{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.blunt.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/in-the-news?ContentRecord_id=13C8E517-B95F-4CDE-8BBC-A738DFBAEABD", "St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Blunt retains Senate leadership post, McCaskill top Democrat on homeland security committee", "2016-11-17", "2016", "2016-11", "Republican", "House", "MO", "Roy Blunt", "B000575", "www.blunt.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Chuck Raasch \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tWASHINGTON \u2022\u00a0Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt was re-elected Wednesday by his peers to a position in the Republican Senate leadership, while Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., was named the top Democrat on the committee overseeing homeland security.\r\nSen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., will remain the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, holding the whip position under the new Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.\r\nBlunt, who won a narrow re-election fight over Democratic Secretary of State Jason Kander, will remain the vice chairman of the U.S. Senate Republican Conference.\r\nHe will \u201ccontinue leading Senate Republicans\u2019 messaging efforts with a focus on expanding engagement across digital platforms to enhance the conference\u2019s ability to meet people where they are,\u201d his office said Wednesday.\r\nBlunt told reporters Wednesday that when in Missouri he hears concerns about \u201cthe rolling disaster of Obamacare, out-of-control regulators... and what could happen to the Supreme Court\" (which has had an open seat since the death of Antonin Scalia).\r\n\u201cOn all these fronts, the next Congress, working with the next president, has a chance to really head in a new direction,\u201d Blunt said.\r\nDurbin\u2019s whip duties make him a chief vote-counter and persuader for Democratic positions and strategy in the Senate.\r\nMcCaskill said her new position as ranking Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs will give her more ability to probe federal spending, which along with security issues, \u201chave been the bread and butter of my work in the Senate.\u201d\r\nRep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Schaumburg, who unseated Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., last week, in 2017 will be among five new Democratic senators, four of them women.\r\nClick here to read more", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://www.blunt.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/in-the-news?ContentRecord_id=13C8E517-B95F-4CDE-8BBC-A738DFBAEABD"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.62404403090477, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}