U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, introduced an amendment Monday designed to stymie Republican President Donald Trump’s call to ban transgender people from serving in the U.S. armed forces. The move fulfills a commitment Collins and Gillibrand made in late July, after Trump issued his controversial call for the Pentagon to […]
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Susan Collins plans to challenge Trump's transgender troops ban in defense bill
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, walks toward the Senate floor on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday, the day lawmakers returned to Washington. WASHINGTON — Two senators are preparing an amendment to challenge President Donald Trump’s announced ban on transgender troops serving in the military that they hope to attach to a sweeping defense bill the […]
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GOP leaders accuse James Comey of planning to clear Clinton before interviewing her
Top Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee are alleging former FBI director James Comey planned to exonerate Hillary Clinton for conducting official business on a private email server long before the agency had completed its investigation. Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., sent a letter Thursday to FBI director Christopher Wray, demanding documents […]
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Three budget deadlines loom for federal government
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration and Congress face a daunting set of budget-related deadlines in the coming weeks. Blowing them could upend global financial markets and cause a partial government shutdown. What you need to know about next month’s three-car pileup of must-do fiscal business, the prospects for resolution, and the consequences of failure: […]
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Paul LePage suggests Republican base won't back Susan Collins for governor
Gov. Paul LePage looks to be leading a Republican civil war against U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ 2018 gubernatorial bid — before anyone’s sure that she’ll declare one and as she sits at the center of the national health care debate. The governor railed against the moderate Republican senator at a Saturday pig roast put on by the Somerset […]
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Donald Trump pushes GOP senators to restart Obamacare repeal-and-replace effort
WASHINGTON — Hoping to avoid a humiliating political defeat, President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded that Republican senators resume their efforts to approve a plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, insisting that lawmakers are “very close.” A day after the GOP strategy to rollback the ACA appeared dead, Trump invited Republican senators […]
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Mitch McConnell gets ready to repeal Obamacare as Donald Trump lashes out
Republicans in Congress were reeling Tuesday from the failure of their latest health bill as President Donald Trump said he’s willing to let Obamacare fail and called on the Senate to change one of its central rules. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the chamber will vote on a straight repeal — with a two-year […]
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Two more senators drop support, health care bill collapses
WASHINGTON (AP) — The implosion of the Senate Republican health care bill leaves a divided GOP with its flagship legislative priority in tatters and confronts a wounded President Donald Trump and congressional leaders with dicey decisions about addressing their perhaps unattainable seven-year-old promise of repealing President Barack Obama’s law. Two GOP senators — Utah’s Mike […]
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Christopher Wray vows to be an independent FBI director
WASHINGTON — Christopher A. Wray, President Trump’s nominee to head the FBI, told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that if the president improperly pressured him to drop an investigation, he would first try to talk him out of it — and if that failed, resign. He testified during his confirmation hearing that no one […]
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Susan Collins explores creating bipartisan 'Plan B' to GOP health bill
More than half a dozen Republican and Democratic senators have discussed alternatives to the embattled GOP health-care bill, even as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he plans a vote next week to muscle the Obamacare repeal measure through the Senate. Talks about a bipartisan fallback are based on the idea that Obamacare insurance markets have […]