Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) trail Hillary Clinton by only 6 percentage points in 2016 hypothetical matchups in Iowa, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Monday.

Lankford leads Shannon 43 percent to 35 percent in the automated survey conducted by SoonerPoll for News9. State Sen. Randy Brogdon was taking 4 percent, which could deny a candidate an outright win; if neither candidate reaches 50 percent there will be a two-month runoff.

Mr. Scalise, 48, was not a shoo-in to succeed Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, who was elected majority leader. (Mr. McCarthy will replace Representative Eric Cantor, who is stepping down after losing his primary bid for re-election in his Virginia district.)

The most tart exchange came as Berwick, a former federal Medicare and Medicaid chief, pressed for a single-payer health care system in the state, in which the government would provide health insurance, rather than private firms. The push for what he often calls “Medicare for all” has been one of his banner issues.

The jury’s still out on whether Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost his primary Tuesday night because he was perceived by voters to be in support of rewriting the country’s immigration laws.

“All the focus, all the hope, in the conservative world now rests with convincing Jim Jordan to make a majority leader run,” according to a senior GOP aide.

Re: Julian Castro

 President Barack Obama will make it official Friday afternoon, when he will announce his intent to nominate Castro to be the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

He’ll still have to navigate the Senate confirmation process, but Republicans will not be able to filibuster either nomination after Democrats last year detonated the “nuclear option” getting rid of the 60-vote rule for nominations.

Having successfully defied the Tea Party on the debt ceiling, now it is time for Boehner and McConnell to use that momentum to pass three bills: An extension of unemployment benefits for people suffering long-term joblessness; a minimum wage hike; and, most important of all, immigration reform.

“All modern presidents have done this,” said Kenneth Mayer, a University of Wisconsin political science professor who has studied the presidency extensively. “All presidents utilize the tools of executive power to implement policies.”

Landrieu has voiced her displeasure that Louisiana has not accepted federal aid to expand Medicaid.
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“Yes. I have talked about it,” Sen. Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., said Tuesday between votes. “I have been trying to lead a broad coalition of Democrats and Republicans, rich and poor, business interests and consumers alike, to explain to Governor [Bobby] Jindal that the decision he made was not right. It is not in Louisiana’s economic interest, leaving $16 billion on the table.

Re: Ron Wyden

All of that may be true, but so is this: On Thursday the Oregon Democrat will become the most liberal chairman in the modern history of the Finance Committee, the most powerful panel in the Senate.

Whitehouse has given a “time to wake up” floor speech about climate and environmental issues each week the Senate’s been in session for the past 58 session weeks.

The Senate voted 96-0 Thursday to confirm Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) as U.S. ambassador to China.
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Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Baucus would go down in history for his work on the “landmark” Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare.