Page 6 - Us Senate

Senate approves funding bill just before shutdown deadline, sends to Trump

The Senate passed a six-month spending bill on Friday hours before a government shutdown, overcoming sharp Democratic opposition to the measure and sending it to President Donald Trump to be signed into law. The essentially party-line vote, 54-46, reflected gnawing Democratic angst over how to confront the Trump administration as its Department of Government Efficiency fires federal workers and dismantles operations. Democrats argued over whether to fight even risking a shutdown and fumed that Republicans drafted a measure that included little of their input, shortchanging health care, housing and other priorities. But in the end, enough of the Democratic senators decided a government shutdown would be even worse, and backed Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer's strategy to allow the bill to come forward. "A shutdown will allow DOGE to shift into overdrive," Schumer said. "Donald Trump and Elon Musk would be free to destroy vital government services at a much faster ...

Georgia bill may help Trump, others recover costs of election meddling case

Georgia's Senate passed a bill that could allow President Donald Trump and more than a dozen people to seek compensation for legal bills stemming from an attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. The bill passed unanimously by state legislators Thursday would enable compensation from counties for attorneys' fees and other legal costs in criminal cases in which a district attorney has been disqualified if the case gets dismissed, or compensation for the cost of arguing the district attorney should be disqualified. Trump and 18 co-defendants were indicted in Fulton County in August 2023. The accusations included asking Georgia's Republican secretary of state to find enough votes for Trump to win the battleground state, harassing an election worker and attempting to persuade Georgia lawmakers to ignore the will of voters and appoint a new slate of electoral college electors. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was disqualified from the election interference case

Democrats push House inquiry into Musk conflicts and DOGE firings

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are introducing a pair of resolutions demanding the Trump administration turn over documents and information about billionaire adviser Elon Musk's potential conflicts of interest and the firings of federal workers, The Associated Press has learned. It's the most aggressive move yet by Democrats trying to confront President Donald Trump's actions. The top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Gerald Connolly of Virginia, and Rep. Rep. Kweisi Mfume of Maryland are leading the effort as the party mounts a resistance against the Trump-Musk dismantling of government. The resolutions of inquiry would launch investigations into Trump's Republican administration and Musk through the Oversight panel. If the Republican-led committee fails to act, which is likely, the Democrats could push the resolutions to a House floor vote in a matter of weeks. President Trump, Elon Musk, and the DOGE team have been on a rampage to purge the government of non-partisan public

Ex-defense chiefs ask congressional hearings on Trump firing top officials

Five former secretaries of defence are calling on Congress to hold immediate hearings on President Donald Trump's recent firings of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and several other senior military leaders, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press. The five men - who represented Republican and Democratic administrations over the past three decades - said the dismissals were alarming, raised troubling questions about the administration's desire to politicise the military" and removed legal constraints on the president's power. Late last week, Trump fired Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr as chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth followed that by firing Adm. Lisa Franchetti, chief of naval operations; Gen. Jim Slife, vice chief of the Air Force; and the judge advocates general for the military services. Hegseth has defended the firing of Brown, saying that other presidents made changes in military personnel and that Trump deserves to pick his own

US Senate confirms Trump trade chief Greer ahead of Canada, Mexico tariffs

The Senate has confirmed Jamieson Greer, a veteran of President Donald Trump's first-term economic battles with China, Mexico and Canada, to be America's top trade negotiator. As US trade representative, Greer will work with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a billionaire financier, to oversee Trump's aggressive trade agenda. Greer's nomination cleared the Senate by a 56-43 vote on Wednesday. Trump is an enthusiastic supporter of taxes tariffs on foreign imports in an effort to protect US industry, raise revenue for the Treasury and coerce other countries into making concessions on issues ranging from trade to tax policy to immigration. The Republican president is planning to start taxing Canadian and Mexican imports at 25 per cent on March 4, a move that will disrupt North American commerce and blow up a 2020 trade deal that Trump himself negotiated. He also intends to impose "reciprocal' tariffs on foreign countries that have higher import taxes than the United States does. In

