It's a long shot, but if Republicans pull off an inside straight in November and pick up the 10 Senate seats needed to grab the majority, GOP senators almost certainly would make the soft-spoken but tough-as-nails Mitch McConnell of Kentucky the next majority leader. McConnell, 68, the minority leader, wouldn't bite when asked what his agenda would be if his party gains control. Though confident, he doesn't want to be presumptuous.
In an interview on August 2 in his spacious office in the Capitol, the bespectacled lawmaker made it clear that he thinks that President Obama has steered the country in a far-left direction, out of step with voters. So it's a safe bet that bruising clashes, especially over domestic policy, will follow if McConnell becomes the Senate's top leader -- at least until both sides decide that it's in their interest to compromise. Such deal-making took place in the 1990s after President Clinton was confronted with newly installed Republican majorities in the House and Senate. But given the level of partisanship in Washington and the anger in the country today, bipartisan deal-cutting is hard to imagine. McConnell also defended his party's stances in policy battles with the White House over nominations and on legislation dealing with the oil spill in the Gulf. He also explained the strong opposition of most Republicans to the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court.
Read the full interview here.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is frustrated with what she views as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's political posturing. Speaking to NationalJournal.com Tuesday evening at the Capitol, the top Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee took sides with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., in his ongoing dispute with Reid, who faces a tough re-election fight in Nevada, over whether immigration reform should be tabled this year so a climate bill can move forward. "I think Senator Graham is right to be more than just a little bit irritated about what has happened with the process," Murkowski said.
Murkowski also expressed her support for moving forward with an energy bill that her committee approved last year, but warned that if Democrats try amending that bill to include cap-and-trade -- an idea that Reid and others have floated -- "it sinks the ship." Edited excerpts of the interview follow.
Continue reading Murkowski: Reid Is Playing Politics.
Sen. Joe Lieberman, I/D-Conn., is a central player in the Senate climate change debate, working with Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to craft compromise legislation. Lieberman has been involved in climate change issues since 2003, when he worked with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on Congress' first global-warming legislation.
Lieberman spoke with National Journal on Monday. Read edited excerpts in our Energy & Environment section.
A year after the "empathy" standard for Supreme Court nominees became a hot topic, Sen. Ben Cardin says President Obama should put it behind him.
The Maryland Democrat was asked recently about comments by fellow Senate Judiciary Committee member Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., that there's been "a near-universal rejection of President Obama's empathy standard, the flawed notion that judges should allow personal feelings, political opinions, and social views to guide judicial decision-making."
Cardin's take: "My advice to Obama would be pick the best person. He shouldn't worry about satisfying anyone's litmus test. Because there shouldn't be a litmus test for the nominee." The real activism on the court, he said, has come from conservatives "giving power to those who already have power, and making it, I think, just the reverse of what the court should be doing."
Read edited excerpts of this interview at NationalJournal.com's SCOTUS nomination blog, The Ninth Justice.
Not only does Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, her name has also been floated as a possible pick to be President Obama's second Supreme Court nominee.
After Justice John Paul Stevens announced his retirement Friday, Klobuchar spoke with National Journal.com about the nomination process, the midterm implications of a possible confirmation battle, and why she would decline to accept the honor if nominated.
Read edited excerpts of this interview at NationalJournal.com's SCOTUS nomination blog, The Ninth Justice.
Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio was one of only a couple Republicans to join almost a dozen moderate Democrats in a closed-door meeting Tuesday to discuss the climate and energy proposal being crafted by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Joe Lieberman, I/D-Conn. In an interview with reporters afterward, Voinovich said he was open to learning more about the limited cap-and-trade system the proposal will likely include. Still, he said, the best bipartisan path forward would be with an energy-only bill.
Edited excerpts follow.
Continue reading Voinovich: Energy-Only Bill Still The Way To Go.
At a "Congressional Debriefing" hosted by National Journal and The Atlantic the morning after the State of the Union, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., predicted that the health care bill would move forward from its current impasse. In the course of the interview, Klobuchar also discussed the president's speech, the filibuster and the year ahead. Edited excerpts follow.
