KEVIN CRAMER

It’s a wholly familiar tone, echoing how the party has often dealt with Donald Trump’s exploits. It’s also a posture that’s proven costly.

Lawmakers who voted for the rollback in 2018 are standing by their position, even as it threatens to resurface a major divide among Democrats.

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) stood in front of his new Republican colleagues Tuesday and tried to convince them to support a bill backed by Senate Democrats that would impose a host of new regulations on a powerful rail industry.

Republican senators largely rejected Tucker Carlson’s vision of the deadly attempted insurrection as a mostly peaceful protest that involved little violence.

Despite their sharp tone on the presidential mishandling of classified documents, Congress may not have the ability to take much action to prevent future mishandling of such documents.

The U.S. Air Force is telling North Dakota leaders it believes a Chinese company’s plan to build a wet corn milling plant near the Grand Forks Air Force Base poses a national security threat.

Several Senate Republicans gave their thoughts on the batch of classified documents being found at former Vice President Mike Pence's Carmel, Indiana home on Tuesday.

Sen. Rick Scott launched an uphill bid to be minority leader. Sen. Mitch McConnell was handily reelected but many rank-and-file senators are frustrated at party leaders following the 2022 elections.

Florida Sen. Rick Scott is mounting a long-shot bid to unseat Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

A North Dakota farmer who had been detained in Ukraine since November 2021 on accusations that he planned to kill his business partner is back home.

Former President Trump’s Monday assault against Joe O’Dea, the GOP’s Senate nominee in Colorado, is angering Republicans while leaving them wondering if he cares about the party winning back the majority in the upper chamber. O’Dea, a pro-abortion rights moderate whom Democrats spent $4 million against in the primary, was already in an uphill fight…

In a Senate Banking Committee hearing, CEOs of the nation's major banks testified about a variety of issues, but it was social policy that stole the show.

President Joe Biden has nominated McLain “Mac” Schneider, a former state Senate Democratic minority leader, for ND's top federal prosecutor job. Schneider would replace Jennifer Puhl.

Former President Trump’s promise to grant pardons to the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is running into strong opposition from Senate Republicans. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of Trump’s closest allies, told The Hill that granting pardons to Jan. 6 protesters is “a bad idea.” “Pardons are given to people…

Russia has imposed sanctions on 25 Americans, including actors Sean Penn and Ben Stiller.

As the Senate contemplates legislation to protect same-sex marriages, there has been a sharp shift in Republican support for the issue.

After overturn of Roe v. Wade, one lawmaker says, "Fathers have obligations, financial and otherwise, during pregnancy."

The North Dakota Republican said he suffered an injury to his right hand while doing yard work over the weekend.

Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota has announced that he suffered a serious injury to his right hand and is potentially facing amputation of a finger.

Sen. Kevin Cramer says there’s a “possible need for amputation” after he suffered a serious injury to his hand. The North Dakota Republican shared his medical news on Wednesday in a statement he posted on Twitter. “While working in the yard over the weekend, I sustained a serious injury to my right hand, which required…

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has announced his support for his chamber’s emerging bipartisan gun agreement.

The Biden administration foresees unnecessary deaths if lawmakers don’t approve billions of dollars more to brace for the pandemic’s next wave.

On "The Takeout" podcast this week, Cramer said of Pompeo that "he's got the Trump doctrine down. He's believable on it. He understands it."

The president plans to order that U.S. flags be flown at half-staff to mark 1 million deaths from the coronavirus in the United States. In a statement, he also nudged Congress to pass additonal funding to combat the pandemic.

For the vast majority of Republican senators, voting against abortion rights on Wednesday served as a political win in states that have skewed so conservative that their only fear is of losing a GOP primary.

Congress has renewed a 1990s-era law that extends protections to victims of domestic and sexual violence.

President Joe Biden came into office with a plan to fix inflation but not the particular inflationary problem that the country now faces.

An American farmer is jailed in Ukraine on charges he attempted to assassinate a former business partner who is now a government minister.

Year-end pileups of crucial legislation and the brinkmanship that goes with it are normal behavior for Congress.

While some Republicans said Biden should resign, most focused on demanding that the withdrawal timeline, set for Tuesday, be lifted to allow a forceful counter attack against the Islamic State forces that took credit for the bombings.

The two Republican senators want to end rules requiring masks on federal property and public transportation.

The two Republican senators want to end rules requiring masks on federal property and public transportation.

Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty ImagesAs Congress moves closer to passing a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, GOP senators appear more than willing to ignore Donald Trump’s pleas to block the bill. House Republicans, however, are listening dutifully.Over the weekend, 18 GOP senators—more than a third of the conference—voted to advance legislation to fund roads, transit systems, broadband, and more, which they negotiated with President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats.

A freshman senator has ground the Senate to a crawl in order to slow the passage of a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure package.

For President Joe Biden and the senators laboring over a nearly $1 trillion infrastructure package, there’s just one question left: Can enough Republicans get to yes.

GOP senator unflinchingly defends officer who shot Ashli Babbitt in tense exchange with radio caller

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators and congressmen is urging the federal government not to approve recommendations to remove 144 cities from the designation of metropolitan statistical areas. Reclassifying them as “micropolitan” would put key federal funding at risk, they said. Doing so would reclassify more than a third of the current 392 metro areas as micropolitan statistical areas. In a separate letter to the Office of Management and Budget, Hoeven said the proposal also would hurt micropolitan areas that were on the cusp of becoming metro areas. “If a metropolitan statistical area is redefined as a micropolitan area, it may fall out of the conversation.

"The Senate cannot ignore the First Amendment," said van der Veen. In a letter signed last week they wrote that “the First Amendment does not apply in impeachment proceedings, so it cannot provide a defense for President Trump." van der Veen bristled and inquired who had asked. Sanders responded, “I did.” van der Veen retorted: “irrelevant.”“No, it isnt!” Sanders angrily shot back from his desk, adding: “You represent the president of the United States!”He scoffed audibly when van der Veen avoided answering the question. “This is not whataboutism," said Michael van der Veen.

But as the Senate prepares for an impeachment trial for Trump's incitement of the riot, few seem willing to hold the former president accountable. “The political winds within the Republican Party have blown in the opposite direction,” said Ralph Reed, chair of the Faith and Freedom Coalition and a Trump ally. After Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer backed impeachment, Republican Tom Norton announced a primary challenge. “We’re getting ready for an impeachment trial — that’s really the focus,” said Trump adviser Jason Miller. And that his political activism or whatever role he would play going forward would be with the Republican Party, not as a third party,” Cramer said.

The Senate voted Monday evening to confirm Janet Yellen as treasury secretary with bipartisan support. "As we face an economic crisis brought on by COVID-19, we will need steady, proven leadership at the Treasury Department," said Republican Senator Susan Collins in a statement after voting for Yellen. "A highly respected economist, Dr. Yellen served first as vice chair and then chair of the Federal Reserve. Republican Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, one of those who voted against Yellen, said in a statement that Yellen "backs policies proposed by President Biden I cannot support." Before becoming the first woman to lead the Treasury Department, Yellen was also the first woman to serve as Federal Reserve Board Chair.

The Senate voted Monday evening to confirm Janet Yellen as treasury secretary with bipartisan support. "As we face an economic crisis brought on by COVID-19, we will need steady, proven leadership at the Treasury Department," said Republican Senator Susan Collins in a statement after voting for Yellen. "A highly respected economist, Dr. Yellen served first as vice chair and then chair of the Federal Reserve. Republican Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, one of those who voted against Yellen, said in a statement that Yellen "backs policies proposed by President Biden I cannot support." Before becoming the first woman to lead the Treasury Department, Yellen was also the first woman to serve as Federal Reserve Board Chair.

The Senate voted Monday evening to confirm Janet Yellen as treasury secretary with bipartisan support. "A highly respected economist, Dr. Yellen served first as vice chair and then chair of the Federal Reserve. Republican Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, one of those who voted against Yellen, said in a statement that Yellen "backs policies proposed by President Biden I cannot support." Her nomination was advanced by the Senate Finance Committee Friday with unanimous support, 26 to 0, and both Democrats and Republicans praised her after the committee vote. Before becoming the first woman to lead the Treasury Department, Yellen was also the first woman to serve as Federal Reserve Board Chair.

The duo were the architects of the $1.8 trillion CARES Act, the landmark relief bill passed in March. Here are the top issues for the end-stage COVID-19 relief talks. ___JOBLESS BENEFITSThe CARES Act created a $600 per-week bonus COVID-19 unemployment benefit that sustained household incomes and consumer demand during the springtime shutdowns. House Democrats support the idea, but it is unpopular with many Senate Republicans and was left out of a scaled-back Senate GOP plan. ___LIABILITY SHIELDBusinesses reopening during the pandemic have for months been seeking a shield against lawsuits claiming negligence for COVID-19 outbreaks.

