The Senate Will Try Again On Sentencing Reform This Year
A bipartisan group of senators has reintroduced one of the biggest sentencing reform bills in years. Can it pass this time?
Senate
Senators Want to Make Prosecutors Prove Defendants Intended to Break Laws Before Locking Them Up
In a country with so many crimes, many laws don't require proof citizens knew they were doing wrong.
Republican Senate Candidate Austin Petersen Has His Personal Facebook Page Suspended
He doesn't know why, and the former Libertarian finds it worth noting Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg is a maxed-out donor to his potential Democratic opponent.
The Return of Criminal Justice Reform
Congress failed to pass a bill reforming mandatory minimums last year; now two senators want to try again.
Wiretapping Sex Workers, Punishing Pre-Crime, and National Strategy to Stop Sex-Buyers Approved by Senate
Congress moves to grant Trump administration vast new policing powers, because "sex trafficking."
Rand Paul Stages Senatorial Sit-In for Debate on Sunsetting Authorization for Endless War
Paul announces that his move won four hours of floor debate in Senate over ending the 16-year-old Authorization for the Use of Military Force that launched modern war on terror.
Why Trump's Wall Is Not Going to Happen
Plenty of GOP members would rather put Barack Obama on Mount Rushmore than underwrite this addled project.
They Won't Stop at Backpage
The "Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act" would not stop sexual exploitation. But it could blow up the legal framework that supports the internet as we know it.
State Licensing Laws Are Mostly Awful; Sen. Mike Lee Might Have a Solution
Licensing laws are mostly a state issue, but a 2014 Supreme Court decision gives the federal government a role to play too. Lee is seizing the opportunity.
Six Republicans Who Voted for Obamacare Repeal in 2015 Sank the 'Clean Repeal' Bill Today
Another day, another defeat for the Senate's health care effort
Health Care Bill's Senate Defeat Paves Way For Rand Paul's 'Clean Repeal' Bill; Vote Expected Soon
Paul: "If every Republican that voted for the clean repeal in the past votes for it again, it would pass."
With Rand Paul's Support (For Now), Republican Health Care Bill Survives First Senate Vote
They had to pass the motion to proceed to the bill to find out what's in the bill.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Senate Republicans Aim to Block New Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Rule
It's the latest effort to use the Congressional Review Act to assert the authority of elected lawmakers over appointed bureaucrats.
Read Austin Petersen's Goodbye Note to the Libertarian Party
Second-place finisher in 2016 presidential primary will run for Missouri Senate seat as a Republican.
Exclusive: Libertarian Activist Austin Petersen Is Running for U.S. Senate…as a Republican! [Reason Podcast]
Second-place finisher in 2016 LP presidential primary aims to take on Democrat Claire McCaskill in home state of Missouri.
Frustrated with Secretive Health Care Bill, Rand Paul Proposes Giving Senators Time to Read It
Paul's "Read the Bills" resolution would change Senate rules to allow one day of transparency for every 20 pages of a bill's length.
White House Makes It Official: It Wants to Keep Snooping on Americans
Trump and group of GOP senators don't want us to have greater privacy protections from unwarranted domestic surveillance.
GOP Maps Out New Ways to Throw People in Federal Prison
Senators drafting massive combination bill with "Kate's Law" and "Back the Blue" mandatory minimum sentences that are expensive, unneeded.
Paris Agreement Climate Change
Can Trump Unilaterally Withdraw from International Climate Agreements?
Here's what the law says.
Senate Committee Wants Comey's Testimony and Memos on Trump (UPDATE: Special Counsel Appointed)
The research over whether the president attempted to block an FBI investigation kicks in.
Rand Paul's REINS Act Finally Makes It to Senate Floor
A new high water mark for regulatory reform, but another bill might eclipse Paul's proposal.
Congressional Deregulation Effort Stalls at Methane Rule Repeal
States and industry will seek to roll back BLM's "vast overreach" of regulatory authority in court.
Paris Agreement Climate Change
Should President Trump Keep His Promise to Cancel the Paris Agreement on Climate Change?
Instead, submit the Paris agreement as a treaty to Senate for a vote
You Won't Read a Full Accounting of America's Use of Waterboarding and Torture Anytime Soon
Supreme Court turns away transparency lawsuit trying to force release of Senate report.
Senate Nukes Filibuster for Supreme Court Picks
Neil Gorsuch confirmation vote expected Friday.
On Criminal Justice and Executive Branch Power, Neil Gorsuch May Be More 'Liberal' Than Merrick Garland
Comparing the two SCOTUS nominees.
Democrats Falsely Claim Gorsuch Resists Endorsing Landmark Desegregation Ruling
The SCOTUS nominee called Brown v. Board of Education "one of the shining moments in constitutional history."
Here's The 10 Step Process to Engage The Senate's 'Nuclear Option'
A lot of parliamentary shenanigans, but ultimately everything in the Senate is 'majority rules'
Sen. Wyden Calls for Warrants for Tech Searches on the Border
Court decisions have decimated Fourth Amendment protections for people on the edges of the country.
Ashton Kutcher Claims He Helped Cops Save Way More Sex-Trafficking Victims Than Authorities Say They've Found
How can Kutcher's group have helped in dramatically more sex-trafficking investigations than were actually opened across America?
Jeff Sessions, Fan of the Drug War and Asset Forfeiture, Confirmed as Attorney General
Sen. Rand Paul votes aye with rest of GOP.
Senate Rules Like the One Used to Silence Elizabeth Warren's Criticism of Jeff Sessions are Dumb, Arcane, and Self-Aggrandizing
Senators should not be afforded special privileges shielding them from vigorous criticism.
Problems Persist with V.A. as Nominee Faces Senate Hearing
The department asked 440,410 vets for the wrong information. Now their health care claims might be purged from the system.
Domestic Surveillance Fan Pompeo Confirmed as CIA Head
Sen. Rand Paul the sole GOP opposition.
Hey Progressives: You Can Fight DeVos, but You Can't Stop School Choice
Ignoring this populist movement does not help the left with families.
Senator Pushes a Ridiculous "Milk" Law That Treats Consumers Like Idiots
The "Dairy Pride Act" calls for the FDA to crack down on cow-dairy alternatives that use terms like "milk" or "yogurt."
Jeff Sessions Provides Slippery Answers at Confirmation Hearings, Thanks to Senatorial Decorum
Attorney general confirmation hearings continue today; Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) to testify against Sessions.
Sessions, Speeches, and Showers: The Fifth Column Reacts
From repealing Obamacare to dissecting Buzzfeed, the three-headed podcast is back
The Business of Government Is Hysteria
Sessions hearing brings out the worst in senatorial statism, Matt Welch argues in the L.A. Times
Jeff Sessions Loves Asset Forfeiture. Will Congress Grill Him at His Confirmation Hearing?
Trump's nominee for Attorney General is at odds with many of his GOP colleagues on asset forfeiture and a host of other criminal justice issues.
Senators Seek Retaliation Rather Than Defense for Foreign Hacking Incidents
Don't let the fight over Russia's behavior allow interventionist answers to go unchallenged.
Will a Trump Administration's Support for Police Taking Citizens' Property Trigger Needed Reforms?
Sen. Sessions' endorsement of civil forfeiture gets public criticism.
Obama Preserves Torture Report While Keeping It Secret
Will we ever truly know the full extent that we used waterboarding and abusive techniques on prisoners during the war on terror?
Constitutionally Dubious 'Anti-Semitism Awareness Act' Unanimously Passed by Senate
Who says bipartisanism is dead?
