Page 10 - Us Senate

House speaker's race hits impasse as defeated Jim Jordan wants to try again

Refusing to drop out, Republican Rep. Jim Jordan has brought the House speaker's race to a stalemate the hard-fighting ally of Donald Trump has been unable to win the gavel but he and his far-right allies won't step aside for a more viable GOP nominee. The House is tentatively set to convene sometime Thursday afternoon for Jordan to try again. But there's a sinking realization that the House could remain endlessly stuck, out of service and without a leader for the foreseeable future as the Republican majority spirals deeper into dysfunction. The impasse has left some Republican lawmakers settling in for a protracted stretch without a House speaker. I think clearly Nov. 17 is a real date, said Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., who leads a large conservative caucus, referring to the next deadline for Congress to approve funding or risk a federal government shutdown. Next steps were highly uncertain as angry, frustrated Republicans looked at other options. A bipartisan group of lawmakers ...

Republicans reject Jordan for speaker on ballot, but more votes likely

Republicans rejected Rep. Jim Jordan for House speaker on a first ballot on Tuesday, as an unexpectedly numerous 20 holdouts denied the hard-charging ally of Donald Trump the GOP majority needed to seize the gavel. More voting is expected as Jordan works to shore up support to replace the ousted Kevin McCarthy for the job but the House immediately went into recess as the firebrand leader of the GOP's hard-right flank struggled to take a central seat of US power. After two weeks of angry Republican infighting since McCarthy was removed by hard-liners, the House vote quickly became a showdown for the gavel. Reluctant Republicans refused to give Jordan their votes, viewing the Ohio congressman as too extreme for the powerful position of House speaker, second in line to the presidency. In all, 212 Democrats voted unanimously for their House leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York, while 200 Republicans voted for Jordan and 20 for someone else. Jeffries has no chance of winning, and Jordan .

US Republicans set to vote on a new House speaker. Here's what to know

Republicans are heading to the House on Tuesday for the second time this Congress to try and elect a speaker, marking what they hope will be a unifying moment for a party that has been in turmoil for weeks. GOP lawmakers are expected to rally their votes behind Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, to be the next speaker despite reluctance from some who are wary of his hardline approach. Conservatives have been mounting an intense pressure campaign to persuade the final holdouts to support him. Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, won the GOP's nomination for speaker in a secret ballot on Friday. But a second round of voting showed that more than 50 Republicans would oppose Jordan on the floor, leaving him well short of the 217 votes needed to win the gavel. Since then, with the help of former President Donald Trump and some in conservative media, Jordan has managed to flip a substantial number of detractors in his favour. But he'll need the backing of nearly every Republican

Nominated to be House speaker, Scalise left searching for votes to win

Republicans nominated Rep. Steve Scalise on Wednesday to be the next House speaker but struggled to quickly unite their deeply divided majority and elect the conservative in a public floor vote after the historic ousting of Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the job. In private balloting at the Capitol, House Republicans narrowly pushed aside Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the firebrand Judiciary Committee chairman, in favour of Scalise, the current majority leader. The Louisiana congressman, who is battling blood cancer, is seen as a hero to some after surviving a shooting on lawmakers at a congressional baseball game practice in 2017. We have a lot of work to do, Scalise said afterward. A floor vote of the whole House was expected, but tensions are still running high among Republicans who have brought the House to a standstill with bitter infighting after McCarthy's stunning removal last week. The House was gavelled into a brief session, then broke indefinitely, with next steps uncertain. It's an .

Trump endorses Jim Jordan to succeed Kevin McCarthy as House speaker

Former President Donald Trump is officially backing Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the pugnacious House Judiciary Committee chairman and longtime Trump defender, to succeed Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker. Congressman Jim Jordan has been a STAR long before making his very successful journey to Washington, D.C., representing Ohio's 4th Congressional District, Trump wrote on his Truth Social site shortly after midnight. He will be a GREAT Speaker of the House, & has my Complete & Total Endorsement! The announcement came hours after Texas Rep. Troy Nehls said Thursday night that Trump had decided to back Jordan's bid.

McCarthy's ouster leaves House adrift as divided Republicans seek to unite

The stunning removal of Kevin McCarthy as speaker has left the House adrift as Republicans struggle to bring order to their fractured majority and begin the difficult and potentially prolonged process of uniting around a new leader. The House convened briefly on Wednesday and then went into recess, with North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry, the caretaker speaker pro-tempore, serving in the job with very little power for the foreseeable future. Other Republicans left Washington, awaiting the next steps. The House will try to elect a speaker as soon as next week. The timing is nowhere near certain as Republicans line up for their chance at the gavel amid the bitter divisions that sparked the chaos. The House majority leader, Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., is in line for the post, but he faced an immediate challenge from Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the Judiciary Committee chairman and a favourite of conservatives, who quickly announced his own candidacy. Others are expected to emerge. Many do

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McCarthy's ouster as speaker could cost GOP its best fundraiser heading

Kevin McCarthy spent years raising mountains of Republican campaign cash, flying around the country to recruit top candidates in key districts and painstakingly building political relationships as he worked his way toward becoming speaker of the House. Now that he's been ousted from the post after less than nine months, some in the GOP are wondering if anyone can take his place as a fundraising dynamo and party builder. The House isn't scheduled to vote on who could replace McCarthy until at least next week with all legislative work suspended as the chamber navigates a situation never before seen in the nation's history. In the meantime, House Republicans have no clear leader heading into next year's election as they cling to a razor-thin majority. Nobody can raise money like him, said Rep. Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D. And no matter who is the next speaker of the House, none of them can do what Kevin McCarthy did. The National Republican Congressional Committee, the GOP's House campaign

