Capitol Report: Republican campaign committee targets Harry Reid

Senate Republicans want to send Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid packing.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) The Senates Republican campaign committee is after Harry Reid.

Reid, the Nevadan who leads the Senates Democrats, is up for re-election in 2016. Heres how Kevin McLaughlin, the new deputy executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, described Reid to National Journal: Hes the most vulnerable senator in the United States of America right now. McLaughlin called Reid the face of dysfunction in Washington and said much of the frustration Americans have with a lack of productivity in Washington is laid at Reids feet. Reid last week reiterated his intention to run for re-election in 2016.

Keystone supporters need four votes: Keystone XL pipeline supporters in the Senate are four votes short of what they need to override a presidential veto, Sen. John Hoeven said over the weekend. As the Hill reports, North Dakota Republican Hoeven said the Senate has 63 of the 67 votes needed to override a veto on a bill approving construction of the long-delayed Canada-to-U.S. Gulf Coast pipeline. Last week, the House voted to approve construction of the pipeline, moving ahead despite a White House veto threat. Hoeven said the Keystone bill will come to the chambers floor with an open amendment process. That could earn it more supporters.

What defines 2016: Presidential hopefuls in both parties agree on at least one thing, according to the Washington Post: Economic mobility, and the feeling of many Americans that theyre being shut out from the countrys prosperity, will be a defining theme of the 2016 campaign. Last week, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush became the latest Republican to signal a readiness to engage Democrats on what historically has been their turf. Bushs framing of the economic and social challenges facing the country nearly mirrors that of Hillary Clinton, the Post writes, as well as other possible contenders on the left. Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, meanwhile, has written a book on the subject that will be published this week. And Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, has proposed policies for distressed communities he sees as the ticket to the middle class.

Blue billionaires on top: Democrats, as Politico writes, spent much of the 2014 campaign castigating Republican big money. But it turns out their side actually finished ahead among the biggest donors of 2014, at least among those whose contributions were disclosed. The 100 biggest donors of 2014 gave nearly $174 million to Democrats, compared to more than $140 million to Republicans, according to a Politico analysis of reports filed with the Federal Election Commission and Internal Revenue Service.

Cyberattack defense plan: The Wall Street Journal reports the White House is pushing for new laws and executive actions that would tighten corporate defenses against cyberattacks, following major breaches at Target, Home Depot and Sony Pictures Entertainment. The Journal says President Barack Obama will offer new legislative proposals on Tuesday, and an executive order is still being drafted. Both measures would focus in part on improving how threats are shared between the U.S. government and companies. Obama will discuss part of the effort Tuesday during a visit to the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, and then again later this month during his State of the Union address.

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Capitol Report: Republican campaign committee targets Harry Reid

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