February 28, 2008

As House Approves Tax Bill, Senate Dems Look To Reconcile

Senate Democrats are inching toward including an energy tax plan as part of budget legislation to overcome a Republican-led obstacle there, as the House yesterday reaffirmed its support of repealing billions of dollars in incentives for oil and gas companies in a stand-alone measure.

While House Democrats have pushed through similar proposals this Congress with majority support, Senate Democrats have been unable to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a Republican filibuster.

Senate Democrats have mulled including an energy tax plan that repeals oil and gas company incentives to pay for extending and expanding renewable energy and efficiency incentives as part of a filibuster-proof budget reconciliation bill.

See CongressDaily (subscription) for the full story.

Posted at 9:19 AM
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February 25, 2008

Lawmakers Return With The Economy On Their Minds

After a week away from Washington, lawmakers return to the Capitol today looking to legislation they hope will address the economy, an issue increasingly on their own and their constituents' minds. But members also have to contend with intense negotiations over the farm bill, rewriting the nation's intelligence laws and looking for troop withdrawals in Iraq.

House Democrats this week will renew a floor fight over paying for billions of dollars in renewable energy and efficiency tax breaks by repealing incentives for oil and gas companies. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats will attempt to bring up a housing stimulus package of direct aid and consumer-friendly initiatives to help the struggling industry, though they first want to finish work on an Indian health care bill and revisit Iraq war legislation.

See CongressDaily's comprehensive preview of the Hill's post-recess agenda here.

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February 22, 2008

Renzi Indicted On Land Deal Charges

UPDATED.

Rep. Rick Renzi, R- Ariz., was indicted on federal charges of extortion, wire fraud and money laundering stemming from an investigation of land deals in his home state and an alleged payment in return for the lawmaker's influence, the U.S. attorney's office in Arizona said today.

The 26-page indictment [PDF] accused Renzi and two former business partners of conspiring to sell land that buyers could swap for federal property. The sale netted $4.5 million for one of the associates, the government said. The FBI conducted a raid in April on a business owned by Renzi's wife, leading to his decision to step down from the Intelligence, Natural Resources and Financial Services committees. Renzi previously announced he would not run for another term and would work to clear his name.

But stepping down next January isn't soon enough for the House Republican leadership. In a statement issued this afternoon, Minority Leader John Boehner urged Renzi to resign.

Continue reading "Renzi Indicted On Land Deal Charges"

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February 15, 2008

FISA Fight Spills Over Into Recess

President Bush and Republican congressional leaders today charged that House Democratic leaders put the nation at risk by failing to move legislation renewing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

"By blocking this piece of legislation, our country is more in danger of an attack," Bush said following a meeting at the White House with GOP leaders. "By not giving the professionals the tools they need, it's going to be a lot harder to do the job we need to be able to defend America."

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said the president's claims of imminent danger were overblown because Bush would still have authority to allow eavesdropping on suspected terrorists after the law expires at midnight. "A wide range of national security experts has made clear that the president and our intelligence community have all the tools they need to protect our nation," Hoyer said. He called Bush's remarks "wrong, divisive and nothing more than fear-mongering."

Continue reading "FISA Fight Spills Over Into Recess"

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February 14, 2008

House GOP Walks Out Over Contempt Vote, FISA

UPDATED.

Enraged House Republicans staged a walkout from the floor after Democrats sought a contempt of Congress vote for White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former counsel Harriet Miers.

"We will not stand for this and we will not stay for this," said Minority Leader John Boehner, speaking from the House floor. "I would ask my House Republican colleagues and those who believe that we should be here protecting the American people to not vote on this bill. Let's just get up and leave."

And with that, a few dozen House GOP lawmakers got up and left. They convened on the Capitol steps to address the cameras.

Continue reading "House GOP Walks Out Over Contempt Vote, FISA"

Posted at 3:53 PM
Posted to: Attorney Scandal, Bush Administration, Congress, Harriet Miers, Homeland Security, House, President Bush, Senate, Terrorism
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February 13, 2008

House Panel Plays Hardball With Clemens

At a charged hearing today, Major League Baseball star Roger Clemens testified under oath that he has never used steroids or human growth hormone, even as House Oversight and Government Reform members charged that the pitcher had lied to the committee about his drug use.

"As we moved forward in our investigation, we found conflicts and inconsistencies in Mr. Clemens' account," Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman said. "During his deposition, he made statements that we know are untrue.... In other areas, his statements are contradicted by other credible witnesses or simply implausible."

The hearing, the second the committee has held on steroids and other drugs in Major League Baseball, featured contradictory statements by the seven-time Cy Young Award winner and his former trainer, Brian McNamee. McNamee told the panel today he had injected Clemens more than 20 times with steroids or human growth hormone. Clemens said he never took either drug, but was injected with vitamin B-12 and painkillers.

"Someone is lying in spectacular fashion," Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Tom Davis, R-Va., summarized. It is unclear if the committee will charge either man with perjury.

Continue reading "House Panel Plays Hardball With Clemens"

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Outtakes From Clemens' Testimony, Pt. II

Q: Will you refer this matter to DOJ?

Rep. Tom Davis: I don't think we're there yet.

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Outtakes From Clemens' Testimony, Pt. I

Q: Have you ever been a vegan?

Roger Clemens: I don't know what that is.

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Lantos Remembered Ahead Of Clemens Hearing

Before inaugurating what was expected to be a tense day of testimony from Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee, the former trainer who claims to have injected the seven-time Cy Young Award winner numerous times with performance-enhancing drugs, House Oversight Chairman Henry Waxman took a moment to remember fellow California Democrat Tom Lantos.

"I think it's appropriate that as a longtime member of this committee and a very esteemed member of Congress, we recognize him and have a moment of silence," Waxman said, before allowing ranking member Tom Davis to say a few words.

"His keen intellect, indomitable spirit and wry insights left an indelible mark on all that he touched," the Virginia Republican said. "He will be missed and not forgotten."

Continue reading "Lantos Remembered Ahead Of Clemens Hearing"

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Reps. Gilchrest & Wynn Lose Md. Primary Battles

Veteran Reps. Wayne Gilchrest (R) and Albert Wynn (D) of Maryland yesterday became the first members of Congress to lose their bids for renomination this year. The two relatively moderate lawmakers, both of whom were dogged by their positions on the Iraq war, each faced stiff opposition from the more extreme wings of their respective parties.

Gilchrest, who had bucked his party by voting against the Iraq war, lost to state Sen. Andy Harris, who had the backing of the fiscally conservative Club for Growth. Harris won, 44 percent to 32 percent, with 95 percent of precincts reporting as of early this morning. State Sen. E.J. Pipkin finished third in the GOP primary with 21 percent. In November, Harris will face Queen Anne's County State's Attorney Frank Kratovil in the Republican-leaning district on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

Meanwhile, in Maryland's majority-minority 4th District, attorney Donna Edwards was winning the Democratic nomination this morning, 60 percent to 35 percent, with 75 percent of precincts reporting. She had come close to ousting Wynn, who voted for the war in Iraq, in 2006.

Yesterday's results in Maryland, only the second state to hold its congressional primaries so far this year, suggest it's going to be another bumpy ride for incumbents as the war and economic issues continue to drive wedges within both major parties.

Continue reading "Reps. Gilchrest & Wynn Lose Md. Primary Battles"

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February 11, 2008

Longtime Calif. Rep., Holocaust Survivor Lantos Dies At 80

UPDATED.

House Foreign Affairs Chairman Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress, died this morning at Bethesda Naval Medical Center from complications of cancer of the esophagus. He was 80.

Lantos' office made the announcement and noted that his wife, Annette, as well as his two daughters and many of his grandchildren were at his side. No date for memorial services or a funeral had been set by this afternoon. Lantos announced in early January he would not seek re-election because of the cancer diagnosis, although he had said he planned to finish out his term.

"The passing of Tom Lantos is a profound loss for the Congress and for the nation and a terrible loss for me personally," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose San Francisco-based district borders the 12th District seat held by Lantos since 1980. "As the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to Congress, Tom Lantos devoted his life to shining a bright light on dark corners of oppression. He used his chairmanship of the Foreign Affairs Committee to empower the powerless and give voice to the voiceless throughout the world."

Continue reading "Longtime Calif. Rep., Holocaust Survivor Lantos Dies At 80"

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February 07, 2008

Stimulus Bill Heads To The President's Desk

UPDATED.

The House and Senate overwhelmingly passed a $152 billion stimulus package this afternoon, by votes of 380-34 and 81-16, respectively. The bill will provide tax rebates to more than 110 million Americans; the Senate version added senior citizens and disabled veterans to the list of those receiving rebates in the original House bill.

The legislation will likely receive a similar warm reception at the White House. In a statement today after the Senate vote, President Bush indicated his approval. "This plan is robust, broad-based, timely, and it will be effective," Bush said, adding that it was "an example of bipartisan cooperation at a time when the American people most expect it."

Senate Democrats dropped their proposals to add unemployment benefits and home heating assistance to the package after an earlier version was defeated yesterday. As soon as the revised legislation passed in the Senate, the House began an expedited debate this afternoon.

The Washington Post and MarketWatch have more details.

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Mukasey: CIA Waterboarding Will Not Be Investigated

Attorney General Michael Mukasey today said the Justice Department will not open a criminal investigation into waterboarding by CIA employees because his department previously permitted use of the technique in interrogations of suspected terrorists. Waterboarding "cannot possibly be the subject of a Justice Department investigation, because that would mean that the same department that authorized the program would now consider prosecuting someone who followed that advice," Mukasey told the House Judiciary Committee at a department oversight hearing.

Mukasey's remarks followed an admission Tuesday by CIA Director Michael Hayden that the agency used waterboarding -- an interrogation technique that causes suspects to believe they are drowning -- on three al-Qaida detainees after Sept. 11, 2001. The department's Office of Legal Counsel has issued opinions that waterboarding is legal in some circumstances, though Mukasey and other Bush administration officials have said U.S. employees do not now use it.

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February 06, 2008

The Economy: Not So Super

The excitement surrounding yesterday's unprecedented Super Tuesday nominating contests obscured the latest and perhaps most damning news to come out on the troubled economy: Activity in the crucial service sector slowed for the first time in nearly five years last month.

The report from the Institute of Supply Management shows a significant decline in non-manufacturing activity (previously the "firmest pillar of economic expansion") in January. Those numbers, coupled with last week's news that jobs were declining, are heightening concerns that the economy is not only headed for a recession, but is already in one.

"Recession is here," the headline on CNNMoney.com read yesterday. The report quotes several economists who said the ISM report was the tipping point for them.

Continue reading "The Economy: Not So Super"

Posted at 12:20 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Campaigns, Congress, Democrats, Economy, Hillary Rodham Clinton, House, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Republicans, Senate, WH 2008
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February 05, 2008

Democrats Blast Bush's Budget Request

When President Bush delivered his final, $3 trillion-plus budget to Congress yesterday, congressional Democrats from both chambers wasted no time laying out their opposition to the proposal.

Senate Democrats quickly attacked the FY09 request, with Majority Leader Harry Reid blasting it as "more of the same," taking specific issue with the budget's proposed cuts in Medicare and Medicaid, its failure to address rising college costs and its neglect of energy issues. "Furthermore, this budget is fiscally irresponsible and highly deceptive, hiding the costs of the war in Iraq while increasing our skyrocketing debt," Reid said. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said many of those proposed cuts will never get through Congress, particularly a proposed $178 billion cut in Medicare.

On the House side, the budget was met with condemnation from Democratic leaders for continuing "failed" policies and praise from Republican leaders for starting the annual conversation in a fiscally sound manner. The annual rhetorical battle over federal priorities sets up a replay of last year's partisan budget showdown, but with an election-year edge heightened by the economic downturn.

Continue reading "Democrats Blast Bush's Budget Request"

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January 30, 2008

Fed Watch: There Will Be Cuts

UPDATED.

A Wall Street rally following a 50-basis-points rate cut from the Fed today was not long for this world, as yet another negative economic report sent the Dow back down 37.47 points to close at 12,442.83. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also pulled back from afternoon bumps.

