menu_open Columnists
Alexander Bolton

Alexander Bolton

The Hill

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Schumer urged Biden not to run

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who publicly proclaimed after President Biden’s disastrous debate, “I’m with Joe,” has now...

yesterday 10

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Senate GOP rejects House conservative pitch on corporate tax rates

House conservative proposals to raise corporate taxes to offset the cost of President-elect Trump’s tax package are going over like lead balloons in...

yesterday 80

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Bessent open to increasing sanctions on Russia  

Treasury Secretary-nominee Scott Bessent told senators Thursday that he would be “100 percent on board” with increasing sanctions on Russia’s...

previous day 10

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Vought nomination signals bruising spending wars under Trump

The Senate’s confirmation hearing of Russell Vought, one of Washington’s staunchest advocates for cutting spending, offered a preview Wednesday of...

previous day 10

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Vought distances himself from past statements about government shutdowns

Russell Vought, President-elect Trump’s pick to head the White House budget office, downplayed his past comments about the usefulness of shutting...

wednesday 3

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Democrats fail to land decisive blow against Hegseth

Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee failed to land a decisive blow against Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s nominee to serve as...

wednesday 50

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Ernst will vote for Hegseth, handing Trump big win

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), a key member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who has championed women serving in combat roles, announced Tuesday that...

wednesday 40

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Graham: Hegseth’s path to confirmation is assured

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who last month called allegations of sexual assault and other misconduct against Pete Hegseth “very disturbing,” on...

wednesday 20

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Kaine clashes with Hegseth over infidelity, drinking, scandals

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) clashed sharply with secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth over his infidelity and reports of public drunkenness and...

14.01.2025 2

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Hirono grills Hegseth over allegations of drinking on the job

Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing got heated when Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) challenged him over press reports that...

14.01.2025 3

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Reed to Hegseth: You are unqualified, lack character

Sen. Jack Reed (R.I), the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s pick to head the...

14.01.2025 10

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Hegseth interrupted by protesters

Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth’s opening statement was repeatedly interrupted by several protesters who were swiftly removed from the...

14.01.2025 10

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Reed: FBI investigation of Hegseth 'insufficient'

Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.), the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the FBI’s background check of Pete Hegseth,...

14.01.2025 3

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Democrats' hopes of derailing Trump nominees fading fast

Democrats' hopes of defeating any of President-elect Trump's Cabinet nominees appear to be fizzling as Senate committees prepare for the first week of...

14.01.2025 10

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

No. 2 Senate Democratic leader will back Rubio for secretary of State

Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) on Monday announced that he will vote for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) to become the next secretary of State, a...

14.01.2025 3

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Trump frustrated with GOP lawmakers over debt-limit quandary

President-elect Trump wants congressional Republicans to figure out a way to avoid a default on the national debt after venting his frustration with...

13.01.2025 9

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Duckworth: Trump’s Pentagon pick has less experience than Applebee’s manager

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a decorated combat veteran and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, says President-elect Trump’s pick to...

10.01.2025 3

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Democrats fume over Alito-Trump call

Senate Democrats are furious that President-elect Trump has reached out to conservative Justice Samuel Alito amid a push by Trump for the high court...

10.01.2025 10

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Senate GOP fears landmines in House could derail Trump's tax agenda

Senate Republicans fear that President-elect Trump’s tax agenda could be derailed in the House by several potential landmines, including calls by...

10.01.2025 10

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Democratic senator: Alito has made impropriety the norm

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Thursday blasted conservative Justice Samuel Alito for having a...

09.01.2025 40

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Trump, GOP senators wrestle over strategy for president-elect's agenda

President-elect Trump and Republican senators wrestled over the best strategy for moving Trump’s top agenda items, including border security and tax...

09.01.2025 4

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Senate Republicans prepare blitzkrieg on Biden regulations

Senate Republicans, waiting for their House counterparts to figure out their strategy on border security and tax reform, are planning to use the...

08.01.2025 40

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

GOP senator: Biden's eleventh-hour actions 'slap in the face' to Trump voters

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) says that President Biden’s moves in the final days of his presidency to ban offshore drilling, grant clemency to...

08.01.2025 9

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Thune tees up Tuberville's bill to block transgender athletes from women’s sports

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on Tuesday took the necessary procedural steps to place Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) bill blocking...

08.01.2025 10

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Democrats under fire for not sounding alarm earlier on Biden

Democratic leaders and lawmakers are coming under growing scrutiny for not blowing the whistle sooner on what is widely perceived to be President...

07.01.2025 10

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Trump to meet with Senate Republicans on Wednesday

President-elect Trump will be on Capitol Hill on Wednesday at the invitation of Senate Republican leadership, according to three sources familiar...

