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Menendez: Immigration bill will pass by July 4th

Karly Schledwitz — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:44:06 +0000

The Senate is scheduled to vote Tuesday afternoon on amendments to a bipartisan immigration bill, but many have been wary of how quickly the Senate will be able to vote on a comprehensive reform package. Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey says he’s confident a vote will happen by Independence Day.

“I really do believe we will pass comprehensive immigration reform. I think we will do it by the Fourth of July recess,” Menendez said on Tuesday’s The Daily Rundown.

“I can see a pathway forward,” said Menendez, who is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a leader of the bipartisan Gang of Eight, has said that he believes the current legislation needs stricter border security measures. But Menendez believes that the current bill already has tough border security measures.

“I believe we have the toughest boarder security provisions in this legislation, $6.5 billion, largely devised by senators from the border states who experience this challenge every day,” said Menendez.

Menendez said that he believes the United States must act quickly in Syria as rebels have been more clearly defined.

“From every account, we have a good idea of a universe of opposition forces who would be aligned with us. Then it seems to me that it is time to move vigorously forward. We obviously need to tip the scales in order to achieve a political solution. And we can’t do it under the present circumstances,” he said.

“I don’t think it’s too late to affect an outcome,” added Menendez.

The Democratic senator also argued that Edward Snowden’s actions in leaking classified NSA information on surveillance activities may be dangerous for our national security.

“If this individual keeps leaking vital national security information from the United States, he puts our people abroad at risk and he puts people at home here at risk,” said Menendez.

“The terrorists only have to get lucky once; we have to get it right 100% of the time. Those are tough odds. So we need to be able to have every asset in order to defend the American people but with the appropriate checks and balances to ensure that privacy is not invaded,” he added.

McCaskill jumps on Hillary Clinton 2016 bandwagon

Jessica Taylor — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:17:25 +0000

Hillary Clinton is still playing coy about her presidential ambitions, but she nabbed her first congressional endorsement Tuesday morning, with Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill announcing she is on board with a Clinton White House bid.

The female Democratic senator wasn’t a Clinton backer in 2008, though. In Clinton’s last try for the White House, McCaskill was an early supporter of then-Sen. Barack Obama over the potential first female commander-in-chief. But McCaskill had been touting a Clinton candidacy earlier this year, and while backing the heavy frontrunner is hardly a surprising move now for leading Democrats, McCaskill becomes one of the first to formalize her support not just for Clinton, but for the super PAC that’s formed to build support and momentum for a Clinton campaign.

“Hillary Clinton had to give up her political operation while she was making us proud, representing us around the world as an incredible secretary of state, and that’s why Ready for Hillary is so critical,” McCaskill said in a statement. “It’s important that we start early, building a grassroots army from the ground up, and effectively using the tools of the Internet—all things that President Obama did so successfully—so that if Hillary does decide to run, we’ll be ready to help her win.”

McCaskill especially noted the group was critical in reaching out to Obama supporters, like her, in trying to build consensus. McCaskill, a second-term senator, won re-election last year in her conservative-leaning swing state race, where she was initially the underdog but saw the race change swiftly in her favor when the GOP nominee, Todd Akin, made a fatal gaffe on whether “legitimate rape” resulted in pregnancies.

“They aren’t only reaching out to folks who supported Hillary in 2008. They’re helping to show that regardless of who you supported for president back then, we can all agree today that there is nobody better equipped to be our next President than Hillary Clinton,” said McCaskill.

Since stepping down from the State Department earlier this year, Clinton has launched her own Twitter account, further stoking speculation of her future plans, and spoke last week at the Clinton Global Initiative in Chicago, her husband’s international philanthropy organization.

First Read Flash: Dividing lines

Jessica Taylor — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:26:51 +0000

All smiles? “President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart — on opposite sides of a civil war but using delicate language about a difference of opinion — said Monday that they shared an interest in stopping the bloodshed in Syria, as the White House planned to announce more than $300 million in a new humanitarian aid package to go to the war-torn country and its neighbors,” NBC News reports. “Obama and President Vladimir Putin met at the Group of Eight summit in Northern Ireland, their first time talking face to face in more than a year.”

