Last week we took a close look at Josh Hawley’s “Love America Act.” Now we have the Protect Equality and Civics Education (PEACE) Act. The Senate sponsors are Republicans Marco Rubio, (FL), Kevin Cramer (ND), and Mike Braun (IN). Here […]
Senate
Senate passes $3.5 trillion dollar budget framework. Hyde Amendment is saved. Anti-Critical Race Theory amendment passes.
It’s a done deal. Elections have consequences. The American people rejected Trumpism in 2020. Now the Democrats, who rode the anti-Trump wave into office last November, have the power to get some things done. National Public Radio explains what is […]
Who is J.D. Vance? Apparently a lot of Ohio GOP voters haven’t read Hillbilly Elegy
In his book Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, J.D. Vance interpreted Appalachia for a largely educated, non-populist reading public. He was able to do this because he left Appalachia for Yale Law School. He […]
The Democrats announce a $3.5 trillion “go-it-alone” infrastructure plan to supplement the bipartisan deal
While Joe Biden waits for his bipartisan infrastructure plan to get through Congress, Senate Democrats have announced another infrastructure plan that will provide funds for everything that did not make it into the bipartisan plan. This would include funding for […]
Only six Republican senators voted for a commission to study the worst attack on the U.S. Capitol since the War of 1812
It looks like American historians will need to do the work. John Hope Franklin once called historians “the conscience of the nation.” A Senate vote on a bill to create an independent commission to study the January 6, 2021 insurrection […]
Val Demings (D-Fla.) is planning a run against Marco Rubio
Demings was a House manager in Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial and was on Joe Biden’s vice-presidential shortlist. Political scientists Ashley Daniels and Pearl Dowe think Demings has a chance of taking Rubio’s Senate seat if she can mobilize Black […]
What did anti-1619 Project U.S. senators learn about race from their school textbooks?
The Root just published excerpts of U.S. history textbooks used in schools attended by the thirty-eight Republican senators, including majority leader Mitch McConnell, who recently signed a letter criticizing the New York Times 1619 Project and critical race theory. Here […]
Josh Hawley’s path to the insurrection
Josh Hawley, the Missouri senator who once had the support of liberal Republican John Danforth, is now the poster-boy for the far-right Republican Party. In this longform piece at The Washington Post, Michael Kranish chronicles how Hawley ascended to such […]
Conor Lamb for Senate?
It looks like the moderate Democratic congressman from western Pennsylvania might make a run at Pat Toomey’s open seat in 2022. Here is Sarah Ferris and James Arkin at Politico: Rep. Conor Lamb has begun telling some donors and supporters […]
Which U.S. Senate seats are most likely to flip in 2022?
According to CNN’s Simone Pathe they are: Pennsylvania: Pat Toomey (R) currently holds the seat. He is retiring. Georgia: Raphael Warnock (D) currently holds the seat. Wisconsin: Ron Johnson (R) currently holds the seat. North Carolina: Richard Burr (R) currently […]
A pro-Trump Pentecostal preacher will run against Jim Lankford in the 2022 Oklahoma U.S. Senate race
Jackson Lahmeyer is the pastor of Sheridan Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Here what is written on the “Who We Are” page of the church website: Most people are familiar with the name Sheridan Christian Center. It was one of the […]
The longest filibusters in U.S. history were launched to stop the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1964
Here is Gillian Brockell at The Washington Post: At his first White House news conference Thursday, President Biden said he agreed with former president Barack Obama that the filibuster is “a relic of the Jim Crow era.” This follows a Tuesday statement […]
Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith uses the Old Testament to lecture Senator Chuck Schumer (he’s Jewish) about why it is wrong to vote on Sunday
This is why we have separation of church of state. It also illustrates how the belief that America was founded as a Christian nation informs the legislative agenda of the country’s highest GOP lawmakers. Does Hyde-Smith really believe our voting […]
Why do people say that the Senate filibuster is racist?
Here is Zack Beauchamp at VOX: The question of what to do about the filibuster — the once-arcane Senate rule that creates a de facto 60-vote threshold for major legislation — is arguably the most important topic in Washington, DC, […]
Will John Thune run for another Senate term?
He is the second-ranked Republican in the Senate behind Mitch McConnell. In 2004, he upset Democratic leader Tom Daschle. He is a graduate of evangelical Biola University. Columnist David Brooks thought he should run for president against Barack Obama in […]
Mo Brooks announces Alabama senate run
In case you missed it, this was Mo Brooks on January 6, 2021: The guy who represents Alabama’s 5th congressional district is running for Senate. Here is NBC News: A conservative firebrand and staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump […]
Illinois senator Dick Durbin compares religious institutions who “discriminate” based on sexual orientation to the KKK. That’s not helpful.
I caught a little of bit of today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Equality Act. I did a brief post on it this morning after I learned about a constituency of Black Christian leaders who reject the Act and […]
57 Black Christian leaders endorse Fairness for All
As I type, the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding hearings on the Equality Act. As I have noted several times at this blog, I do not support the Equality Act. Instead, I join the National Association of Evangelicals, Council for […]
PayPal co-founder gives $10 million to J.D. Vance super PAC
Here is Cincinnati.com: PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel donated $10 million to a super PAC supporting Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance, a show of support for the possible Ohio Senate contender. Thiel, a German-American billionaire and early investor in Facebook, gave $10 […]
A majority of Iowans do not want 87-year-old Sen. Chuck Grassley to run in 2022
Here is the Des Moines Register: A majority of Iowans, including a third of Iowa Republicans, say they hope U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley decides not to seek reelection in 2022, a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll shows. The 87-year-old […]