Earlier in the afternoon, the Fed slashed interest rates to 3 percent, as was widely anticipated. The confirmation sent the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 ticking back up. But bad news from the bond sector sent those indexes sinking back down.

The brief rally may just have been a sigh of relief that the Fed had delivered as projected. New data released today show economic growth is grinding down, heightening fears of a recession this year.

"Financial markets remain under considerable stress, and credit has tightened further for some businesses and households. Moreover, recent information indicates a deepening of the housing contraction as well as some softening in labor markets," the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement. "The committee expects inflation to moderate in coming quarters, but it will be necessary to continue to monitor inflation developments carefully."

Chairman Ben Bernanke joined in the near-unanimous decision. Voting against the cut was Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. The Board left the door open to future reductions.

"It's great that they did it now. I wish they had done it earlier," said CNBC's Jim Cramer, who has been screaming -- sometimes literally -- about the Fed's slowness to act on the housing bust and credit crunch.

Continue reading "Fed Watch: There Will Be Cuts"

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Virginia Rep. Davis Rules Out Re-Election

Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and a strong proponent of D.C. voting rights, this afternoon became the third Republican in two days to announce he will not return to the House next year.

"After much soul-searching and discussion with those closest to me, I have decided the time is right to take a sabbatical from public life," he said in a statement. "I will serve out the remainder of my term, and plan to remain an active contributor to Republican causes, but will not run for office in 2008."

His announcement, coupled with yesterday's retirement announcement from Rep. Ron Lewis, R-Ky., and Missouri Rep. Kenny Hulshof's decision to run for governor, now mean there are 24 Republicans and 29 House members overall who are either retiring or running for higher office this year.

CongressDaily has a full list (subscription) of departing lawmakers and will have more details on Davis' announcement later this afternoon.

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Both Houses Approve Short FISA Extension

The House and Senate approved legislation yesterday to extend a law authorizing electronic surveillance activities for 15 days beyond Friday's scheduled expiration.

The extension, which passed the House by voice vote and the Senate by unanimous consent, is intended to buy time for lawmakers to craft permanent legislation that would overhaul and reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

In the Senate, Democrats and Republicans were still arguing over how to deal with amendments to the Senate Intelligence Committee's FISA reauthorization bill.

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January 29, 2008

House Passes Stimulus Package

The House approved a $146 billion economic stimulus package today on an overwhelming 385-35 vote. The package now heads to the Senate, where tinkering with the bill is being criticized by lawmakers who reached a deal with President Bush.

"I would hope that the timely aspect of this is recognized by my colleagues in the Senate," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. "We have to have a stimulus. There's just no question. Once you understand that, then you have a responsibility to work back to that and find common ground. I would hope that what the Senate does is respectful of the focus that we have on middle-class and lower-income people."

The House measure would send rebate checks worth $600 to individuals and $1,200 for families, plus $300 per child, while providing tax breaks to businesses. Most of the revenue loss associated with the bill takes place in FY08.

See CongressDaily (subscription) and The Gate's previous coverage of the House-negotiated bill for more details.

-Peter Cohn, CongressDaily

Posted at 3:37 PM
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Baucus Stimulus Bill Has Key Add-Ons

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., unveiled a roughly $156 billion economic stimulus package yesterday, adding low-income seniors and laid-off workers to those who would benefit from a previously agreed-upon House proposal. Business incentives would also be expanded to let companies write off losses going back five years, offsetting earlier gains and earning them refunds on previous tax bills.

"Rebates for seniors and payroll taxpayers, extended unemployment insurance, and tax relief for struggling businesses will put more cash into the American economy right away," Baucus said in a statement.

In the most significant departure from the House proposal, the Finance bill would extend jobless benefits through the end of 2008, making 13 additional weeks of unemployment insurance available. For states where unemployment rates are 6 percent or higher, an additional 13 weeks would be available.

Continue reading "Baucus Stimulus Bill Has Key Add-Ons"

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January 28, 2008

Liveblogging President Bush's Final State Of The Union Address

End note. SOTU affairs are always a laundry list, and few expect them to deliver poetry. This year's address (full text) did lack the rhetorical punch of previous years, particularly Bush's first SOTU address following 9/11, which received very high marks.

If there is one character trait that describes this president, it is determination-bordering-on-
stubbornness. He has largely ignored polls and the punditry, and he only changed tacks in Iraq when the calls for a change in course permeated his own administration. Plenty of Americans didn't tune in to this speech tonight, on the assumption Bush is a lame duck. That is probably not the case, at least as far as the legislature is concerned.

With his veto threat and the executive order coming Tuesday, Bush is asserting himself in a dramatic way. The rate of federal spending under Bush's watch is triple that of the Clinton administration. That Bush is positioning himself to put a foot down on pork-barrel spending was pretty unexpected in his final year in office. We'll be watching to see how it pans out.

As for Bush's various claims in tonight's speech, NPR's reporters have been posting fact checks all evening. See their corrections on the tax cuts, FISA, Iraq and entitlement reform. Good night.

10:27. A somewhat unexpected criticism of the president here: "In spite of the attempts to convince us that we are divided as a people, a new American majority has come together. We are tired of leaders who rather than asking what we can do for our country, ask nothing of us at all.

"We are Americans sharing a belief in something greater than ourselves, a nation coming together to meet challenges and find solutions; to share sacrifices and share prosperity; and focus, once again, not only on the individual good but on the common good."

It should come as little surprise that Sebelius has endorsed Barack Obama. This speech reflects Democrats' palpable eagerness to move the country well away from the Bush era.

Continue reading "Liveblogging President Bush's Final State Of The Union Address"

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January 24, 2008

House Leaders: Stimulus Not Perfect But Will Do The Trick

UPDATED.

In a rare display of bipartisan camaraderie, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader John Boehner urged colleagues to get their $145 billion compromise stimulus package to the White House ASAP.

"We will bring it to the floor at the earliest date so those rebate checks can be in the mail," Pelosi said during a joint press conference with her Republican counterpart and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who represented the Bush administration during the late-night negotiations yesterday.

The legislation includes tax rebates from $300 to $1,200, with low-wage earners at one end and middle-income joint filers on the other. Recipients will also receive a $300-per-child bonus on top of what they get in rebates.

Those figures are lower than the expected $800-$1,600 range, but in exchange for lowering the disbursements, congressional Republicans agreed to extend the rebates to workers who don't earn enough to pay income taxes. Individuals who earned at least $3,000 in 2007 will get a check for $300, while mid-level earners would receive at least $600. Individuals earning more than $87,000 and families earning more than $187,000 won't get a check. Individuals who fall in the $75,000-$87,000 range and households in the $150,000-$187,000 would receive reduced checks.

"This is an initiative to strengthen the middle class and those who aspire to be in the middle class," Pelosi said, adding that the rebates were going to those who will "spend it right away to inject demand into the economy to help create jobs and to help turn around the economy."

Calling the deal "a big win for the American people," Boehner seconded Pelosi's assessment of the package. "It will stimulate our economy in the most direct and effective way possible, by putting money in the hands of middle-income families and giving businesses incentives to create and keep new jobs in the economy," he said

Both sides were forced to make concessions in order to reach speedy agreement on the package. Pelosi and her caucus gave up on an expansion of food stamps and unemployment benefits, and also consented to as much as $50 billion in tax breaks for businesses. In return, Republicans agreed to extend the rebates to the 35 million-plus workers who don't earn enough to owe income taxes and would have been ineligible for the rebates under President Bush's original plan.

"The Speaker gave some, we gave some. This was not easy, as most of you know, for the two of us and our respective caucuses... to have to come together and work in a bipartisan way and reach a compromise that I think is in the interest of the American people," Boehner said.

"I can't say that I'm totally pleased with the package, but I can say it will help the economy. And if it does not, there will be more legislation to come," Pelosi vowed.

Continue reading "House Leaders: Stimulus Not Perfect But Will Do The Trick"

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January 18, 2008

Waxman: Hundreds Of Days Of WH E-Mails Missing

Henry Waxman fired the next volley in Congress' fight with the Bush administration over missing White House e-mails, publicly challenging the administration's version of events and setting a hearing for Feb. 15. The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee strongly disputed White House spokesman Tony Fratto's comments yesterday that there was "no evidence" any e-mails sent between 2003 and 2005 were missing.

"We have no evidence and we have no way of showing that any e-mail at all are missing," Fratto said yesterday -- moving away from the White House's earlier position that it was uncertain about the matter.

That assertion seemed to go one step too far for Waxman, who called Fratto's assertion "an unsubstantiated statement that has no relation to the facts they have shared with us."

The California Democrat disclosed an internal White House summary showing that, contrary to Fratto's statement, there were 473 days between 2003 and 2005 during which no electronic communication was archived for some government offices. Among them are the Executive Office of the President, which had no backup copies for 12 days, and the Office of the Vice President, which had no backup copies for 16 days. The White House is required to preserve official communication.

AP and the Washington Post have more details on the hearings set for next month.

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January 17, 2008

Dow Plummets; Bernanke Calls For Stimulus ASAP

UPDATED.

Blue chips sank more than 300 points today, the biggest single-day drop of the year so far. The slide suggests that a federal economic stimulus fix currently in the works may be arriving too late for investors' tastes.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers this morning that if they were serious about putting the brakes on the U.S. economic slowdown, any congressional stimulus package would have to be implemented sooner rather than later.

"To be useful, a fiscal stimulus package should be implemented quickly and structured so its effects on aggregate spending will be felt in the next months or so," Bernanke said in his opening remarks before the House Budget Committee. "There could be destabilization if the package comes at a time growth is improving. Measures that rely on long lead times will not provide stimulus when it is most needed."

President Bush had been expected to announce his own stimulus package ahead of his State of the Union address on Jan. 28, but the White House said today that he would be discussing the proposals on deck in a speech tomorrow. Investors are clearly impatient for some sort of cash injection into the economy, and a round of negative economic reports today only underscored the urgency with which Wall Street wants help halting the nation's growth slowdown.

Notably, Bush appears to be heeding the advice dispensed by Bernanke, and moving more quickly on a stimulus package than originally planned. At the noon press briefing, while Bernanke was still testifying, spokesman Tony Fratto said there was no time frame for when the president planned to address the economy and indicated the White House was still hanging on to hope it would be able to use the package to make tax cuts permanent.

Bush met with congressional leaders from both parties following Bernanke's testimony, and press secretary Dana Perino announced that the president's main concerns now were that the package be temporary, effective and pass as quickly as possible. According to House Minority Leader John Boehner, the package could top out at $150 billion.

Continue reading "Dow Plummets; Bernanke Calls For Stimulus ASAP"

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House Approves Revised FY08 Defense Authorization Bill

The House yesterday quickly approved a revised version of the FY08 defense authorization bill that addresses objections raised by the White House last month when President Bush unexpectedly vetoed the measure.

The Pentagon policy bill, which passed 369-46 on the suspension calendar, now heads to the Senate, where it is expected to encounter little opposition. That chamber, which is in recess until next week, has been closely involved in negotiations over the changes to the bill, lawmakers and congressional aides said. They hope that the Senate will take up the bill shortly after returning to Capitol Hill and quickly send it to the president's desk for his signature.

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January 16, 2008

PAYGO Divides Dems Crafting Stimulus Plan

House Democratic mantras requiring adherence to budgetary offsets and a "timely, targeted and temporary" response to a possible recession are bumping up against each other, as PAYGO budget rules are again stirring up divisions within the ranks.

"PAYGO could be a problem," said House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., who met yesterday with the House Democratic leadership and other committee chairmen involved in the stimulus talks.

As much as $120 billion in spending and tax proposals are under consideration. Spending components could be designated as an "emergency" and not require offsets. And under House rules, new tax or mandatory spending initiatives only have to be paid for over a five-year period.

Frank said that fact might assuage some of his party's budget hawks.

Continue reading "PAYGO Divides Dems Crafting Stimulus Plan"

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January 15, 2008

Vetoed Authorization Bill Puts Military Bonuses On Hold

After relying heavily on financial incentives to attract recruits and retain war-weary troops, the military has had to put the brakes on awarding signing bonuses until Congress and the Bush administration resolve a dispute over President Bush's veto of the FY08 defense authorization bill.

