Today’s elections will almost certainly make it harder for Congress to push through progressive agenda items such as comprehensive immigration reform. Although a lot of the changes will be broad — more Republicans will mean more arguments for border security and enforcement and less support for paths to legalization — More…
In a symbolic gesture, the Senate this afternoon approved a resolution calling for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese pro-democacy activist and Nobel Laureate whose been under house arrest at the hands of Burma’s military leaders for most of the last two decades. The resolution also More…
A group of powerful Senate Democrats is urging leadership today to repeal the federal anti-trust exemption that insurance companies have enjoyed for more than six decades. In a letter to President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the Democrats More…
After a short back-and-forth on criminal law, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) used his friendly fire time to ask Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor about her “wise Latina” speeches, preceding the question with some attacks on conservatives who used those speeches to call Sotomayor a racist.
“No words I have ever More…
In his opening statement, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) noted that Thurgood Marshall, despite the fact that he graduated first in his law school class, was a highly successful U.S. Solicitor General and had a long list of extraordinary achievements, was grilled during his Supreme Court nomination with More…
At the Senate Judiciary Committee’s oversight hearing this morning, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano carefully skirted repeated questions about her views of whether longtime undocumented immigrants living in the United States ought to get a chance at legalization.
Although Napolitano did say she supports the DREAM Act — which would More…
As Daphne wrote earlier, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) reportedly told Charlotte Dennett, writing for Consortiumnews.com, that even he thinks his proposed truth commission to investigate alleged lawbreaking during the Bush administration is “not going to happen,” due to a lack of any semblance of More…
Daphne? Can you help me understand something?
I thought from President Obama’s answer to Sam Stein’s question at his press conference last month that he was lukewarm on Sen. Pat Leahy’s (D-Vt.) efforts to establish a truth commission for Bush-era abuses. But then why release all these Office More…
If you happened to catch The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC last night, you saw TWI Legal Correspondent Daphne Eviatar breaking down the pros and cons of Sen. Patrick Leahy’s (D-Vt.) proposed “truth commission” to investigate the Bush administration’s alleged crimes. Daphne also talked about the problem More…
Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appeared at a forum on Republicans and the Hispanic vote at the Capitol Hill Club this morning, getting a standing ovation from the crowd when he was pointed out by the moderator. As Gonzales left, I asked him whether he would participate in a “truth More…
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