Off the Senate floor, other GOP senators – Mike Rounds (S.D.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Susan Collins (Maine), Thom Tillis (N.C.) and John McCain (Ariz.) piled on with their own criticism of Cruz. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) preferred criticisms.
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But McConnell is reluctant to take up the House’s highway legislation, and the authors of the Senate’s version took to the Senate floor Monday to urge McCarthy and House members to relent and act on the Senate version.
People close to McConnell won’t let on just how mad he is about being called a liar by a junior senator in a speech that shattered expectations of decorum in the usually dignified chamber.
Boxer, however, said in response, “if we have a bill, we’re sending it”.
One of probably the most contentious points is the Export-Import Bank. But late Monday the Senate voted 64-29 to add legislation reviving the bank to a sweeping highway bill being considered on the floor. “It hasn’t always been easy”.
“There comes a time in the history of nations when fear and complacency allow power to accumulate and liberty and privacy to suffer”.
At the same time the extension sets up another potential standoff over transportation for the fall, a timeframe that already has all the makings for a major showdown between congressional Republicans and the White House over government spending levels and other issues, with a government shutdown threatening if a resolution is not reached.
The bank has been reauthorized 16 times by Congress – never without a few degree of political wrangling. The Senate wants to pass a six-year bill-the first such long-term authorization in a decade-but it has struggled to finance more than half of the authorization and, in recent days, has expressed an openness to a short-term patch. I immediately announced my intention to pursue that vote on the floor, consistent with Senate Rule XXII. This is the peak season for US construction as those ubiquitous orange cones and barrels show up on our interstate highways, bridges and local roads.
“I would stand by Sen”.
His premise was that the GOP would forfeit the moral authority to lead unless it could draw a clear line between “certain business interests” using money and influence to seek special treatment and what he described as genuine free enterprise, “the Main Street competitive economy”.
Republicans have been highly divided on whether or not the revival of the institution is worth the investment. But the best tools he has to blunt them are his expertise in legislative politics and strategies and the strong support of most of his caucus.
Cruz fired off on McConnell, saying that the Majority Leader sidestepped a vote regarding Planned Parenthood. And by voice vote, the Senate defeated an attempt by Cruz to overturn a ruling made Friday that blocked him from offering an amendment related to Iran, with senators refusing even to agree to his routine request for a roll-call vote.
In a calculated move, McConnell dispatched Utah Sen. It is not something to take lightly.
Veteran observers of the Senate, even Democrats, recognize what McConnell is up against. Yet conservatives are staunchly against doing so, and now the issue will remain unresolved for at least another month. Because of that, reports The Hill, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy Monday said the House will not vote on the Senate bill. He’s got a safe seat so he doesn’t have to answer to anybody.
As the Senate met for a rare Sunday session, Sens.
And certainly not Orrin Hatch.
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Ullyot predicted there will be more of the same in the months ahead.
