Mike DeBonis
Washington Post
Washington, DC, United States
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Recent articles by Mike:
Senate passes $40 billion in Ukraine aid, sending bill to Biden
The Senate voted Thursday to deliver more than $40 billion in new military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, sending the measure to President Biden after a week-long delay sparked by a lone senator’s objection. → Read More
After decades defending abortion rights, Patty Murray readies for offense
The no-nonsense senator from Washington has been the single most effective Democratic combatant against Republican attempts to restrict abortion and otherwise roll back reproductive health care rights on Capitol Hill. → Read More
Republicans, on cusp of abortion win, seek to change the subject
Republicans for months have been on the rhetorical offensive against President Biden and fellow Democrats — hammering them on the Afghanistan withdrawal, on increasing homicide rates, on a chaotic southern border and on seemingly ever-rising inflation. Now they’re the ones searching for the right message. → Read More
Democrats in tough races revolt over Biden administration border move
The decision to end a public health order used to expel migrants has resounded on the campaign trail as Republicans eye a potent midterm wedge issue. → Read More
Congress breaks deadlock on Ukraine measures, sends two bills to Biden
The bills largely reinforce moves that President Biden has already made to ban energy imports and remove trade preferences from Russia. → Read More
As Ukraine conflict rages, Congress struggles to legislate a response
In the five weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine, Congress has yet to send a piece of stand-alone legislation to President Biden punishing Russia or aiding Ukraine. → Read More
Facing new political reality, Murkowski considers a vote for Jackson
Her vote is being closely watched not only in D.C., where Democrats are eager to put a bipartisan stamp on Jackson’s likely confirmation, but also back home in Alaska, where Murkowski is standing for reelection this year under a newfangled election system. → Read More
Jackson appears to remain ‘on track’ for confirmation, senators say
Jackson’s confirmation will not be overwhelmingly bipartisan, but leaders of both parties agreed the long and often tense interrogation did not alter the fundamental dynamics around the nomination. → Read More
Russia trade bill stalls in Congress as senators quarrel over sanctions
A bill ending normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus hit a snag in the Senate this week as a prominent Republican sought to attach language banning Russian oil imports. It's the latest example of how Congress has found it difficult to pass legislation dealing with the crisis in Ukraine. → Read More
In questioning Ketanji Brown Jackson, ambitious Republican senators try to elevate their national profiles
For a handful of ambitious Republican senators, Jackson’s confirmation hearings this week have served as an high-profile platform to prove their mettle to GOP voters who might someday see their names on a presidential primary ballot. → Read More
House votes to strip Russia of trade status, but Congress treads carefully on Ukraine crisis
The legislation, which largely mirrors trade sanctions already undertaken by President Biden, could be the last significant Ukraine-related matter to pass Congress for months to come. → Read More
Addressing Congress, Ukrainian President Zelensky pleads for military aid
President Zelensky cited the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the rhetoric of Martin Luther King Jr. in seeking to roust President Biden and lawmakers to further action to support Ukraine. → Read More
For Jackson, path to the Supreme Court is paved with smiles and small talk
Nothing so encapsulates the finely choreographed nature of the modern Supreme Court confirmation process as the round-robin of senatorial interviews. → Read More
Sen. Ben Ray Luján returns to Senate, just one month after major stroke
Lujan, 49, had initially predicated a four-to-six-week recovery following the cerebellar stroke he suffered on Jan. 27. → Read More
Sen. James M. Inhofe, conservative critic of climate change, says he will retire
Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), 87, said Friday in an interview with the Oklahoman that he will not finish his term and will retire at the end of the year. → Read More
Sen. Ben Ray Luján’s stroke shows the fragility of Democrats’ Senate majority
Amid bipartisan prayers and well-wishes for Luján’s health, the political impact was immediate: Plans to advance three controversial nominees Wednesday through the evenly divided Senate Commerce Committee were abandoned due to his absence, and many on Capitol Hill braced for partisan battles to come, including the fight to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer. “I will be just… → Read More
Trump’s latest claim that election could have been ‘overturned’ looms over electoral count debate in Congress
Former president Donald Trump made his first statements in recent days about the 135-year-old federal law governing the counting of electoral votes -- the law he tried use, under a novel legal interpretation, to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The statements loom over efforts underway in Congress to rewrite the law and prevent a recurrence of the unrest following Trump's 2020 loss. → Read More
Faced with Supreme Court nominee it probably can’t block, GOP ponders how hard to fight
Some conservatives have signaled they want to take an aggressive approach and have focused on President Biden’s stated intent to nominate a Black woman. → Read More
Why Democrats spent a year on a failed voting rights push
Democrats went on a quest that was improbable at best, resulting in a fresh demonstration of impotence by a party and president who vowed to make government work. But those involved said they had no choice but to fight. → Read More
Democrats brace for likely defeat of voting rights push due to GOP filibuster
Party leaders have not been able to summon needed unanimity among Democrats to change the Senate rules to overcome Republican opposition. → Read More