On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate voted 69-29 in favor of the so-called „border surge“ proposal, an amendment to the Gang Of Eight‘s comprehensive immigration reform bill that would shove tens of billions of dollars into border surveillance, fencing, and enforcement. The legislation, authored by Republican Senators Bob Corker of Tennessee and John Hoeven of North Dakota, cleared the way for the Senate’s passage of the overall comprehensive immigration reform Thursday afternoon, locking up support from 14 GOP Senators.

The annual renewal of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is underway on Capitol Hill.

On June 14, by a vote of 315-108, the House of Representatives passed the Fiscal Year 2014 version of the NDAA (HR 1960). Several amendments to the defense spending legislation were proposed, many of which were approved either by voice vote or en bloc.

WENN MAN zufällig‭ ‬am Ben Gurion-Flughafen auf John Kerry trifft,‭ ‬mag man sich‭ ‬fragen,‭ ‬ob er kommt oder geht.‭ ‬Er fragt sich das vielleicht selbst.
Seit vielen Wochen hat er jetzt die‭ ‬meiste seiner kostbaren Zeit für Treffen mit Benjamin Netanyahu und Mahmoud Abbas verbracht,‭ ‬indem er versuchte,‭ ‬die beiden zusammen zu bringen.‭

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) office tells ThinkProgress that the Senate is now adjourned until Monday, July 8, with no “pro forma” sessions planned during the coming week. This is significant because these pro forma sessions, sham sessions where a single senator briefly gavels the Senate into session for a few minutes, are a legally controversial method the Senate uses to cut off the president’s recess appointment power. Without these sham sessions, President Obama’s power to recess appoint several officials currently being filibustered by Senate Republicans likely just roared back to life.

As the Obama administration rushes to deploy the U.S. military in Egypt in defiance of Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, Representative Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.) have offered bills that would block the pipeline of U.S. military aid flowing to al-Qaeda in Syria.

Joined by Republican Representatives Justin Amash (Mich.), Walter Jones (N.C.), Ted Yoho (Fla.), Phil Roe (Tenn.), Mo Brooks (Ala.), Joe Pitts (Penn.), Mark Meadows (N.C.), Scott DesJarlais (Tenn.), and Louie Gohmert (Texas), Representative Massie introduced H.R. 2507, a measure that points out the president’s violation of the separation of powers — particularly regarding the authority to declare war — in the supplying of military arms and funds to Syrian forces opposing the al-Assad government.

The request comes in response to reports that for over ten years, the Central Intelligence Agency has secretly delivered tens of millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars in cash to Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

“The American people are outraged by these revelations,” the letter reads. “They rightly believe their hard-earned tax dollars ought to be spent here at home, not secretly funneled to Hamid Karzai, a man who has publicly stated that he would ‘choose the Taliban’ over the United States.”

06/26/2013 Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, and Intelligence (Permanent Select), for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

“We cannot continue to spend American money and risk American lives overseas without a vote of approval from Congress,” said Jones. “For too long, the legislature’s responsibility to authorize military force has been overlooked. It is time that we uphold the Constitution, which makes it clear in Article 1, Section 8 that Congress alone holds the power to declare war.”