House Democrats announced yesterday they would hold a vote tonight "disposing of" the president's veto of the annual policy measure over a provision the administration fears would tie up the assets of the current Iraqi government in court claims filed by victims of Saddam Hussein's regime.

A Democratic aide said a vote to override the veto is possible today, even though the White House contends the bill was killed by a pocket veto, a rejection that cannot be challenged by Congress. But the likely course of action, the aide said, would be to refer the bill back to the House Armed Services Committee, which would then "fix" the provision to smooth the way toward enactment.

Continue reading "Vetoed Authorization Bill Puts Military Bonuses On Hold"

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January 14, 2008

Democrats Seeking Broad Backing For Stimulus Package

As part of an effort to seek bipartisan agreement on an economic stimulus package, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met today with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, and other Democrats laid out their ideas for an aid proposal.

"We hope to work in a bipartisan way for an initiative that is timely, targeted and temporary," Pelosi said before this afternoon's closed-door meeting. Quick action on a stimulus package has become the top issue for the White House and Democratic congressional leaders, although neither side has offered details. House Democratic leaders are expected to meet Tuesday, when that chamber returns to Washington after the long holiday recess, to discuss the legislative possibilities.

Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have requested meetings with President Bush after he returns Wednesday from a visit to the Middle East. The Senate returns to work next week.

Continue reading "Democrats Seeking Broad Backing For Stimulus Package"

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January 10, 2008

Doolittle To Retire Amid Growing GOP Pressure

UPDATED.

Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., announced today that he will not seek re-election for a 10th term in office, ending months of speculation that he would leave Capitol Hill under the cloud of a federal investigation. "I plan to complete my term and finish my congressional service at the conclusion of this Congress," Doolittle said at a news conference today in his district.

"My wife, Julie, and I have made this decision after much prayer and deliberation. It was not my initial intent to retire, and I fully expected and planned to run again right up until very recently. But it distilled upon us that we were ready for a change after spending almost our entire married lives with me in public service." Doolittle and his wife are under scrutiny as part of the influence-peddling probe of imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

In April, the FBI raided Doolittle's Virginia home in pursuit of information regarding work his wife performed for Abramoff. Since then, the lawmaker and several of his aides have been served grand jury subpoenas, and it was unlikely his legal situation would be resolved before the November elections. Doolittle is challenging subpoenas issued to him for office records and said he believed the federal probe of him would be on hiatus for one to two years while courts decide on the constitutionality of the subpoenas.

Continue reading "Doolittle To Retire Amid Growing GOP Pressure"

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January 08, 2008

Dems Weigh Response In Defense Authorization Showdown

Congressional Democrats are grappling with how to respond to President Bush's unexpected veto of the FY08 defense authorization bill late last month because of a provision that would allow victims of state-sponsored terrorism to sue foreign governments in U.S. courts.

One response would be to hold a veto override vote in the House as early as next week, despite White House claims that the president's action constituted a pocket veto and is not subject to a challenge. House Republican leaders have urged their Democratic counterparts to fix the provision and are expected to vote to uphold the veto. While no formal vote count has yet been taken, a House GOP aide predicted Monday that a "large majority of House Republicans" would vote with the president. Should Democrats succeed, the White House could challenge the override vote -- a move that could tie up the defense bill in a murky constitutional dispute over the definition of a pocket veto, another House aide said.

Continue reading "Dems Weigh Response In Defense Authorization Showdown"

Posted at 11:13 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Constitution, House, Michael Mukasey, Military, President Bush, Senate
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January 02, 2008

Longtime House Foreign Policy Leader To Retire

House Foreign Affairs Chairman Tom Lantos (subscription) today announced he will not seek re-election to a 15th term, citing a diagnosis of cancer of the esophagus.

"In view of this development and the treatment it will require, I will not seek re-election," the California Democrat said in a statement released by his office.

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December 21, 2007

WTO Issues Decision On Internet Gambling Case

The World Trade Organization issued a decision [PDF] today regarding Antigua and Barbuda's request to impose $3.4 billion in retaliatory measures against the United States for allegedly violating its WTO commitments. The WTO said Antigua can use annual trade sanctions against the U.S. retroactive to April 2006 for the amount of $21 million until the U.S. reaches compliance with the WTO. The WTO also ruled that Antigua's sanctions may target U.S. intellectual property.

"Considering that Antigua and Barbuda were asking for over $3 billion in compensation, and they were only awarded a token $21 million, this decision is a partial victory for the U.S.," said Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. "However, I remain concerned about how these countries could extract these sanctions from unrelated U.S. companies, like those in the intellectual property and banking industries."

"I will continue to closely monitor this situation and work with other U.S. policymakers and businesses to mitigate the decision's impact on U.S. industries," continued Goodlatte, who sponsored legislation banning online gambling last year.

Greg Frazier, executive vice president of worldwide government policy for the Motion Picture Association of America, warned of possible repercussions from the ruling. "We have made clear from the outset of the case that if Antigua were to suspend its intellectual property rights obligations in retaliation, we believe such a move -- which would be virtually unprecedented in WTO disputes -- would put Antigua at odds with some of its other international obligations as well as raise questions about its eligibility for certain U.S. trade preference programs," he said.

"Also, as a practical matter we have serious questions about how such a decision could be effectively managed to avoid damage beyond the amount of compensation in the WTO decision," Frazier added.

Continue reading "WTO Issues Decision On Internet Gambling Case"

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Posted to: Congress, Economy, House, Trade
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December 20, 2007

Tancredo Drops Out: The Exit Interview

UPDATED.

Neither FOX nor MSNBC bothered to cover Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo's announcement earlier today that he was dropping out of the race for the White House. CNN went to it at first, then cut away so the anchor could discuss the pronunciation of the congressman's surname. This, despite the pivotal role he has played in this cycle's Republican nomination battle.

Reached by phone at his Des Moines hotel room, Tancredo sounded relaxed and content with his decision to close shop. His candidacy, after all, was from the beginning about holding the big-name guys to account on illegal immigration.

"I have dedicated 10 years of my public life to warning the nation of the perilous consequences of massive, uncontrolled illegal immigration," Tancredo told supporters at a press conference this afternoon. "This message unfortunately has fallen on deaf ears in the highest office in the land. Without a president who is committed to securing the nation, we will always remain in jeopardy."

Tancredo's announcement had been expected since yesterday. He said the urgency he felt on illegal immigration compelled him to launch his bid despite what "we knew at the time were incredibly long odds." A nationally obscure figure best known among anti-immigration hardliners, Tancredo said in April that he was entering the race because of "the field, the field."

More on what he told us about Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson after the jump.

Continue reading "Tancredo Drops Out: The Exit Interview"

Posted at 6:10 PM
Posted to: Campaigns, Congress, Fred Thompson, House, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Republicans, Rudy Giuliani, Senate, Tom Tancredo, WH 2008
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Barton Evaluating Google Merger Implications

A spokeswoman for the House Energy and Commerce Committee told National Journal today that the committee expects a formal response from Google to a recent letter [PDF] from top Republican Joe Barton of Texas concerning Google's proposed $3.1 billion acquisition of Internet advertising server DoubleClick on Friday.

Barton had addressed 24 questions concerning privacy and consumer protection aspects of the deal to Eric Schmidt, chairman and CEO of Google.

"The two staff attorneys who deal with these matters visited Google headquarters earlier this week and have returned to Washington," said Lisa Miller, Republican communications director for the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "They collected substantial information which now requires analysis. Additionally, we expect Google's formal response to written questions tomorrow. That, too, likely will require a careful reading before we can reach any conclusions."

Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch told National Journal that he still has a number of concerns about this transaction, "especially as it relates to competition and privacy."

Continue reading "Barton Evaluating Google Merger Implications"

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Tancredo To Drop Out Of Presidential Race

UPDATED.

Long-shot Republican presidential candidate Tom Tancredo will make a "major announcement" from Iowa today, his campaign said yesterday, inviting speculation that the Colorado congressman will drop out of the race. AP reports this morning that "a person close to Tancredo" has confirmed that he will abandon his bid for the GOP nomination.

A campaign spokesman said he could not provide details.

Tancredo is perhaps too much of a niche (and not well-enough known) candidate for this race, but he may take credit for ensuring that his battle cry, illegal immigration, is a decisive issue in the GOP nomination fight. His is perhaps the most hard-line position of the GOP contenders -- he has called for an end to legal immigration as well -- and that has forced many of the front-runners to sharpen their own more moderate positions to avoid appearing weak by comparison. In the CNN/YouTube debate last month, he accused his aping rivals of trying to "out-Tancredo Tancredo."

Continue reading "Tancredo To Drop Out Of Presidential Race"

Posted at 7:50 AM
Posted to: Campaigns, Congress, House, Immigration, Republicans, Tom Tancredo, WH 2008
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December 14, 2007

Happy Holidays! Now Send Me Some Bills.

Flanked by the vice president and the rest of his Cabinet-level officials, President Bush cheerfully reminded Congress of the mountain of legislative work they must tackle before departing for the holidays.

"I thank the Senate and congratulate the Senate for passing a good energy bill," Bush said at a press conference on the White House lawn. "Now the House must act."

Bush emerged to speak with reporters this morning following his weekly Cabinet meeting. He scored a victory yesterday when the Senate overwhelmingly passed an energy package minus a Democratic-sponsored $21.8 billion provision that would have reduced tax breaks for oil companies. The overall bill remains tough on automakers, however, and is expected to make it through the House next Tuesday with relative ease.

Continue reading "Happy Holidays! Now Send Me Some Bills."

Posted at 11:44 AM
Posted to: Asia, Bush Administration, Congress, Dick Cheney, House, Iraq, Middle East, North Korea, President Bush, Senate, Taxes
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December 12, 2007

White House Open To Emergency Spending, Omnibus Bill

House and Senate Democrats remained deadlocked today over how to complete the FY08 appropriations process, as the White House appeared to open the door to emergency spending increases and to soften its opposition to an omnibus bill.

Senate Democrats as recently as this morning thought they had an agreement to bring up the original bill they negotiated with the House, which splits the difference with President Bush's budget by adding $11 billion to his request. That would have come up Thursday, but sources later said the Senate plans to see what the House is able to pass.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey today instructed the 11 subcommittee cardinals who oversee the remaining spending bills to trim them back to Bush's $933 billion request. Emergency spending could be added, along with additional funds designated as "contingent emergencies" that would require Bush to agree to release the money. It would be up to individual subcommittee chairmen to decide how to implement the cuts. Earmarks will remain, despite an earlier Obey pledge, although at significantly reduced levels.

House Minority Leader John Boehner has raised the prospect of emergency spending, and at the White House today, press secretary Dana Perino said Bush might be open to the idea. "I think that we would consider emergency spending if we needed to at the end of the day," she said. She also indicated, for the first time, that an omnibus bill might be acceptable.

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Posted at 3:45 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, House, Senate
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Probes Into Destruction Of CIA Tapes Expand & Multiply

Congressional investigators are expanding their inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the destruction of the CIA's videotaped interrogations, as members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence complained about not getting enough answers during a closed briefing yesterday with CIA Director Michael Hayden.

Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said after the briefing that he plans to call CIA Inspector General John Helgerson and John Rizzo, the agency's top lawyer, to testify by next week "at the latest" on the circumstances surrounding the destruction of the tapes in 2005.

Rockefeller said it is possible he will also call Jose Rodriguez Jr. to testify. Rodriguez has been identified as the official who, as head of the spy agency's national clandestine service, ordered the videotapes destroyed. "This is a beginning," Rockefeller said.

The House intelligence committee is scheduled to hear from Hayden during a closed session today.

Continue reading "Probes Into Destruction Of CIA Tapes Expand & Multiply"

Posted at 8:55 AM
Posted to: CIA, Congress, House, Senate
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December 10, 2007

Libby Abandons Appeal Bid

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby has decided against furthering pursuit of an appeal of his perjury and obstruction of justice conviction in relation to the CIA leak investigation.

The former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney had been sentenced to 30 months for lying to federal investigators during a probe into the outing of former CIA officer Valerie Plame. President Bush commuted Libby's sentence in July, fueling speculation that the former top White House aide would eventually receive a full pardon.

