Democrat Crying Cartoons

Mitch McConnell: GOP evening the score by using 'nuclear option' for Gorsuch

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has told Fox News' "The First 100 Days" Tuesday that the GOP's use of the so-called "nuclear option" to confirm Judge Neil Gorsuch is their response to the Democrats' "breaking the rules of the Senate" in 2013.
"For 230 years, up or down, simple majority [required] for Supreme Court, Cabinet, everything until [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer invented this, so it’s a fairly recent thing to filibuster executive branch appointments," McConnell told host Dana Perino. "All we’ll do faced with this filibuster is even that up so the Supreme Court confirmation process is dealt with just like it was throughout the history of the country."
McConnell also told Perino that that Senate was "going to confirm Judge Gorsuch on Friday. Exactly how that occurs, I guess, will depend upon our Democratic friends."
Earlier Tuesday, McConnell filed for cloture to end debate on the Gorsuch nomination. He is expected Thursday to enact a rules change eliminating the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees and lowering the vote threshold for confirmation from 60 to 51.
McConnell told Perino Tuesday night that Senate Democrats appear to be "pretty locked in" on their promise to filibuster Gorsuch.
"I think they’re responding to their base, which says ‘Resist everything.’ It’s particularly ridiculous to watch it on Gorsuch because there are no good arguments to vote against Gorsuch. None whatsoever."
McConnell also said Tuesday that he had asked the Senate intelligence committee to investigate reports that former national security adviser Susan Rice ordered the unmasking of Trump transition officials under surveillance.
"Anything related to Susan Rice or any of these other suggestions will be handled by the intelligence committee," McConnell said, "and we look forward to receiving their report."

DHS won't rule out arresting illegal immigrant crime victims, witnesses

Homeland Security cannot promise that illegal immigrants will not be arrested if they come forward to report they have been a victim of a crime or a witness to one, a spokesman said Tuesday.
Some victims and witnesses themselves are potentially criminal immigrants who may pose a threat to the country, David Lapan, a spokesman from DHS said at a news briefing.
Lapan added that immigration arrest in courthouses are necessary because some jurisdictions will not cooperate with requests to alert federal agencies.
Los Angeles officials, for example, are already attributing a drop in reported crimes to President Trump's illegal immigration crackdown. These officials fear the threat of arrests can deter victims from reporting crimes or witnesses from cooperating in investigations.
Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said last month that his city has seen a 25 percent decrease in the number of sexual assaults reported by Latinos living in the city and a drop of about 10 percent in the number of reported domestic violence cases since Trump took office.
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and Attorney General Jeff Sessions also defended the practice of arresting these immigrants at courthouses in a letter last month to the chief justice of the California Supreme Court.
"Because courthouse visitors are typically screened upon entry to search for weapons and other contraband, the safety risks for arresting officers and persons being arrested are substantially decreased," Kelly and Sessions wrote.

US coal companies reportedly ask White House to remain in Paris climate pact

Two of the top U.S. coal companies reportedly asked the White House to back down on President Trump’s vow to pull out of the landmark Paris climate pact, arguing that the deal could protect its global interests.
Cloud Peak Energy and Peabody Energy executives told White House officials over the last few weeks that staying in the climate deal may give U.S. negotiators a change to advocate for coal in the future, Reuters reported Tuesday.
"The future is foreign markets, so the last thing you want to do if you are a coal company is to give up a U.S. seat in the international climate discussions and let the Europeans control the agenda," a U.S. official familiar with the talks told Reuters. "They can’t afford for the most powerful advocate for fossil fuels to be away from the table.”
Richard Reavey, Cloud Peak’s vice president of government affairs, said staying in the accord and trying to create a “reasonable path forward” on fossil fuel technologies is a reasonable stance.
Officials said the coal industry wants to ensure the Paris deal provides a financial role for storage technology as well as role for low-emission coal-powered plants. The industry also hopes the agreement would protect multilateral funding for global coal projects through international bodies like the World Bank, Reuters reported.
Sources told Reuters in March that Trump’s administration had contacted U.S. energy companies to seek their input about their views on the accord. The sources said many companies would prefer the U.S. remained in the deal, but would also support reducing the country’s commitments in the deal.
Press Secretary Sean Spier said last week that a decision on whether to remain in the deal would be made during the G7 meeting in May.
Trump promised during his presidential campaign to pull the U.S. out of the pact. Trump signed an executive order last week that initiated the unravelling of the Obama administration’s sweeping plan to curb global warming.

Merkley takes to Senate floor 'as long as I'm able' against Gorsuch

Just before 7 p.m. ET Tuesday, Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley went to the floor to talk for "as long as I'm able" to protest Republicans' 2016 blockade of President Barack Obama's nominee for the seat, Merrick Garland.
Merkley’s staff streamed the video of him on the Senate floor. So far, the senator has spoken for over 10 hours.
"Make no mistake: this is a stolen seat — & if this theft is completed, it will undermine the integrity of the court for decades," Merkley tweeted as he began.
His endurance was praised by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who tweeted, "Go, @SenJeffMerkley, Go! #StopGorsuch #HoldTheFloor."
Merkley's speech wasn't expected to delay Wednesday's debate on President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch or Thursday's votes.
Senators of both parties bemoaned the further erosion of their traditions of bipartisanship and consensus. Some were already predicting that they would end up eliminating the 60-vote requirement for legislation, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell McConnell committed Tuesday that would not happen under his watch.
He drew a distinction between legislation being filibustered and the filibuster being used against nominees, something that is a more recent development.
Gorsuch now counts 55 supporters in the Senate: the 52 Republicans, along with three moderate Democrats from states Trump won last November — Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana.
SEN. MIKE LEE VOWS TO CONFIRM GORSUCH
A fourth Senate Democrat, Michael Bennet from Gorsuch's home state of Colorado, has said he will not join in the filibuster against Gorsuch but has not said how he will vote on final passage.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told Fox News' "The First 100 Days" Tuesday that the GOP's use of the so-called "nuclear option" to confirm Judge Neil Gorsuch is their response to the Democrats' "breaking the rules of the Senate" in 2013.
"For 230 years, up or down, simple majority [required] for Supreme Court, Cabinet, everything until [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer invented this, so it’s a fairly recent thing to filibuster executive branch appointments," McConnell told host Dana Perino. "All we’ll do faced with this filibuster is even that up so the Supreme Court confirmation process is dealt with just like it was throughout the history of the country."
Gorsuch, 49, is a 10-year veteran of a federal appeals court in Denver, where he's compiled a highly conservative record that's led Democrats to complain he sides with corporations without regards to the humanity of the plaintiffs before him.
Merkley also took issue with the Republican claim that Supreme Court justices should not be confirmed during an election year, and listed several judges in the past that were appointed during those timeframes, OregonLive.com reported.
"Until the FBI and Congress complete #Russia investigation, confirming @realDonaldTrump lifetime appointment to #SCOTUS is premature," Merkley tweeted.