McConnell reelected Senate GOP leader, overcoming challenge from Scott
CBSN
Washington — Senate Republicans reelected Sen. Mitch McConnell to another term as minority leader, his office said, defeating a challenge from Sen. Rick Scott of Florida in a leadership battle that exposed divisions within a party still reeling from a disappointing showing in the midterm elections.
GOP senators met for more than three hours Wednesday to elect their leadership posts for the new Congress, which will be seated in January. McConnell won 37 votes to Scott's 10, with one senator voting "present," GOP Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana said.
"I don't own this job. Anybody who wants to run for it can feel free to do so," McConnell told reporters after the vote. "I'm not in any way offended by having an opponent or having a few votes in opposition."
A hiker was rescued Sunday from an Oregon state park where she had been missing almost two full days, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The 64-year-old woman's calls for help caught the attention of search and rescue crews that had been looking for her.
Inflation rose 2.7% on an annual basis in November, according to the latest government report on the Consumer Price Index, or CPI.
A southeast Georgia man was arrested and charged in the 1985 killing of a couple at a Black church after the original suspect — who spent 20 years behind bars — was exonerated on DNA evidence, authorities said.
Washington — Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to testify Wednesday before the Republican-led House Foreign Affairs Committee, which has long sought to question him over the deadly evacuation from Afghanistan.
A federal judge on Tuesday night rejected the sale of the conspiracy platform Infowars to The Onion satirical news outlet after Alex Jones claimed that a recent bankruptcy auction was fraught with illegal collusion.
A group of House Democrats Tuesday called for action from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, days after CBS News published an investigation which found dozens of law enforcement officials illegally sold firearms, even weapons of war, across 23 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.
President-elect Donald Trump made another flurry of job announcements on Tuesday, selecting Andrew Ferguson as the next chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Ronald Johnson was nominated to be ambassador to Mexico, and Kimberly Guilfoyle to be ambassador to Greece.
President-elect Donald Trump announced Monday he is nominating Kimberly Guilfoyle to be U.S. ambassador to Greece. Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host-turned-political fundraiser, was dating Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.
A federal judge on Tuesday blocked Kroger's $24.6 billion acquisition of Albertsons, ruling that the proposed union would lessen competition for grocery shoppers.
Washington — The House task force investigating the assassination attempts against President-elect Donald Trump released a final report on its probe on Tuesday, presenting a series of recommendations to combat future security failures.