Democratic Caucus Keeps Reid as Leader, but Airs Frustration
Senate Democrats voted on Thursday to keep Senator Harry Reid of Nevada as their leader, but his victory came only after a nearly four-hour closed-door meeting, where 28 caucus members expressed their frustration with the party’s direction after an Election Day drubbing.
Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri, did not support Mr. Reid’s bid, and other moderate senators, like Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, had hoped to delay the vote, in order to give the Democratic caucus more time to fully discuss their concerns and plot their next steps.
Wicker Picked to Lead National G.O.P. Senatorial Committee
Senate Republicans today handed the job of protecting their new majority to Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, who was elected chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
In the only change in the party’s leadership ranks, Mr. Wicker, a former House member and staffer, defeated Senator Dean Heller of Nevada for the job, which may be one of the most difficult in Congress over the next two years. Mr. Wicker replaces Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas, who did not seek to hold on to the post.
Mr. Wicker will have his hands full. Though they won big this year, Senate Republicans will have 24 seats on the ballot in 2016, compared to 10 for Democrats, and Republicans are up in difficult states such as Illinois, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. And it will be a presidential election year, which has proved in recent years to draw more Democrats to the polls than in midterm elections such as the one this year.
The low-key Mr. Wicker once worked for former Senator Trent Lott in the House and was appointed to replace Mr. Lott when he abruptly quit the Senate in 2007. Mr. Wicker easily won a special election in 2008 and was just as easily elected to a full term in 2012. Mr. Wicker’s politically safe status frees him up to travel and raise money — the two main requirements for heading the party’s Senate operation. He also has ample connections in Washington’s lobbying community from his years on Capitol Hill.
Warren’s Leadership Job Could Be Liberal Liaison
Democratic leaders in the Senate are hoping to elevate Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts and a folk hero to the progressive wing of the party, to the leadership team in a nod to the party’s base, said a Democratic aide familiar with the role being considered.
If elected, Ms. Warren would act as a liaison to the party’s liberal groups, to ensure that they have a voice in leadership meetings. She would report to Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, the No. 3 Democrat.
White House Hints at a Pipeline Veto
President Obama has largely left the cap on his veto pen, but that might not be the case for much longer.
Congress is planning votes on the Keystone XL pipeline during its lame-duck session, a project that the White House has been reluctant to support.
That reluctance was on display by Josh Earnest, Mr. Obama’s press secretary, during a briefing in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, on Thursday.
Asked if Mr. Obama would veto legislation allowing the project to move forward, Mr. Earnest said that a State Department review to ensure that it is in the national interest was being carried out and needed to be completed.
Would Mr. Obama veto a bill if it came to his desk before the review was done?
“There has been other legislative proposals that have been floated to try to influence the outcome of this decision about the construction of the pipeline,” Mr. Earnest said. “The administration, as you know, has taken a dim view of these kinds of legislative proposals in the past.”
That view, Mr. Earnest said of the current proposal, has not changed.
A Technicolor Tribute to a Retiring Congressman
Representative Howard Coble, 83, a Republican, is retiring from the House at the end of this year, and taking his collection of madras jackets with him to North Carolina.
To honor the 15 terms of checkered jackets and service, a number of House members donned Technicolor coats during remarks on the floor last night.
Privileged to don my best madras jacket to honor @HowardCoble. It’s been an honor to serve with him & call him friend pic.twitter.com/VyFJzY28kB
— Richard Hudson (@RepRichHudson) November 13, 2014
Last night I paid tribute to @HowardCoble w/ my words & attire http://t.co/Rv2kDCq9YM. You will be missed Howard! pic.twitter.com/XabEfxPIdu
— Patrick McHenry (@PatrickMcHenry) November 13, 2014
For 30 years, @HowardCoble has been a dedicated public servant to the people of NC. We'll miss him. http://t.co/2gBdqYOQUA
— Virginia Foxx (@virginiafoxx) November 13, 2014
It’s McConnell, Unanimously
McConnell just elected unanimously as incoming Senate majority leader. Caucus gives him a standing ovation.