US Senate pulls all-nighter to push GOP budget amid Democrats' objections

Senators kept chugging through an all-night budget vote-a-rama, a crucial, if dreaded, step toward unleashing a USD 340 billion package President Donald Trump's team says it needs for mass deportations and security measures that top the Republican agenda. If ever there was a time to watch Congress in action, this might be it. Or not. Senators have been voting for hours, as late Thursday night turned into early Friday, on one amendment after another, largely from Democrats trying to halt the package. The result will be a final push by the Republicans to use their majority power to pass it on a party-line vote, likely by morning. What we're doing today is jumpstarting a process that will allow the Republican Party to meet President Trump's immigration agenda, Senate Budget Committee chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said while opening the debate. Graham said Trump's top immigration czar, Tom Homan, told senators that the administration's deportation operations are out of money and need mo

Republican senators push for border security bill without Trump's tax cuts

Senate Republicans are seeking to bypass Democratic opposition in that chamber and secure an early legislative win for Trump

US Senate approves Indian-origin Kash Patel's nomination as FBI Director

This came despite opposition from the Democrats, who warned that Patel, a staunch Republican, could use the agency to target the president's perceived political enemies

US regulators 'need to be tougher on Boeing', says Trump's nominee

Last month, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Congress that Boeing needed "tough love" and he would keep in place a cap on production of Boeing 737 MAX planes

Meta CEO Zuckerberg lobbies US senators on AI, seeks to muster influence

Zuckerberg met with senators one day after his personal charity announced it was ending diversity, equity and inclusion programmes

US Senate votes 48-45, advances Kash Patel's nomination for FBI director

Kash Patel, who has celebrated rank-and-file FBI agents for being "courageous, apolitical warriors of justice," will serve a 10-year term if confirmed

Senate panel approves Trump's pick Kash Patel's nomination as FBI director

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines on Thursday to advance the nomination of Kash Patel, Donald Trump's pick for FBI director, pushing past Democratic concerns that he would operate as a loyalist for the president and target perceived adversaries of the White House. The committee voted 12-10 to send the nomination to the Republican-controlled Senate for full consideration. It was not immediately clear when the final confirmation vote will occur, but so far even nominees once seen as having uncertain prospects including new Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence have been able to marshal sufficient support from Republicans eager to fall in line with Trump's agenda. Patel has raised alarm for his lack of management experience compared to other FBI directors and because of a vast catalog of incendiary past statements, which include calling investigators who scrutinized Trump government gangsters and describing at lea

US Senators push to reverse auto-renewal of work permits back to 180 days

Two influential Republican Senators have introduced a resolution to reverse a Biden-era rule that increased the period for renewing work permits from 180 to 540 days. The automatic extension of the Employment Authorisation Document (EAD) from 180 days to 540 days was of great help to the spouses of H-1B visa holders, a significant number of whom were from India. The rule finalised by the Department of Homeland Security on January 13 applies broadly to immigrants, refugees, green card holders, spouses of H-1B visa holders and more. Introduced on Thursday jointly by Senators John Kennedy and Rick Scott, the resolution seeks disapproval under Congressional Review Act (CRA) procedures for the Biden administration's rule that automatically extended the renewal period for an immigrant EAD to almost a year-and-a-half before officials could review those permits. The Biden administration's dangerous rule automatically extended work permits for immigrants to 540 days. Giving immigrants more

Kash Patel to face sceptical Democrats at FBI director confirmation hearing

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the FBI, will encounter deeply skeptical questioning from Democratic senators Thursday about his loyalty to the president and stated desire to overhaul the bureau as he faces a high-stakes hearing that will help determine his path toward confirmation. Patel, a Trump loyalist who has railed against the FBI over its investigations into the president and claimed that Jan 6 rioters were mistreated by the Justice Department, was picked in November to replace Christopher Wray, who led the nation's premier federal law enforcement agency for more than seven years. A former aide to the House Intelligence Committee and an ex-federal prosecutor who served in Trump's first administration, Patel has alarmed critics with rhetoric in dozens of podcasts and books he has authored in which he has demonstrated fealty to Trump, lambasted the decision-making of the agency he's now been asked to lead and identified by name officials he believes should be

