The Connecticut delegation split on Tuesday over reauthorization of several provisions in the Patriot Act, the post-Sept. 11 law that dramatically expanded FBI counterterrorism powers. House Republicans failed to win the two-thirds majority necessary to pass the measure, a temporary extension that sought to buy time for hearings and debate over three provisions that are […]

WASHINGTON–The emotionally-fraught issue of abortion usually doesn’t get much attention in Connecticut. Pro-life lawmakers haven’t been able to get much traction with Republican legislative leaders in recent years, and so pro-choice Democrats haven’t had much of a fight on their hands. Not so in Washington, where Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal has jumped head first into […]

WASHINGTON–Nine months after his campaign was staggered by reports that he had incorrectly claimed to have served in Vietnam, Sen. Richard Blumenthal made what seemed to be a similar misstatement Tuesday, putting himself at the center of the action in the historic 1973 Supreme Court case that legalized abortion. Audio of Blumenthal’s remarks “I’m new […]

WASHINGTON–Top federal health officials are designing a new insurance program aimed at increasing the health care options for people with disabilities–and helping them avoid the financial collapse that often comes with severe medical crises. If successful, the program could also provide much-needed fiscal relief to states like Connecticut, where the Medicaid program, which pays for […]

In case you had any doubt about how active Sen. Richard Blumenthal would be on abortion-rights issues, it should be put to rest with this: “Today, Sen. Blumenthal became the first man ever featured as an author on the EMILY’s List website,” declared a news release from the group, which typically supports women candidates who […]

WASHINGTON–Connecticut airports will need an estimated $174 million in federally-funded upgrades over the next five years, according to government projections. Whether they will actually get that money is a matter of political projection–and thus not so easy to specify. But there will be some significant clues in the coming days, as the Senate moves forward […]

WASHINGTON–Democrat Richard Blumenthal is stepping out slowly and carefully in his new role as Connecticut’s junior Senator. He hasn’t appeared at any Capitol Hill press conferences yet. He’s still mulling over his maiden Senate floor speech and deciding what his first piece of legislation should focus on. And he spent the first Senate recess on […]

When the votes were tallied up in the Senate Wednesday evening on whether to repeal the health reform law, Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, was among those noted absent. Asked about that, his spokesman, Marshall Wittmann, said he had pressing family matter to attend to. “Senator Lieberman did not vote last night because he […]

It ain’t the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., got an extra assignment Wednesday that could give him an opportunity to delve into a wide range of foreign policy issues. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. appointed Blumenthal to the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the U.S. […]

Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, said on a Stamford radio program Wednesday that he would probably come to a decision about whether to run for Senate by the end of this month. “The decision by Sen. Lieberman not to run again is really almost an eclipse-like event. These things don’t happen all the time,” Courtney […]

Connecticut lawmakers have been mostly mum about the tumultuous political situation in Egypt. So far, only Rep. Chris Murphy, a newly appointed member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and an aspiring Senator, has released a statement about the growing calls by Egyptians for greater economic and political freedoms. Murphy was careful to keep it […]

Sen. Richard Blumenthal hasn’t unveiled his own maiden Senate legislation yet. But he has signed on to a few measures introduced by his colleagues, including a measure to reform Senate rules and repeal an irksome paperwork provision in the health care reform law. On Wednesday, Blumenthal also co-sponsored a bill to repeal automatic pay raises […]

WASHINGTON–If you have two kinds of health insurance, one would think your care would be twice as good. That’s not necessarily so when you are poor and elderly or disabled. Many patients who fit this description are covered by both Medicare and Medicaid, the nation’s two major government insurance programs. But their coverage is often […]

Sen. Joe Lieberman’s push for broad new federal cybersecurity protections has earned some unfavorable comparisons in recent days. Critics have suggested that his legislation would give the White House the same sweeping powers that Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak used earlier this week to shut down the Internet, denying a vital communication tool being used by […]

Sen. Joe Lieberman’s push for broad new cyber-security protections has earned some unfavorable comparisons in recent days. Critics have suggested that his legislation would give the White House the same sweeping powers that Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak used earlier this week to shut down the Internet in an apparent effort to stifle protestors calling for […]