.
@SenatorLeahy
is back in the Capitol for the first time since his hip surgery to help provide Democrats the majority they need to complete work on the IRA. Note the Batman sticker on the wheelchair.
.
@senatemajldr
McConnell says vote-by-mail is a "non-existent problem" during a press appearance in Kentucky. "I want to make it perfectly clear that whatever way a given state chooses to vote, those votes are going to be counted."
Asked Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, as she left the floor after casting her vote against changing the Senate rules, what she thinks the next steps on voting rights are.
“Have a nice night,” she said.
A Senate staffer waiting for their boss at votes: “sometimes I feel like watching C-SPAN is like watching your dog at day care. Are they having fun? Are they making friends?”
Sen. Rand Paul was absent through much of the last hour of presentation before the break. But when Schumer called the break, Paul beelined in without a mask on and handed a folded piece of paper to Trump attorney David Schoen.
Sen. Rand Paul confirms in a statement that a member of his staff was "brutally attacked in broad daylight" in DC this weekend.
According to police reports obtained by ABC News, the staffer was stabbed with a knife multiple times on the 1300 block of H St. NE.
Literally moments after the House had final passage on a post office relief bill,
@senatemajldr
McConnell issued a statement stating " the Senate will absolutely not pass stand-alone legislation for the Postal Service while American families continue to go without more relief"
Manchin says McConnell’s threat to upend USICA over reconciliation talks is “so wrong” and represents the “problem with politics.” McConnell’s maneuvering won’t cause Manchin to back out of talks.
If you ever wondered what I’d look like running for my life
@politico
has graciously answered the question for you. Worst picture of me ever, worth it for this day.
Today all the journalists be like...
Kudos to
@Smahaskey
for catching the media sprinting out of the Alexandria courthouse to announce the Manafort verdict.
Asked Sen. Manchin if, after pressing pause on Dem climate proposals, he’d be supportive of President Biden declaring a national climate emergency: “Let’s see what the Congress does. The Congress needs to act.”
Sen. Mike Lee said he spoke to Leader Kevin McCarthy this morning, and that McCarthy told him he would "love" to work on a spending bill in the new year.
Lee says McCarthy told him it would be "malpractice for Republicans to pass an omnibus spending bill" before the new year.
UPDATE: The Rand Paul staffer who was “randomly and brutally” stabbed in DC this weekend is expected to make a full recovery, per his parents.
Phillip Todd underwent trauma surgery to address his wounds, and will need non-invasive neurosurgery to address a skull fracture.
Intern giving Capitol tour to other interns: Have ever seen the appropriations room? It’s so cool.
Other intern: No. What do they do in there?
First intern: Appropriate stuff.
There were a lot of really brave people that stepped up on 1/6 to protect lawmakers and those of us working in the building. I remain incredibly grateful for Officer Eugene Goodman’s actions that day and every day since (he’s really cool in addition to being a hero)
It takes a certain level of conviction to shoot back an entire glass of whole milk at 4:30 in the afternoon in front of God and country on the Senate floor.
I'm not sure what choice I have but to respect it.
A stern warning from
@LeaderMcConnell
“these shots need to get in everybody’s arm as rapidly as possible or we are going to be back in a situation in the fall, that we don’t yearn for, that we were in last year.”
As I see it there are two types of reporters in Washington: Those who do not recognize this hallway and those whose Google Maps app is beginning to mistake it for their home address.
Today kicks off a very tough week for a lot of hill journalists and staffers who are reflecting on their experiences one year ago on January 6. I'm incredibly thankful for those who have checked in, and holding the Capitol Hill community extra close this week.
"We are relieved to hear the suspect has been arrested. At this time we would ask for privacy so everyone can focus on healing and recovery," Paul said in a statement.
w/
@MissBeaE
Sen
@HawleyMO
on SCOTUS nomination says it’s “the wrong approach to exclude people on the base of race or not or gender or not.”
“But the most important thing is that he nominate somebody that is pro-constitution.”
Leader Schumer is calling for the immediate removal of Trump from office. If Pence and the cabinet won't invoke the 25th amendment, Schumer says Congress should "reconvene to impeach the president.”
Dr. Rachel Levine has just become the first openly-transgender person to be confirmed by the US Senate, and as such becomes the highest ranking trans official in the country. She'll serve as Assistant Secretary of Health.
Progressive skepticism on infrastructure:
@RepAOC
"If we actually want in good faith to make this vision and the commitments that they've put down happen we need a more robust investment. I have really serious concerns that 2.25 trillion over 8 years is not going to get us there."
Texts with
@KFaulders
from January 6, 2021. As much as that day has national resonance, it has personal meaning for those of us who were there. I remain so grateful for those who sacrificed to keep us safe that day and every day since.
Black Friday shopping as a Senate producer: trying on heeled booties and then briskly jogging across the store to see if you could chase after a lawmaker while wearing them.
McConnell, speaking in KY about his recent trip to Ukraine, said he went in part because "there is some isolationist sentiment in my party that I think is wrongheaded, and I wanted to push back against it."
CORNYN tells me there will be text “hopefully shortly.” Bill is hung up over “details.” Asked about getting booed in TX over the weekend: he’s “all for people exercising their first amendment rights” but the reaction doesn’t change how he’s negotiating the gun reform bill.
Apparently you cannot tell a 21 year old intern to "call me beep me if you want to reach me" because they will not know what that is in reference to. Just a PSA. Excuse me while I prepare for the retirement home.
Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves on this rule passage.
Matt Gaetz just told me “I want to vote for the rule so that I can vote against this bad CR”
🚨HOUSE REPUBLICANS have passed the rule that will allow for debate and vote on their stopgap funding bill today.
A surprise -- mostly for the leadership, which thought this would go down.
218-210
Overwhelmed. Amazed.
I won’t ever be able to express what it means to have been chosen to serve as future Chair of the RTCA.
Congressional reporting is the life blood of mission driven journalism. I am honored to have been chosen as a leader for journalists who do this work
You think the big booty mix guys thought they were creating a pump up anthem for someone getting ready to spend 36+ hours sitting in the Capitol observing an intricately negotiated fast track budget bill?
Chief of Staff Mark Meadows returning to the hill tonight for continued negotiations on COVID relief says that the agreement is on the “35 yard line” - this is a less optimistic projection than yesterday’s “20 yard line”
Hear me out: Nickelodeon coverage of the Senate floor? SpongeBob presiding? Sliming those who try to go over an hour during this upcoming debate? Larry the Lobster roaming around in the well?
Just something to chew on today: As of tonight
@taylorswift13
will have put out TWO albums in less time than its taken Congress to agree on a second COVID-19 relief package.
Taylor Swift news for the Senate followers: Majority Leader
@SenSchumer
’s favorite
@taylorswift13
song is White Horse. I can confirm he knows the words and can sing along.
The hearse carrying Officer Brian Sicknick’s remains departs the Capitol Building. Sicknick lost his life during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. He laid in honor in the Capitol rotunda last night and this morning.
You ever spend your Friday night waiting by the phone but it’s not for a text from someone you like but instead a notice that the Senate parliamentarian has ruled?
McConnell was just repeatedly asked by reporters in KY if he's been tested for COVID-19 since Saturday, and did not answer it. "Have I ever been tested yes. I’m not going to answer questions about when."
.
@SenMarkKelly
, whose wife is a survivor of gun violence, crosses paths with Parkland shooting survivor
@davidhogg111
in the hall just outside the Senate chamber
A quick personal post:
I am running for the RTCA board! Elections are today and tomorrow, so if you’re a credentialed member of the Radio TV gallery, I hope you’ll consider casting a vote today!
Here’s me, casting mine!
I am told RECA renewal is NOT in the final defense bill. The backroom dealmakers took it out - even after the big bipartisan vote in the Senate. This is a major betrayal of thousands and thousands of Missourians who have been lied to and ignored for years
.
@SenSchumer
called on the USPS board of governors to suspend Louis DeJoy from his position as post master general pending an investigation into allegations that he may have violated campaign finance law.
