia Republican Senate primary. In that race, coal baron Don Blankenship, the former Massey Energy C...

What the Senate vote on the Green New Deal resolution actually means

Senate debate over the hotly contested Green New Deal resolution is expected to come to a head on Tuesday as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) tries to force a divide among Democrats by calling for a vote on the ambitious proposal, even though no legislation has been proposed.

Democrats, meanwhile, are working to gain the upper hand with a display of unity, despite their differing stances on what meaningful climate action should look like. The final vote will serve as an...

Democrats don’t need any more presidential candidates. They need senators.

At least on paper, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) looks like a powerful contender for the presidency. He has a quarter-century of experience in Congress. He brings a left populist appeal without the baggage of being a self-described “socialist.” And he’s a winner. Brown won reelection by nearly seven points last November, despite Ohio’s Trumpian tilt and despite the fact that Republicans swept the state’s other major statewide offices.

Nevertheless, Brown an...

It’s Day 27 of the shutdown, and McConnell is mounting a futile effort to codify Hyde

In the midst of the longest-ever government shutdown in U.S. history, Senate Republicans have instead decided to consider a bill on Thursday to codify existing restrictions that make it harder for low-income people to get abortions.

The bill codifies the Hyde Amendment — a provision that passes annually and prohibits federal Medicaid dollars from covering abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or life endangerment — among other things. The bill is unlikely to get the ...

This Mitch McConnell quote from 2013 looks really awkward today

On Thursday night, eight Republicans joined all the Democrats in the House of Representatives to pass a bill that would reopen parts of the federal government — omitting any funding for President Trump’s border wall — in a bid to end the two-week shutdown directly impacting about 800,000 federal workers.

On Friday, the upper chamber remained silent as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) refused to allow a vote on legislation that would end the shutdown. McConnell has...

Donald Trump is right about the filibuster

Donald Trump is so very right about this.

Mitch, use the Nuclear Option and get it done! Our Country is counting on you!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2018

Trump says that he would be “proud” to shut down the government unless Congress gives him over $5 billion to fund a border wall. But there aren’t 60 votes in the Senate to pass such funding. Trump thinks that the funding may pass if Senate Repu...

McConnell warns Republicans will try to repeal Obamacare again if midterms go well for GOP

With midterm elections fast approaching, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has let it be known that Republicans aren’t done trying to repeal Obamacare.

Calling the GOP’s previous attempt to end the Affordable Care Act “the one disappointment of this Congress from a Republican point of view,” McConnell told Reuters on Wednesday that his party could make another run at President Barack Obama’s signature health care law if Republicans expand th...

McConnell says the debt is ‘very disturbing.’ Here’s what that means for the social safety net.

The same lawmakers who exploded the federal deficit by gifting millionaires and billionaires a favorable corporate tax bill are now telling the public that the way to fix the deficit is to shred the social safety net.

On Tuesday, after the Treasury Department released figures showing the federal deficit for Fiscal Year 2018 rose 17 percent to reach $779 billion, Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was interviewed by Bloomberg. He was asked about the growing debt and deficit....