Murkowski, Lisa
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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Can Lisa Murkowski Fend Off Kelly Tshibaka in Alaska?
Paulette Schuerch, a Native Alaskan who helped Lisa Murkowski’s fabled write-in campaign for Senate in 2010, is now working for the senator’s Trump-backed opponent, Kelly Tshibaka. The breaking point for Schuerch, as she detailed in a telephone interview from her home in Kotzebue, a village 35 miles above the Arctic Circle, came in 2014. 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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Lisa Murkowski Bets Big on the Center in Alaska
Of the seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Mr. Trump last year, Ms. Murkowski is the only one facing voters this year. She has not shied away from that distinction; she speaks openly of her disdain for Mr. Trump and his influence on her party. She has also supported Deb Haaland, Mr. Biden’s interior […]
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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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Collins to Back Jackson for Supreme Court, Giving Her a G.O.P. Vote
Ms. Collins, who sat down with Judge Jackson for about 90 minutes before last week’s hearings, had a second, hourlong in-person meeting with the judge on Tuesday afternoon in which the two hashed out several issues that came up before the Judiciary Committee. During the hearings, Republicans on the panel raised questions about Judge Jackson’s […]
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