Ukraine aid left out of funding package, raises questions about US support

Congressional supporters of Ukraine say they won't give up after a bill to keep the federal government open excluded President Joe Biden's request to provide more security assistance to the war-torn nation. Still, many lawmakers acknowledge that winning approval for Ukraine assistance in Congress is growing more difficult as the war between Russia and Ukraine grinds on. Republican resistance to the aid has been gaining momentum in the halls of Congress. Voting in the House this past week pointed to the potential trouble ahead. Nearly half of House Republicans voted to strip USD 300 million from a defence spending bill to train Ukrainian soldiers and purchase weapons. The money later was approved separately, but opponents of Ukraine support celebrated their growing numbers. Then, on Saturday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy omitted additional Ukraine aid from a measure to keep the government running until Nov. 17. In doing so, he closed the door on a Senate package that would have ...

Threat of govt shutdown ends as Congress passes temporary funding plan

On the brink of a federal government shutdown, the House on Saturday swiftly approved 45-day funding bill to keep federal agencies open as Speaker Kevin McCarthy dropped demands for steep spending cuts and relied on Democratic votes for passage to send the package to the Senate. The new approach would leave behind aid to Ukraine, a White House priority opposed by a growing number of GOP lawmakers, but the plan would increase federal disaster assistance by $16 billion, meeting President Joe Biden's full request. The House vote was 335-91. With hours to go for the midnight deadline to fund the government, the Senate was also in for a rare weekend session and prepared to act next. We're going to do our job, McCarthy said ahead of voting. We're going to be adults in the room. And we're going to keep government open. With no deal in place before Sunday, federal workers will face furloughs, more than 2 million active-duty and reserve military troops will work without pay and programmes a

On the brink of govt shutdown, US Senate tries to approve funding

The US is on the brink of a federal government shutdown after hard-right Republicans in Congress rejected a longshot effort to keep offices open as they fight for steep spending cuts and strict border security measures that Democrats and the White House say are too extreme. Come midnight Saturday with no deal in place, federal workers will face furloughs, more than 2 million active duty and reserve military troops will work without pay and programs and services that Americans rely on from coast to coast will begin to face shutdown disruptions. The Senate will be in for a rare Saturday session to advance its own bipartisan package that is supported by Democrats and Republicans and would fund the government for the short-term, through Nov. 17. But even if the Senate can rush to wrap up its work this weekend to pass the bill, which also includes money for Ukraine aid and U.S. disaster assistance, it won't prevent an almost certain shutdown amid the chaos in the House. On Friday, a ...

US Senator freezes during press conference, returns to say "I'm fine"

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell froze up during a press conference and was escorted back to his office by his colleagues in the Republican leadership

US may ban lawmakers from trading on Street, new poll shows public support

The bill from Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D, NY) and Josh Hawley (R, Mo) is the latest in a series of measures to be introduced in Congress in response to WSJ's Capital Asset series last year

Members of India Caucus bring bipartisan legislation to push weapons sales

Members of the powerful India Caucus have introduced bipartisan legislation aimed at providing India access to the weapons it needs to defend itself and boost its security goals with the US in the strategic Indo-Pacific region. Indian-American Democratic Congressmen Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ro Khanna and Marc Veasey joined Republican Congressmen Andy Barr and Mike Waltz in introducing the legislation that will allow weapon sales to India from the US to be fast-tracked and deepen the US-India defence ties. Companion legislation has also been introduced by Democratic Senator Mark Warner and Republican Senator John Cornyn in the US Senate, a statement issued by Krishnamoorthi's office said. Barr's office said in a statement that this legislation would place India on equal footing with other U.S. partners and allies by streamlining and accelerating the review and sales process for Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and exports under the Arms Export Control Act. It subjects Indian FMS to the same

Investors relieved as US House passes debt ceiling Bill; Senate in focus

Asian markets were trading higher when the bill cleared the house and held their gains. Investors nudged S&P 500 futures from slightly negative back to flat. Treasury yields rose marginally

Former SVB chief Greg Becker set to testify to Senate on bank collapses

Scott Shay and Eric Howell, the former chair and president of Signature Bank, which also failed in March, are to appear on May 16

US House to vote on Republican debt limit bill this week, says McCarthy

McCarthy floated a plan last week that would pair $4.5 trillion in spending cuts with a $1.5 trillion increase in the $31.4 trillion U.S. debt limit

Meeting to strengthen US-India relations on April 26 at US Capitol

The Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans has announced a meeting to strengthen US-India partnership by bringing key stakeholders together. To be held on April 26 at the US Capitol, the meet has bipartisan support and has gained momentum in the past decade. "I am very excited that leading members of the Indian American community, senior members of the Congress, critical Administration leaders and foreign policy experts will be convening on April 26 to chart out a comprehensive strategy for strengthening US-India partnership," Indian American Congressman Ro Khanna told PTI. Khanna, who is co-chair of the Congressional India Caucus, is instrumental in organising the first of its kind India-US meeting at the US Congress. Eminent Indian Americans from across the country have been invited for the meet. The US' new ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, is flying back from New Delhi to address the event along with his Indian counterpart Taranjit Singh Sandhu. Among other key

US lawmaker calls for India to join 'team America', abandon China-Russia

A US lawmaker of a key Congressional committee on the increasingly contentious relationship with China, called on India to choose "team America" over Russia and China.

US Senate passes bill to end national Covid-19 emergency, declared by Trump

The US Senate has passed a bill to end the national Covid-19 emergency which was declared by former President Donald Trump on March 13, 2020