07.01.2025 5

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Schumer marks Jan. 6, condemns potential Trump pardons of Capitol rioters

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) on Monday marked the four-year anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capitol and...

06.01.2025 5

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Gillibrand to head Senate Democrats’ campaign arm

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) has been tapped by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to head the Democratic Senatorial Campaign...

06.01.2025 4

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Trump's Greenland and Panama Canal ambitions face Republican skepticism

Republican lawmakers are scratching their heads over President-elect Trump’s ambitions to take over Greenland and the Panama Canal, grand plans...

05.01.2025 50

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Brown hails Biden decision to block Japanese takeover of US Steel

Outgoing Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) on Friday hailed President Biden’s decision to block the takeover of U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel, a...

03.01.2025 10

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Thune says preserving the Senate filibuster will be a top priority

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) in his first prepared address as Senate majority leader says “preserving” the filibuster will be one of his top...

03.01.2025 2

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

FBI checks, ethics paperwork threaten to slow down Trump confirmations

Republican sources on Capitol Hill warn that President-elect Trump’s nominees may be delayed because of paperwork holdups and the slow start of...

03.01.2025 10

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Sanders gets Finance perch to push Social Security, Medicare expansion, tax reform

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who supports expanding Social Security and Medicare and raising taxes on the wealthy, will get a seat on the...

02.01.2025 20

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Trump on collision course with conservatives over debt limit

President-elect Trump is headed for a battle over the debt limit with conservative lawmakers who are demanding steep cuts to federal spending that...

30.12.2024 40

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Trump already acting as he’s president as Biden takes lower-key approach

President-elect Trump is seizing the reins of power early and, according to lawmakers in both parties, already acting as president, while Joe...

24.12.2024 30

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Paul predicts Speaker will be ousted in 2025

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), as part of his annual “Festivus” airing of grievances on social media, said that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will be...

23.12.2024 3

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Shutdown chaos has Republicans worried about moving Trump agenda 

Republican lawmakers say Congress’s near brush with a government shutdown shows that House Republicans do not have a functional majority, giving...

21.12.2024 50

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Senate passes bill to boost Social Security benefits for some

The Senate voted overwhelmingly in the early hours of Saturday to pass legislation to boost Social Security benefits for more than 2 million...

21.12.2024 200

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Senate confirms 235th Biden judge, surpassing Trump’s record

The Senate on Friday confirmed President Biden’s 235th judicial nominee, surpassing the record of 234 judges confirmed during President-elect...

21.12.2024 30

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Democrats pledge to work through Christmas on funding to rebuff Trump’s demands

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) on Friday said she’s ready to stay in Washington “through Christmas” to fight...

20.12.2024 20

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Senate Republicans fume over 'fiasco' in House

Senate Republicans were left fuming Thursday over what they called the dysfunctional “s--- show” and “fiasco” they witnessed in the House as...

20.12.2024 20

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Senate advances bill to boost Social Security benefits for millions of people

The Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday to advance a bill to boost Social Security benefits for more than 2 million Americans by repealing two...

20.12.2024 100

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Carolina senators threaten to vote against funding deal without disaster money

Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) threatened Thursday to vote against any government funding package that doesn’t include...

20.12.2024 6

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Shutdown odds rapidly rise as House seeks plan B

The odds of a shutdown were rapidly growing on Thursday after President-elect Trump upended the talks by urging GOP lawmakers to shutter the...

19.12.2024 2

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Thune not ready to abolish debt limit in government funding bill

Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on Thursday stopped short of embracing a proposal to add language to a year-end spending bill...

19.12.2024 10

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Hawley: “We need to have a serious look at who is leading this Congress”

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) slammed Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for having “cooked” up a massive year-end spending bill that he claims is full of...

19.12.2024 20

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

McConnell on funding turmoil: 'Oh, this is the way it's going to be next year'

Outgoing Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) quipped Wednesday evening that Republicans may be in for more turmoil next year after...

19.12.2024 7

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Rand Paul blocks bill to authorize local, state authorities to track drones

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Wednesday blocked an effort by Senate Democrats to pass legislation to authorize and provide resources to state and local...

18.12.2024 5

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Senate to act on drone-tracking bill empowering state, local authorities

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) says the Senate will act Wednesday on a bipartisan bill to provide authority and resources for state...

18.12.2024 2

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Trump warns Senate GOP not to fast-track Biden nominees

President-elect Trump warned Senate Republicans Tuesday against cutting a deal with Democrats to fast-track a final batch of President Biden’s...

18.12.2024 50

The Hill

Alexander Bolton