IN FEBRUARY, REPUBLICANS TORPEDOED a tough, comprehensive bill that would have brought serious and much-needed reform to our southern border. This might have seemed a surprising move for the immigration-fixated party of Donald Trump that spent years trying to ‘build the wall,’ but Republicans made a clear political calculus. They decided they could... Read More

Despite a decrease in the overall veteran population from 2020 to 2021, the number of suicides has continued to increase, especially among female veterans.  Although the number and rate of suicides for male veterans have been historically higher than for female veterans, the adjusted suicide rate for female veterans jumped by 24.1 percent from 2020... Read More

Chris Murphy has built a reputation on his ability to make policy on the most emotionally fraught issues in America, from gun safety (where he managed to get a law passed for the first time in three decades) to the border crisis (where he got a bipartisan committee to agree on a bill, only to see it fall apart after Trump pressured the party). He’s... Read More

U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-C.T.) discussed the dangers of prioritizing individualism ahead of the common good at a Harvard Institute of Politics forum on Monday. Moderated by IOP Director Setti D. Warren, the event featured Murphy and Richard J. Weissbourd, a lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Harvard Kennedy... Read More

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Sunday slammed Republicans for not seeming to be interested in fixing border issues after a bipartisan deal that Murphy helped broker was scrapped. On Sunday, ABC’s “This Week” co-anchor Johnathan Karl pressed Murphy on President Biden’s response to address the flow of migrants at the border. Murphy instead insisted... Read More

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) shot back at attacks on border policy and legislation from Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) on Tuesday, calling “bullshit” on his claims that Democrats don’t want to pursue border security measures. Scott said in a Fox News interview Monday that “the left wants an open, insecure border. The conservatives and common sense... Read More

Debate over the border bill that was killed by Republicans in the House and Senate for political reasons continued on Tuesday when Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) called out Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Ron Johnson (R-WI), and Tim Scott (R-SC) over their “bullshit” claims that President Joe Biden was responsible for closing the border himself. First,... Read More

In a December op-ed published in The New Republic, Senator Chris Murphy conceded, “Maybe I am hopelessly naïve.” If by naïve the Connecticut Democrat means his efforts to find compromise on issues important to Americans, or his talk of building a better future, or about the need to address the “spiritual rot underfoot, threatening to collapse the... Read More

U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy introduced bipartisan legislation Thursday on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., that the two Connecticut Democrats say will help protect survivors of sexual assault and harassment in the United States Coast Guard, including cadets at the academy. They were joined by U.S. Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.,... Read More

It wasn’t the ideal border bill—even for Chris Murphy, its lead Democratic negotiator. It didn’t provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, for instance, and Democrats gave more to Republicans than they got from it. But to the senator from Connecticut, it was the best compromise either side was going to reach, so he is appalled that Donald... Read More

Sen. Chris Murphy (Conn.), the leading Democratic negotiator on the bipartisan border security bill, is advising fellow Democrats to go on the offensive when discussing border issues ahead of the 2024 election, saying in a new memo that he sees Tuesday’s Democratic victory in New York’s special election as “a roadmap for Democrats.” According to a... Read More

After months of talks, Senate negotiators on Sunday released a sweeping bipartisan border security deal that is aimed at discouraging migrants from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. The $118 billion national security legislation also includes billions of dollars in funding for Ukraine, Israel, the Indo-Pacific and humanitarian aid, but it has a... Read More

The bipartisan border security bill is finally out, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has scheduled the first procedural vote for Wednesday. But the bill immediately ran into a wall of opposition from top House Republicans and some senators in both parties. Senators released the bill - which would be the most significant immigration... Read More

Let's get this straight now," Texas Representative Troy Nehls told Rolling Stone on Wednesday. "Congress doesn't have to do anything to secure our southern border." That's right: the GOP is so concerned about the country's border crisis that they are getting ready to do exactly nothing about it. Wielding a cigar, the right-winger insisted that Joe... Read More

Lead Democratic negotiator Sen. Chris Murphy is officially “getting worried” about the prospects of a border security agreement coming together, saying Republicans are unwilling to pony up necessary funding for the deal. “Every day that goes by in which they don't commit to funding the deal is a day that we're closer to their decision being made in... Read More

Sen. Chris Murphy spent months negotiating a bipartisan border security bill with Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and the White House. Then, in a flash last Sunday, hours after the bill was released, Republicans sabotaged the effort. Before the Connecticut Democrat went to sleep that night, he knew the legislation was dead.... Read More

After months of talks between Democrats and Republicans, word emerged last week that a deal, in principle at least, was in hand for Ukraine aid and a compromise to address the crisis of immigrants crossing the Mexico border. At its center is Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, the Democrats' lead negotiator. Prospects looked good at least in the Senate... Read More

Senators could vote on a bipartisan immigration deal as soon as next week, one of the top negotiators said Sunday. But first, they have to sell it to their members. And that part is looking tricky. “Well, we do have a bipartisan deal. We’re finishing the text right now,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said during an interview on CNN’s “State of the... Read More

Sen. Chris Murphy, a key negotiator on a possible border deal, said Sunday that text of a compromise could be ready to go to the Senate floor in the coming days. “We do have a bipartisan deal. We’re finishing the text right now,” Murphy told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union,” adding that the question remains whether Republicans are going to... Read More

Connecticut’s U.S. Senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal have teamed with their Massachusetts colleague Elizabeth Warren on a new bill designed to update Atlantic Coast commercial fishing as it relates to climate change. The Supporting Healthy Interstate Fisheries in Transition (SHIFT) Act would require the Department of Commerce to consider... Read More