"We remain firmly convinced of Mr. Libby's innocence. However, the realities were, that after five years of government service by Mr. Libby and several years of defending against this case, the burden on Mr. Libby and his young family of continuing to pursue his complete vindication are too great to ask them to bear," an attorney said in a statement.

Libby's decision to drop his appeals bid will renew speculation that Bush plans to grant a pardon on his way out of office in January 2009. House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., asked AG Michael Mukasey last week for all remaining interview transcripts from the now-closed investigation.

Posted at 11:43 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Dick Cheney, House, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Michael Mukasey, President Bush
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December 07, 2007

Senate Vote On Energy Bill Fails

The Senate has voted 53-42 to end debate on an energy package that President Bush has threatened to veto because of its tax provisions. That's short of the 60 votes required, and forces lawmakers back to the drawing board with just a week or so to go before the holiday break.

The House bill is geared toward reducing consumption and raising efficiency standards, but also nixes a $13.5 billion tax break for the oil and gas industry. It passed yesterday 235-181. But the White House said it would veto the bill because of the industry tax hike, which "single[s] out specific industries for punitive treatment."

The Senate in particular has a mound of appropriations legislation that has stalled, prompting Majority Leader Harry Reid to threaten to keep lawmakers in Washington during Christmas week. Bush has taken to scolding lawmakers loudly and often in recent weeks, and the appearance of stagnation has led to approval ratings for Congress lower than the highly unpopular president's.

CongressDaily (subscription) has a report on yesterday's House vote. Check back this afternoon for its report on today's Senate vote.

Posted at 10:44 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, House, President Bush, Senate
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Senate Passes AMT Patch Without $50 Billion In Offsets

The Senate yesterday passed a one-year fix to the alternative minimum tax by an 88-5 vote after Democrats dropped demands that the $50 billion cost of the provision be offset to meet the pay-as-you-go budget requirements.

The action sets up a confrontation with the House, where Democratic leaders have continued on a fully offset AMT provision, so as not to run afoul of PAYGO rules. The House is expected to add offsets to the Senate package and send it back early next week, according to a House Democratic aide.

Such a move would further delay a final resolution of the AMT, which the IRS has estimated will affect 25 million taxpayers in 2007 unless Congress enacts a patch.

Continue reading "Senate Passes AMT Patch Without $50 Billion In Offsets"

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Posted to: Congress, House, Senate, Taxes
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December 06, 2007

Bush Lays Help For Homeowners At Senate's Feet

UPDATED.

President Bush told worried homeowners today that help would be on the way -- once the Senate stopped sleeping on the housing foreclosure threat.

"The federal government is taking several regulatory actions to make the mortgage industry more transparent, reliable and fair," Bush said, as he announced a plan to stop the housing market implosion struck by his administration and the mortgage lending and services industries. "The U.S. Congress has the potential to help even more. It's been three months since I made proposals... and Congress hasn't sent me a single bill to help homeowners."

"If members are serious about helping" struggling homeowners, Bush continued, they will pass legislation as soon as possible.

The House has passed two housing fixes, both of which have stalled in the Senate. Democratic Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, seemed to rail against the leadership in his own party when he recently complained that "the increasing inability of the United States Senate to function is becoming a threat to governance."

In a second press conference shortly after the president spoke, HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson echoed calls for Senate action.

"We've done our part. We need a bill now, as do hundreds of thousands of Americans," Jackson said. "Combining our administration's action and passage of this bill could help 800,000 families in fiscal year 2008."

Continue reading "Bush Lays Help For Homeowners At Senate's Feet"

Posted at 3:20 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Economy, House, President Bush, Senate
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November 29, 2007

Former Rep. Henry Hyde Dead At 83

UPDATED.

Former Illinois Rep. Henry Hyde (R), best known for leading the impeachment proceedings against former President Bill Clinton and authoring an amendment banning federal funding for abortions, died at the age of 83. The House Republican leadership confirmed his death today, AP reports.

Hyde was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom earlier this month but was unable to accept it in person because he was recovering from surgery. According to The Swamp, Hyde "had triple bypass surgery on his heart in July and has been in failing health." Family members told the Chicago Sun-Times that Hyde died around 3 a.m. this morning at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. "I believe his heart just gave out," his stepdaughter, Sue Schiesser, told the Sun-Times.

The long-serving conservative representative of Chicago's western suburbs left the House last year, after 32 years in office. The Chicago Tribune reports that Hyde was "known for his courtly manners, oratorical skills and historical knowledge" and was "often seen as a throwback to a more genteel era in Washington."

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Posted at 10:30 AM
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November 27, 2007

Rep. Carson Will Not Run Again After Cancer Diagnosis

Rep. Julia Carson, D-Ind., might return to Washington in January despite being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer last week, but the six-term member has ruled out a re-election bid next year, a spokesman said yesterday.

Len Sistek, Carson's chief of staff, said the 69-year-old lawmaker intends to return to work after the first of the year, but said he could not say whether she was considering resigning. "We are trying to stick with the facts and a lot is not known right now," said Sistek, explaining that Carson's staff in Washington learned of her diagnosis from media reports. He confirmed that Carson did "not intend at this point to seek re-election in 2008."

Continue reading " Rep. Carson Will Not Run Again After Cancer Diagnosis"

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November 19, 2007

Congress Adjourns With Farm Bill & Bridge Fund Still Outstanding

Some legislators left frustrated for the Thanksgiving recess after a cloture vote on the farm bill failed on Friday afternoon. Democrats fell five votes short of the 60 needed to end discussion, which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tried to cut off after he and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell could not come to an agreement on amendments.

A failed cloture vote also left up in the air the fate of the $50 billion bridge fund that would continue military operations in Iraq. Again, Senate Democrats fell short of the 60 votes needed. But Reid sounded the death knell for the bridge fund -- unlike the farm bill, which could still come up when legislators return from recess -- and said that no money would be forthcoming this year.

This iteration of the Democrats' supplemental funding bill tied money for the war to a withdrawal timeline. Now, the Pentagon will continue to cover war costs out of its base budget, a move that officials have threatened to translate into layoffs and furloughs for Defense Department employees. Lawmakers did OK the Pentagon's $470 billion base budget before they left town.

Reid said Friday that senators will focus on FY08 appropriations bills and legislation addressing the alternative minimum tax when they return on Dec. 3.

CongressDaily (subscription) has details, as well as a full roundup of developments in the appropriations process.

Posted at 7:41 AM
Posted to: Congress, House, Senate
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November 15, 2007

Hastert's Farewell: 'Goodbye, Friends'

Former Speaker Dennis Hastert addressed his colleagues as a fellow member for the last time this afternoon, ending two decades of service in the House.

"As members of Congress, we are not here just to vote but... to give voice on this floor to the aspirations of our constituents. So this place where we speak, the well of the House, is very special to me," Hastert said from behind the floor podium facing the chamber.

The 65-year-old former teacher recalled that he delivered his first-ever remarks as a freshman and as Speaker from behind that podium.

"I explained at the time I was breaking the tradition of Speaker by [not] making my acceptance remarks from the Speaker's chair because my legislative home is on the floor with you, and so is my heart. Well," he continued, "my heart is still here and always will be."

Continue reading "Hastert's Farewell: 'Goodbye, Friends'"

Posted at 4:18 PM
Posted to: Congress, Dennis Hastert, House
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Iraq: When A Door Closes...

UPDATED.

The Washington Post has an A-1 story this morning summarizing interviews with senior military officials who concur that the biggest U.S. obstacle in Iraq is not al-Qaida or sectarian violence, but the nascent Iraqi government itself.

"The lack of political progress calls into question the core rationale behind the troop buildup President Bush announced in January, which was premised on the notion that improved security would create space for Iraqis to arrive at new power-sharing arrangements," the Post reports. Army Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the commander of day-to-day U.S. military operations in Iraq, told interviewers that the drop in attacks against U.S. troops and Iraqis has opened a window of opportunity for the Iraqi government to reach out to former enemies, but "it's unclear how long that window is going to be open."

Meanwhile, at home, Bush is facing his own closing window in the form of war funding. The House yesterday passed a bill to fund further military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, but Democrats tied it to a host of measures -- including a troop withdrawal to begin within a month and to be nearly completed within a year -- that the administration wouldn't find acceptable.

Continue reading "Iraq: When A Door Closes..."

Posted at 11:01 AM
Posted to: Congress, House, Iraq, Middle East, President Bush
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SCHIP Negotiators Exchange Final Offers

It's do or die for the children's health bill -- again.

House Republicans seeking changes to the bill will present Senate sponsors with their final proposal today.

"There's a consensus that we get this done tomorrow or we just kind of confide to each other that we can't," Senate Finance ranking member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said after a meeting yesterday. "We're getting finality, one way or the other."

See CongressDaily (subscription) for the full story.

Posted at 7:49 AM
Posted to: Congress, Health, House, Senate
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November 09, 2007

Few Defections As Dems Pass AMT Fix

The House today passed 216-193 an $81 billion tax extenders package, including a one-year patch to protect 21 million taxpayers from the alternative minimum tax.

Eight Democrats voted against the bill, including several who had voiced opposition to offsets used to pay for the package. Democrats voting no were Reps. Tim Mahoney (Fla.), Jim Cooper (Tenn.), John Barrow (Ga.), Melissa Bean (Ill.), Nick Lampson (Texas), Jim Matheson (Utah), Harry Mitchell (Ariz.), and Gene Taylor (Miss.). No Republicans voted for the bill.

The largely united Democratic vote belied more widespread concern in the Caucus about the offsets, though leaders managed to persuade them to support the bill despite misgivings. To offset the AMT patch, House tax writers included a $26 billion provision to tax the profits of private equity, hedge fund and other investment partnerships at 35 percent instead of the 15 percent capital gains rate as under current law. The bill would also delay implementation of tax cuts for multinationals and yank tax benefits that hedge fund managers enjoy by deferring compensation on offshore income.

Continue reading "Few Defections As Dems Pass AMT Fix"

Posted at 5:44 PM
Posted to: Congress, Economy, House, Senate, Taxes
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Saxton Retirement Could Deepen Blue Jersey

Rep. Jim Saxton is expected to announce today that he won't run for re-election, putting yet another dent in the Republican Party's hopes of being competitive in 2008.

Saxton was already being targeted on-air by groups critical of his vote against a proposed $35 billion expansion of SCHIP, a health care program for poor children. That bill has yet to survive a presidential veto, to the consternation of advocacy groups who've gone up with TV and radio ads targeting Republican lawmakers in an effort to sway their vote.

Politicker NJ is reporting that state Sen. Diane Allen is in line to be the Republican candidate for this seat. Democratic state Sen. John Adler of Camden County announced in September that he would challenge Saxton.

Saxton, 64, is serving his 12th full term in New Jersey's 3rd District. The House Democrats' campaign arm has been eyeing that district for flip potential; in 2004, President Bush and John Kerry made out about even. According to AP, Saxton is now the 14th GOP member of the House to retire since last year's midterms.

Posted at 3:10 PM
Posted to: Campaigns, Congress, House
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November 08, 2007

House May Take Up War Funding Tomorrow

The House could vote as early as tomorrow on a measure providing a $50 billion bridge fund to continue military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for about four months, on the condition that troops be withdrawn from combat zones in Iraq by Christmas 2008.

"This is not a blank check for the president," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The funding is a little more than one-quarter of President Bush's $189.3 billion FY08 request, and Democratic leaders hesitated to approve that much given heavy opposition to the Iraq war. But Democrats changed course under pressure from the Pentagon, which fears a significant funding shortfall in January, and from Republicans ready to pounce at any sign of "shortchanging" the troops.

The measure's target date of Dec. 15, 2008, is nonbinding, meaning it could lose support from die-hard Iraq war opponents in the House. It also faces a steep hurdle in clearing the Senate, where the measure would be open to amendment and would need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.

"I think we should take it a step at a time," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who said the Senate probably would take up the bill next week. He declined to comment on whether he expected more support from Republicans.

"I have in the past thought that we would have more Republicans than... we did. I hope so," Reid said.