— Jeremy W. Peters (@jwpetersNYT) November 13, 2014
G.O.P. Leader’s New Role Could Take Strained White House Ties to Next Level
As the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell has been a constant foil to the president’s agenda. Now he’s expected to be the majority leader. Can two political combatants function together without driving each other crazy?
A ‘Perception That We Need to Change Things’
“This is about perception; it’s not about reality. It’s about the perception that we need to change things, and it’s just that simple,” Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri, said when asked what would concern her about Senator Harry Reid’s continuing to lead the party in the Senate.
First Draft Focus: On the Sidelines in Myanmar
Today in Politics
Special Edition: An Old Congress Returns, and It Means Business
Good Thursday morning from Washington, where the last session of the 113th Congress is underway, Democrats are looking to expand their leadership ranks, and members of both parties are preparing to pass some legislation — at last. Plus, we investigate the origins of the “lame duck.”
There’s an old saying in Washington that elections have consequences, and that’s already playing out after last week’s vote.
The lame-duck Senate hadn’t been in session for 30 minutes on Wednesday when Senator Mary L. Landrieu, the Louisiana Democrat trying to save her seat in a runoff, took the floor clamoring yet again for a vote to approve the Keystone XL pipeline.
The stunning result was that after months of impasse, Ms. Landrieu is finally going to get a vote as early as Tuesday. Not to be outdone, the House raced to approve its own Keystone bill, which is sponsored by Ms. Landrieu’s Republican opponent, Representative Bill Cassidy.
The out-of-nowhere Keystone votes have obvious political overtones, but both parties also showed a sudden willingness to fight other issues on the floor rather than skirting showdowns. Democrats, for example, moved on a bill to place new rules on the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance program.
“The American people are wondering whether Congress can get anything done,” said Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and author of the surveillance legislation. “The answer is yes.”
The outbreak of lawmaking raises the question of what might have happened if the Senate had tried this before the election.
— Carl Hulse
Is There Room at the Democrats’ Leadership Table for Warren and Klobuchar?
Despite losing at least eight seats in the Senate and a dozen in the House, congressional Democrats appear ready to stand pat in their leadership elections set for this morning.
Republicans, giddy with their gains on both sides of the Rotunda, aren’t about to mess with their leaders.
There are reasons for the Democrats to stick with Senator Harry Reid of Nevada and Representative Nancy Pelosi of California. Mr. Reid is known for catering to the needs of the party’s senators and has built up plenty of goodwill; Ms. Pelosi is a fund-raising titan whom Democrats can’t afford to lose. That doesn’t mean there is not unrest in the ranks, but there’s not enough to topple anyone.
The most interesting wrinkle for Senate Democrats is that there appears to be some sentiment to bring Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts to the leadership table.
She proved to be a big draw on the campaign trail and is a strong fund-raiser with a significant progressive following. The current leadership team would like to tap into her skills.
Democrats also want to find a high-profile spot for another smart, hardworking senator: Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.
— Carl Hulse
Now There Are Six: A Record Number of G.O.P. Women in the Senate
Last week’s election will increase the number of those lawmakers who have traditionally been as numerous as Washington daffodils in February: Republican women in the Senate. The 114th Congress will have six of them, up from four in the current Congress and topping the record of five Republican women who served simultaneously in the middle of the past decade.
Twenty women from both parties serve in the departing Senate, but next year’s total will depend on the fate of Senator Mary L. Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana, which will be decided in a runoff next month.
The senior Republicans are Senator Susan Collins of Maine, first elected in 1997, who just cruised to re-election, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who was sworn-in in 2002. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Deb Fischer of Nebraska are in their first terms, and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Joni Ernst of Iowa will join their ranks in January. They are the first women elected to the Senate from their states.
There will be at least 103 women in Congress come January, but only 21 or 22 of those in the House will be Republicans (an Arizona House race has not been called). The Republican total is up from the 19 in the 113th Congress but down from the 24 in the 112th Congress.
