OPINION
January 26, 2014 | Doyle McManus
The most important person in the U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations right now may be Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic leader from Searchlight, Nev. Two weeks ago, President Obama's nuclear diplomacy was in trouble, but not because of anything Iran was doing. The problems were domestic. A Senate bill proposing new economic sanctions against Tehran had swiftly gathered 59 supporters, a solid majority and only one vote short of the number needed to prevent a filibuster. The bill's backers, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the powerful pro-Israel lobbying organization, were pressing for a quick vote in the Senate.
NEWS
December 20, 2013 | By Lisa Mascaro
WASHINGTON --Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was taken to the hospital early Friday morning after not feeling well, and remained for observation, his spokesman said. Reid, the Nevada Democrat who turned 74 this month, led the chamber Thursday night through its second midnight session in recent days amid steep partisanship. He is not expected to be at work Friday, as the Senate wraps up its final workday of the year. Reid decided to go to the hospital "as a precaution," said the senator's spokesman Adam Jentleson.
NEWS
November 21, 2013 | By Cathleen Decker
Events Thursday brought more evidence of why much of the 2014 campaign will feature candidates fleeing, figuratively or literally, from Washington. In the Senate, supposedly the more collegial of the two houses of Congress, bitterness seethed beneath the veneer of civility as majority Democrats and minority Republicans fought over a filibuster rule that has, depending on the viewpoint, given voice to the outnumbered or contributed mightily to paralysis on things like presidential appointments.
NEWS
November 21, 2013 | By Michael McGough
He did it. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , once a defender of Senate tradition, triggered the so-called nuclear option Thursday by pushing through a rule change to allow the confirmation of most presidential nominees by a simple majority. The final straw was the Republicans' filibustering of three of President Obama's nominees to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, on the transparent pretext that the court was underworked and should have fewer members.
NATIONAL
October 12, 2013 | By Michael A. Memoli and Brian Bennett
WASHINGTON - Efforts to reopen the government and avert a default on the nation's debt rested in the hands of the Senate's top leaders after talks between House Republicans and the White House broke down Saturday. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) sat down to negotiate for the first time since the 12-day-old government shutdown began, but there were no indications they had made significant progress. Still, Senate leaders made plans for a rare Sunday session in case they reach a deal, while the House adjourned for the weekend after a brief and at times chaotic session.
NEWS
September 23, 2013 | By Jon Healey
Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) find themselves in the curious position this week of encouraging their GOP colleagues to filibuster the stopgap government funding (and Obamacare defunding) resolution that they urged the House to pass. Cruz and Lee are the leaders of a tea party-powered movement to bar funding in the coming fiscal year for the 2010 healthcare law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. They prevailed in the House, where Republicans hold a solid majority, but face extremely long odds in the Democrat-controlled Senate.