Never too early….. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), who was an early Obama supporter in 2008, announced she was backing a potential Hillary Clinton candidacy in 2016. McCaskill announced her endorsement through “Ready for Hillary,” a group working to draft the former Secretary of State and first lady into the presidential race. McCaskill: “Hillary Clinton had to give up her political operation while she was making us proud, representing us around the world as an incredible Secretary of State, and that’s why Ready for Hillary is so critical,” McCaskill said. “It’s important that we start early, building a grassroots army from the ground up, and effectively using the tools of the Internet – all things that President President Obama did so successfully – so that if Hillary does decide to run, we’ll be ready to help her win.”

Political medicine. Dr. Donald Berwick, the Obama administration’s former head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, will run for Massachusetts governor in 2014, the Boston Globe reports. Berwick’s statement on Monday: “As a doctor, an educator, an innovator and someone who has dedicated his professional career to making things work better and to helping people – I am ready to lead.”

Handing over. “U.S.-led international troops handed control of Afghanistan’s national security to local forces Tuesday — a historic day marred by a suicide attack in another part of Kabul,” NBC News reports. The formal transfer of responsibility is a major milestone in the process of withdrawal from the country, 12 years after the NATO-led mission began its mission to end Taliban rule. Most foreign combat troops will leave the country by the end of 2014, but international funding and humanitarian aid will continue – prolonging the political headache for” Obama “over America’s involvement in the conflict.”

TDR Political Planner

The Daily Rundown Staff — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 05:03:40 +0000

Here’s The Daily Rundown‘s constantly updated look at political dates and happenings to keep an eye on:

June 2013

June 18, 2013: G8 Summit in United Kingdom
June 18, 2013: Vice President Biden hosts a gun control event at the White House
June 18, 2013: U.S. Senate debate between Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Gabriel Gomez (R)
June 18-19, 2013: President Obama visits Berlin, Germany
June 19: President Obama will speak at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany
June 19, 2013: Statue of abolitionist Frederick Douglass to be dedicated at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center
June 19, 2013: Senate and House hold hearings on oversight of the FBI
June 19, 2013: Secretary of State Kerry speaks at LGBT event
June 21, 2013: Vice President Biden addresses the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Las Vegas, N.V.
June 22: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D- Minn.) to speak at Ohio Democratic Party state dinner
June 23, 2013: Tunisia’s presidential election
June 25, 2013: Massachusetts special U.S. Senate election between Rep. Ed Markey (D) and Gabriel Gomez (R)
June 26 – July 3, 2013: President Obama and the First Lady travel to Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania
June 26, 2013: Congressional Women’s Softball Game

July 2013

July 1, 2013: U.S. assumes presidency of U.N. Security Council
July 1, 2013: Sentencing date for former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.)
July 4, 2013: Independence Day
July 4, 2013: Statue of Liberty to re-open
July 9, 2013: Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) keynotes the Indiana Republican Party Summer Dinner in Indianapolis
July 12, 2013: DOJ report due on investigations that involve reporters
July 13, 2013: Due date for Prince William and Kate’s baby
July 17: Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D- Hawaii) speaking at Campus Progress National Conference in DC
July 20, 2013: Virginia Gubernatorial debate between Ken Cuccinelli (R) and Terry McAuliffe (D)
July 24-27, 2013: National Urban League Conference in Philadelphia, PA

August 2013

August 4, 2013: President Obama’s 52^nd Birthday
August 13, 2013: Special primary election for New Jersey Senate
August 15, 2013: Rep. Jo Bonner (R- Ala.) resigns from Congress
August 28, 2013: 50th Anniversary of the March On Washington

September 2013

September 2, 2013: Labor Day
September 4, 2013: Rosh Hashanah
September 14, 2013: Yom Kippur
September 25, 2013: Virginia Gubernatorial debate between Ken Cuccinelli (R) and Terry McAuliffe (D) moderated by The Daily Rundown‘s Chuck Todd

October 2013

October 11, 2013: Nobel Peace Prize winners announced
October 16, 2013: Special general election for New Jersey Senate

November 2013

November 5, 2013: Election Day in New Jersey, Virginia and New York City
November 20, 2013: Vice President Biden’s 71^st Birthday
November 22, 2013: 50^th anniversary of assassination of Pres. Kennedy

GOP Rep.: Pelosi is the problem for immigration reform

Karly Schledwitz — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:27:08 +0000

The debate on immigration reform kicks off in the House of Representatives Tuesday. But Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, a member of the House immigration working group, said Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California remains a primary barrier to bipartisan legislation.

