harry-reid

A day after the Iowa caucuses and a week from the New Hampshire primary, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is back blasting the lack of diversity in the states that come before his home of Nevada in the presidential nominating process.  

Asked about the outcome in Iowa, where Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., finishing very narrowly behind former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Reid highlighted his role in changing the process to put more focus on the subsequent contests in states with more diverse Democratic electorates. His efforts helped move Nevada's Democratic caucuses earlier in the electoral calendar.  

GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump is fond of calling U.S. leaders “stupid,” but he's now trumpeting his “great” relationships with them — even name-dropping senior Democrats.  

“I think that I'm going to be able to get along with Pelosi. I think I'm going to be able to — I've always had a good relationship with Nancy Pelosi,” Trump said this week during a television interview , referring to the House Democratic leader from San Francisco. “I always had a decent relationship with [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid.” Reid is retiring at the end of the year, meaning he will not be in a position to negotiate legislation with the next president. There will be a new Senate Democratic leader, and he or she could be majority leader if voters hand Democrats control of the chamber.  

Senate leaders spent Friday afternoon claiming victory on the spending and tax bills that passed before lawmakers left town, and said they are now looking to highlight differences between the two parties heading into the election year.  

Democrats and Republicans held back-to-back news conferences after the final votes of the year, each saying the Senate is functioning again, and they're the reason why.  

The Senate's top two leaders took to the floor Thursday morning to affirm their friendship.  

After Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., gave his opening speech on the Senate floor on the year-end spending and tax package, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., sought to clear the air after Politico reported that the relationship between the two leaders had reached a "new low."  

White House officials stayed in the background as lawmakers hammered out sweeping spending and tax bills, allowing Democratic leaders to duke it out with their Republicans cohorts.  

House and Senate leadership aides described the White House’s role as minimal, saying President Barack Obama was never seriously engaged in the high-stakes talks. And some of his top aides were kept in the loop by Democratic leaders, but it was House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who did the heavy lifting.  

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., unveiled a litany of Democratic proposals to combat the Islamic State Monday, following President Barack Obama's address to the country Sunday night.  

Among the proposals that will be incorporated into a comprehensive bill was the creation of an "ISIS czar," or one point person in the federal government to coordinate the response to the terrorist group. According to a Reid aide, the bill includes 12 main components aimed at foreign and domestic policies. “Senate Democrats support President Obama’s plan to fight ISIS and protect America,” Reid said on the Senate floor. He later added, “We also know that we can do more to fight terrorists.”  

Updated 12:46 p.m. | Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid lashed out on the National Rifle Association on Thursday as he served notice Democrats would push gun violence amendments during the Senate vote-a-rama on a budget bill.  

"Now, there was a time in my legislative career that I tried to work with the National Rifle Association, but the NRA today is a far cry from [the] sportsmen's organization that I once supported," the Nevada Democrat said. "The NRA once called mandatory background checks 'reasonable.' That's what they said. I'm not making this up."  

Updated 10:29 a.m. | Following Wednesday's mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said the Democrats will call for "a few" votes on gun-related amendments to the budget reconciliation bill during Thursday's session.  

Democratic Sens. Charles E. Schumer of New York, Patty Murray of Washington, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Christopher S. Murphy of Connecticut will hold a news conference at 12:30 p.m. Thursday to call for the amendments.  

Minority Leader Harry Reid opened the Senate's week by blasting Iowa Republican Sen. Charles E. Grassley for a blockade on ambassadors over former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's emails.  

"Many of these foreign service officers are always ready to serve at a moment's notice in hot spots throughout the world. Hot spots like Iraq and Afghanistan. They're not partisan. They're diplomats," Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said in a floor speech. "That's why it's troubling to see the senior senator from Iowa politicize these promotions." In a Monday afternoon statement responding to Reid's remarks, Grassley, the Judiciary Committee chairman, said he is holding 22 State Department nominees over unanswered questions about State's personnel rules and its policing of potential conflicts of interest.  

Updated 3:35 p.m. | Speaker Paul D. Ryan won't rule out policy riders in the omnibus appropriations bill the House will consider in the weeks ahead.  

“This is the legislative branch, and the power of the purse rests within the legislative branch," the Wisconsin Republican said Tuesday at his first news conference as speaker, "and we fully expect that we're going to exercise that power."