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Bob Agnew
Reporting from Capitol Hill, Bob Agnew has updates on what’s going on in the Senate.
Senator Daines Says Rubio Will Win Bi-Partisan Confirmation
Thu, Jan 16, 2025 at 5:22 pm
A member of the senate Foreign Relations Committee says it appears Senator Marco Rubio [R-FL] is a shoo-in for secretary of State. Senator Steve Daines of Montana tells the Salem Radio Network Rubio is so qualified he deserves and will likely get strong bi-partisan support.
Rubio is expected to play a key role in President Trump’s pledge to rebuild respect for the U.S. abroad.
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Petition to Recall LA Mayor Bass Nears 100,000 Signatures
Mon, Jan 13, 2025 at 11:52 am
A growing wave of frustration in Los Angeles has sparked a recall petition for Democrat Mayor Karen Bass. Despite the city’s rising crime, homelessness, and a series of controversial decisions, the wildfires that have destroyed lives, homes, and businesses were the final straw for residents. Voters are demanding accountability and change. Critics argue that Bass’s leadership has only exacerbated the city’s problems, with many calling for stronger policies to restore law and order. As the petition gains momentum, it’s clear that LA residents are losing patience with what they see as failed leadership. The pressure for Bass to address the mounting concerns or face potential removal from office is mounting.
Listen DownloadDomenech: Local Government, Not Demagogues, Needed In California Fire Debate
Fri, Jan 10, 2025 at 3:00 pm
One political observer is blasting the liberal media for using the California wildfires to advance their views on climate change. Ben Domenech says there’s no need for liberal media pundits to lead the conversation on California’s fires. He says the real voices that need to be heard are those of local officials, especially those with expertise in managing woodlands
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Poll: Americans Felt Less Safe With Joe Biden In White House
Fri, Jan 10, 2025 at 2:52 pm
A new poll shows most Americans think President Bicden made the country less safe. 73% of registered voters responding to a Napolitan News Service poll say the country has become less safe over the past four years. That number icudes 82% of Republicans and well over half -61%-of Demcrats. Looking ahead 48% of voters believe the country will become safer under President Trump. 39% fear it will become less safe.
Illegal Arrested In Massachusetts With AR-15, 10 Pounds Of Fentanyl
Fri, Jan 10, 2025 at 2:50 pm
An arrest in Massachusetts underscores the connection between illegals and the drug trade. Police have arrested an illegal alient at a homeless shelter in possession of an AR-15 rifle and $1-MILLION worth of fentanyl. That amounts to 10 pounds, or some 2.2 MILLION lethal doses of the drug officials say has claimd the lives f hundreds of thousands of Americans. Police say the 28 year old suspect had entered the country illegally from the Dominican Republic.
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“Grateful” Cruz Will Chair Powerful Senate Commerce Committee
Thu, Jan 9, 2025 at 3:33 pm
Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz [R-TX] has been ratified to serve as chairman of the powerful Senate Commerce Committee. In a statement Cruz says he’s grateful to be the first Texan to ever to head what he called “this storied committee”.The perfect place to further what Cruz says has been his main priority in the Senate, to advance policies that will create jobs and spur economic growth. Cruz is likely to focus on key growth sectors for the economy, including space exploration, safe transportation, ensuring the viability of college athletics, and expanding commercial access to the electromagnetic spectrum.
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Senate Sets Date For AG Nominee Pam Bondi Confirmation Hearings
Thu, Jan 9, 2025 at 3:30 pm
The Senate Judiciary Committee has set the date for hearings on President-elect Trump’s nominee for attorney general. The hearings will take place next week for former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. She’s a staunch Trump ally and served as a legal advisor during his first imeachment trial. She’s Trump’s second choice for AG, after the first-Matt Gaetz [R-Fl]- withdrew among a host of allegations that might have long delayed or torpedoed his chances of confirmation altogether. Republicans are hoping to move as many Trump’s nomnees as possible through cimmittee quickly to allow for full Senate confirmation votes immediately after he’s sworn in for a second term.
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Senate Votes To Advance Laken Riley Act For A Final Vote
Thu, Jan 9, 2025 at 3:27 pm
The Senate has voted to advance the Laken Riley Act for a final vote. Thursdays vote clears the way for a short burst of robust debate and then a final vote on the bill. It’s named after the University of Georgia nursing student murdered on campus last February by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela. The first of what incoming President Trump has promised will be big steps to reverse the imact of illegal immigration under President Biden, the bill is also the first item to be voted on by the new GOP-controlled Senate.
