Karoun Demirjian

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Watchdog group hounds government for files on Ensign case: Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012; Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a formal complaint this week to force the DOJ to turn over files collected during its now-defunct investigation of John Ensign.
Senate passes tax cut extension for those earning $250,000 or less: Wednesday, July 25, 2012; Democrats in the Senate faced down the closest thing to a legislative dare from Republican leaders Wednesday and passed a tax cut extension for those earning $250,000 or less by a simple majority.
Senate observes moment of silence in honor of Colorado shooting victims: Monday, July 23, 2012; Sen. Harry Reid led the Senate in a moment of silence Monday afternoon for the moviegoers who died in a horrific shooting in Aurora, Colo., last week, making special mention of one of the victims who hails from Reno.
Dean Heller files amendment that repeals tax breaks for oil companies: Wednesday, March 28, 2012; Nevada Sen. Dean Heller still probably won’t be voting for the Democrats’ Repeal Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act when the Senate votes on it later this week. But that didn’t stop him from pulling a sleight of hand Tuesday to claim the issue as his own.
Vote on bureau chief could have larger ramifications for Nevada: Sunday, Dec. 4, 2011; The White House is turning up the pressure on Republican Senators in seven states, including Nevada, to press them to vote to confirm former Ohio attorney general Richard Cordray as director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau when his nomination comes before the Senate this week.
Democrats suggest not sitting by party at State of Union: Friday, Jan. 14, 2011; There are many traditions associated with the president’s State of the Union address. Democrats are pushing to turn one of the most longstanding traditions on its head.
Obama administration eyes reduction in greenhouse gas emissions: Monday, Jan. 3, 2011; With the political momentum for energy legislation ground to a standstill in Congress, the Obama administration is taking the reins on emissions reform, issuing a sweeping new framework of greenhouse gas reduction requirements that are causing energy providers across the country to do a slow burn.
House OKs 9/11 health care bill, Heller leaves early: Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010; Winter vacation is finally starting for members of the House of Representatives — though for one Nevada rep, it looks like it came a little bit early.
9/11 health care bill still on Reid's agenda: Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010; So it appears the lame duck session is boiling down to a standoff over one final bill — once the Senate ratifies the START treaty today that is. But this is no normal political fistfight.
Senate improves food safety screenings: Monday, Dec. 20, 2010; Chalk one up for the spirit of compromise: the Senate actually agreed on something. Something kind of complicated.
Heck appears to have gotten wish on committee assignments: Monday, Dec. 20, 2010; He hasn’t yet had to cast his first vote, but so far, Joe Heck’s introduction to Washington appears to be going off without a hitch.
Reid: Solar thermal project near Tonopah to create more than 500 new jobs in Nevada: Monday, Dec. 20, 2010; Sen. Harry Reid announced Monday that the Department of Interior gave its final approval for Nevada’s first solar thermal plant, a project Reid said is also likely to create about 500 jobs.
Senate repeals 'don't ask, don't tell' with help from Ensign: Saturday, Dec. 18, 2010; The Senate voted to repeal the military’s longstanding policy against gays and lesbians serving openly in the military today, sending the measure to the President’s desk for his signature with both of Nevada’s senators on board.
Senate drums out DREAM Act; expected to OK gays in military: Saturday, Dec. 18, 2010; After a series of Saturday morning votes, the DREAM Act is dead, and a repeal of the 17-year "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy against gays serving openly in the military is all but guaranteed to pass when the Senate votes on final passage at 3 p.m. Eastern time today.
Key votes set for today on DREAM Act, gays in the military: Saturday, Dec. 18, 2010; Nevadans who have been following the debates on the repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy and passage of the DREAM Act will want to be paying attention early this morning.
House passes tax extension bill: Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010; The House of Representatives cleared a comprehensive tax extension bill in the final seconds of Thursday night, sending the two-year framework of tax cuts, unemployment insurance extensions and temporary payroll tax holidays back to the president, who drafted them, for his signature.
Estate tax becomes focal point of tax extension debate: Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010; The House was poised to stay in session past midnight Thursday to have a double-bill of votes on the tax extension package, an exercise serving both practical and political ends.
