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With Haley’s resignation news, a rare moment of Senate agreement

WASHINGTON — The bruising battle over Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court has caused many to question whether the Senate can agree on much of anything anymore.

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But lawmakers on Tuesday seemed to be in general agreement that Nikki Haley, the outgoing ambassador to the U.N., has done a solid job of representing U.S. interests. “She did speak very forcefully about U.S. positions and certainly defended Israel from isolation. So I was proud of her talent, the way it was used in New York,” Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said in an interview with WTOP. Republican leaders also praised Haley. “Our nation has benefited greatly from the tough, skilled leadership that Nikki Haley brought to the U.N.,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor. Sen. Lindsey Graham, who like Haley is a Republican from South Carolina, tweeted about his pride in the work she’s done.

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Cardin, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had a major role in handling Haley’s confirmation. Unlike the narrow 50-48 margin on which the Senate approved Kavanaugh for the high court, Haley was approved on a nearly unanimous 96-4 vote after being nominated by President Trump. “I think if you look at many of the nominees that have been approved by strong bipartisan support in the Senate, you see that Democrats and Republicans do work together,” Cardin said. While that’s easy to forget in the wake of the epic Supreme Court confirmation fight, Cardin and other lawmakers have pointed to some areas of agreement. Among them is the sweeping piece of legislation, passed last week, that addresses the nation’s opioid crisis. Cardin acknowledged there have been times during Haley’s tenure at the U.N. when he strongly disagreed with the Trump administration’s policies, but he felt she performed well in standing up for American interests. “The Senate will continue to consider bills. … Democrats and Republicans will work together as I have throughout my career,” Cardin said. But he also added “damage that was done” during the Kavanaugh ordeal will have “some lasting impact in the United States Senate.”

House again passes a resolution seeking to halt military action in Iran as the conflict escalates

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Thursday narrowly passed a resolution to halt U.S. military action in Iran, sending a warning to President Donald Trump for the second time as the war has escalated and the future of the conflict is increasingly uncertain. The 214-208 vote requiring congressional approval for the war came just before the Senate narrowly rejected a similar resolution, 47-49. Though the votes forced by Democrats are largely symbolic, they are meant as a signal to the Republican president that his support on Capitol Hill is chipping away as the war drags on and lawmakers in both parties have questioned his administration’s endgame. The war has had “no clear mission, no strategy, no end goal,” said Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat who led the resolution on the House floor. The House resolution passed after a handful of Republicans voted with Democrats to end the war. But the vast majority of Republicans in both chambers voted to back the war and cede congressional war powers to Trump.
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