The picks include former Secretary of State John Kerry to take the lead on combating climate change. “America will soon have a government that treats the climate crisis as the urgent national security threat it is,” Kerry said. At 43, he will be one of the youngest national security advisers in history. Blinken, 58, served as deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser during the Obama administration and has close ties with Biden. Blinken recently participated in a national security briefing with Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and weighed in publicly just last week on notable foreign policy issues in Egypt and Ethiopia.

FILE - In this Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016, file photo, Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Syria. Blinken is the leading contender to become President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for secretary of state, according to multiple people familiar with the Biden team's planning. – President-elect Joe Biden is expected to nominate Antony Blinken as secretary of state, according to multiple people familiar with the Biden team's planning. Blinken, 58, served as deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser during the Obama administration and has close ties with Biden. Biden's secretary of state would inherit a deeply demoralized and depleted career workforce at the State Department.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, testifies during a Senate Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Hearing on the federal government response to COVID-19 on Capitol Hill Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, in Washington. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not necessarily stand up for Fauci after Trump derided the National Institute for Health official as one of the “idiots” leading the country's coronavirus response. “The one thing we all need to do is wear a mask, practice social distancing, try to prevent the spread,” McConnell told reporters. Trump's own COVID-19 diagnosis following a Rose Garden event at the White House sent ripples to Capitol Hill. He noted that “the scientists have a great deal of influence over a lot of things, but they don’t have total influence over the entire economy and how to run it.”Fauci has served since 1984 as the director of the National Institute of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases.

BISMARCK, N.D. The Army Corps of Engineers is recommending that the federal government negotiate a settlement with North Dakota for more than $38 million that the state spent policing protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. North Dakota Republican U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer called the recommendation very significant and the right thing to do for the federal government. North Dakota assumed all costs including the cleanup of actions facilitated by the Corps of Engineers, Cramer said Tuesday. Thousands of opponents gathered in southern North Dakota in 2016 and early 2017, camping on federal land and often clashing with police. If not, we will prepare for trial.Stenehjem said North Dakota has a strong case and holds the upper hand in negotiations now with the federal judges ruling last month.

WASHINGTON The Senate on Thursday joined the House in defying a veto threat from President Donald Trump to approve defense legislation that would remove the names of Confederate officers from American military bases such as Fort Bragg and Fort Benning. The Senate approved the annual policy measure, 86-14, a margin that suggests more than enough support to override a potential Trump veto. The White House said in a statement this week that it supports the overall spending figure but expressed serious concerns about the House bill, including the mandate on base renaming. President Trump is deploying dangerous authoritarian tactics on our streets as a twisted campaign strategy,'' Merkley said in a statement explaining his vote against the defense bill. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., called Merkley's proposal nothing more than "political messaging ... designed to exploit violence in the streets for political gain and defeat President Trump.''

Still another said Republicans worry the GOP brand of cutting taxes could be overshadowed by Trump's drive to defend Confederate monuments. 2 Senate Republican leader John Thune of South Dakota said last week. He said GOP candidates need to do what they need to do to win. Republican Senate candidates will have to defend things President Trump says and does between now and Election Day, said Rory Cooper, a Republican strategist and longtime Trump foe. He said he believes independent swing voters abandoning Trump will be willing to back GOP Senate candidates and expressed cautious optimism.

PHOENIX A North Dakota construction company favored by President Donald Trump has received the largest contract to date to build a section of Trumps signature wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Republican U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota confirmed the $1.3 billion contract for building the 42-mile section of wall through really tough terrain in the mountains in Arizona. Trump has promised to build 450 miles of wall along the border with Mexico by the end of the year. Democratic members of Congress raised concerns in December after Fisher was awarded a $400 million contract for border wall construction. Environmentalists have also long criticized the border wall, saying it cuts off protected wildlife and destroys important ecosystems.

The ability to record documents is also getting tougher as county recording offices close. "While they may allow for electronic recording, many jurisdictions do not provide access to records online. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and Mark Warner, D-Va., introduced the Securing and Enabling Commerce Using Remote and Electronic Notarization Act of 2020. It permits immediate nationwide use of Remote Online Notarizations, a type of electronic notarization where the notary and signer are in different physical locations. Right now, 23 states allow remote electronic notarization, but there is pushback from some that are concerned about states' rights.