Continue reading "House May Take Up War Funding Tomorrow"

Posted at 6:08 PM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Asia, Congress, House, Iraq, Middle East, Senate
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November 05, 2007

House Judiciary Cmte. Files Miers/Bolten Contempt Report

The House Judiciary Committee has filed an 862-page report [PDF] recommending that lawmakers find former White House counsel Harriet Miers and current Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten in contempt for refusing to testify or provide documents in an investigation into the U.S. attorney firings of last year.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to bring a vote on the criminal contempt citation to the floor, though the timing of that has not been announced. If a simple majority of the House does find Miers and/or Bolten in contempt, the matter will be referred to D.C.'s U.S. attorney, Jeffrey Taylor. And herein lies yet another speed bump in congressional Democrats' quest to get to the bottom of those firings.

Continue reading "House Judiciary Cmte. Files Miers/Bolten Contempt Report"

Posted at 6:37 PM
Posted to: Alberto Gonzales, Attorney Scandal, Bush Administration, Congress, Harriet Miers, House, Michael Mukasey, President Bush
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November 02, 2007

Rangel's Reach

Rep. Charles Rangel's $1.3 trillion tax reform proposal -- dubbed "the mother of all tax reforms" -- is already causing a stir in Congress, and it promises to keep the tax issue in focus during next year's presidential and congressional elections. The ambitious plan could make or break the efforts of the 77-year-old Ways and Means Committee chairman to forge a positive legacy.

National Journal's Richard E. Cohen parses Rangel's plan and its larger implications in this week's cover story. Meanwhile, the magazine asked lawmakers to weigh in on the prospects of revising the alternative minimum tax in the insiders poll [PDF].

Posted at 11:53 AM
Posted to: Congress, House, Taxes
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November 01, 2007

Senate Dems OK SCHIP... Again

The Senate today approved a children's health insurance bill that in a slightly different incarnation was vetoed by President Bush earlier this fall. Bush has also threatened to veto the current bill because it includes a tax hike on cigarettes that is meant to help pay for the $35 billion program.

The bill passed 64-30. Last week, House Democrats also passed the bill but without a veto-proof majority.

Republicans forced a vote on the bill sooner than Democrats would have liked. GOP lawmakers appear to have come around on the $35 billion expansion of SCHIP, but remain reluctant to sign on to the cigarette tax increase. Bush has promised not to budge on SCHIP so long as it contains a tax increase of any kind.

Posted at 6:10 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, House, President Bush, Senate
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October 30, 2007

Bush Vows 'Three Veto Bill Pileup'

President Bush is seeking to get out ahead of negative headlines this week by accusing the Democratic Congress of holding U.S. troops and poor children "hostage" as part of a "cynical" political strategy.

"They haven't seen a bill they could not solve without shoving a tax increase into it," Bush said derisively. He called the brief press conference outside the White House following a meeting with the top Republican House leaders: John Boehner, Roy Blunt and Adam Putnam.

The president's press conference ushered in the annual appropriations tug-of-war between the White House and Congress, an autumn rite by no means unique to this administration. Tensions are superheated this year, though, because the bills concern an increasingly unpopular war with the prospect of yet another unpopular war and renewal of health care funding for poor children.

Bush also plans to veto a $23.2 billion water resources bill that he says is excessive. The bill is overwhelmingly popular in both chambers, however, and it is all but guaranteed an override if Bush follows through on his threat by the end of this week.

Continue reading "Bush Vows 'Three Veto Bill Pileup'"

Posted at 9:49 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Economy, House, Iran, Iraq, Middle East, President Bush
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October 29, 2007

House Returns To Negotiating Table On SCHIP

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel were to meet today with a group of Republicans to discuss the possibility for compromise on a children's health care bill. House Republicans said it appears unlikely the bill's sponsors will be able to amend the measure enough to change the minds of at least a dozen GOP members needed to override a presidential veto.

"The Democratic leadership appears wedded to a significant expansion of government-run health care," said Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga. "It doesn't appear that they're interested in a positive solution."

Further tinkering on the proposal to add $35 billion to the State Children's Health Insurance Program could be done during the Senate debate this week. Price was one of 36 House Republicans who sent a letter on Friday to Hoyer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that said the version passed last week "does not reflect the spirit of bipartisan negotiations and instead disrupts a process that had the potential to create a good, bipartisan bill."

Continue reading "House Returns To Negotiating Table On SCHIP"

Posted at 5:31 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Health, House, President Bush, Senate
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Tancredo Will Not Run Again...

... for Congress, that is.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., will not seek re-election regardless of what happens in his long-shot presidential campaign, he told the Rocky Mountain News Sunday. "It's the fact that I really believe I have done all I can do in the House, especially about the issue (immigration) about which I care greatly," Tancredo told the paper.

His decision creates a vacancy in the solidly conservative and Republican 6th District, which includes suburban areas south and southeast of Denver. While Tancredo's presidential campaign remains just a blip on the political radar, he has suggested he might challenge Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar in 2010, largely over his signature issue of immigration.

Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Michael McNulty of New York is expected to confirm today that he, too, will not seek re-election. With the Tancredo and McNulty announcements, 17 House members have announced they will not be back in the next Congress, with 11 retirements and six members running for other offices.

- CongressDaily

Photo courtesy of Flickr user VictoryNH: Protect Our Primary

Posted at 12:30 PM
Posted to: Campaigns, Congress, House, Immigration, Republicans, Tom Tancredo, WH 2008
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October 26, 2007

Bush To Congress: I'm Not Mad, I'm Just Disappointed

President Bush, back in Washington today after a trip to Southern California to survey the devastation caused by raging wildfires there, delivered a harsh rebuke to congressional Democrats in a televised address from the Roosevelt Room.

Bush said that upon returning to the White House, he "was disappointed by what Congress had been doing -- and even more disappointed by what they had not been doing." He accused lawmakers of "wasting time" by voting yesterday on a slightly revised version of a bill to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program instead of working to pass already delayed appropriation bills, approve supplemental funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and confirm the nomination of Michael Mukasey to be attorney general.

Bush said that he had appointed members of his administration to negotiate with Congress on a compromise SCHIP bill, but instead "the House once again passed a bill that they knew would not become law," indicating that he would veto the legislation for a second time if it arrives on his desk. Yesterday's House vote failed to reach the two-thirds majority necessary to override a veto.

AP and The Hill have more analysis of Bush's remarks, and the Washington Post has responses from Democratic leaders.

Posted at 2:55 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Health, House, Michael Mukasey, President Bush
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October 25, 2007

Dems Push Amended SCHIP Through

After day-long deliberations interrupted only by numerous procedural motions, House Republicans were forced to vote on a slightly different incarnation of a children's health insurance bill that's already been vetoed once and is destined for a veto again.

The bill passed 265-142, short of the two-thirds majority required to withstand President Bush's promised rejection. Republicans were incensed at being dragged to a vote on a bill they first laid eyes on yesterday. Several members took to the floor to rail against the Democrat leadership for being insensitive to the needs of their colleagues who had flown back to California because of the devastating wildfires there.

After failing to reach a two-thirds override a week ago, Democrats inserted provisions on eligibility caps and illegal immigrants to make the legislation more palatable to the minority. But the leadership would not budge on the $35 million price tag or a cigarette tax increase -- both nonstarters for the White House and most Republican members.

Continue reading "Dems Push Amended SCHIP Through"

Posted at 5:28 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Health, House, President Bush
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GOP Unhappy With SCHIP Vote Sked

With Republicans crying foul, House leaders scheduled a vote this morning on a children's health bill that makes minor changes to the one vetoed by President Bush earlier this month.

"The bill addresses all of the concerns of our colleagues," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"Basically, the changes in the bill meet the objections of the administration as nearly as it can be done. And I will observe the spurious, fraudulent, false, dishonest, deceitful objections that the administration has sent up," said Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell. "They know better."

The bill addresses Republican concerns that the bill to add $35 billion to the State Children's Health Insurance Program would cover adults and families who earn up to $83,000 annually, as well as illegal immigrants. It would strengthen the original bill's eligibility cap at 300 percent of poverty, phase childless adults off the program within one year instead of two, and clarify language stating that illegal immigrants will not be eligible.

Continue reading "GOP Unhappy With SCHIP Vote Sked"

Posted at 11:34 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Health, House, President Bush
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October 24, 2007

House Dems Tweaking Immigration, Income Eligibility On New SCHIP Bill

House Democrats are crafting a children's health care bill that would tighten language on immigration, deny states the opportunity to cover children above 300 percent of poverty and move childless adults out of the program within one year, lawmakers and aides said.

The State Children's Health Insurance Program bill is expected to be on the floor tomorrow, but Democratic leadership aides stressed that the vote timing is not definite. Moderate Republicans who asked for the changes to woo more GOP members are asking for more time to allow them to review the bill. President Bush vetoed the bill on Oct. 3.

Continue reading " House Dems Tweaking Immigration, Income Eligibility On New SCHIP Bill"

Posted at 9:30 AM
Posted to: Congress, Health, House, Senate
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October 22, 2007

Bush Pressures Congress To OK $196B War Budget

Seeking to head off a fight that hasn't yet begun, President Bush warned Democratic lawmakers not to resist new emergency funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as he tacked on $46 billion to the $150.5 billion the White House had already requested for the new fiscal year.

Recalling recent reports on progress in Iraq, Bush said that the extra funding was "crucial to maintaining this policy of success." General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker appeared on Capitol Hill in September to tell lawmakers that the "surge" strategy was making headway in Iraq, and that as a result troops could be safely drawn down back to pre-surge levels.

Continue reading "Bush Pressures Congress To OK $196B War Budget"

Posted at 3:28 PM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Asia, Bush Administration, Congress, David Petraeus, House, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush
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October 18, 2007

SCHIP: Democrats Lose The Battle, Stand To Win The War

UPDATED.

The House Democratic leadership failed to wrangle the 12 to 15 additional votes it needed to push an expansion of a health care program for poor children past a presidential veto.

Lawmakers voted to override President Bush's veto 265 to 159, just under the two-thirds majority required. Squabbling over the bill, popular in spirit but contentious in practice, culminated in lawmakers using and attacking real live children volunteered by their parents as props in the debate.

Today's vote was originally scheduled for around noon, but had to be delayed because of still more ugliness. During floor debate preceding the vote, California Democrat Pete Stark accused Republican fiscal conservatives of "telling lies" about the breadth of the expansion. He continued: "You don't have money to fund the war or children. But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement."

The National Republican Congressional Committee fired off video of Stark's remarks so fast that it misidentified the loose-cannon lawmaker as a fellow Republican. Protesting GOP lawmakers called for a reprimand vote on the remarks, which failed.

Continue reading "SCHIP: Democrats Lose The Battle, Stand To Win The War"

Posted at 1:45 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Campaigns, Congress, Europe, Health, House, President Bush, Turkey
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FISA: House Pulls Bill; Senate Strikes Deal

While the Senate Judiciary Committee was grilling President Bush's nominee for attorney general yesterday about some of the most controversial counterterrorism policies supported by his predecessor, leaders of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence were working with members of the Bush administration to find common ground on one of those policies: the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program.

Senators reportedly reached a deal with the administration yesterday that would grant immunity to telecommunications companies who cooperate with the NSA's efforts under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Bush, who in a press conference yesterday urged Congress to expedite the renewal of the surveillance law temporarily approved in August, had made the lack of protections for telecoms a deal-breaker. Earlier this week the White House issued a veto threat if Congress failed to make that concession.

But while there was progress on the Senate side of negotiations yesterday, the House was thrown into tumult when its version of the bill [PDF] was brought to the floor of that chamber. After initially reporting that Democrats were optimistic about their chances of passing the bill without the concessions Bush had asked for, CongressDaily (subscription) reports this morning that "Republicans made a last-minute procedural move that appeared to split Democrats," forcing the Democratic leadership to pull the bill from the floor.

Pete Hoekstra, the ranking Republican on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, predicted earlier in the day that Congress would eventually yield to the president and grant immunity for telecom companies. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer made a similar prediction last week.