We may not have an agreement on a path forward for the infrastructure bill but we do have
@lisamurkowski
declaring the sunset “snap worthy” and for that we are thankful
You know like a typical 9-5 job except you go to work at 8:30, come home, eat dinner, take a 2.5 hour nap, wake up at 12:30 AM and return to the Capitol for more vote-a-rama fun
Don’t lose this in the other historic firsts of today: The senate just confirmed the first appointment of Biden’s adminsitration - Avril Haines to be the DNI. She is the first ever female spy chief 🕵🏻♀️
Sen.
@HawleyMO
will bring
@DawnChapmanSTL
as his guest to the SOTU. Chapman has been fighting to secure funds for those exposed to nuclear radiation with
@Justmomsstl
. A bill to reauthorize and expand funds for those victims will come to the Senate floor this week.
As we head in to this week of debate on the Senate rules just know that my roommate just used the term “nuclear option” to describe using Accutane to treat acne. This is a niche tweet but I do hope it will land with its target audience.
1 year later and watching this video that I shot on 1/6/21 still makes my stomach drop. By this point the Capitol had already been breached. I remember trying to stay keep my head out of the window. I didn’t want rioters to be able to see me.
If we've got nothing else to be excited about at least Congressional twitter has never been more in its element than it is today. And, when push comes to shove, we love that.
“I will stand in this breech, I will defend this nation and I will allow no one to place a dagger at the throat of democracy,”
@POTUS
says. “I believe the power of the presidency is to unite this country, not divide it.”
Former VP contender
@timkaine
told me his advice to Harris and Biden is to do as many events as they can together. “I think the public likes to see what the working relationship is going to be like.”
Good morning from the US Senate feat. Sen. Ron Wyden and this man… an author dressed in colonial garb who is spending a year “living constitutionally”.
“He was randomly and brutally attacked by a person armed with a knife, who, according to the police report, attempted to kill him. The intervention of our son's friend helped prevent the wounds from being fatal,” his parents say.
Paul made a personal visit to Todd.
McConnell railing against calls to overturn the filibuster: "Nobody serving in this chamber can even begin to imagine what a completely scorched-Earth Senate would look like."
It is 40 minutes until the article of impeachment comes over and - in case you're curious where we are at -
@KFaulders
just flushed both of her airpods (but not the case) down the toilet in the Senate press gallery
While visiting home, my mom asked me to clean out a box of old papers. I found my AP Gov Congress vocab cards. Maybe I should have spent less time complaining that there was “no way this would ever be relevant in adult life” and more time actually learning what “cloture” is.
President Biden’s motorcade arrives at Capitol Hill. In a few minutes, he’ll give a speech in Statuary Hall marking the anniversary of the Jan 6 attack on the Capitol.
By a vote of 86 - 13, the Senate has confirmed Pete Buttigieg to serve as Transportation Secretary. You can add him to the list of historic firsts in the Biden cabinet, as he is now the first openly gay cabinet official to be confirmed by the Senate.
At JD Vance event in Ohio, a man interrupted the remarks and approached Vance with a copy of his book, Hillbilly Elegy, to ask him for a refund.
Afterward, a Vance supporter bought the book from the man for $20.
Today I published my 200th story with
@ABC
News. The headlines span a special counsel, an impeachment and a pandemic. The 2 years since I graduated from
@mujschool
have been pretty wild. I can’t wait to see what’s next.
Dawn Chapman, who lives within miles of a nuclear site in Mo. told me she was locked in her bathroom, nearly in tears after hearing this news
"This puts me in a position where I have to do both: I have to advocate for my community but I also have to ease my kids broken hearts."
I’m taking a few minutes to reflect today and I hope that you will too.
Carrying this story is an important part of who I am as a person 3 years later. And it is an important story for every American to remember.
Texts with
@KFaulders
from January 6, 2021. As much as that day has national resonance, it has personal meaning for those of us who were there. I remain so grateful for those who sacrificed to keep us safe that day and every day since.
Sure, getting drinks with your friends on a beautiful summer solstice night is fun, but have you ever eaten a vending machine salad at your desk at 9:30 pm while waiting for the Senate to finish voting?
.
@ReverendWarnock
leaving the Capitol tonight says jury made the "right decision" but that criminal justice reform is still a top priority. "The urgency is as real today after this verdict as it was yesterday."