REUTERS/Tom BrennerSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected to introduce the stimulus bill on Thursday, but a vote appears to be days away, a senior Republican lawmaker said. McConnell said the Senate would remain in session until it finishes the legislation and sends it to the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. Once both houses pass the bill, it would then pass to Trump to be signed into law. Several other House lawmakers, including Republican whip Steve Scalise, were in self-quarantine after having been in contact with someone who had tested positive for the virus. For the third package lawmakers are working on now, the Trump administration has proposed a stimulus in the range of $1.3 trillion.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) walks back to the chamber at the U.S. Capitol during a break in U.S. President Donald Trump's Senate impeachment trial in Washington, U.S., February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Amanda VoisardWASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans are considering as part of their coronavirus stimulus plan a maximum direct payment of $1,200 to individuals making $75,000 a year or less, Senator Kevin Cramer said on Thursday. In addition, to help the hard-hit airline industry, the plan likely would rely on loans and not grants to the sector, he said.

In public, Federal Reserve officials repeatedly have said they don't pay attention to President Donald Trump's long-standing criticism of monetary policy. "Ugh Ugh," Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida responded when Michelle Smith, communications director at the central bank, sent him a screenshot of an August Trump tweet calling Chairman Jerome Powell an "enemy" comparable to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Later in the day, Smith sent Powell and Clarida an account in which Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, said in a radio interview that the Fed should be free of political pressure and expressed support for the chairman. Powell repeatedly has said the Fed is not influenced by the president's attacks. Trump variously has called central bank officials "boneheads," compared Powell to "a golfer who can't putt" and most recently said the Fed should cut rates to help bring down the $23 trillion national debt.

Led by the House of Representatives sergeant at arms and the House clerk carrying the documents on a tray, seven House managers walked through a nearly empty Statuary Hall and the soaring Capitol rotunda. More than a dozen Senate Democrats sat silently at their desks when the group arrived at the Senate. Pelosi delayed signing the impeachment articles while she waited for word from McConnell about the trials scope. Afterward, she handed pens to the impeachment managers and committee chairs involved in the investigation. McConnell said he had invited the House managers to exhibit the articles at noon before U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts swears in the senators.

Sen. Kevin Cramer told CNBC on Thursday he views the stock market heading higher as an indication that Americans are not troubled by President Donald Trump's impeachment. "I think the markets are a pretty good reflection of the public," the North Dakota Republican said on "Squawk Box," a day after the House impeached Trump. The S&P 500 opened higher Thursday, and hit another all-time intraday high in late morning trading. The market has been gaining ground throughout the Trump impeachment process as Wall Street bets on a Clinton-like outcome. Similarly, since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump, the S&P 500 is up about 7%.

But even as they did so, a Republican senator said that the decision to have Trump National Doral Miami, which is owned by the president's company, host the conference of world leaders shows Trump's "integrity." "It may seem careless politically, but on the other hand there's tremendous integrity in his boldness and his transparency," Cramer said. When asked if it is appropriate to have the G-7 at the Doral, Murkowski said, "No." White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Thursday revealed that the Doral would be the site of G-7 summit in June. "President Trump's decision to host the 2020 G-7 Summit at his Miami property appears to have been a foregone conclusion," the letter says.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Senate Republicans Monday avoided criticism of President Donald Trump's conduct over the handling of a controversial whistleblower's complaint, with one prominent senator even suggesting the whistleblower is a "leaker" who should be criminally investigated. Cornyn sharply pushed back when a reporter questioned why the senator thinks the person who filed a complaint with the Intelligence Community's Inspector General is not an actual whistleblower. Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Republican senator from North Dakota, downplayed the President's conversation with Ukraine's President. As did Sen. Chuck Grassley, the most senior GOP senator who has a long history of advocating for and protecting government whistleblowers. "If that's the direction they take, attacking the whistleblower, trying to coverup this corruption, it's a really, really said day for the country," he added.

Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer praised House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's work on the debt ceiling, telling CNBC on Friday that the final deal "doesn't need to be perfect." "I've been pretty impressed with the way Speaker Pelosi has negotiated with Secretary Mnuchin in the past week or two. She seems to want a deal as much as the president wants a deal, and she should. Mnuchin has said it's possible the federal government will reach the debt ceiling by early September. However, as Cramer was speaking, Bloomberg News was reporting Friday that Pelosi is rejecting the White House's most recent debt-ceiling proposal.