Posted at 7:38 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, House, President Bush, Senate, Terrorism
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October 10, 2007

The Armenian Genocide: When Purity Meets Pragmatism

Let's get this detail out of the way: The United States does not brook genocide. Maybe this country does not always go far enough to stop genocide where it occurs (Rwanda, Sudan), but it has not ignored, let alone denied, the mass extermination of an ethnic group since World War II. What the U.S. always does do in reaction to genocide is condemn the killing wherever it occurs.

So why the opposition to a nonbinding House resolution that compels the U.S. government to formally recognize the 1915-17 mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as genocide -- something George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush did not do as commander in chief?

The answer, of course, is Turkey's resistance to the resolution. Almost anywhere else in the world, official government condemnation of genocide is an easy position for Washington to take. Not so with the Armenian genocide, because Turkey holds many cards, and the U.S. is in no position to strong-arm anyone it might still count as an ally in the war on terror.

Continue reading "The Armenian Genocide: When Purity Meets Pragmatism"

Posted at 3:50 PM
Posted to: Bill Clinton, Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, Congress, EU, Europe, France, George H.W. Bush, House, Iraq, Israel, Kurds, Middle East, President Bush, Robert Gates, Senate, Turkey
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Bush To Dems: Don't 'Take Us Backward' With Surveillance Bill

The debate over electronic surveillance in the war on terror is rearing its ugly head again this week, two months after Congress' quick (and temporary) fix before the August recess. That law is set to expire in February, bringing lawmakers and the White House back to the negotiating table to hammer out new guidelines.

Yesterday, the New York Times reported that Democrats were poised to extend the federal government's ability to spy on foreign communications in the service of combating terrorism and would not impose as many restrictions as they hinted at back in August. But as predicted, President Bush and Republican members are still raising objections to some of the oversight proposals Democrats have made.

In a brief appearance on the South Lawn this morning, Bush criticized the Democratic-sponsored bill introduced in the House today, called the RESTORE Act [PDF], saying it would "take us backward.... My administration has serious concerns about some of its provisions," he continued, "and I am hopeful that the deficiencies in the bill can be fixed."

Continue reading "Bush To Dems: Don't 'Take Us Backward' With Surveillance Bill"

Posted at 3:42 PM
Posted to: Congress, House, President Bush
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October 09, 2007

House Could Extend Wiretap Powers

UPDATED.

The Senate is quiet this week, away on its Columbus Day recess, but the House is about to make a major move on legislation concerning the National Security Agency's spy program. According to the New York Times, House Democrats seem ready to OK the broad eavesdropping powers that they temporarily extended before the summer recess but had previously pledged to curtail.

The revisions to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which will be proposed today, "would maintain for several years the type of broad, blanket authority for N.S.A. eavesdropping that the administration secured in August for six months," the Times reports. "In an acknowledgment of concerns over civil liberties, the bill would require a more active role by the special foreign intelligence court that oversees the interception of foreign-based communications by the security agency."

Continue reading "House Could Extend Wiretap Powers"

Posted at 8:28 AM
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October 05, 2007

Waxman: Rice Headed For 'Confrontation' With Panel

House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman yesterday sharpened his rhetoric in an ongoing clash with the State Department, indicating he will renew efforts to force Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to appear before the panel.

"Secretary Rice is going to have a confrontation with this committee," Waxman told Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near East Affairs Larry Butler, who testified at a six-hour hearing on U.S. efforts to combat corruption in Iraq, after Rice declined to appear.

At issue was State's contention that broad assessments of corruption levels in Iraq should be classified because they might damage U.S.-Iraq relations, a position Waxman called ridiculous.

Continue reading " Waxman: Rice Headed For 'Confrontation' With Panel"

Posted at 8:03 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, Congress, House
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October 04, 2007

CIA Interrogations To Take Center Stage In Mukasey Hearings

UPDATED.

Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are incensed at the revelations in this morning's New York Times report outlining secret legal opinions the Bush administration has used to justify harsh interrogations techniques for terrorism suspects.

"It would be bad enough if this administration had disgraced itself and this country by engaging in cruel and degrading treatment of detainees. It is worse still that it enlisted the Justice Department in the effort to justify and cover up its activities," said Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, speaking on the floor of the Senate today.

Kennedy is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which yesterday announced that confirmation hearings for attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey would begin as early as two weeks from now. Chairman Patrick Leahy appeared to be signaling that he would not hold up Mukasey's hearings despite an ongoing confrontation with the White House over the NSA surveillance program and U.S. attorney firings scandal. While the revelations about DOJ possibly signing off on torture will probably not affect the hearing timeline, they will almost certainly have a huge impact on Mukasey's confirmation.

A congressional source with close knowledge of the committee said that "a lot of people are really, really angry" about the secret opinions. According to the Times report, the White House took backdoor measures to keep CIA interrogation techniques like "head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures" in play by way of secret DOJ memos asserting their legality -- even as it publicly bowed to demands by Congress and the Supreme Court to outlaw them.

Continue reading "CIA Interrogations To Take Center Stage In Mukasey Hearings"

Posted at 6:15 PM
Posted to: Alberto Gonzales, Attorney Scandal, Bush Administration, CIA, Congress, Constitution, Detainees, House, Michael Mukasey, Patrick Leahy, President Bush, Senate
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Families Decry 'Preventable Tragedy' At Utah Mine

In tearful testimony before the House Education and Labor Committee yesterday, family members of the miners and rescue workers killed in an August accident at Utah's Crandall Canyon Mine blamed company officials and the federal government for failing to respond to concerns workers had voiced about safety at the site.

Sitting amid framed pictures of the deceased miners, family members blamed both Bob Murray, operator of the Crandall Canyon facility, and the Mine Safety and Health Administration for allowing their loved ones to work in such dangerous conditions. "It would have taken just one MSHA official or one official from the company doing his job to have saved my husband's life," said Wendy Black, whose husband, Dale "Bird" Black, died trying to save the six miners initially trapped at Crandall Canyon.

Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., echoed her sentiment, deeming the collapse a "preventable tragedy."

The Deseret Morning News, Salt Lake Tribune and CNN have more on yesterday's hearing.

Posted at 7:50 AM
Posted to: Congress, House
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October 03, 2007

Bush Vetoes SCHIP Expansion

As promised, President Bush has quietly vetoed a bill vastly expanding a children's health insurance program. Otherwise known as SCHIP, the program is funded by both state and federal governments to cover medical care for children too rich to qualify for Medicare but too poor to afford private insurance.

The bipartisan bill would add $35 billion over five years to the popular program. The uninsured rate has boomed during Bush's presidency, even as the economy has rebounded from near-recession in 2002. According to the federal government, more than 6 million children lack health insurance, and 45 percent of all children get some kind of publicly funded medical care.

The Senate version passed 68-31, enough to override a presidential veto. The House is about a dozen votes short; Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley is among the bill's supporters courting those Republicans to join the majority.

The politically hypercharged issue stands to come back to haunt members during their re-election campaigns next year.

Continue reading "Bush Vetoes SCHIP Expansion"

Posted at 11:05 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Health, House, President Bush, Senate, Taxes
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House OKs Bill Seeking Iraq Pullout Plan

The House voted 377-46 yesterday to pass legislation calling on President Bush to develop a plan for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq and to keep Congress apprised on the status of the planning.

While dismissed by Republicans as largely inconsequential because of its "sense of Congress" language, the bill received significant GOP support, including House Minority Leader John Boehner's vote.

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer played up the bill's bipartisan appeal when asked before the vote about the non-binding nature of the measure. "I think we will have a very significant vote when a majority of the House says we need a play for redeployment," Hoyer said.

Continue reading " House OKs Bill Seeking Iraq Pullout Plan"

Posted at 9:17 AM
Posted to: Congress, House
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October 02, 2007

Blackwater CEO Confident -- And For Good Reason

In his testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Blackwater USA chief Erik Prince defended his employees as patriotic veterans tasked with protecting Americans in hostile zones.

"Blackwater personnel supporting our overseas missions are all military and law enforcement veterans, many of whom have recent military deployments," said Prince, who founded Blackwater and is himself a former Navy SEAL. "No individual ever protected by Blackwater has ever been killed or seriously injured. There is no better evidence of the skill and dedication of these men."

The Democrats on the panel cited various reports in their portrayal of Blackwater as a lawless army whose hired guns have killed innocent civilians without repercussions. Indeed, Blackwater, which has a contract with the State Department, is not beholden to either Iraqi law or U.S. military law. And that's because Congress either forgot or did not bother to make it so.

Continue reading "Blackwater CEO Confident -- And For Good Reason"

Posted at 4:50 PM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Asia, Congress, Crime, David Petraeus, House, Iraq, Middle East, Military
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October 01, 2007

Congressional Report Paints Harsh Picture Of Blackwater

In anticipation of tomorrow's hearing on Blackwater USA's activities in Iraq and Afghanistan, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has released a preliminary report detailing the private security contractor's alleged recklessness in several shootings and its attempts, sometimes with the help of the State Department, to cover up those incidents.

The report [PDF], compiled by the committee's Democratic majority staff, claims that Blackwater "has been involved in at least 195 'escalation of force' incidents in Iraq since 2005 that involved the firing of shots by Blackwater forces," and that while the company's government contract stipulates that it should only "engage in defensive use of force," Blackwater employees fired the first shots" in more than 80 percent of the shooting incidents.

Continue reading "Congressional Report Paints Harsh Picture Of Blackwater"

Posted at 4:22 PM
Posted to: Congress, House, Iraq
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September 28, 2007

Senate OKs SCHIP; Post-Veto Strategies Kick In

The Senate's 67-29 vote yesterday on a bill to add $35 billion to the State Children's Health Insurance Program will officially allow it to be lobbed down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, only to have it bounce back with a veto stamp.

But that volley will probably wait until next week. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Congress might hold onto the bill over the weekend. White House spokesman Tony Fratto said yesterday that President Bush will veto the bill with little fanfare once he receives it.

Depending on the timing of those two actions, Hoyer said the House could hold a veto override vote later in the week. The Senate's 67 yes votes are enough to stave off a veto, but the House's 265-159 vote on Wednesday fell short of a veto-proof margin.

Continue reading "Senate OKs SCHIP; Post-Veto Strategies Kick In"

Posted at 7:50 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, House, President Bush, Senate
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September 26, 2007

DOD Team To Investigate Security Contractors

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered a Pentagon investigation of security contractors in Iraq after a deadly gunfight involving Blackwater employees raised questions about oversight of foreign contractors in Iraq.

AP reports that in a briefing today, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said the initial round of answers to Gates' questions about the military's relationship with private contractors has "not been satisfactory" and that he is seeking a deeper probe into the matter.

Although he would not elaborate on the specifics of Gates' dissatisfaction with the investigation thus far, Morrell did say that a five-person team has already been sent to Iraq and "will talk to all the key players" there, including top U.S. commanders Gen. David Petraeus and Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno. The team is expected to report back to Gates by the end of the week.

Continue reading "DOD Team To Investigate Security Contractors"

Posted at 1:28 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Condoleezza Rice, House, Iraq, Middle East, Military, Robert Gates
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SCHIP Vote Ensures Further Conflict

The House's 265-159 vote yesterday to add $35 billion to the State Children's Health Insurance Program -- short of a veto-proof margin -- ensures that lawmakers will confront the issue again before Congress adjourns this year if President Bush follows through on his promise to veto the measure.

Republicans took a hit from their moderates, losing 41 of them, in addition to the four that crossed party lines to vote for the broader House bill in July.

NationalJournal.com has the full story for free; see CongressDaily (subscription) for more of today's news.

Posted at 7:55 AM
Posted to: Congress, House
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September 21, 2007

Alaska Back In Play Thanks To Stevens & Young

And the hits just keep on coming for the Republican Party.

The FBI has tapes of telephone conversations between Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens and a businessman convicted of bribing lawmakers, AP reports. Bill Allen, a longtime friend and political supporter of Stevens, agreed to record his phone calls to the senator after pleading guilty to bribery and agreeing to cooperate with the feds in this sprawling political corruption scandal.

