Latest news with #SenateDemocrats
Wall Street Journal
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
Senate Effort to Restrain Trump's War Powers in Iran Fails
WASHINGTON—An effort by Senate Democrats to prevent President Trump from taking further military action in Iran without congressional approval was blocked by Republicans, who argued the commander in chief was within his rights to launch strikes on nuclear sites a week ago. The measure failed with 47 in favor and 53 opposed on Friday, largely along party lines, shy of the required simple majority in the GOP-controlled chamber. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania sided with Republicans in voting against the measure, while GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky sided with the Democrats in backing it.
CBS News
a day ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Senate Democrats question "obliteration" of Iran's nuclear sites after classified briefing on strikes
Washington — Some Senate Democrats cast doubt on the Trump administration's characterization of the strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities after top officials briefed senators Thursday. In recent days, President Trump repeatedly declared "total obliteration" after three nuclear sites were bombed in a secret attack by the U.S. Meanwhile, an initial classified assessment found that the strikes set back Tehran's nuclear program by a matter of months, while Mr. Trump said the nuclear program was set back "basically decades." Democrats questioned assertions regarding how much Iran's nuclear program has been hindered. "I walk away from that briefing still under the belief that we have not obliterated the program," Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, told reporters. "The president was deliberately misleading the public when he said the program was obliterated. It is certain that there is still significant capability, significant equipment that remain." "You cannot bomb knowledge out of existence — no matter how many scientists you kill," Murphy added. "There are still people in Iran who how to work centrifuges. And if they still have enriched uranium and they still have the ability to use centrifuges, then you're not setting back the program by years. You're setting back the program by months." Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, suggested that administration jumped to a conclusion too soon. "Listen, I hope that is the final assessment," Warner said. "But if not, does that end up providing a false sense of comfort to the American people?" Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said he did not receive adequate answers about whether the nuclear stockpile was obliterated. "What was clear is that there was no coherent strategy, no end game, no plan, no specific, no detailed plan on how Iran does not attain a nuclear weapon," Schumer said. Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said only a final battle damage assessment confirming the assertions "would enable us to be comfortable or complacent about what has been done." "The point is, we don't know. Anybody who says we know with certainty is making it up because we don't have a final battle damage assessment," he said. "I think 'obliterated' is much too strong of word because it implies that it couldn't be reconstituted or somehow it was completely eliminated." Still, Blumenthal praised the military action as "one that will go down in the annals of military history." "Certainly, this mission was successful insofar as it extensively destroyed and perhaps severely damaged and set back the Iranian nuclear arms program. But how long and how much really remains to be determined by the intelligence community itself," he said. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina stood behind the administration's characterization, but acknowledged that Iran's capabilities could eventually be restored. "The real question is, have we obliterated their desire to have a nuclear weapon," Graham said after the classified briefing. "I don't want people to think that the site wasn't severely damaged or obliterated. It was. But having said that, I don't want people to think the problem is over, because it's not." Graham said he believed the program had been set back by years. Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said he was confident "it's been set way back — a year, at minimum." Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the strikes "effectively destroyed Iran's nuclear program." Cotton added that the initial assessment had several intelligence gaps and "assumed the worst-case scenario with perfect conditions in Iran." Top intelligence officials said Wednesday that new intelligence showed the nuclear program had been "severely damaged" and its facilities "destroyed." It would take the Iranians "years" to rebuild the facilities, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said. Ratcliffe was among those who briefed senators Thursday, along with Secretary of State and national security adviser Marco Rubio and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine. The briefing had been initially scheduled for Tuesday but was delayed two days, upsetting some Democrats who demanded immediate transparency about the strikes after they were initially left in the dark about the military action. and contributed to this report.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Chuck Schumer hospitalized for dehydration amid sweltering DC heat wave
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was briefly hospitalized on Wednesday for dehydration, a spokesman for his office said. The leader of the Senate Democratic caucus was back on the Hill later in the day. He is expecting a vote in the coming days on the GOP's budget reconciliation bill, which Schumer's caucus is likely to oppose on a party-line vote. Axios first reported the senator's condition. The Independent has reached out for further comment. The District of Columbia is in the middle of a heat wave exacerbated by the historically muggy conditions that accompany the summer season in the nation's capital and the surrounding region. Wednesday's temperatures around the capital felt as high as 105 degrees Fahrenheit due to humidity, according to one weather monitor. A spokesperson told The Hill that Schumer began feeling symptoms of dehydration in the Senate's gym facilities. 'Leader Schumer was at the Senate gym this morning and got lightheaded,' the spokesperson told the news outlet. 'Out of an abundance of caution, he went to the hospital to be treated for dehydration and is now back at work in the Capitol.' 'He wants to remind everyone to drink some water and stay out of the heat,' they added. The Senate vote on the GOP's reconciliation package is being watched intently as Schumer's counterpart, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, struggles to get Republicans behind the package. That's despite stronger cuts to Medicaid than those present in the House version of the legislation, and the changes made by the Senate's parliamentarian this week to make the bill passable via the reconciliation process — which requires just 51 votes, rather than 60. Schumer's home state of New York was the site of a major political battle on Tuesday evening as state assemblyman Zohran Mamdani defeated Andrew Cuomo, the former governor, in a Democratic primary for the mayoral race. Eric Adams, the city's current Democratic mayor, is running as an independent in November after facing calls for his resignation over a corruption scandal. In a statement late Wednesday morning, Schumer congratulated Mamdani. He, like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and a number of other elected officials in the state, did not make endorsements in the contest where Mamdani, a 33-year-old progressive, pulled off a stunning upset victory on Tuesday. 'I have known @ZohranKMamdani since we worked together to provide debt relief for thousands of beleaguered taxi drivers & fought to stop a fracked gas plant in Astoria. He ran an impressive campaign that connected with New Yorkers about affordability, fairness, & opportunity,' wrote the senator on Wednesday. Schumer, 74, is widely speculated to be a potential target for a primary challenge in the next election cycle. Calls for as much were expressed openly by Mamdani supporters such as the left-leaning journalist Ken Klippenstein on Twitter on Tuesday evening as results poured in.
