In 1990, Lisa Fierstein, the ex-wife of Labor Secretary Andy Puzder put on a wig and sunglasses and went on an episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show titled “High Class Battered Women,” where she spoke in detail about the physical abuse she allegedly underwent during their marriage. “‘I will see you in the gutter. This…
On Monday, former Goldman Sachs banker Steven Mnuchin was confirmed by the United States Senate as Secretary of Treasury. The vote was close—53 to 47—and drawn roughly along party lines.
Col. Ann Wright, a 70-year-old retired United States Army colonel and former U.S. State Department official, briefly disrupted the hearing Tuesday where lawmakers are expected to confirm Jeff Sessions as Attorney General. “I’m 70 years old and I’ve got a hip replacement” she protested, as she was manhandled out of…
Though Sen. John McCain sorta joked with reporters that he’d vote for the confirmation of former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State “when pigs fly,” he and other opposing Republicans Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio have meekly capitulated. Please welcome Tillerson, current bud of Vladimir Putin, as the…
The confirmation hearing for Donald Trump’s billionaire Education Secretary pick, Betsy DeVos, on Tuesday was frankly outrageous, the most eye-catching item being DeVos’s assertion that states should be more open to allowing guns into schools for protecting students against grizzly bear attacks.
Just before the second round of questioning at Rick Perry’s Secretary of Energy confirmation hearing today, the moderator announced that Bernie Sanders had arrived with one more quick Q. Observe the amusing look of apprehension on Perry’s face in that moment.
Rick Perry’s confirmation hearing for Secretary of Energy has thus far mostly been various senators using the word “science” as code for “addressing climate change” or “drilling Alaska,” depending on their party’s alignment. Only Senator Stabenow and Senator Mazie Hirono have asked Perry directly about Trump’s plans…
As the confirmation hearing for Secretary of Education plods along, Betsy DeVos calmly told Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy (D) that guns might have a place in schools because the children of America need protection from grizzly bears.
Betsy DeVos’s hearing for Secretary of Education is underway, and considering she is a billionaire GOP donor with little demonstrable regard for or experience with the public schools she’ll be tasked with running, her reception amongst Democrats in the committee has been pretty chilly.
What a day! What a marvelous day! Republicans initially scheduled five hearings for one day—this day—despite the notable absence of standard ethics paperwork, but eventually bowed to pressure and delayed those of Betsy DeVos and Mike Pompeo. Now there are three, which is still a lot to pay attention to at once! I…
Not content to let Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) be the only ones to drag Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) for misrepresenting his record during his Attorney General confirmation hearing, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) took Sessions to school over his involvement (or lack there of) in several civil…
Although Sen. Jeff Sessions is likely to be confirmed as our next Attorney General, he’s having to play an unusual game of defense considering his insane record on race, immigration, women’s health, and domestic violence and hate crime legislation. Questioned by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) on his strident opposition…
The Jeff Sessions Attorney General hearing began just this morning, but it’s already devolved into an exciting game of “spot the protestor being forcibly removed from the room.” Up first, or rather, out first, was a Code Pink member who apparently laughed too loudly when Alabama Senator Richard Shelby testified…
On April 19, 1912, a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee held hearings on the sinking of the RMS Titanic in the newly built Kennedy Caucus Room of the Russell Senate Office Building. In the same room, 107 years later, Sen. Jeff Sessions is facing questioning from the Senate Judiciary Committee to be…
The Senate confirmation hearing for Jeff Sessions, Trump’s pick for attorney general, began Tuesday with guys in mock KKK robes sardonically showing up to “support” him. They were promptly thrown out and then detained by police, as one of them shouted, “You can’t arrest me, I’m a white man!”
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee continue to query Sonia Sotomayor about the motivations and meanings behind various statements she's made, but what are the hidden messages behind their interrogations? After the jump, a translation, starring the awful Lindsey Graham.
Perhaps in line with Barack Obama's letter that he wants to make the world a better place for children, Hillary Clinton wants to make the world a better place for daughters in particular.
If you, too, can't get enough Hillary Clinton news and ephemera, check out Foreign Policy's new "Madame Secretary" blog, where one of us is guesting this week to talk confirmation hearings and pantsuits. [Madame Secretary]
