Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) snaps at Secretary of State HIllary Clinton during the Benghazi hearings: “You let the consulate become a death trap.”
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) on his exchange with Hillary Clinton today: “I think she just decided before she was going to describe emotionally the four dead Americans, the heroes, and use that as her trump card to get out of the questions.”
Watch the exchange here.
Reid and McConnell on verge of agreement for dramatically scaled back filibuster deal.
Obama will announce this afternoon his re-nomination of Richard Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the AP is reporting. Cordray’s nomination was blocked by Senate Republicans in his first terms over their objections to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau itself, so Obama recess-appointed him to the post a year ago.
With the debt ceiling crisis resolved for now, sequestration is the next big looming budget battle. But TPM Reader SP reports in on the effects he’s already seeing in the defense industry:
I’m a defense contractor supporting the Navy. I thought you’d be interested to hear that we’re feeling the effects of sequestration in advance of the actual event.
John Kerry gives Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) a little bit of the what for, in today’s confirmation hearing.
Group opposed to the Electoral College calls Virginia GOP plan to reapportion electoral votes by congressional district “an incredibly unfair and indefensible proposal.”
Got questions about the big filibuster reform debacle? Our reporter on the story, Sahil Kapur, will be answering your questions in a TPMPrime Live Chat at 4 PM eastern tomorrow afternoon. Get your questions in now and join us then.
A Senate staffer emails with his take on the filibuster rules change agreed to by Reid and McConnell:
I think that your posture on rules reform — culminating in “Oh, that’s not good” — has not shown the other side of the argument for progressives.
All Senate Democrats agree that rules reform is essential. Now we appear to be on the brink of that, and the “fix the Senate crowd” is dismayed. Unlike last time Reid isn’t proposing just a “gentleman’s agreement,” these are real changes to Rule 22. And these appear to have minority support. This is a big deal.
You don’t agree (and it’s fine) but there is a strong, progressive case against pursuing rules reforms via the nuclear/constitutional option.