WASHINGTON — Congress has taken the first step toward repealing the Affordable Care Act, and Sen. Chris Murphy on Thursday was on the front lines of Democratic efforts to stop, or at least slow, the process. “There is a cruelty to this enthusiasm for immediate repeal that is a little bit hard to understand,” Murphy said.
Donald Trump
Posted inPolitics
Blumenthal, CT House members, sworn in on fractious first day of Congress
WASHINGTON – Sen. Richard Blumenthal was sworn in to his second six-year term in the U.S. Senate, and all five Democratic House members from Connecticut began a new term as well, as the 115th Congress was gaveled in on Tuesday.
Posted inNews
Analyst: Trump’s idea for F-35 would be ‘a disaster for the U.S.’
WASHINGTON — While President-elect Donald Trump is unhappy about the cost of Lockheed Martin’s F-35, replacing it with a cheaper jet would face serious problems, defense analysts and Connecticut’s lawmakers say. Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute, called Trump’s idea “a disaster for the United States” that would hurt the nation’s military strength.
Posted inHealth
Hospitals worry Medicaid, Obamacare changes could bring pain
With the potential for major changes in federal health care policy looming, hospital leaders are watching closely, worried especially that cuts to Medicaid could bring a big financial hit and that a repeal of Obamacare could raise the number of uninsured Connecticut residents.
Posted inPolitics
Trump zings F-35, asks Boeing to offer F-18 alternative
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump on Thursday again slammed Lockheed Martin’s F-35 “cost overruns,” saying on Twitter he’s asked Boeing to compete with an updated version of the venerable F-18.
Posted inPolitics
Blumenthal says Senate may reject some Trump cabinet picks
WASHINGTON – Some of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees for cabinet positions may not be able to win Senate approval, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Thursday.
Posted inPolitics
Newtown activists come to an election-changed Washington
WASHINGTON — On their first pilgrimage here since the election, relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and other incidents of gun violence and their allies asked President-elect Donald Trump to abandon his hard-line stance against gun control. But chances of that are slim.
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Politics
Q&A: EPA’s McCarthy hopes Trump won’t unravel her work
WASHINGTON — On Gina McCarthy’s watch, the Environmental Protection Agency toughened the clean water and clean air regulations and finalized regulations for the Clean Power Plan, which aims to reduce emissions from power plants to combat climate change. She recently gave The Connecticut Mirror a wide ranging interview and spoke, in her distinct Boston accent, of her hopes that her legacy will survive,
Posted inPolitics
Is the F-35 stealth fighter vulnerable to a Trump tweet?
One of Connecticut’s U.S. senators insists he won’t jump at every tweet by President-elect Donald J. Trump. But the other says he could not ignore what he took as Trump’s suggestion Monday that production of the F-35 fighter, the source of thousands of job in Connecticut and air superiority for the U.S. and its allies, might be reduced or abandoned.
Posted inPolitics
Himes: Trump ‘unhinged’ and Electoral College should block him
WASHINGTON — Rep. Jim Himes said President-elect Donald Trump’s dismissal of U.S. intelligence agencies was “the last straw” that prompted the lawmaker to send out an incendiary tweet Sunday night saying Trump is “unhinged’‘ and the Electoral College should stop him from becoming president.
Posted inPolitics
Himes seeks to curb Trump’s war powers
WASHINGTON — Rep. Jim Himes is on a quest to rein in President-elect Donald Trump’s ability to take the United States to war, shifting that authority to Capitol Hill. “For decades Congress has wimped out on its authority to declare war,” he said.
Posted inPolitics
Blumenthal tells Sessions to abstain from voting on his own confirmation
WASHINGTON — Sen. Richard Blumenthal on Thursday told Sen. Jeff Sessions, President-elect Donald Trump’s candidate to be the next U.S. attorney general, that he should not vote on his confirmation – or that of other cabinet candidates.
Posted inPolitics
Linda McMahon is Trump pick for Small Business Administration
Linda McMahon, the WWE co-founder and two-time Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut, was named Wednesday as President-elect Donald J. Trump’s choice as the administrator of the Small Business Administration.
Posted inPolitics
Blumenthal uncertain over confirmation vote for Mattis
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the Armed Services Committee, said Monday that he had doubts about waiving a rule barring President-elect Trump from naming former General James Mattis or any other military officer as defense secretary so soon after retirement.
Posted inPolitics
Defense hawks hope Trump keeps vow to boost military spending
WASHINGTON — The House has approved a $619 billion defense bill and the Senate is expected to follow this week, but there’s a push to add F-35s, Black Hawk helicopters and other military hardware to the Pentagon’s shopping list early next year, right after President-elect Donald Trump assumes office.