Continue reading Klobuchar Hopeful Reform Bill Will Progress.
Sen. John Cornyn was the first of four lawmakers and administration officials to take part in a "Congressional Debrief," an event hosted by The Atlantic and National Journal the morning after President Obama's first State of the Union address. Over the course of the conversation, the Texas Republican spoke about the president's address as well as the legislative landscape in the year ahead, the possibility of more bipartisanship and the future of the filibuster. Edited excerpts follow.
Continue reading Cornyn: The System Worked On Health Care.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told National Journal reporters Dec. 17 that voters will turn to GOP candidates this year because the Democratic legislative agenda has been both sparse and unpopular. What follows are edited excerpts.
Continue reading Cornyn: Voters Willing To Give GOP A Chance.
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Robert Menendez, D-N.J., talked with National Journal reporters Dec. 22 about the party's challenges going into the midterm elections and how to contrast Republican policies with those offered by Democrats. What follows are edited excerpts.
Continue reading Menendez: Election Won't Be Referendum On Us.
Democrat Christopher Dodd is the longest-serving senator in the history of Connecticut, the author of the landmark Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee -- and now, it seems, with his expected retirement announcement today, the latest casualty of a toxic political climate. In his bid for re-election this fall, Dodd was consistently trailing in polls against leading Republican opponents. In one survey, a scant 39 percent of the state's voters said they viewed him as "honest and trustworthy."
Dodd was well aware that voters were upset with him over such matters as his place on the notorious "Friends of Angelo" V.I.P. list at Countrywide Financial Corp., maintained by chief executive Angelo Mozilo to give favorable mortgage terms to influential Washington insiders. In a telephone interview with National Journal on Dec. 17, he said, "People are angry, and angry at me. I acknowledge that."
Dodd, though, denied that he was giving any thought to exiting the race. "I love what I do. And I am good at what I do," he said of his work in the Senate.
Continue reading Dodd In December: 'People Are Angry... At Me'.
At the conclusion of the emergency Democratic caucus meeting late Monday called by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, the doors swung open just wide enough for some reporters to peer inside. Sen. Joe Lieberman, I/D-Conn., could be seen standing at the front of the room as senators filed out. Facing a thicket of microphones, the exiting senators hastened away, grim-faced and closed-mouthed. But Lieberman hung back inside, deep in conversation with Reid and Connecticut colleague Christopher Dodd. Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin of Illinois hovered a step or two away. Unaware that they could be seen, all had smiles on their faces as they conversed. All looked relaxed after Reid's let's-hang-together meeting, which was focused on how important it is for Democrats to show Americans that they are capable of "governing."
Lieberman, feeling the health care heat but appearing unruffled, finally strode out to face reporters. For audiences now trying to untangle Lieberman's logic, what follows are excerpts of what he said Monday night about health care reform, the Senate's progress and his current resistance to any expansion of Medicare to a younger demographic.
Continue reading Lieberman Says He's Not Alone On Medicare.
Lowering carbon emissions by focusing on better technology in the transportation sector isn't new. But Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del., argues that raising the corporate average fuel economy standards, as he helped do in 2007, and encouraging the development of cleaner-energy vehicles isn't enough.
Reducing emissions requires a large reduction in the average "vehicle miles traveled," Carper says, meaning people need to drive less and find other, lower-emissions ways to get around. To that end, he's proposing legislation to encourage people to travel greener.
At a Policy Lunch sponsored by National Journal, CSX and the Transportation Construction Coalition, Carper spoke with reporter Lisa Caruso about low-emissions transportation options and how they would change the American landscape. Video excerpts from the conversation follow.
Continue reading Carper: Transportation Key To Energy Reform.
In April, Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer asked Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del., to head up a working group to address some of the coal industry's concerns on climate change legislation. Carper worked with eight other senators, including six from coal states, to hammer out a plan that would encourage coal-based utilities to develop and install technology to capture power plant greenhouse gas emissions and sequester them underground. Much of the compromise language drafted by the team was included in the climate change bill now being considered by the Senate Environment Committee.
