Senate Appropriations Committee

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Senate Panel OKs Cash for Unwanted Drones, Ships

$604B budget rejects Pentagon cost-cutting plans

(Newser) - With major Pentagon budget cuts looming, the Senate Appropriations Committee has decided to hand the military piles of money for stuff it says it doesn't want. A $604.5 billion defense budget approved by the powerful committee yesterday includes funding for drones, warships, and cargo planes that the Pentagon...

Democrats Confront Pentagon on Afghan War

Violence is up, and so is lawmaker anxiety

(Newser) - A schism deepened yesterday between US war leaders and Congress as top Democrats challenged Pentagon assertions that progress is picking up in Afghanistan. "I wouldn't call it eroding," Carl Levin said of support for the war. "But there's a lot of fair concern." That was especially...

Senators Fight to Keep Sending Pork Home

Upper chamber unlikely to follow House's lead on earmarks

(Newser) - House members may be pushing earmark reform, but many of their Senate colleagues refuse to let go without a fight—in fact, Politico notes, it may be the one issue on which senators from both parties can agree on. Lawmakers from both sides argue that the money would be spent...

Dems in a Snit Over Specter's Cozy Deal

Senate honchos fume as newbie prepares to leapfrog to top jobs

(Newser) - Some top Democratic senators are rebelling against the deal that brought Arlen Specter into the fold, the Hill reports. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the aisle-crosser he could keep the 28 years of seniority he gained as a GOP senator, infuriating long-serving Democrats whom Specter will now likely leapfrog...

Byrd, 90, Resigns as Appropriations Chairman

Senator, rumored to be under pressure from Reid, will be replaced by Hawaii's Inoyue

(Newser) - Robert Byrd resigned today as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, acquiescing to Democratic leaders who reportedly wanted him out of the job, the Hill reports. Byrd, 90, has been hospitalized three times in the past year, and said he was willing to leave the committee in younger hands—namely,...

Senate Dems Look to Prod Byrd Out of Key Chair

West Virginian, 90, has been in the Senate since 1959

(Newser) - Senate Democrats are considering an attempt to remove 90-year-old Sen. Robert Byrd from his position as chairman of the Appropriations Committee, the New York Times reports. Byrd is the longest-serving senator in history. His committee controls one-third of all federal spending, and Dems worry he’s not up to the...

'Too Old' Byrd to Critics: Shut Up!

Senator, 90, flexes muscle at hearing

(Newser) - History's longest-serving senator has two words for people who think he's no longer up to the job of chairing the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee: "Shut up." Democrat Robert Byrd, 90, has been hospitalized twice this year but his management of a two-hour hearing on Iraq war spending yesterday...

Candidates Run the Gamut on Earmarks

Clinton in top 10; Obama near bottom; McCain has none

(Newser) - This year’s presidential frontrunners represent a wide array of stances on congressional earmarking—a term for garnering funds for home-state pork, reports the Washington Post. Hillary Clinton is one of the Senate’s biggest earmark recipients, Barack Obama is in the bottom quarter, and John McCain is one of...

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