Wall Street Journal
2 days ago
- Health
- Wall Street Journal
Sen. Chuck Schumer Is Treated for Dehydration at Hospital
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) was taken to the hospital Wednesday and treated for dehydration, his office said. Schumer, 74 years old, was at the Senate gym and got lightheaded, a spokesperson said. He went to the hospital out of an abundance of caution, the spokesperson said. He returned to the Capitol after the hospital visit.
Washington Post
5 days ago
- Health
- Washington Post
On Dobbs anniversary, Senate Democrats aim to restart abortion conversation
Just weeks after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Nancy Davis learned that her fetus had a fatal cranial condition. She sought an abortion in her home state of Louisiana, but a 'trigger law' took effect shortly after the June 2022 decision. The law banned nearly all abortions in the state, and doctors were unsure if Davis's case fell within its few exceptions, forcing her to travel to New York to have an abortion. Now, three years post-Roe, Davis worries for patients who may still face the kind of excruciating decisions about their pregnancies that she did. On Tuesday, she will help Senate Democrats as they try to bring abortion and reproductive health care back to the forefront on the anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. 'I know these women who are currently going through it need someone to say 'I see you,'' Davis told The Washington Post. ''I believe you.'' In a forum designed to resemble a congressional hearing at the Capitol, Davis will share her story with an audience of Senate Democrats and members of the press alongside other witnesses, including two abortion providers. They will speak about their experiences in the three years since the high court eliminated the nearly 50-year constitutional right to an abortion — part of an ongoing effort from some Democrats to keep steadfast attention on the issue. The event, known as a shadow hearing, allows for a public forum to be held without conducting an official Senate hearing, which would've required approval from Republican leaders who chair committees. The move comes at a time when abortion appears to have drifted away from where it once stood as a key political issue. Though President Donald Trump has repeatedly taken credit for appointing the justices who solidified the landmark Dobbs decision, he said on the campaign trail last year that he would veto a federal abortion ban and leave abortion law up to the states. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday. When Roe fell in 2022, conservatives claimed it as a massive victory. For liberals, it served as a sign of the ground the GOP gained while the Democratic Party struggled to muster enough votes to pass national abortion legislation over the past decade. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington), one of the four Democratic lawmakers leading the Dobbs anniversary messaging, said that since Trump took office, his administration has steadily launched smaller scale antiabortion efforts, which she said amount to a 'national abortion ban behind the scenes.' 'Because there's so much going on, and because it's little by little and piece by piece, women don't collectively see what is coming at them,' Murray told The Post. Among the efforts Murray referenced is the GOP's budget bill, which includes a provision that would halt Medicaid payments to abortion providers who received more than $1 million in federal reimbursements in 2024 — a measure that would mean funding cuts to Planned Parenthood, one of the biggest reproductive health care providers in the United States. Senate Republicans are racing to meet Trump's July 4 deadline to pass their version of the bill. Leading the Democratic messaging on this year's Dobbs anniversary alongside Murray are Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts), Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin) and Tina Smith (Minnesota), all of whom have been vocal about the need to protect abortion access and other reproductive health advocacy. Murray said they will highlight a medley of actions from the Trump administration related to reproductive health over the past six months — some of them undoing Biden-era efforts to protect abortion access. Within days of assuming the presidency, Trump pardoned 23 people who were convicted of blocking access to reproductive health clinics, many of them during the Biden administration for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or Face Act. This month, Republicans prepared a bill that if passed would repeal the Face Act altogether. Also in January, Trump overturned two executive orders signed by President Joe Biden that aimed to expand access to reproductive care. And in early June, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rescinded Biden-era guidance that required hospitals to provide emergency abortions when needed to stabilize patients, regardless of the state where they were receiving treatment. For Davis, who still lives in Louisiana and has become a reproductive health advocate, the ongoing changes have made her afraid that more patients will be unable to receive the care they choose in a timely manner. It's a fear that's been on her mind constantly, she said, especially as a mother to three girls, one of whom was born in the time since her 2022 nonviable pregnancy. Sharing her story again this week, Davis said, 'gives us a chance to stand up before any more harm is done.' 'For me, it's about protecting the next woman, the next family, the next mother,' she said.