But the coal group was less successful in reaching agreement on several other key coal-related provisions, including whether the legislation should prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from using the Clean Air Act to control greenhouse gas emissions. That and other contentious coal-related issues are destined to be debated during the ongoing Senate climate change debate.
National Journal reporter Margaret Kriz Hobson spoke with Sen. Carper on Oct. 23 about the coal negotiations.
Continue reading Carper Sees Limited Progress Pre-Copenhagen.
In September, Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., became chair of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. Before taking control of the panel, Lincoln had been a vocal critic of climate change legislation. Since she joined the leadership, she's taken a more cautious approach. As a member of three committees with jurisdiction over global warming issues -- Agriculture, Energy and Finance -- Lincoln's agricultural perspective will carry great weight in the climate change debate.
Lincoln talked to National Journal reporter Margaret Kriz Hobson on Oct. 23.
Continue reading Lincoln: More Than One Way To Lower Carbon.
During the ongoing climate change discussions, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio., has emerged as the Senate's point man on the industrial Midwest. Brown, who is widely considered to be a liberal, is pushing Senate Democrats to require that importers pay a carbon dioxide fee for products made in countries that don't control their greenhouse gases. He also wants Congress to provide free allowances under the cap-and-trade program to companies that need to transition to using cleaner-burning fuels and manufacturing green-energy products.
Brown talked about his position on climate change in an Oct. 23 interview with National Journal reporter Margaret Kriz Hobson.
Continue reading Brown Sees Pivotal Moment For Industry.
Sen. Joe Lieberman, I/D-Conn., has become the Senate's roving ambassador on climate change legislation, reaching out to moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats who are still on the fence on whether to vote to restrict U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Lieberman has a long history of working on climate change legislation; he co-sponsored Congress' first climate change bill in 2003 with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
During this year's debate, Lieberman is negotiating provisions designed to encourage the construction of new nuclear power plants. Although Lieberman acknowledges that some Senate liberals might resist his nuclear proposals, he argues that the issue is key to gaining the 60 votes that Senate leaders need to override an expected Republican filibuster.
National Journal reporter Margaret Kriz Hobson interviewed Lieberman on Oct. 23.
Continue reading Lieberman: Climate Bill's Time Has Come.
Behind the scenes of the energy debate, Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., is working to prepare the United States for the December United Nations climate change summit in Copenhagen. Cardin was recently in Athens to deliver an address on climate change to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a regional security coalition. He was there as part of his duties as chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, an independent federal agency staffed by congressional members and administration officials that works with OSCE. Cardin is also a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, which is currently marking up the climate legislation introduced recently by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.
NationalJournal.com spoke with Cardin after his trip to get his take on some of the key components of a global climate change treaty and domestic climate legislation.
Continue reading Cardin Eyes Climate Measures Here And Abroad.
Shortly before the Senate went on its August recess last week, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., outlined his view of the political landscape as well as the political fallout for Republicans from the Senate's 68-31 vote to confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor as the first Hispanic to serve on the Supreme Court.
McConnell's comments came during a phone interview on Thursday. Edited excerpts follow.
Continue reading Consulting On A Health Care Prescription.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island was one of the few Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee whom liberal legal scholars said embraced a more progressive judicial philosophy during Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings (subscription). NationalJournal.com's Amy Harder spoke with Whitehouse Tuesday morning about the larger battle between conservatives and liberals over the judiciary.
Read the interview at The Ninth Justice.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said on the Senate floor Wednesday night that her constituents' "overwhelming concern" about Second Amendment issues compelled her to vote against Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation. But that doesn't mean she thinks it was appropriate for the National Rifle Association to score the vote. Murkowski also speculated that Alaska's other senator, Democrat Mark Begich, is facing a similar amount of pressure from constituents on the same issue; he is one of just a few Democrats who have not announced their votes.
