Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison retiring next year

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) announced today that she will not seek reelection in 2012 and will instead return to Texas.

"I am announcing today that I will not be a candidate for re-election in 2012. "That should give the people of Texas ample time to consider who my successor will be. When my current term is up, I will have served Texas for 19 years in the United States Senate. I intended to leave this office long before now, but I was persuaded to continue in order to avoid disadvantage to our state. The last two years have been particularly difficult, especially for my family, but I felt it would be wrong to leave the Senate during such a critical period," stated Kay Bailey Hutchison in statement.

Sen. Hutchison is the most senior female Republican currently serving in the U.S. Senate.

The New York Times spotlights Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

Ms. Gillibrand walks along the Senate halls

Ms. Gillibrand speaks at a news conference about the 9/11 Responders bill

In an article published on the front page of the New York Times on Thursday, author Drew Angerer highlights Sen. Gillibrand rise in notoriety over the past couple of weeks. As an outspoken advocate of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" and the 9/11 First Responders bills, Ms. Gillibrand emerged as a fearless leader after their passage on Wednesday. When both of the bills were stalled in the Senate. the mother of two, would give rousing speeches and news conferences demanding for their passage. And with that people began to notice - the opening of the article reads....

The spotlight was shining on her at last, and Kirsten E. Gillibrand, the oft-overshadowed junior senator from New York, did not hold back. Pounding the lectern on the Senate floor, raising her voice almost to a shout, Ms. Gillibrand hectored, reasoned with and sought to shame her colleagues into ending the 17-year-old ban on gays’ serving openly in the military. “If you care about national security, if you care about our military readiness,” she demanded, “then you will repeal this corrosive policy.” - The New York Times

While we here at Political Girl have always recognized the talents of the 43 year old successor to Hillary Clinton, its good to know that the rest of the world is paying attention too. Go Kirsten!!!

Senate Passes Historic Healthcare Legislation

At 7 am this morning the Senate finally passed sweeping healthcare legislation. With a vote of 60 to 39, Senate Democrats tackled one of President Obama's top domestic priorities. The landmark bill was not an easy win for him with with weeks of internal fighting among Democrats and Republican attempts to slow down its passage.

With the Senate's first Christmas Eve vote since 1895, healthcare reform has one more step before it reaches President Obama's desk. After the Christmas break, the Senate and the House must come together in conference and reconcile their different versions into a single bill.

Also on hand for the vote was Victoria Kennedy, wife of Senator Edward Kennedy, former Senator of Massachusetts who passed away in late August. Senator Kennedy was a major supporter of healthcare legislation and spent the majority of his time in the Senate seeking it's reform.

We are incredibly close to making health insurance reform a reality in this country. Our challenge now is to finish the job," stated President Obama.

Senate Bill Highlights

More than 31 million Americans gain Healthcare Coverage

Mandate that everyone obtains health insurance

Cannot be denied based on pre-existing health conditions

Federal aid available for those who cannot afford to purchase healthcare

Overhead on the Hill: Democratic Senators hold off Heath Care Filibuster

President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D - Nev.)

Early this morning, Senate Democrats were able to pass a key legislative vote in their efforts to reform health care. The vote passed 60 to 40 with all Republican senators voting no on the transformative bill. The pending legislation is poised to cover an additional 30 million Americans who currently do not have health care.

The vote this morning is only the first of four votes that are needed between now and Thursday. The last vote is expected at 7pm on Christmas Eve. While the Democrats are rejoicing about their early morning victory today, the road to health care reform has not been an easy one.

This past week concessions have been made to Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska  in order to get 60 votes needed to pass Senate bills and prevent filibusters. Sen.
Lieberman was successful in gettting legislation that allowed Americans at the age of 55 to buy into Medicare dropped, and in order to secure the vote of Sen. Nelson, Sen. Reid included restrictive language on abortions in the bill.