“I think the problem we’re running into is Nancy Pelosi. I’m not quite sure if she wants a bill,” said Rep. Diaz-Balart on Monday’s The Daily Rundown.

Diaz-Balart said the only thing holding the House back from bipartisan agreement is health care.

“The issue that we’ve had is only one. We’ve only had one outstanding issue which is the health care issue,” he said.

“Should the taxpayer be stuck with the bill over the health care of 11 million people? Or should those folks who are going to be legalized, earn legalization, should they be responsible for their health care bill? That’s the issue we haven’t solved yet. I think once we do that we’ll have a bipartisan proposal,” Diaz-Balart said.

The Florida congressman asserted that if his colleagues in the House could solve that one issue, the deal would be done. Still, he admits actually passing a comprehensive bill in the House would be difficult. Nevertheless, he said he is optimistic.

The Washington Examiner recently reported that Speaker John Boehner plans to abide by the Hastert Rule requiring support from a majority of Republicans to bring a bill to the House floor.

Rep. Diaz-Balart said the bill needs support from both sides. “The right move is to make sure we have bipartisan support frankly,” he said. “I’m less concerned, you know, how many Republicans, how many Democrats. I think we have to have buy-in from both.”

Trivia time! Monday’s trivia answer

Melissa Frankel — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:39:25 +0000

In 1995, Bill Clinton became the first sitting president to visit Northern Ireland under intense security. He toured Belfast and Derry to show support for the peace process.

If you’ve got a political question for us, email us at dailyrundown@msnbc.com

Ex-NJ governor defends Christie: Oct. election lets voters focus on Senate race

Jessica Taylor — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 20:42:11 +0000

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has been criticized for his decision to hold a costly October special election for the state’s open Senate seat rather than a concurrent vote with his own November re-election. But one of his GOP predecessors says it may have been the best choice to make sure the contest to succeed the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg gets top billing.

Former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, a former EPA administrator under the Bush administration, wouldn’t volunteer what she would have done if she were in office, but said on Friday’s The Daily Rundown that if Christie had set a November election date, the governor’s race, where Christie remains a heavy favorite for a second term, would overshadow the Senate contest.

“The two elections at least lets people focus on the importance of the Senate race so it doesn’t get lost. You have to understand in New Jersey the power of the governor is such that is the dominating race when it’s the ballot,” Whitman said of the Garden State’s off-year contests for statewide offices.

“Whoever is running for the Senate, with all due respect to the senators and their importance to the state, in this instance it takes second place,” Whitman added. “It’s no accident the elections are staged the way they are.”

Whitman, herself a moderate Republican in the mold of Christie, said she still thought more centrist Republicans could get through primary in the state, even though the open race didn’t draw any top GOP names, with conservative activist Steven Lonegan, who challenged Christie from the right in 2009, the only major candidate. Lonegan is an heavy underdog to whichever Democrat emerges from the August primary, with Newark Mayor Cory Booker leading in party contest over Reps. Rush Holt and Frank Pallone.

Instead, Whitman argued it was a compressed election timetable and having to spend in the expensive New York City and Philadelphia media markets that probably made other Republicans hesitant to run this fall, after Democrats had already been preparing for an open seat 2014 race for months.

“New Jersey is a pretty moderate state for Republicans as well,” said Whitman “It was more that you only had four months to put something together, and that’s typical.”

GOP senator: Obama admin ‘too little, too late’ on Syria

Karly Schledwitz — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 16:50:09 +0000

Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson said he’s encouraged by the Obama administration’s recent moves to begin arming Syrian rebel forces, but that the action may be too little, too late for the war-torn country.

“This administration has once again led from behind. They have not provided leadership,” Johnson, a Republican, said on Friday’s The Daily Rundown. “They didn’t start providing the support that might have made a difference early on. I hope it’s not too late. But possibly better late than never but I’m afraid it may be too little too late.”

Johnson also said that he would support a no fly zone because of the risk of chemical weapons falling into the wrong hands.