NationalJournal.com spoke with Murkowski on Wednesday night. Read the interview at The Ninth Justice.
As the full Senate began debate on Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, NationalJournal.com spoke briefly with Arizona Republican John McCain, who announced his intent to vote no on Monday. He said he isn't concerned about alienating Hispanic voters, despite warnings from his more moderate colleagues that that's exactly what he and other Republicans are doing with their "no" votes.
McCain also denounced the politicization of the Supreme Court confirmation process -- and took a jab at his 2008 presidential opponent, Barack Obama, for being "one of the major contributors to that."
Read the full interview at The Ninth Justice.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has put together a coalition of 14 Democratic and Republican senators around a compromise health care proposal that would replace the current system of tax-exempt, employer-based health insurance with a system of tax credits or deductions for individuals to purchase insurance on their own. Democratic leaders have been dismissive of the proposal, and it has failed to gain traction. But after Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Elmendorf testified before the Senate Budget Committee on Thursday that current Democratic plans would not reduce the government's health care costs in the long term, Wyden saw an opportunity to get his plan back in the mix.
A member of the Budget Committee, Wyden asked Elmendorf first to confirm that his plan would contain costs and cut taxes for millions of Americans and then to confirm that current Democratic plans wouldn't significantly reduce insurance premiums. Wyden, who is also a member of the crucial Senate Finance Committee, spoke to a couple of reporters immediately after the hearing about how his plan could solve the problems facing the primary Democratic health care proposals. Edited excerpts of his comments follow.
Continue reading Wyden's Moment On Health Care Reform?.
When President George H.W. Bush nominated conservative appellate judge Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court in 1991, Former Sen. John Danforth, R-Mo., happily agreed to guide him through the Senate confirmation process. Though liberal interest groups fiercely opposed Thomas, Danforth was confident that Thomas, his friend who had worked for him as a legislative assistant and, earlier, as an assistant state attorney general, would be confirmed. But the hearings took an unexpected turn when Anita Hill, a former subordinate, charged that Thomas had sexually harassed her.
Danforth watched as his friend went through personal hell. An ordained Episcopal minister, Danforth angrily battled for Thomas' confirmation. After explosive hearings, the Senate narrowly confirmed Thomas, the second African-American to serve on the Court, 52-48.
That experience had a searing impact on Danforth, who served in the Senate from 1977 through 1994. In a recent interview with National Journal's Kirk Victor, Danforth spoke of lessons from that acrimonious battle 18 years ago that may be applicable today as the Senate considers Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court. As Republicans develop their strategy for the hearings, they have a chance to repair the broken hearing process, Danforth said. Edited excerpts of the interview follow.Continue reading GOP Should Learn From Thomas Hearings.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., demonstrated to a clutch of reporters on Tuesday that after more than two decades, he can still recount in detail the sting of being a judicial nominee on the losing side of a fight. In 1986, Sessions failed to win the approval of the Senate Judiciary Committee when President Reagan nominated the young U.S. attorney from Mobile to become a federal judge. Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, then a Republican, voted against him, as did former Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del, who was then the ranking Democrat on the panel. Sessions' detractors complained at the time that the nominee had made a series of racially insensitive remarks, calling the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union "un-American," among other things. But bygones are bygones, Sessions said this week. "We are past that."
Now 62, and in his third term in the Senate, Sessions this week won the support of his GOP colleagues to become the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee after Specter announced he was switching parties. In a plot twist fiction writers could appreciate, Sessions will now lead conservatives' scrutiny of President Obama's nominee to succeed retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter. Sessions agreed that his experience as a nominee will give him him empathy -- among the attributes Obama values and conservatives decry -- although he was quick to say he will object to any Supreme Court pick who would substitute bias or personal preferences for the rule of law. Edited excerpts from National Journal's Alexis Simendinger follow.Continue reading Sessions Says He's Looking For Judicial Restraint.
Continue reading Daschle Expects Health Reform This Year.
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