harry reid

Al Franken envisioned himself becoming President of the United States a decade ago in his book, “Why Not Me?” And today, for a time, he was president — of the U.S. Senate. It’s a temporary task that’s rotated among the senators, and Franken’s turn happened to come this afternoon at a historic moment, just as [...]

The U.S. Senate took an hour Thursday to honor former Sen. Norm Coleman. Here are clips of the complete tributes to Coleman from 10 senators (seven Republicans and three Democrats, including Amy Klobuchar), as well as transcribed highlights of their remarks — with particular attention to what they had to say about Coleman’s future.

Former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman “deserves an easy, humdrum, conventional political race some day,” said his former colleague, Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. The remark was part of a bipartisan, tag-team series of testaments to Coleman that consumed an hour on the Senate floor this morning. Sen. Amy Klobuchar thanked Coleman for bowing out of [...]

Al Franken is ready to get to work in Washington. That was the message of the senator-elect at his first public appearance on Capitol Hill since the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled last week that he won the U.S. Senate contest. “I am going to work day and night to make sure that our kids have a great future and that America’s best days lay ahead,” Franken said in a brief, mid-day appearance with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

CQ Politics reported today that a GOP Web ad aims to raise money for Norm Coleman so Republicans can count on having 42 votes in the U.S. Senate. Huh? Turns out the YouTube video the story describes — replete with pleading cameos from nine senators and two others — is three months old. (CQ Politics has [...]

Al Franken will break the first Republican filibuster of an Obama nominee. That was the vow of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid before GOP senators blocked President Obama’s nomination of David Hayes as deputy Secretary of the Interior. “If we have to wait until Al Franken comes, he’s going to be confirmed,” said Reid.

We knew she was killing, as in funny. Now it turns out Sen. Amy Klobuchar is also knowing, as in clairvoyant. Her prediction two months ago about when she’d gain a home-state companion in the U.S. Senate was within 42 minutes of a court ruling that Franken won. UPDATED with new video clip from Rachel Maddow’s show. UPDATED again with video of Klobuchar on CNN.

The Pioneer Press’ Rachel E. Stassen-Berger is Minnesota’s town crier for the disputed U.S. Senate election. On March 21, she marked the 46th anniversary of the final day in the state’s last big recount. Yesterday she called out the time by which Minnesota might get its second senator (five weeks from now, at the earliest). [...]

Judging by statements from leading senators, World War III will arrive around April Fool’s Day this year. That’s when Majority Leader Harry Reid pledged to install fellow Democrat Al Franken in Minnesota’s vacant Senate seat. But if Democrats try any such thing before former Sen. Norm Coleman has exhausted legal challenges to Franken’s recount victory [...]

Senate Majority Harry Reid is drawing a new line in the snow, naming a date by which he’s pledging to have Al Franken seated as Minnesota’s next senator: April Fool’s Day. Democrats will invoke the Senate’s privilege to seat members to the body regardless of where former Sen. Norm Coleman’s court battle stands at that [...]