Collins, Susan M
Pitching G.O.P. on Gay Marriage Bill, Tammy Baldwin Leaves Nothing to Chance
WASHINGTON — Senator Tammy Baldwin, the soft-spoken liberal Democrat of Wisconsin, was on a plane home from Washington last month when she got word that Senator Ron Johnson, her home-state colleague and a stridently hard-right Republican, had said publicly that he would not oppose a bill protecting same-sex marriage rights. Seizing a rare moment in […]
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Same-Sex Marriage Bill, Considered Dead on Arrival, Gains New Life
WASHINGTON — It began for Democrats as a messaging vote, an election-year political maneuver to show voters that they were doing everything possible to protect marriage equality in the face of new threats from a conservative Supreme Court — and a move to force Republicans to put their opposition on the record. But when the […]
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Bipartisan Senate Group Strikes Deal to Rewrite Electoral Count Act
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators proposed new legislation on Wednesday to modernize the 135-year-old Electoral Count Act, working to overhaul a law that President Donald J. Trump tried to abuse on Jan. 6, 2021, to interfere with Congress’s certification of his election defeat. The legislation aims to guarantee a peaceful transition from one […]
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House Moves to Protect Same-Sex Marriage From Supreme Court Reversal
WASHINGTON — The House on Tuesday passed a bill that would recognize same-sex marriages at the federal level, with a bipartisan coalition supporting a measure that addresses growing concerns that a conservative Supreme Court could nullify marriage equality. Forty-seven Republicans joined Democrats in backing the bill, the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify the […]
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Kavanaugh Gave Private Assurances on Roe v. Wade. Collins Says He ‘Misled’ Her.
WASHINGTON — During a two-hour meeting in her Senate office with the Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh on Aug. 21, 2018, Senator Susan Collins of Maine pressed him hard on why she should trust him not to overturn Roe v. Wade if she backed his confirmation. Judge Kavanaugh worked vigorously to reassure her that […]
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Gun Bill’s Progress Reflects Political Shift, but G.O.P. Support Is Fragile
WASHINGTON — As Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, weighed whether she should vote to take up a bipartisan gun reform measure, the phone lines in her offices were being flooded by constituents hoping to sway her. The calls were coming in roughly six to one, she estimated, with an urgent message: “Please do something.” […]
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Harris Emerges as the Voice of Abortion Rights in the Biden Administration
WASHINGTON — With three words last week, Vice President Kamala Harris inserted herself forcefully into the roiling debate over abortion rights — and may have finally seized on an issue that is popular among key Democratic voters, plays to her strengths and is central to the future of her party. “How dare they?” she demanded. […]
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Democrats Plan a Bid to Codify Roe, but Lack the Votes to Succeed
WASHINGTON — Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said Thursday that he planned to move on Wednesday to bring up a bill that would codify abortion rights into federal law, moving quickly in the wake of a leaked Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, despite clear evidence that the […]
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Jackson Vote Poses a Political Dilemma for Murkowski
WASHINGTON — When President Biden nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to a prestigious appeals court last year, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, a centrist known for her willingness to break with her party, was one of only three Republicans to vote to confirm her. Now Ms. Murkowski, who is in a challenging re-election race in […]
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