All posts tagged: Lisa Murkowski

Senate backs Iran war powers resolution as GOP pressure grows on Trump

Senate backs Iran war powers resolution as GOP pressure grows on Trump

Published by Sam Flores

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., arrives at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 23, 2026, as he prepares for a meeting with President Donald Trump. J. Scott Applewhite | AP The Senate voted Tuesday to adopt an Iran war powers resolution directing President Donald Trump to remove U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran, delivering a symbolic bipartisan rebuke of the president’s handling of the conflict. The 50-48 vote came amid growing resistance in Congress to Trump’s Iran policy. Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined most Democrats in voting for the resolution. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., joined most Republicans in opposition. Two Republicans, Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania, did not vote. McConnell has been ill, and McCormick traveled with Trump for a rally in Pennsylvania. The measure — a concurrent resolution — will not be sent to Trump’s desk and won’t become law, meaning it will not force an immediate change in U.S. policy. However the …

ICE immigration enforcement funding on track to Trump’s desk

ICE immigration enforcement funding on track to Trump’s desk

Published by Sam Flores

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks during the news conference following the House Republican Conference caucus meeting at the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images The U.S. House is poised to vote to on a $70 billion package to fund immigration enforcement agencies and, after months of partisan fighting, send the measure to President Donald Trump’s desk. The package would fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, two Department of Homeland Security subagencies left out of an earlier spending bill amid Democratic opposition, and bring to an end a drawn-out debate over immigration enforcement policy that began in January and led to a government shutdown. A final House vote to pass the immigration funding package could come as soon as Tuesday. The Senate passed the package early Friday morning on a 52-47 vote. It would fund the immigration enforcement agencies through the end of Trump’s presidency. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, was the lone Republican to vote …

Trump flexes endorsement power for Ken Paxton after ousting Cassidy

Trump flexes endorsement power for Ken Paxton after ousting Cassidy

Published by Sam Flores

GOP Texas Senate Candidate Ken Paxton speaks to supporters at a watch party on March 3, 2026 in Dallas, Texas. Paxton and incumbent John Cornyn will face off again in a run off. Sergio Flores | Getty Images President Donald Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state’s Republican Senate primary runoff Tuesday, throwing his weight behind a hard-line ally and dealing a major blow to incumbent Sen. John Cornyn one week before Election Day. The endorsement gives Paxton a major boost in one of the GOP’s most closely watched Senate primaries, a race that has become a test of Trump’s grip on Republican voters and the strength of the Senate GOP establishment. “Ken is a true MAGA Warrior who has ALWAYS delivered for Texas, and will continue to do so in the United States Senate. He will tirelessly fight to continue the Great Growth of our Economy, Cut Taxes and Regulations,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “Ken Paxton has gone through a lot, in many cases, very unfairly, but he …

Trump doesn’t need Congress to restart Iran strikes: Hegseth

Trump doesn’t need Congress to restart Iran strikes: Hegseth

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on U.S. President Donald Trump’s FY2027 budget request for the Department of Defense on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 30, 2026. Eric Lee | Reuters Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said President Donald Trump doesn’t need congressional approval to restart strikes on Iran despite surpassing the 60-day limit allowed under federal law. Hegseth’s testimony Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee came after the Trump administration surpassed the 60-day mark required by the War Powers Resolution of 1973 to seek congressional authorization for the use of military force. The administration said earlier in May that hostilities had ceased with Iran, so it was not seeking authorization. Hegseth, however, said under questioning from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, that Trump would have the authority to restart strikes if he deemed it necessary. Read more CNBC politics coverage “Should the president make the decision to recommence, we would have all of the authorities necessary to do so,” Hegseth said. Murkowski pressed Hegseth further, asking if …

Congressional watchdog will probe DOJ’s handling of docs

Congressional watchdog will probe DOJ’s handling of docs

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore,) speaks during a press conference addressing a new policy that demands recipients of foreign military aid to follow international humanitarian law at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., February 9, 2024. Nathan Howard | Reuters Congress’ independent watchdog plans to open an investigation into the Department of Justice’s handling of files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. Merkley announced the opening of the probe on Tuesday, a little over a month after he and Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., requested the Government Accountability Office do so. “”By illegally disregarding the law, the Trump Administration is cruelly denying ‘equal justice under the law’ to all of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims,” Merkley said in a statement. “This independent investigation is an important step in holding this Administration accountable for siding with the rich and powerful to help cover up the abuse of our most vulnerable.” Merkley is the senator who introduced the Senate version of legislation that last …

