Word: lott
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...likely that the confirmation hearings will reflect the overall tenor of the Senate in this new era. On Friday, Trent Lott and Tom Daschle hammered out a power-sharing arrangement that was approved by both sides. The deal would give the parties equal membership and staffing on the Senate committees--a huge Republican concession, though the G.O.P. would continue to control the chairmanships and, if a committee splits down the middle, have the right to bring bills to the floor for votes. Conservatives grouse that Lott gave away too much. "It's difficult for me to see how two people...
Some U.S. Senate Republicans are privately miffed at their leader, Trent Lott, because Democrats are chairing the opening rounds of hearings for George W. Bush's Cabinet nominees, particularly the ones next week for the two most controversial picks, John Ashcroft and Linda Chavez. Until Jan. 20, Democrats have a majority in the 50-50-split Senate because Al Gore still has his job as vice president of the nation and president of the Senate. Gore can cast tie-breaking votes; after Jan. 20, when Bush and Dick Cheney are sworn in, Cheney presides over the Senate, giving Republicans...
...apparently ceremonial and pro forma resolutions that were quickly approved by voice vote. Republican committee chairmen are angry that one of the floor resolutions Daschle got passed made Democrats chairmen of the committees until Jan. 20. The Republican chairmen didn't know that Daschle was offering the resolution because Lott apparently never alerted his committee chairmen that the Democrats would control their panels for 17 days. "Only Lott knew," says a GOP aide. "But he didn't pass it on to the worker bees...
...McCain is not merely forcing Bush's hand; he's taking on his party's leadership. Republican leader Trent Lott and most of his GOP caucus loathe the prospect of McCain's bill being the first thing the Senate debates this year. The measure would stop millions of dollars in unregulated soft money from flowing into both parties, a spigot Lott and Bush don't want to shut off. Bush, who is irritated and puzzled by his former rival's gambit, also opposes McCain's bill because it doesn't protect union members from having their dues go toward political...
...Lott is trying to outmaneuver McCain, perhaps by preempting his bill with one that Hagel has crafted - a rival measure that conservative Republicans find more palatable. Instead of an outright ban, Hagel's measure would put a cap of $60,000 on the soft-money contributions a business, union, PAC or individual could make in any year. The Nebraska senator says he's having "serious discussions" with Bush aides on fine-tuning the measure so the new President might back it. McCain could also be derailed with a little presidential pressure. Some of the GOP senators supporting his bill might...