Senate

Centrist Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) indicated this week he will work with colleagues committed to a “fiscally conservative budget” as the parties try to forge a spending agreement for fiscal year 2012.

“I'm going to continue to work with Republicans, Democrats, independents and anyone else committed to a fair, fiscally conservative budget,” said Nelson, referring to the coming fight over the 2012 budget.

Calling himself a “fiscal hawk,” Nelson, who is up for reelection in 2012, said he wants to implement “substantial cuts” in government spending.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) warned Monday that the most important battle on government spending is still on the horizon with the debate on whether to raise the nation's debt limit.

"I think you're going to see the little drama we had up until this point pale in significance to the big fight and the very important fight in terms of the future of our country," said Cornyn, referring to the upcoming debate on whether or not the U.S. will be allowed to borrow past its $14.3 trillion limit, which is expected to be reached by June.

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said Monday the White House is calling every member of the Senate, urging them to reject the "CAP Act."

"The White House is calling every individual senator and asking them to stay off of this bill,” Corker told the Times-News editorial board Monday while promoting his legislation. “I see it as a part of the fulcrum of this (spending) debate. I’m hoping that it passes."

The "CAP Act," sponsored by Corker and Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill (Mo.), would cap federal spending at 20.6 percent of gross national product after 10 years.

The government can’t do anything in the short term to lower gas prices, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) said on Monday.

"The fact is, there isn't anything that’s going to change that tomorrow," Blumenauer told ABC’s “Top Line” when asked what Congress or the White House could do. "You could drain America dry of its oil … and it’s not going to happen overnight."

According to the automobile club AAA, the national average price of a gallon of gas Monday was $3.86. A year ago, it was $2.85.

Blumenauer said that rather than taking steps to artificially lower gas prices, the government ought to get behind alternative forms of transportation that consume less energy.

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Sen. Lee said a feeling of "business as usual" pervades President Obama's administration in terms of government spending.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on Friday joined the growing chorus of members of Congress who have condemned President Obama's decision to enter the conflict in Libya without first seeking congressional approval.

"I feel so strongly that the president did not follow the War Powers Act and that he should have come to Congress for approval first," Collins said on "In the Arena" a program on WCSH 6, a local NBC affiliate in Portland, Maine. "In my mind there is just no doubt about it."

Collins and other members of Congress from both parties contend that the unrest in Libya did not meet the criteria laid out in the War Powers Resolution Act of 1973 that allows the president to go to war without approval of the Congress. That act was a joint congressional resolution that empowers the president to send armed forces into action abroad only with authorization of Congress or if the United States or its interests are under attack.

"If there had been in imminent threat to the United States, then the president would have been justified in deploying troops and using force but that was not the situation that we faced," said Collins.

In March, Obama ordered U.S. armed forces to join in coalition attacks on military installations and forces controlled by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Although the U.S. has since withdrawn from many of the military strikes, Obama has ordered the military to begin new attacks with unmanned U.S. drones.

Collins, a Republican centrist, becomes the first GOP senator to publicly say she won't vote for the Ryan spending plan.

Citizens Against Government Waste named Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) its "porker of the month" on Thursday for his threat to shut down the Senate if his state was not awarded $40,000 for a study on deepening the Port of Charleston.

“This project and the study it requires both reek of pork," the influential watchdog group said in a statement. "Today, Citizens Against Government Waste named Sen. Lindsey Graham ... Porker of the Month for threatening to bring the Senate to a standstill over a $40,000 earmark."

Graham argued on the Senate floor earlier this month that one out of five jobs in his state depend upon the Port of Charleston, saying the money could not be procured by any other means besides the federal government.

Real estate mogul and TV personality Donald Trump's potential presidential bid is an international "embarrassment," Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday.

"I really think that what is happening with Trump is such an embarrassment to the United States — with the whole world depending on us for economic leadership — to have him leading the Republican — you know — I mean it may be fun for the Democrats, but it's not as fun for the reputation of our great country," Rangel said Wednesday on the Thom Hartmann radio show.

Poll results published Wednesday by the Pew Research Center's News Interest Index showed that Trump was the best-known of the potential contenders for the GOP's presidential nomination in 2012.

Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) predicted Congress would have no problem raising the debt ceiling as long as Democrats are willing to “cut up the credit card” and change the nation’s fiscal course.

"In the House we'll have a debate that says if we're willing to basically cut up the credit card, reduce spending in the size and scope of government, I don't think there will be much of a problem to raise the debt ceiling,” Duffy said this week in an interview with WQOW-TV, an ABC affiliate in Eau Claire, Wis.