Harry Reid blasts 'hypocrite' Republicans over earmark spending: Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had a message for his antagonists today. To Republicans: stop being such hypocrites. To the White House: stay out of my Congress. “I do not want to give up more power to the White House, whether it's George Bush or Barack Obama, and I'm going to fight as hard as I can against President Obama on these earmarks, and my Republican colleagues who hate to vote for them but love to get them,” Reid said.
Tax debate shifts to House and Shelley Berkley's estate provision: Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2010; The Senate has passed the president’s two-year tax extension, but bets are still off in the House, where it seems the bill’s fate is hanging in the balance of one provision backed, drafted, and drilled by Nevada’s own Shelley Berkley.
Berkley's estate tax measure at issue as Congress takes up taxes: Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2010; The president’s two-year tax extension is all but guaranteed to pass the Senate later today, but bets are still off in the House, where it seems the bill’s fate is hanging in the balance of one provision backed, drafted and drilled by Nevada’s own Shelley Berkley.
Reid, Ensign focusing on numbers that bolster their arguments: Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010; Nevada’s two senators are in the closest thing to a math fight they’ve had for a while, albeit somewhat indirectly, as each throws out his best numbers for and against the tax bill.
Harry Reid: Congress will 'get it done,' even if it means working into new year: Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010; Speaking to reporters this afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid delivered a pre-Christmas lump of coal that could last through the whole holiday season: Yes, he knows everyone’s itching to get home, but he’s prepared to have them hunker down through the new near, if that’s what it takes to finish his agenda.
Budget bill might be final option in fading effort to legalize online poker: Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010; The proposal to legalize some online gambling appears to have little chance of passage. But because its legalization would be a tax revenue-generator, it could be attached to the federal budget.
John Ensign among 15 to vote against tax bill motion: Monday, Dec. 13, 2010; After clearing a procedural vote with an overwhelming majority, it looks like the Senate will be poised to pass the tax bill — but not everyone is on board.
GOP backs health care ruling; Harry Reid calls it an 'outlier': Monday, Dec. 13, 2010; Nevada lawmakers weighed in on a federal judge's decision in Virginia that the sweeping health care reform law Congress passed earlier this year is unconstitutional, handing a political victory to Republicans and Tea Partiers who have long been been calling for its repeal.
Mr. Sanders Goes to Washington: Friday, Dec. 10, 2010; It’s the wrong Mr. S, but independent senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders is channeling the spirit of Jimmy Stewart circa 1939 today, in his filibuster of the president’s tax bill.
American Gaming Association backing effort to legalize online poker: Friday, Dec. 10, 2010; The American Gaming Association, the gaming industry’s biggest lobbyist, came out today in unequivocal support of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s bid to legalize online poker.
Nevada lawmakers make progress with energy initiatives: Friday, Dec. 10, 2010; WASHINGTON -- The tax bill and the federal budget are proving to be politically intractable enough that they might keep Congress around town until Christmas — but in the meantime, Nevada lawmakers are scoring some pretty solid successes in the energy arena.
Heller backs proposal to cut House office budgets: Friday, Dec. 10, 2010; Nevada Rep. Dean Heller announced he’d support Speaker-elect John Boehner’s plan to reduce House members’ office budgets by 5 percent — so much so that he’d do it whether or not the full House approves the change.
Delay on DREAM Act acknowledgment of GOP standoff: Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010; Last night, the House gave the pro-immigration movement its strongest victory in decades, by passing a measure to give young, undocumented college students and military enlistees a chance to become American citizens.
Harry Reid issues statement on legalization of Internet poker: Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010; After 24 hours of swirling speculation as to whether a bid to legalize online poker has any prayer of passing during the lame-duck session, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is finally issuing his first lengthy statement on the proposal.
Legalizing online poker looks like a long shot: Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid may not admit it publicly yet, but it appears the eleventh-hour push to legalize online poker during the lame duck is all but dead.