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Senate Procedure May Help GOP Reverse Biden Executive Actions
Wed, Jan 8, 2025 at 5:17 pm
Senate Republicans are scrambling to compile a list of Biden executive actions they hope to overturn in the next two months. Using a tool known as the Congressional Review Act Republicans hop to target dozens of Joe Biden’s most recent executive actions To do that they’ll have to agree which executive actions to reverse, and pass a joint resolution in cooperation with House Republicans. The procedure is not subject to the filibuster, but has to be completed within 60 days of te new Congress. Republicans used the procedure to reverse more than dozen Obama exective orders in i the first two months of Trump’s first term in 2017.
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Man Arrested Trying To Enter Capitol Building With Machete, Knives
Wed, Jan 8, 2025 at 4:37 pm
Capitol Police have arrested a man caught trying to enter the Capitol building with a machete. Capitol Police say the man was arrested after being caught trying to pass through security at the Capitol Visitor’s Center. After a search the suspects’ bag was found to contain a machete and several knives. He now faces multiple charges of “Carrying a Dangerous Weapon”. There were no reports of violence or injuires, and Capitol Police have said nothing about the suspect’s motives.
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Dem Support Sends Laken Riley Act Toward Passage In Senate
Wed, Jan 8, 2025 at 4:17 pm
Enough Democrats have come on board to allow the Laken Riley Act to move toward a final vote later this week. The Senate will vote Friday whether to advance the bill, that passed the House on Tuesday with broad bi-partisan support. Several democrat senators have said they’ll vote in favor of ending the filibuster and setting up a final vote on the bill. The bill would require incraceration of illegal immigrants who’ve commited crimes inside the U.S.. It’s named after Georgia nursing student Laken Riley who was murdered by a Venezueland man who had entered the country illegally, and was not detained desite commiting crimes inside the U.S.
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Trump Vows To “Unban” Coastal Areas Biden Just Banned For Drilling
Tue, Jan 7, 2025 at 5:57 pm
President-elect Trump is vowing to un-ban drilling on millions of acres of U.S. coastal and offshore waters. President Biden on Monday invoked the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to ban new drilling and further oil and natural gas development on some 625-million acres of U.S. coastal and offshore waters. The move puts areas along the east and west coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and portions of Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea off-limits for future oil and natural gas leasing. President elect Trump wrote on X that he would -quote-“unban it immediately.”
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Top Dems Under Fire For Misleading Party About Biden Mental health
Tue, Jan 7, 2025 at 4:45 pm
Some leading Democrats enter the new Congress under scrutiny for what many see as their deception about President Biden’s mental fitness over the past two years. Democrats and members of the mainstream media may be among the most suspicious of Democrat leaders-like Charles Schumer-after feeling they were duped by claims Biden was mentally fit to start another four year term at age 82. It was Schumer who , in February of last years chalked up concerns about Biden’s mental capacity to what he called “right wing propoganda.” One anonymous Democrat Senator told The Hill the apparent coverup gave Democrat opponents an opening to tag the party as corrupt.
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Senate Democrats May Delay Tulsi Gabbard Intel Hearings
Tue, Jan 7, 2025 at 4:11 pm
Democrats are hoping to hold up confirmation of Tulsi Gabbard as President Trump’s national intelligence director. Virginia Democrat Senator mark Warner told reporters after his meeting with Gabbard he still has questions about her suitability for the role. Noting that the committee has yet to received Gabbard’s FBI background check, and other paperwork Warner is balking at Republican requests to begin her confirmation hearings early next week. Intel Committee Chairman Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) has stressed he wants to complete the hearings before Inauguration Day.
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GOP Ponders Strategy For Reconciliation Bills
Mon, Jan 6, 2025 at 3:46 pm
Senate Republicans are debating whether to attempt one or two reconciliation bills, that will allow them to pass key legislation without meeting the 60-vote filibuster threshold. Political analyst Jim Geraghty says those who favor getting the job done in one bill bill realize they may not have the support to pull it off twice. But he tells the Salem Radio Network by putting all their eggs in one basket Republicans face the risk an overly ambitious bill might fail altogether.
President-elect Trump supports what he calls “ONE big, beautiful bill”, but says he’ll work with Republican leaders on the Hill to pass as much of his agenda as possible.
Blinken Admits Hamas Was Emboldened By U.S. Pressure On Israel
Mon, Jan 6, 2025 at 3:41 pm
The State Department now admits that U.S. pressure on Israel emboldened Hamas to walk away from peace overtures it had previously discussed with Israel. Looking back on his role as the nation’s top diplomat for the past FOUR years, Secretary of State Antony Blinkin admits Hamas turned away from steps to end the war when it became clear the U.S. was putting pressure on Israel. Blinken also says the administration never has believed Israel was carrying out a genocide. U.S support for Israel is expected to grow more robust under President Trump, who has nominated Senator Marco Rubio for secretary of State.