Trump faces calls for removal over threats to wipe out Iran civilization

Trump faces calls for removal over threats to wipe out Iran civilization

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., speaks to the media outside the U.S. Capitol after the House of Representatives voted to pass President Donald Trump’s sweeping spending and tax bill, in Washington, July 3, 2025. Ken Cedeno | Reuters The reticence expressed by Democrats about removing President Donald Trump from office — even after he ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and attacked Iran without seeking congressional approval — quickly fell away after his latest threat to Iran. The president’s Tuesday morning Truth Social post, which threatened “a whole civilization will die tonight” and raised the specter of nuclear war, began a chorus of calls either for Trump’s impeachment or for his removal via the invocation of the 25th Amendment. On Tuesday evening, Trump and Iran announced a two-week ceasefire. “This is a threat of genocide and merits removal from office. The President’s mental faculties are collapsing and cannot be trusted,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., posted to X on Tuesday. “To every individual in the President’s chain of command: You have a duty to refuse illegal orders. …

Senate votes to start debate on Trump-backed SAVE America Act

Senate votes to start debate on Trump-backed SAVE America Act

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) speaks next to U.S. Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) at Senate Republicans’ press conference following their weekly policy lunch, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., Feb. 10, 2026. Kent Nishimura | Reuters The Senate on Tuesday afternoon voted to kick off what could be a dayslong debate over the SAVE America Act, the controversial voter-ID bill backed by President Donald Trump. “We’re not going to let it pass. We’re going to fight it tooth and nail,” Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said on Tuesday morning ahead of the vote. “We’re prepared to stay here all day and all night, or multiple days and multiple nights and even multiple weeks , if necessary, to make sure the SAVE Act suffers the death that it deserves.” The legislation, which advanced out of the House in February, would require proof of citizenship to register and photo ID to cast a ballot in elections. Those provisions would take effect immediately upon passage, potentially upending the 2026 midterm elections which will decide …

Congress seeks to depose prison guard on duty at death

Congress seeks to depose prison guard on duty at death

Published by Sam Flores

In this Nov. 25, 2019 file photo, Tova Noel, center in yellow blouse, a federal jail guard responsible for monitoring Jeffrey Epstein the night he killed himself, leaves federal court, in New York. Craig Ruttle | AP The House committee investigating disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein announced on Friday it is seeking testimony from a prison guard on duty the night the New York financier died. In a letter posted to the House Oversight Committee’s X account, Chair James Comer, R-Ky., called Tova Noel, who allegedly Googled Epstein minutes before his body was found, for a deposition on March 26. “Due to public reporting, documents released by the Department of Justice, and documents obtained by the Committee, the Committee believes you have information that will assist in its investigation,” the letter to Noel states. Read more CNBC politics coverage Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on federal child sex trafficking charges and died by suicide weeks later in a federal jail in New York City. Noel was on duty that night and allegedly failed to …

Senators call for investigation into release, redaction of Epstein files

Senators call for investigation into release, redaction of Epstein files

Published by Sam Flores

Newly-released documents from disgraced late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including a sheaf of entirely redacted pages, are seen in handouts released by the Justice Department and printed and arranged for a photograph by Reuters in Washington, Dec. 19, 2025. Jonathan Ernst | Reuters A bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday called on the Government Accountability Office to investigate the Department of Justice’s release and redactions of documents related to disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The letter, signed by Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, alleges the DOJ did not comply with a law that aimed to compel the release of the Epstein files while protecting victims. “Contrary to Congress’s explicit directive to protect victims, these records included email addresses and nude photos in which the names and faces of publicly-identified and non-public victims could be identified,” the lawmakers wrote. “But when it came to information identifying powerful business and political figures who are alleged coconspirators or material witnesses, DOJ appears to have heavily redacted those …

Trump says he’ll issue an executive order on voter ID by midterms

Trump says he’ll issue an executive order on voter ID by midterms

Published by Sam Flores

President Donald Trump on Friday said he will issue an executive order “shortly” laying out the “legal reasons” for national voter-identification requirements. Trump, in posts late Friday to Truth Social, said he wants voter-ID laws implemented for the 2026 midterm elections, even though legislation mandating them appears poised to stall in Congress. “The Democrats refuse to vote for Voter I.D., or Citizenship. The reason is very simple — They want to continue to cheat in Elections,” Trump posted to Truth Social. “This was not what our Founders desired. I have searched the depths of Legal Arguments not yet articulated or vetted on this subject, and will be presenting an irrefutable one in the very near future. There will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not!” he continued. In a second post, published minutes after the first, Trump said, “If we can’t get it through Congress, there are Legal reasons why this SCAM is not permitted. I will be presenting them shortly, in the form of an Executive Order.” Under pressure …