last Friday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued a decision that basically said the era of recess appointments is over. The three-judge court unanimously ruled that President Obama, on…

I believe we have 30 minutes for this discussion; is that right? The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Twenty-three minutes remains.

I am here to join with and congratulate the Senator from Louisiana for his leadership on this issue. These are important matters for a couple of reasons. One is, as the Senator from Louisiana said, the rule of law is one of the fundamental…

Yes. I thank the Chair. So as we look back over the history of checks and balances and the imperial Presidency and the importance of making certain we do not have an imperial Presidency, we are reminded the reason we did that was a single…

So this was written at a time when Senator Sam Houston of Texas had to ride a horse, get on a steamboat, get in a stagecoach, and make his way to Washington over a period of 5 or 6 or 7 weeks, and the same to go home; and when President…

I yield to the Senator. Mr. McCONNELL. As we have discussed before, and I think it is worth repeating, divided government is actually the best time to do difficult things. We have had four excellent examples in the last 25 years: Ronald…

It seems lately that I come to the floor when the Republican leader is making especially reasonable, sensible proposals. I heard him say the same thing last week, and I agree with him. I saw a number of my Democratic friends this weekend…

I thank the Senator from Kentucky. As we spoke on the floor, another example is President Johnson and Everett Dirksen on civil rights. That would not have happened if the government hadn't been divided, and it wouldn't have been as easily…

last Friday a three-judge Federal appellate court made an important decision. It said that the President of the United States, President Obama, on January 4, 2012, made some recess appointments when the Senate wasn't in recess. In other…

The Senate works best when committee-approved bills move to the floor in an orderly way and Senators are freely able to debate and amend and vote upon the legislation. Unfortunately, under the current Democratic majority, committee work…

I wish to thank Senator Levin for his leadership, as well as Senator McCain, Senators Schumer, Cardin, Pryor, and Senator Kyl--who has now retired from the Senate--and Senator Barrasso. We are hopeful the leaders will be able to recommend…

I strongly agree with the understanding of my friend, the senior Senator from Arizona. I, too, would oppose cloture on a matter if the majority abused the motion to proceed set out in the order by using that procedure as the high-water…