“It looks like we will probably initiate some kind of no fly zone near the Jordanian border,” Johnson added. “We’re in a global economy, we have global threats. We need to face up to those global threats and America needs to lead.”

Johnson has said that restoring faith in government is the “wrong solution,” and underscored again on Friday that it was necessary to limit government control.

“What I’d like to do is restore that healthy distrust so that Americans would start limiting the size of government, its influence and control over our lives,” said Johnson.

Immigration reform is also high on the Senate agenda over the next few weeks, but Johnson said that the bipartisan Gang of Eight “didn’t do good enough.” Instead, he hopes to improve the bill during the amendment process and encourage more debate.

“From my standpoint, not really the type of thoughtful process that needs to go into this incredibly complex issue,” Johnson said.

First Read Flash: Crossing the line

Jessica Taylor — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:35:14 +0000

Red line broken. The Obama administration announced Thursday they had determined that Syrian troops, under President Bashar al-Assad, have used chemical weapons against rebel forces in the country’s ongoing civil war, resulting in the deaths of as many as 150 people. In response, the White House will begin supplying the rebels for the first time with small arms and ammunition. The shift comes just ahead of next week’s G8 summit, and on a conference call with reporters, deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said that the “Assad regime should know that its actions have already led us to increase both the scope and scale of the assistance that we’re providing to the opposition … And we will continue to increase these efforts… We will be providing this assessment to Congress, and we will also be consulting with them about our assessments on chemical weapons and our policy response. The President will also be consulting with his G8 partners in the United Kingdom beginning next week.”

Just an average girl. Hillary Clinton, just another citizen? Hardly. NBC News looks at the former Secretary of State’s re-emergence into public life at the Clinton Clinton Global Initiative meeting in Chicago on Thursday. “[W]ith the world hanging on every tweet, and Republicans already marshaling against her, it’s obvious that three years out from the 2016 presidential election, she’s anything but another face in a crowded field. It’s simply clear there’s no one else like her — and that this time around, she has a personal brand that outshines even her famous ex-president spouse.”

Ya gotta have faith. “Four Republican senators – including two who might run for president in 2016 – addressed a gathering of social conservatives on Thursday, touting their pet issues and outlining their goals and accomplishments. But they also urged the activists in attendance not to give up the fight, despite many inside the party calling for change on how the party talks about its values.” NBC News has more on Thursday’s speeches at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majorit” Conference from Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). The conference continues Friday and this weekend with speeches from former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.), RNC Chair Reince Priebus, and others.

Tester: Country needs ‘best of both worlds’ in surveillance balance

Karly Schledwitz — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 18:26:24 +0000

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) has long been a skeptic of government surveillance, particularly taking opposition to the wide-reaching Patriot Act. But as Congress enters a new debate over National Security Agency’s surveillance tactics, the Montana Democrat says Congress must tread lightly between protecting citizen’s rights and safety.

“I think we can have the best of both worlds. We can have our freedoms and we can have our civil liberties and we can also have our security,” Tester said on Thursday’s The Daily Rundown. “But we need to have the debate to make sure we’re heading the right direction as a country.”

As part of that debate, Tester has focused on the role of contractors working in the most covert sectors of the U.S. government, after Booz Allen Hamilton contractor Edward Snowden leaked information about NSA surveillance programs. Tester asked NSA Chairman Gen. Keith Alexander about contractors in a Senate hearing Wednesday, bringing up an issue that Alexander admitted needs more review.

“We spend a lot of money keeping information out of the hands of folks who are trying to do harm on us from the outside. When in fact we need to pay attention to the folks on the inside too. I think the Edward Snowden incident is proof of that,” said Tester.

Tester also said on the issue of sexual assault in the military, stronger leadership in the military could be the solution.

“I believe that you need to have leadership at the top that says zero- tolerance. I think if that happens— If they say no and they truly mean it, I think the military sexual assault will stop tomorrow,” he added.

Fresh off his own tough re-election bid, Tester said he’s hopeful that a Democrat will join him next year from his home state, with his colleague Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) announcing his retirement in April. And, Tester said he’s confident the Democrat on the ticket will be former Gov. Brian Schweitzer, the top recruitment target of national Democrats, though Tester admitted he hasn’t spoken to the former governor in six months.

“I don’t bet the farm on many things, but I’d bet the farm he’s running,” said Tester.