Senate

It's Valentine's Day, and we have an idea about how our Senators could show all Americans how much they care about us!

Millions of hardworking Americans will be cut off of unemployment insurance (UI) unless Congress acts to fully renew the federal UI program that's set to expire at the end of this month. But House Republican leaders are at it again, trying to slash benefits, impose onerous new burdens on unemployed workers, and dismantle the UI system that is a lifeline for so many families.

We need your help! Call your Senators toll-free today at 1-888-245-3381 and ask them to have a heart this Valentine's Day: fully and cleanly renew unemployment insurance for the rest of the year with no cuts and no barriers to benefits! Read more »

We are starting 2012 much as we ended 2011 -- with a minority of U.S. Senators blocking confirmation votes on federal judicial nominees. Most recently, Senator Mike Lee of Utah announced his intention to block votes on all judicial and executive branch nominees. Even though a nominee to a Utah court -- whom Senator Lee supports -- is waiting for a vote, Senator Lee won't back down.

If this sounds familiar, it's because we've seen the same story play out over and over. Enough is enough: tell your Senators to vote on ALL judicial nominees.

There are 18 nominees ready for a Senate vote, eight of whom are women. If these eight women are confirmed, the gender diversity of two circuit courts and numerous district courts around the country would increase significantly. While President Obama's nominees have been more diverse than any prior President's, the Senate has to confirm them in order for people needing justice to actually benefit from a more diverse bench. Read more »

This afternoon, the Senate confirmed Cathy Ann Bencivengo to a seat on the Southern District of California by a vote of 90-6. Judge Bencivengo, who had been rated Unanimously Well-Qualified by the ABA’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, was approved without opposition by the Senate Judiciary Committee back in October. Despite the fact that the seat to which she had been nominated had been designated a judicial emergency, Judge Bencivengo’s nomination languished for four months. Read more »

Yesterday it was reported that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will bring a package of judicial and/or executive branch nominees for a Senate vote at the end of next week, before the Senate’s week-long President’s Day recess begins. Why is this such big news? Well, the Senate has only confirmed one judicial nominee in 2012. This, despite the fact that there are 86 judicial vacancies, of which 33 have been deemed judicial emergencies. And there are 19 nominees who are waiting for a Senate vote, some who have been cooling their heels for months. Read more »

Even for the most dedicated political nerd, the twists and turns of Senate process can be opaque. When is a failed cloture petition a filibuster? Who objected to the unanimous consent request? Why did everyone agree to two hours of debate when they’re just going to fill them up with quorum calls? And don’t get me started on secret holds.

In contrast, Utah Senator Mike Lee has forthrightly owned up to his recent decision to block all judicial and executive branch nominations. Senator Lee said, flat-out, last week, “I find myself duty-bound to resist the consideration and approval of additional nominations.” (Senator Lee made clear that this blockade is in protest of President Obama’s recess appointments of Richard Cordray and three NLRB commissioners).

Unfortunately, the action that Senator Lee is helpfully owning up to is one of devastating scope and wide-ranging impact. Read more »

As I followed the news over the weekend, I felt some measure of relief when the Senate passed a two-month extension of federal unemployment insurance (UI) and other measures like the payroll tax cut on Saturday. No, two months isn’t long enough – it means we’ll be fighting the same battles early in the new year – and yes, it’s disappointing that millionaires still haven’t been asked to contribute an extra dime. But given the overwhelmingly bipartisan vote in favor of the Senate compromise bill (89 to 10!), I expected that the House would quickly pass it – and the nearly 2 million unemployed workers who would face benefit cutoffs in January without a federal UI extension might get a little peace during the holiday season.

But no. Suddenly critical of the “short-term fix” that he appeared to support just last Friday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) announced on Sunday that the House would likely reject the Senate bill. And today, House Republican leaders refused even to allow an up-or-down vote on the two-month extension. Instead, the House voted along party lines to refer the bill to a House-Senate conference committee for negotiation, killing the chance to prevent the UI benefits and payroll tax cut from expiring on December 31. Read more »

The Budget Control Act enacted in August required both the House and Senate to vote on a balanced budget amendment (BBA) to the Constitution before the end of this year. As we reported last month, the BBA failed in the House.

Today, two versions of a BBA failed in the Senate: S.J. Res. 10, introduced by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and S.J. Res. 24, introduced by Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO). S.J. Res. 10 would have required even more extreme spending cuts than the BBA rejected in the House (H.J. Res. 2), as it imposed a strict cap on annual federal expenditures and required a two-thirds vote to raise taxes in any way. S.J. Res. 24 did not include these provisions and would not have applied to Social Security – but either amendment would have resulted in drastic cuts to programs that women and their families depend on, while making recessions longer and deeper. (See our post here for a refresher on the threats posed by any BBA.) Read more »

Caitlin Halligan, a nominee for the D.C. Circuit Court, is one of the most respected appellate lawyers in the country. She has a broad range of legal experience, including government service, private practice, and academia. She has honed her practice in state and federal appellate courts, and has argued five cases before the Supreme Court. Her many accomplishments are reflected by the unanimous "Well-Qualified" rating she received from the ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. She has earned the respect and support of her peers and has been endorsed by a long list of organizations.

This superb nominee has waited over eight months without a vote by U.S. Senators — even though there are three vacancies on the D.C. Circuit. But the wait is finally over.

It's time for a vote: Tell your Senators to support the nomination of Caitlin Halligan for the D.C. Circuit. Read more »

Yesterday afternoon, the Senate voted to confirm Christopher Droney to a Connecticut-based seat on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Remarkably, Judge Droney is only the 8th appellate court judge confirmed by the Senate in 2011. Those members of the Senate determined to slow-walk judicial nominees are apparently determined to do so in every conceivable category. With 15 vacancies on the courts of appeal, you would think that all Senators would want to proceed to votes on the four other Court of Appeals nominees ready for a vote, out of, you know, a concern for the administration of justice. Apparently not. Read more »

Congressional coverage this week has focused on the continuing debate in the super-committee and the just-passed spending bill that counts tomato paste on pizza as a vegetable in school lunches. It’s hardly a wonder that Congress’s recent approval ratings have been as low as 9 percent; more people approve of turning the U.S. into a communist country than approve of the job Congress is doing.

But there really are Members of Congress who are trying to do the right thing for the country – like helping the nearly 14 million women and men who are unemployed. Last week, I wrote about the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act, which would maintain vital federal unemployment benefits for workers who have been unemployed for more than six months. And this week, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced the Pathways Back to Work Act (S. 1861), a bill that would create employment and training opportunities for jobless workers, including those who have exhausted UI benefits or who have insufficient work experience or earnings to qualify for UI. (Rep. George Miller has introduced a similar bill, H.R. 3425, in the House.)

The $5 billion Pathways Back to Work Fund established by the bill includes: Read more »