Allen is the founder of VECO, an Alaskan energy firm. In an ongoing bribery trial of another politician, former Alaska House Speaker Pete Kott, Allen testified that his company paid to renovate Stevens' home and that his employees did the work. Stevens insists that he and his wife paid for the renovation themselves. A former employee also testified that VECO employees were paid by the company to work on Stevens' campaigns -- a possible violation of election law.

Details of the phone conversations haven't been made public, so there's no evidence yet to indicate how snugly Stevens and Allen were in bed together. Even so, the bribery trial and FBI investigation of both Stevens and his son, Ben, are casting a shadow on the GOP, so much so that the state's Republican governor, Sarah Palin, is calling for Ben Stevens to resign from his post as Alaska representative on the Republican National Committee.

According to Allen, VECO paid off the younger Stevens while he was a state senator. The elder Stevens, meanwhile, has a reputation for intimidating Senate colleagues and directing a flood of federal dollars for projects in his sparsely populated state. Stevens is already a favorite target of fiscal conservative critics like John McCain. Looks like he'll soon be a target of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee as well.

Continue reading "Alaska Back In Play Thanks To Stevens & Young"

Posted at 4:20 PM
Posted to: Campaigns, Congress, House, Senate
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September 20, 2007

House Approves FDA Overhaul, Senate Expected To Follow

The House yesterday overwhelmingly passed FDA overhaul and user fee legislation that represented a compromise with the Senate, and the Senate was expected to follow suit today.

The bill, approved 405-7, included several compromises to push the legislation through by the end of the week so the FDA could avoid having to send out layoff notices to employees whose salaries would be affected if the user fee programs expired Sept. 30.

See CongressDailyAM (subscription) for the full story.

Posted at 10:21 AM
Posted to: Congress, FDA, House
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September 19, 2007

Negotiators Reach Deal On SCHIP Bill

Negotiators are putting the finishing touches on children's healthcare legislation, with lawmakers agreeing to a slightly modified version of the Senate's more modest State Children's Health Insurance Program bill.

Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., predicted Tuesday that the Senate would be required to take a second vote on its package because of changes that the House will make when it votes on an SCHIP reauthorization next week.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., who helped write the Senate package, said Senate negotiators have agreed to "a couple of minor" changes to the Senate bill sought by House members, "but nothing that gets away from the basic principles."

Senate negotiators have rejected House requests to cover young adults up to 21 years old and legal immigrants, Rockefeller said.

Continue reading "Negotiators Reach Deal On SCHIP Bill"

Posted at 10:17 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Health, House, President Bush, Senate
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State Dept. Watchdog Becomes Focus Of Contracting Probe

Rep. Henry Waxman is sounding the alarm about another Bush administration official: the inspector general at the State Department, Howard Krongard, who Waxman contends interfered with investigations into contract fraud in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In a letter yesterday, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee accused Krongard of failing to look into allegations of fraud and abuse in an attempt to avoid embarrassing the administration.

"One consistent element in these allegations is that you believe your foremost mission is to support the Bush Administration, especially with respect to Iraq and Afghanistan, rather than act as an independent and objective check on waste, fraud and abuse on behalf of U.S. taxpayers," the letter reads. "Your strong affinity with State Department leadership and your partisan political ties have led you to halt investigations, censor reports and refuse to cooperate with law enforcement agencies."

In a written statement, Krongard stated that he hadn't read the letter, but that media reports suggested it was "replete with inaccuracies including those made by persons with their own agendas."

Continue reading "State Dept. Watchdog Becomes Focus Of Contracting Probe"

Posted at 9:02 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, House
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September 10, 2007

Liveblogging The House Iraq Report Hearing

[Senate Foreign Relations hearing] [Senate Armed Services hearing]

6:45. It's over, it's really over. Tomorrow, on the sixth anniversary of 9/11, Petraeus and Crocker are due back on the Hill at 9:30 EDT to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Senate hearing will be shorter than today's (mercifully), and as we said earlier might be a little more uncomfortable for Crocker and Petraeus thanks to the presidential aspirations of Joseph Biden, Christopher Dodd and Barack Obama, who sit on the committee. We'll be following the proceedings. See you tomorrow.

6:42. Calif. Democrat Loretta Sanchez also accuses Petraeus of cherrypicking. Were they saving the hostile committee members for last?

Sanchez does get to a very good question, though: If life is improving in Iraq, why are Iraqis so miserable? She points to a new poll on Iraqis' attitudes, which shows most of them are miserable, frightened and deeply pessimistic about their future. Crocker, whose central thesis is that Iraqis are far too traumatized and so new to democracy that nation-building will be a protracted and messy affair, says he hasn't seen the poll, and doesn't have much of an answer beyond that.

6:31. The blame-the-Iraqis tack some U.S. pols have adopted in recent months has always seemed a little too convenient. Crocker appears to agree. Missouri Republican Todd Akin asks why Petraeus and Crocker haven't been harder on Iraqi politicians today, and Crocker's measured response is among the more credible arguments for keeping the surge going. "A tremendous amount has happened in a very short time," he says of improvements in some provinces. Crocker adds that in some of the newly stabilized regions, Iraqi leaders are working on restoring law and order. More important, they know that their funding comes from Baghdad, and are showing cooperation with the central government as a result, he says.

Continue reading "Liveblogging The House Iraq Report Hearing"

Posted at 6:56 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Bush Administration, Congress, David Petraeus, House, Iran, Iraq, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Syria, Terrorism
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September 07, 2007

The Luckiest Man In The House

These days, it seems like Congress can't catch a break. But at least one lawmaker on Capitol Hill appears to have Lady Luck on his side. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that James Sensenbrenner, Republican congressman from Wisconsin, just won the lottery... for the third time.

The Kimberly-Clark heir, who's already worth about $11.6 million, won $1,000 from the Wisconsin lottery for the second time this year on Aug. 30. Both prizes came out of the Super 2nd Chance contest, which requires players to mail in losing lottery tickets to be placed in a weekly drawing. Sensenbrenner told the Sentinel he plays about $10 worth of lottery tickets each week.

The congressman's first taste of victory came in 1997, when Sensenbrenner purchased a $2 ticket at a District of Columbia liquor store that yielded $250,000 in prize money.

Posted at 12:11 PM
Posted to: Congress, House
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September 06, 2007

Aide: Gillmor Died Of 'Natural Causes'

More details about the sudden death of Rep. Paul Gillmor, R-Ohio, are emerging as aides and lawmakers on Capitol Hill grapple with the loss of a colleague who, just one week ago, was spending his summer break traveling and talking to constituents in his northwest Ohio district.

Gillmor spokesman Brad Mascho told Bloomberg News that the congressman appears to have died from "natural causes." "It's an extreme shock to all of us," he said.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer notes that Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland (D) will have to call a special election to fill Gillmor's seat. But the solidly Republican district, which elected Gillmor to 10 terms, makes a Democratic takeover highly unlikely.

CongressDaily (subscription) reports that the NRCC already floated three state senators as the top possibilities for Gillmor's replacement. His widow Karen Gillmor, who is vice chairman of the Ohio State Employment Relations Board, is also under consideration.

Posted at 8:05 AM
Posted to: Congress, House
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September 05, 2007

Ohio Republican Paul Gillmor Dies

UPDATED.

Rep. Paul Gillmor, R-Ohio, was found dead in his apartment by staffers this morning, The Hill reports. Sources suspect the 68-year-old lawmaker suffered a heart attack. The Capitol Police Department is currently investigating the case.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, a fellow Ohio Republican, announced Gillmor's death on the House floor around 1 p.m. and said the chamber would pay tribute to him later in the afternoon. Boehner also released a statement on the congressman's passing, calling him "a good friend and a trusted colleague who served his constituents with honor for nearly two decades."

The Columbus Dispatch has more reactions from the Ohio delegation and a comprehensive look back on Gillmor's career in state and federal politics. AP is also following the story as it develops.

Continue reading "Ohio Republican Paul Gillmor Dies"

Posted at 12:40 PM
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August 24, 2007

Criminal Charges Not Likely Against Foley

Scripps Howard News Service is reporting that former Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., is "unlikely" to face criminal charges in Florida for soliciting sex with teenage congressional pages. "Sources close to the yearlong investigation" by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement into the sexually charged e-mails sent by Foley to teenage boys say there does not appear to be sufficient evidence that his behavior was criminal.

Earlier this week Foley and House officials denied the FDLE access to the former congressman's e-mail account. AP reported yesterday that the House general counsel claimed that suggestive photos sought in the FDLE's investigation were nowhere to be found in Foley's e-mails.

The FBI has conducted only a "preliminary" investigation into Foley at this point, and there is no word on whether a full-scale inquiry might be in the offing.

Posted at 5:20 PM
Posted to: Congress, Crime, House
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August 23, 2007

Foley Refuses To Turn Computers Over To Investigators

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced today that its criminal investigation into alleged misconduct by Mark Foley is being hampered by the former Republican lawmaker's refusal to let investigators examine his congressional computers.

Foley ignited scandal and resigned from Congress last September after it was brought to light that he was having inappropriate conversations with young, male congressional pages on the Internet. Foley could face criminal charges if investigators find that he attempted to seduce any boy under the age of 18.

Continue reading "Foley Refuses To Turn Computers Over To Investigators"

Posted at 2:27 PM
Posted to: Crime, House
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August 20, 2007

Calif. Rep. Filner Charged With Assault

Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., will have to appear in court Oct. 2 for allegedly shoving an airline employee on Sunday, AP reports.

During the incident at Dulles, Filner allegedly "attempted to enter an employees-only area, pushed aside an employee's arm and wouldn't leave when asked." The eight-term congressman was charged with assault and battery.

Filner is chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. He has not yet released a statement on the altercation. The Almanac of American Politics has more on him here (subscription).

Posted at 5:17 PM
Posted to: Congress, Crime, House
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August 17, 2007

Hastert Describes Loss Of Speakership As Liberating

UPDATED.

Illinois Rep. Dennis Hastert confirmed today that he will not seek re-election next year, bringing a 20-year career in Congress to an end.

"When I started in Congress I had two young boys, and it's really quite something to be here today with my grandson," Hastert said in front of the Kendall County courthouse, near his home in Plano, Ill. With his family standing in the background, Hastert told the cheering crowd of supporters, friends and associates, "As some have speculated, after much consideration, I have decided not to seek another term in Congress."

After listing the accomplishments he was proudest of, from reducing the "death tax" to President Bush's tax cuts to Congress' anti-terrorism efforts after 9/11, Hastert mused, "Who would have guessed that a wrestling coach from Kendall County in Illinois would be the longest-serving Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives?"

Continue reading "Hastert Describes Loss Of Speakership As Liberating"

Posted at 3:28 PM
Posted to: Campaigns, Congress, Dennis Hastert, House
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August 14, 2007

Report: Hastert May Step Down In '08

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who's been relegated to rank-and-file status since Republicans lost control of Congress last November, has reportedly decided it's better to be king.

The Illinois representative will announce his re-election intentions on Friday, the Chicago Tribune reported earlier today. CQPolitics reports that sources are saying Hastert plans to reveal he's walking away from Congress next year.

Hastert has served in Congress for more than 20 years, and held the longest Republican speakership in history.

Posted at 4:23 PM
Posted to: Campaigns, Congress, Dennis Hastert, House
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August 08, 2007

'08 Olympics: 365 Days And Counting...

Today marks the one-year countdown to the opening ceremony of Bejing’s 2008 Olympic Games, an event the communist superpower hopes will draw positive attention from the international community. However, the Chinese government has faced harsh criticisms on a range of issues, from food safety to human rights abuses to complicity in the genocide in Darfur, leaving many to wonder: Is China ready to open itself up to the world?

Immediately after winning its bid for the games, the Chinese government in 2001 released the Beijing Olympic Action Plan, a series of principles and objectives for developing not only the venues for the games, but also an environment conducive to hosting delegations from across the world. One provision was that China would clean up its human rights record and expand press freedoms for domestic and international journalists before the games.

Continue reading "'08 Olympics: 365 Days And Counting..."