Women — especially Republicans — have struggled to increase their ranks in Congress, doubling their number in some years only to take a step back in the next. The road has been especially hard in the Senate, where 29 Democratic women have served compared with 15 Republicans in congressional history.
“While it is a milestone,” Debbie Walsh, the director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, said of the new tally, “men will still make up about 90 percent of the Republican members in the Senate.”
— Jennifer Steinhauer
Correction: Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this post reported that there will be at least 103 women in the House come January. There will be at least 103 women in Congress.
Food Service Strike Threatens to Create a Lunch-Hour Crunch
Members of Congress, government workers and even tourists may have to brown-bag it today.
Hundreds of food service workers and janitors at the Capitol Visitors Center, the Pentagon, the National Zoo, the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, and the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center are planning to strike, demanding better wages and benefits from the contractors that employ them.
They’re hoping to press President Obama for executive orders that would give priority in federal contracts to companies that pay workers $15 an hour and provide benefits — including health insurance and paid leave — or offer employees their own contracts.
Mr. Obama has already issued orders requiring contractors to pay a higher minimum wage and disclose workplace safety violations. That was “the minimum” he could do, said Paco Fabian, communications director at Change to Win Federation, a union-backed consumer advocacy group that helped organize the strike.
With Mr. Obama in Asia for a meeting of world leaders, the workers are taking their case to Congress and will picket the Capitol Visitors Center.
— Julie Hirschfeld Davis
Committee Leaders’ Priorities Are Clear, Even Before Taking Up Their Gavels
He faces a climate-change denier leading the Senate Environment Committee, one of the loudest immigration opponents with the gavel of the Senate Budget Committee, a dogged opponent of his Wall Street regulations heading the Banking Committee, and a mercurial antagonist at the helm of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
President Obama must really be looking forward to the new Republican Senate.
Senator John McCain of Arizona has been sniping at Mr. Obama’s foreign policy ideas since the 2008 election. From Mr. McCain’s post at the Armed Services panel, his criticisms will have far more bite. The president has been making progress on climate change. Now, Senator James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma will get to weigh in from the Environment Committee, and he calls the whole notion a hoax.
Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the new chairman of the Banking Committee, is no fan of the Dodd-Frank regulations passed after the 2008 financial crisis. Look for him to try to chip away at them.
And then there’s Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama at the Budget Committee. He’s already threatening to shut down the government if Mr. Obama loosens immigration law enforcement through executive action.
“Congress should not fund any activity that it thinks is not worthy of funding,” Mr. Sessions fumed on Wednesday.
— Jonathan Weisman
What We’re Watching Today
President Obama is in Myanmar, where he will meet with members of its parliament and President Thein Sein.
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. is speaking at the AFL-CIO and American Federation of Teachers summit meeting, then meeting with humanitarian and faith groups to discuss the Ebola response.
The House is expected to vote on authorizing the Keystone XL pipeline project.
If It Walks Like a Lame Duck and Swims Like One, It’s Probably Congress
The lame-duck Congress is waddling its way to the end of the year, but where, exactly, did the term come from?
Like many catchphrases, the term is not American at all. According to the Congressional Research Service’s history of such sessions, the expression originated in 18th-century Britain as a reference to businessmen who had gone broke. Colleagues likened them to game birds that had been shot. In the 1830s, the name had been redefined to mean defeated lawmakers whose days were numbered.
The name has unflattering connotations, but the sessions can often be productive. The 2010 session even inspired President Obama to declare that “we are not doomed to endless gridlock.”
— Alan Rappeport
What We’re Reading Elsewhere
In The New Yorker, Jeffrey Franks provides a history of “midterm mood swings.”
Politico interviewed Nancy Pelosi, who said last week’s elections did not represent a “wave of approval for the Republicans.”
Last week’s elections did not help the National Rifle Association, The New Republic says.
Videos of Jonathan Gruber, an administration adviser on the Affordable Care Act, continue to surface in which he criticizes American voters, going so far as to call them stupid. The details and videos are at The Daily Caller, The Hill and the Fox News website.
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