Gillibrand Tapped To Head Democrat Senate Campaigns For 2026
Mon, Jan 6, 2025 at 3:35 pm
New York Democrat Senator Kirstin Gillibrand (D-NY) has been selected to lead the party’s effort to defeat Republicans in 2026. As head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Gillibrand will spend the next two years striving to return her party to the majority. To do that she’ll have to win enough seats to topple the GOP’s current advanatage of 53 seats against 45 Democrats and TWO Indpendents that caucus with Democrats. Her top targets for flips will be Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.
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Dem Senator Says Party’s Next Presidential Candidate Must “Talk Like A Normal Person.”
Fri, Dec 27, 2024 at 1:58 pm
A Democrat senator has some advice for his party as it looks ahead to the next presidential election in 2028. Senator Brian Schatz [D-Hawaii] says the party’s next presidential nominee has to—in his words—“talk like a normal person.” In an interview with Politico Schatz says quote-“I think we are looking for someone who can plausibly fit in as a human being all across the country.” Surveying the optios at his time time however Schatz adds that “I don’t know who that’s going to be,”. Schatz, like many in his party, are trng to analyze what went wrong in 2024 as Democrats failed to recapture the House, and lost the Senate, and th White House.D
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“Horribly Misguided”. Manchin Blasts Biden’s Commutation Of Federal Death Row Inmates
Fri, Dec 27, 2024 at 12:55 pm
Senator Joe Manchin [I-WV] is joining a chorus of voices criticizing President Biden’s decision to commute the death sentences of 37 convicted killers. Senator Manchin [I-WV] says his heart goes out to the families of those killed by the 37 murderers President Biden removed from federal death row. Manchin says he spoke with the parents of Samantha Burns, who was murdered by two of the pardoned killers. He says they had written to the white house urging Biden not to commute the sentences, but that their request was denied. Manchin calls Biden’s decision “horribly misguided and insulting”.
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Trump Nominates Kari Lake For Director of Voice Of America
Fri, Dec 27, 2024 at 12:00 pm
President-elect Trump has nominated former GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake to serve a director of the Voice of America. Lake is a former TV news anchor in Arizona and ran unsuccessful bids for governor and the U.S. Senate. Trump says he selected her to “ensure that the American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcast around the World FAIRLY and ACCURATELY.” In a social media post Lake said under her direction the VOA will excel in the mission of chronicling America’s achievements worldwide,”
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Israel Strikes Major Blow To Iranian Arms Shipments To Houthis
Thu, Dec 26, 2024 at 1:51 pm
Israel has launched a major air attack on Houthi rebel targets in Yemen. The Israeli air strike comes just days after 16 people were injured whe a Houthi rocket struck Tel Aviv. In a statement on X the Israeli military says fighter jets struck a number of Houthi military targets on Yemen’s west coast. The post says the ports were being used to smuggle Iranian weapons into the region. Another example of what Israel calls the “Houthis’exploitation of civilian infrastructure for military purposes.”
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EPA Approves Construction Of Road Using Radioactive Radon
Thu, Dec 26, 2024 at 1:31 pm
The EPA has approved plans for a company to build a road using radioactive material. The Biden administration says Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC will be allowed to construct a road made from phosphogypsum , on its property in New Wales, Fla. Phosphogypsum contains radon, which is radioactive, as is the gas created when it breaks down over time. Both can cause cancer. An attorney with the Center For Biological Diversity calls the EPA decision mind-boggling. Defenders say the public is unlikely to come into contact with the road, being built on private property.
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“Less News Please” Americans Feel Need To Scale Back Consumption
Thu, Dec 26, 2024 at 12:09 pm
A new poll shows Americans are wishing to pay less attention to the news. The finding comes in a study published by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Chicago. 65% of respondents say—coming off an intense election year- -they’ve been feeling a need to limit their exposure to stories involving government and politics. They cite fctors such as information overload and fatigue. About HALF of respondents say they feel the same whn it comes to news about oversas conflicts.
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Festivus Greetings. Senator Paul Congratulates “Former” Speaker Johnson
Tue, Dec 24, 2024 at 2:31 pm
House Speaker Mike Johnson [R-LA] gets a lump of coal in his stocking from Senator Rand Paul [R-KY]. As part of his annual “Festivus” airing of grivances Senator Paul posed on X that Johnson’s days as Speaer are nubered. Paul writes -quote-“I want to be the first to congratulate former @SpeakerJohnson, who will be gone before DC gets warm again,” Last week Paul called for Johnson to be replced in the Speaker role by billionair Elon Musk, noting the Speaker need not be an elected member of the House.
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