US Senate bill seeks to limit birthright citizenship for some immigrants

A group of Republican Senators has introduced a bill in the US Senate to restrict birthright citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants and non-immigrants on temporary visas. According to Senators Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz and Katie Britt, who introduced the bill, the exploitation of birthright citizenship is a major pull factor for illegal immigration and a weakness for national security. The US is one of only 33 countries in the world with no restrictions on birthright citizenship, they said. The legislative move comes after an executive order on the matter, signed by President Donald Trump on the first day of his presidency, has been blocked by a federal judge in Washington state. The Center for Immigration Studies estimates that in 2023, there were 2,25,000 to 2,50,000 births to illegal immigrants, amounting to close to seven per cent of births in the US. It is long overdue for the United States to change its policy on birthright citizenship because it is being abused in

US Senate confirms Lee Zeldin to lead Environmental Protection Agency

The Republican-controlled Senate on Wednesday confirmed Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, a key role to help President Donald Trump fulfil his pledge to roll back major environmental regulations, including those aimed at slowing climate change and encouraging use of electric vehicles. The vote was 56-42 in Zeldin's favour. Zeldin, a former Republican congressman from New York, is a longtime Trump ally and served on Trump's defense team during his first impeachment. He voted against certifying Trump's 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden. Zeldin, 44, said during his confirmation hearing that he has a moral responsibility to be a good steward of the environment and pledged to support career staff who have dedicated themselves to the agency's mission to protect human health and the environment. Zeldin repeatedly declined to commit to specific policies, however, promising instead not to prejudge outcomes before arriving at EPA. When asked by Republican Sen.

Trump's second week tests his hold over Congress for agenda, cabinet picks

Facing him this week are talks to shape his tax and immigration bills and getting more cabinet nominees confirmed in the Senate

Trump's Cabinet picks: Where do they stand in confirmation process

It's been slow going in the procedure-heavy Senate since Monday's inauguration, with only two of Trump's top picks- Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe- confirmed

Senate passes immigrant detention bill, likely to be Trump's 1st signed law

Fresh off President Donald Trump's inauguration, the Senate on Monday passed a bill that would require federal authorities to detain migrants accused of theft and violent crimes, the first measure he likely will sign into law and giving more weight to his plans to deport millions of migrants. Trump has made a broad crackdown on illegal immigration his top priority, and Congress, with Republicans in control and some Democrats willing to go along, is showing it is ready to follow suit. Passage of the Laken Riley Act named after a Georgia nursing student whose murder by a Venezuelan man last year became a rallying cry for Trump's White House campaign was a sign of how Congress has shifted sharply right on border security and immigration. We don't want criminals coming into our country, Trump told supporters at the Capitol, adding he looked forward to holding a bill signing within a week or so. Trump is already ending many of former President Joe Biden's border and immigration progra

Trump meets with GOP senators as supporters cheer his Oval Office return

President-elect Donald Trump consulted privately with Republican senators Sunday before heading off to a series of events designed to celebrate his return to power and the Make America Great Again movement despite deep national political divisions on the eve of his inauguration. The private meeting featured a breakfast at Blair House, the president's official guest residence, across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, and gave top GOP leaders a chance to lay last-minute plans barely 24 hours before Trump moves back into the White House. Meanwhile, Trump supporters, many arriving from around the country and decked out in their fanciest clothes, including fur coats, filled parties both formal and informal at hotels and restaurants close to the White House. As they moved between the festivities, some could be heard chanting MAGA or simply stating it as a greeting to fellow revelers. Sunday is Trump's first full day back in Washington since his election victory and gives him a