After weeks of delay, Rep. Hilda Solis is one step closer to being confirmed as labor secretary. Members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee met quickly between floor votes Wednesday afternoon to vote to approve Solis’ nomination. In a statement after the vote, Chairman Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said, “Hilda Solis comes from a working family herself so she understands how the troubled economy is hurting average Americans. American workers deserve to have her voice and her leadership as their Secretary of Labor, and I’m pleased that our committee approved her.†Republicans were concerned about Solis’ public advocacy…
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Sen. Daniel Akaka and Rep. Bob Filner plan to introduce bills Thursday to provide advanced appropriations for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Akaka, chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, and Filner, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, have long argued that advanced appropriations will help the VA provide better health care, make needed hires and operate more efficiently. The Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act of 2009 would provide the VA with funding one year in advance of the regular appropriations process, according to an Akaka news release. Akaka, D-Hawaii, and Filner, D-Calif., will announce details…
The Senate voted 93-4 Wednesday afternoon to confirm William Lynn as deputy defense secretary. During his January confirmation hearing, several senators questioned Lynn’s past as a senior lobbyist for Raytheon Co. of Waltham, Mass., a top Pentagon contractor. President Barack Obama had initially taken a hard line against lobbyists, saying they would have no place in his administration, but later softened his position.
House and Republican leaders have ironed out differences in the different versions of the economic stimulus bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Wednesday afternoon. “The bills were really quite similar, and I’m please to announce that we’ve been able to bridge those differences. Like any negotiation, this involved give and take, and if you don’t mind my saying so, that’s an understatement,” he said during a press conference. The full details of the changes in the now $789 billion bill haven’t been released, but Reid was joined by the three Senate Republicans who crossed party lines to back the…
We bring you House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s take on the new $1.5 trillion financial rescue program unveiled today by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. “What an era in which we live where a serious question can be asked whether $1.5 trillion is enough,” he said Tuesday after a reporter asked if $1.5 trillion would solve our economic woes.
Senate Democratic leadership has announced who will be serving on the conference committee to iron out differences in the House and Senate versions of the stimulus bill. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii Finance Committee Ranking Member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Thad Cochran, R-Miss. Both Finance and Appropriations were heavily involved in the creation of the Senate version, with each committee holding markups on their portions. And for the House: Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey, D-Wis. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. Energy and…
The Senate approved its $838 billion stimulus bill by a vote of 61-37 at 12:45 p.m. Tuesday. Three Republicans voted for HR 1: Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. Check Federal Times shortly for a full story about the bill, as well as a breakdown of spending projects allocated for federal agencies.
The Senate voted 61-36 Monday to invoke cloture on the Collins-Nelson amendment, setting up a vote Tuesday on the full $827 billion stimulus package. The cloture vote ends debate on the Collins-Nelson amendment, a compromise amendment that cut more than $120 billion from the stimulus package to ensure enough Republican votes for passage. The Monday cloture vote is a strong indicator of what Tuesday’s vote will look like. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the Senate will likely vote on the stimulus at noon Tuesday and will then vote on presidential nominees later in the afternoon. After Tuesday’s vote, the…
Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., has been named the new chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia. Lynch replaces Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., as chairman of the subcommittee, part of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Rep. Jason, Chaffetz, R-Utah, has been named the subcommittee’s ranking member.
The Senate, in what feels like its 7,000 hour of voting on amendments to the stimulus bill, just approved requiring competitive bidding for federal contracts. The amendment, introduced by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., passed 97-0 Friday afternoon, a monumental show of support from both Republicans and Democrats who have been concerned about oversight of the stimulus. The amendment to the Senate version of the bill will require “all contracts, grants and cooperative agreements awarded under this act to be competitively bid.” Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., said such an amendment is critical to ensuring money is responsibly spent. The temptation to…