(CNN) – Goodwin Liu, a California law professor nominated by President Barack Obama for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, asked Thursday for his name to be withdrawn after Senate Republicans had invoked a rarely used filibuster to block a final floor vote.
"With no possibility of an up-or-down vote on the horizon, my family and I have decided that it is time for us to regain the ability to make plans for the future," Liu said in a letter to Obama. The letter was provided to CNN by a source at the University of California Law School, where Liu teaches.
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Washington (CNN) - Invoking a rarely used filibuster, Republican senators scored a major tactical and political victory Thursday, blocking a final floor vote for a controversial judicial nominee. California law professor Goodwin Liu has been tapped to serve on the U-S Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, based in San Francisco.
A cloture maneuver to end weeks of delays over the nomination failed when Democrats could not secure the necessary 60 votes
to end debate and move ahead with an up-or-down vote.
Liu was the first of President Obama's judicial picks to be successfully filibustered. Republicans complained he was inexperienced
and a partisan ideologue. Democrats countered he was a thoughtful mainstream candidate well qualified to serve.
Washington (CNN) – As the U.S. military campaign in Libya approaches the 60-day mark this Friday, six Republican senators wrote President Obama asking if he will comply with the War Powers Act, which says Congress must authorize action that lasts more than 60 days.
"Friday is the final day of the statutory sixty-day period for you to terminate the use of the United States Armed Forces in Libya under the War Powers Resolution. Last week some in your Administration indicated use of the United States Armed Forces will continue indefinitely, while others said you would act in a manner consistent with the War Powers Resolution. Therefore, we are writing to ask whether you intend to comply with the requirements of the War Powers Resolution. We await your response," wrote the GOP senators Wednesday.
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Washington (CNN) – Senate Republican leaders Tuesday put pressure on GOP moderates balking at voting for a budget-slashing bill passed by House Republicans.
Democrats had planned to vote Tuesday on the House bill – which would cut government spending by $61 billion-as well as a competing, scaled-down, measure proposed by Democrats but Senate leaders indicated late Tuesday the vote would likely slide until Wednesday.
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Washington (CNN) - Mitt Romney's coming to the aid of dozens of Republican members of Congress who he says are trying to cut government spending.
The former Massachusetts governor and probable 2012 GOP presidential candidate announced on Tuesday that Free and Strong America PAC, his political action committee, is contributing $83,500 to 40 House and Senate Republicans.
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(CNN) - Senate Republicans promised Wednesday to block legislative action on every issue being considered by the lame duck Congress until the dispute over extending the Bush-era tax cuts is resolved and an extension of current government funding is approved.
Washington (CNN) - President Obama will hold a meeting with congressional leaders from both parties on Tuesday, less than a month after Republicans won control of the House of Representatives during midterm elections.
The meeting, which is expected to last about an hour, is expected to address numerous topics, including whether Bush-era tax cuts should be extended beyond the end of this year as well as the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).
Obama has called for Congress to extend lower tax rates for most Americans before the end of the year, when tax cuts enacted in the Bush administration are set to expire.
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Washington (CNN) - In a surprise move, Senate Republicans decided not to remove Sen. Lisa Murkowski from her top position on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Wednesday, according to several Republican senators who refused to explain their decision.
Republicans had indicated as recently as Tuesday she was likely to lose her seniority on the committee as penalty for her write-in candidacy in Alaska.
A GOP source in the room tells CNN, despite anger towards Murkowski, the conference decided not to even take up the question of the Senate Energy Committee post because "there was a sense that she's resigned her leadership post, she lost her primary, she will probably lose her race, and she'll be gone. She will not be ranking [Republican] because she will not be here."
(CNN) - Senate Republicans are expected on Wednesday to strip Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski from her post as ranking Republican on the Senate Energy Committee.
Republicans say they will vote to elect an acting ranking member and then the full GOP conference will ratify the vote.
Republicans will also vote to elect a replacement for Murkowski, R-Alaska, in the leadership.
Washington (CNN) – Senate Republicans just said they will move tomorrow to strip Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, from her post as ranking Republican on the Senate Energy Committee.
Republicans say Wednesday they will vote to elect an acting ranking member and then the full GOP conference will ratify the vote.
Republicans will also vote to elect a replacement for Murkowski in the leadership. She resigned Friday as vice chair of the Senate GOP conference.
National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman, John Cornyn, R-Texas, told CNN this is, "the appropriate thing to do. When you chose not to accept the judgment of the primary voters and run as a write in... it has consequences."
Another Republican came out of the Senate GOP lunch and told CNN it was clear Murkowski has virtually no support among her colleagues anymore. That senator spoke on condition of anonymity, in order to speak freely about a private meeting.
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