Democrats remain critical of Obama's tax compromise: Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010; The House threw down the gauntlet at President Obama’s tax compromise with Republicans today, approving a resolution that asks the speaker not to bring the framework up for a vote "in its current form."
Reid's office: Legalizing online poker still on lame-duck agenda: Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's staff said late Wednesday that he is still intent on pushing for legislation during the lame duck session to legalize online poker.
Obama tax plan splits Nevada delegation: Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010; Sen. Harry Reid might not be sure about Obama’s tax cut proposal, but that doesn’t mean other Nevadans in Washington aren’t ready to back the president’s plan.
Harry Reid's wish list is lengthy for lame duck session: Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010; Social Security. The DREAM Act. START. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Health care. A budget. Taxes. Believe it or not, that’s only a partial list of what’s left to accomplish on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s lame duck agenda.
Dina Titus pushes for 'Weekends Without Hunger' bill: Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010; WASHINGTON -- Rep. Dina Titus’ time on Capitol Hill is almost concluded, but she’s taking up one last fight, with the help of the House: a bill to help reduce childhood hunger.
Nevada senators vote 'guilty' in case of Louisiana judge: Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010; It’s shaping up to be a busy day in Congress, but before we get to all of that, a little bit of history in the making.
President's tax plan draws little praise from Democrats: Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010; The framework President Obama released toward a compromise on tax cuts is earning high praise from Republicans in Congress, but Democrats are staying comparatively tight-lipped as they pledge nonetheless to consider the new plan.
Harry Reid, John Ensign clash as Democratic tax plans blocked: Saturday, Dec. 4, 2010; WASHINGTON -- It’s back to the drawing board on taxes today after the Senate tried — and failed — to pass Democrat-drafted measures to extend tax cuts and unemployment insurance into the next year.
Harry Reid names Dina Titus to U.S. Commission on Civil Rights: Friday, Dec. 3, 2010; Dina Titus won’t apparently be making a clean exit from Washington just yet; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid appointed her to serve on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
Harry Reid looks to secure 60 votes for 'Don't Ask' repeal: Friday, Dec. 3, 2010; Harry Reid got a pledge for what’s likely to be his 60th, filibuster-proofing vote in support of repealing the military’s long-standing policy against gays serving openly in the military Friday morning when Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, the Republican who replaced the late Ted Kennedy, announced his intention to back the legislation.
Senate to work weekend on tax proposals: Friday, Dec. 3, 2010; Congressional negotiators are still in discussions with the White House, and there’s no approved compromise on the table, but Harry Reid appears to have tired of waiting: he’s keeping the Senate in town for the weekend to take a series of opening votes on taxes, even though they’ll be hard-pressed to pass.
John Ensign behind proposed legislation 'to deal with Wikileaks': Thursday, Dec. 2, 2010; A day after the Justice Department dropped its ethics investigation of Sen. John Ensign, he’s capping that political reprieve by urging the department to pick up a different, high-profile case: going after Wikileaks.
House to vote on Bush tax cuts for middle class: Thursday, Dec. 2, 2010; The House votes today on a bill that would extend the Bush tax cuts, but only for the middle class.
Obama rolls out welcome mat today to Sandoval, other new governors: Thursday, Dec. 2, 2010; Forget new senators and representatives. If you want to see where the 2010 midterms brought about the most sweeping changes, look toward the governors. Washington certainly is.
Justice Department halts John Ensign probe: Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010; Lawyers for Sen. John Ensign say the Department of Justice has halted its investigation of the Nevada senator, who was accused of improperly paying off employees to cover up an extramarital affair.
Democrats plan vote on extension of tax cuts: Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010; There’s still no resolution on the tax cuts — but Democrats in the House of Representatives have decided they’re tired of waiting.
Rep.-elect Joe Heck has orientation, plans to live in his D.C. office: Saturday, Nov. 20, 2010; Congressman-elect Joe Heck is headed home after an opening week in Washington marked by meetings, match-ups and more elections. Ninety-three freshman soon-to-be-members of Congress had their official orientation in the Capitol this week.
Harry Reid's chief spokesman stepping down: Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid may have maintained his Senate seat, but his office is experiencing some major staff shifts this week.