David Welna

Fears Of Government Tyranny Push Some To Reject Gun Control

David Welna — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 07:23:00 +0000

As the Senate returns from a two-week spring recess Monday, topping its agenda is legislation to try to curb the kind of gun violence that took the lives of 20 first-graders in Connecticut last December.

Recent polls show broad popular support for enhanced background checks and bans on military-style guns and ammunition.

The Senators Who Oppose DOMA, Despite Having OK'd It

David Welna — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 11:32:00 +0000

The soul-searching over the Defense of Marriage Act went viral last week after Ohio Republican Sen.

Ted Cruz: From Texas Underdog To Republican Up-And-Comer

David Welna — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 09:14:00 +0000

The keynote speaker at Saturday night's closing session of the Conservative Political Action Conference is a 42-year-old Texan who's been a U.S. senator since January.

In that short time, Tea Party Republican Ted Cruz has already made a mark — and in doing so, he's simply ignored a tradition of new senators being seen, not heard.

5 Dates To Watch In Budget Showdown

David Welna — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:06:00 +0000

Friday's deadline for President Obama to issue a sequestration order is neither the beginning nor the end of this year's budget battles in Washington. Here are five key moments to watch over the next seven months, and what's at stake in each:

March 1

Meet The Virginian Shaping The House GOP's Immigration Plan

David Welna — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 08:03:00 +0000

Comprehensive immigration reform seems to top everyone's legislative wish list this year, and bills are already taking shape in the White House and the Democratic-led Senate.

A bipartisan group of senators recently laid out a path to citizenship for millions living in the country unlawfully.

Sen. Rubio's Response Gives GOP A Chance To Woo Hispanics

David Welna — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 08:43:00 +0000

Republican leaders have tapped Marco Rubio, a 41-year-old Cuban-American senator from Florida, to deliver the official GOP response to President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night.

It's a chance for a party that has fared badly with both young and Hispanic voters to showcase a fast-rising, youthful Latino with a new stance on immigration.

In making the announcement on the GOP response, House Speaker John Boehner called Rubio "one of our party's most dynamic and inspiring leaders." Time magazine has Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, on its current cover, where it ca

Even In Blue Minnesota, Gun Control Seems A Tough Sell

David Welna — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 22:18:00 +0000

Minnesota has a Democratic governor, two Democratic senators, and Democrats control both houses of its Legislature.

President's New Term Doesn't Mean New Day In Congress

David Welna — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 22:33:00 +0000

The Senate picked up Tuesday exactly where it left off nearly three weeks ago. By a twist of the rules, the Senate chamber remains in its first legislative day of the 113th Congress.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he's kept things at the starting point so that he and his fellow Democrats have the option of changing the rules on the filibuster by a simple majority vote.

"The Senate will take action to make this institution that we all love, the United States Senate, work more effectively," Reid said Tuesday.

The Decades-Old Gun Ban That's Still On The Books

David Welna — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 23:09:00 +0000

When President Obama laid out his proposals Wednesday to reduce gun violence, he included a call for Congress to ban "military-style assault weapons."

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have tried banning certain guns before. Nearly two decades ago, they barred the sale of semiautomatic assault weapons, only to let that law lapse 10 years later.

Cabinet Picks Come As Democrats Push To Change Filibuster

David Welna — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 11:09:00 +0000

In recent weeks, President Obama has chosen Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., as his next secretary of state; former Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., to head the Pentagon; counterterrorism adviser John Brennan to be CIA director; and his chief of staff, Jack Lew, to be the next Treasury secretary.

Each nomination will have to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and they all could be stopped by a Senate filibuster — that is, the refusal by any one of 100 senators to let a matter come to a final vote.

The nominations come just as Senate Democrats are pushing to make filibusters harder to pull off.