Posted at 3:45 PM
Posted to: Africa, Asia, China, Climate Change, Congress, FDA, Health, House, Olympics, Sudan
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August 06, 2007

Bill Aims To Strengthen FDA Monitoring Of Imported Food

House Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich., has laid down his marker for a food safety overhaul at FDA that takes aim at imported food. Released Friday, the proposal would give FDA mandatory recall authority, require country-of-origin labeling on food, establish a certification program for importers, limit ports where imported food can enter and allow the agency to collect user fees to pay for increased import inspections.

"We are importing twice as much food as we were a decade ago, yet the FDA examines less than one percent of it," Dingell said. "Tainted imports have slipped into our country undetected and the resulting problems will continue to grow if we don't take steps to tighten safety measures."

Continue reading "Bill Aims To Strengthen FDA Monitoring Of Imported Food"

Posted at 5:26 PM
Posted to: Congress, FDA, Health, House
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August 03, 2007

House Stalled By Partisan Fight

The House remained in recess today and the schedule was in limbo as leaders discussed how to proceed after Republicans walked out late Thursday night to protest the handling of a vote on a controversially worded motion to recommit the Agriculture appropriations bill. The disputed motion would have denied government benefits to illegal immigrants.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, were among those trying to break the logjam. Hoyer this morning repeated his desire to finish the FY08 Defense Appropriations bill, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, energy legislation and emergency funding in the aftermath of a bridge collapse in Minneapolis. "I would hope it would not take us to Monday," Hoyer said.

Republicans stormed off the floor after accusing Democrats of changing the outcome of a procedural vote on the Agriculture spending bill.

Check back with CongressDailyPM (subscription) for more on this story as it develops.

-- CongressDaily

Posted at 12:42 PM
Posted to: House
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Court Rules FBI Trampled Constitution In Jefferson Raid

A federal appeals court found today that part of the FBI's raid on Rep. William Jefferson's congressional office was unconstitutional.

The court ordered the Justice Department to return some (but not all) of the documents FBI agents took when they raided Jefferson's Rayburn office in May 2006 as part of a two-year investigation.

Today's ruling only applies to the search conducted at his office -- not his Capitol Hill home, where agents discovered $90,000 wrapped in aluminum foil in his freezer during an August 2005 search. An FBI informant had allegedly given him the cash a few days earlier.

Continue reading "Court Rules FBI Trampled Constitution In Jefferson Raid"

Posted at 11:13 AM
Posted to: Congress, House, William Jefferson
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July 31, 2007

House Dems Push Gonzales Impeachment; Specter Unhappy With WH Response

UPDATED.

Democratic Rep. Jay Inslee today laid out a case for forcibly removing Attorney General Alberto Gonzales from office, after filing a resolution [PDF] that would kick off preliminary impeachment proceedings.

"Americans of all stripes believe that we deserve an attorney general who will not allow the politicization of the judicial system," said the former prosecutor, flanked by other former officers of the law turned legislators. The attorney general should "respect the laws of privacy" and "be forthright with the American people and U.S. Congress," Inslee added.

If the resolution receives a simple majority, the House Judiciary Committee will conduct an investigation into whether Gonzales has committed any impeachable offenses, such as perjury.

The months-long investigation into the politically tinged firings of U.S. attorneys last year, and a related one into a secret surveillance program considered by many in DOJ to be illegal, has cast Gonzales in an unflattering light. He was elevated to the job from White House counsel in February 2005.

Democrats and Republicans alike have pushed for Gonzales to be fired or resign, but both the attorney general and President Bush, a longtime friend and career benefactor, have refused to give in. The White House has also ignored congressional subpoenas in the ongoing investigations.

Calling impeachment a "last resort," Inslee said that Congress' and the public's loss of faith in Gonzales was harmful to the judicial system and therefore to democracy. "Accordingly, I am here today with a number of colleagues to call on the Judiciary Committee in the House of Representatives to conduct a thorough investigation to determine whether articles of impeachment are appropriately lodged against the attorney general," the Washington lawmaker said.

Continue reading "House Dems Push Gonzales Impeachment; Specter Unhappy With WH Response"

Posted at 6:52 PM
Posted to: Alberto Gonzales, Arlen Specter, Attorney Scandal, Bush Administration, Congress, House, James Comey, John Ashcroft, Patrick Leahy, President Bush, Robert Mueller, Senate
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July 30, 2007

Rep. Inslee To Push For Gonzales Impeachment Tomorrow

Washington Democrat Jay Inslee plans to introduce articles of impeachment against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Tuesday, House sources confirmed.

The move comes one day after the New York Times editorial board urged Congress to consider impeaching the nation's top cop if lawmakers continue to hit a dead end in their effort to cast light on a spate of U.S. attorney firings last year as well as internal DOJ strife over warrantless surveillance.

It was not clear whether Inslee consulted with the Democratic leadership. A spokeswoman for the House Judiciary Committee said she could not comment on the impeachment push, and calls to Inslee's and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's offices were not immediately returned.

Continue reading "Rep. Inslee To Push For Gonzales Impeachment Tomorrow"

Posted at 6:02 PM
Posted to: Alberto Gonzales, Attorney Scandal, Bush Administration, Congress, House, President Bush
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July 26, 2007

Leaders Eye Quick Move On Lobbying

Once Democratic leaders strike a deal on a compromise version of comprehensive lobbying legislation, they will act quickly to move the package through the House and Senate and leave little time for opposition to mount, according to sources close to the issue.

Meredith McGehee, who has lobbied for a strong disclosure and ethics bill as policy director of the Campaign Legal Center, said Democratic leaders have divulged few details about how far the most controversial provisions of the package would go. Once details are made public, McGehee said House and Senate members will be faced with a simple choice of voting for or against it.

"They've heard enough. They're not going to leave this out long," McGehee said of the Democratic leadership. "Everyone is going to be presented with a fait accompli."

NationalJournal.com has the full story for free; see CongressDaily (subscription) for more of today's news.

Posted at 12:21 PM
Posted to: Congress, House, Senate
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July 25, 2007

House Panel Cites Bolten & Miers For Contempt

UPDATED.

The House Judiciary Committee voted 22-17 to cite two top White House aides -- chief of staff Joshua Bolten and former counsel Harriet Miers -- for contempt over their failure to cooperate with the panel's investigation into the firing of nine U.S. attorneys.

The citations were approved on a party-line vote, as congressional Democrats stepped up their efforts to confront the White House directly over the prosecutors' dismissals. The decision is Congress' latest challenge to the White House's executive privilege claim, which Bush and his aides have invoked in their refusals to submit documents and provide testimony in the probe.

Contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor subject to prison terms of up to one year and fines up to $100; it is considered a serious constitutional charge. House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., conceded that the president has power to fire U.S. attorneys, but he added that the issue is "whether any administration can terminate or retain such individuals in order to influence pending criminal investigations or influence an election."

Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., proposed the panel hold off on the contempt move and ask the House clerk to file a civil lawsuit to settle the issue of executive privilege. He said he feared the contempt citation case could lose in court and jeopardize future congressional efforts to gather information.

Continue reading "House Panel Cites Bolten & Miers For Contempt"

Posted at 3:14 PM
Posted to: Alberto Gonzales, Attorney Scandal, Bush Administration, Congress, Harriet Miers, House, President Bush, Senate
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July 20, 2007

House Passes FY08 Labor-HHS Measure

President Bush took aim at the Democratic-controlled Congress over spending Thursday, as the House approved the appropriations bill representing the starkest contrast between his and their budget.

The bill passed on a 276-140 margin, not enough to demonstrate the two-thirds of those present and voting to override the veto Bush has threatened.

At $154.2 billion in total discretionary spending, the FY08 Labor-HHS measure is $12.5 billion, or 8.8 percent, more than Bush requested.

That is the largest difference between Bush and the Democrats among the 12 spending bills, with increases over the president's request directed to student aid, health care for the uninsured, worker training and other popular initiatives.

Continue reading "House Passes FY08 Labor-HHS Measure"

Posted at 7:22 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, House, President Bush
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July 12, 2007

House Votes To Withdraw Troops By April

The House approved a bill this evening that orders President Bush to draw down most troops in Iraq by April of next year. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the 223-201 tally to cheers in the gallery.

The bill calls for Bush to begin pulling out troops within 120 days. Just four Republicans sided with Democrats on the bill; 10 Democrats defected from their party and joined the Republicans.

The Senate is also considering similar legislation, but Democratic leaders there are proceeding cautiously. They have put off a vote on the Senate version, dubbed the Levin-Reed amendment for its co-sponsors, until next week. That decision buys them more time to drum up the GOP support they will need to survive a cloture vote.

Continue reading "House Votes To Withdraw Troops By April"

Posted at 6:35 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, David Petraeus, House, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Senate
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Senate Delays Key Iraq Votes, But House Dems Predict Progress

The Senate showdown on Iraq will continue into next week, likely pushing votes on several contentious war-related amendments to the FY08 defense authorization bill until well after the release of President Bush's much-anticipated interim progress report on Iraq, expected as early as today.

Meanwhile, Democrats in the House were emboldened by growing calls from Senate Republicans for a change in war strategy. Democratic leaders expressed optimism yesterday that they can win today's vote on legislation designed to force a redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq by April.

See today's CongressDailyAM (subscription) for details.

Posted at 9:33 AM
Posted to: Congress, House, Iraq, Middle East, Senate
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July 11, 2007

Chertoff Asked To Explain Attack Warning

House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., rapped Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff today for saying he has a "gut feeling" that the nation faces an increased risk of terrorist attack this summer.

Chertoff made his comments to the Chicago Tribune's editorial board Tuesday, even while saying no evidence points toward an imminent threat.

"Words have power, Mr. Secretary," Thompson wrote in a letter to Chertoff today. "You must choose them wisely -- especially when they relate to the lives and security of the American public."

Thompson said "tens of billions of taxpayer dollars" have been spent on Homeland Security infrastructure, resources and communications systems to identify risks and convey them to state and local officials.

"What color code in the Homeland Security Advisory System is associated with a 'gut feeling?'" the letter asked. "What sectors should be on alert as a result of your 'gut feeling?' What cities should be asking their law enforcement to work double shifts because of your 'gut feeling?'"

Continue reading "Chertoff Asked To Explain Attack Warning"

Posted at 5:24 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, House, Terrorism
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White House Warms Up The Veto Pen

As debate over Iraq swept the Senate yesterday, the administration spoke up in two forms: President Bush's remarks to an Ohio audience and an official threat about the use of the presidential veto.

The White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy [PDF] warning the Senate that withdrawing troops "could embolden our enemies and confirm their belief that America will not stand behind its commitments."

Besides the veto threat over any language requiring a U.S. troop pullout from Iraq, the White House threatened a veto if the bill includes any amendments restricting the president's ability to deal with neighboring Iran. In addition, any language restoring habeas corpus rights to suspected terrorists held at the military's detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, would draw a veto, according to the SAP.

Continue reading "White House Warms Up The Veto Pen"

Posted at 11:50 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, House, Iraq, Middle East, President Bush, Senate
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July 10, 2007

Will Harriet Miers Show?

CORRECTED.

The House Judiciary Committee is holding another hearing on the U.S. attorney firings scandal on Thursday, with former White House counsel Harriet Miers a special guest of the proceedings. Miers did send an RSVP of sorts, through an attorney, and it has committee members confused.

In a letter sent to committee leaders yesterday, Miers attorney George Manning wrote, "I must inform you that in light of the president's assertion of executive privilege, Ms. Miers cannot provide the documents and testimony that the committee seeks."

President Bush yesterday invoked executive privilege to deny Congress access to testimony and documents from two former aides, Miers and Sara Taylor.

But a congressional aide with knowledge of the subpoena proceedings said Miers' attorney had already informed the committee that Miers would, in fact, testify.

Continue reading "Will Harriet Miers Show?"

Posted at 7:00 PM
Posted to: Attorney Scandal, Bush Administration, Congress, Harriet Miers, House, President Bush
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July 09, 2007

Stevens Fears Bridge To Unemployment

Alaska Republican Ted Stevens, a one-time Senate appropriations gatekeeper, says he is worried about a Justice Department probe that may target him.

"The worst thing about this investigation is that it does change your life in terms of employment potential," Stevens told AP. "It doesn't matter what anyone says, it does shake you up. If this is still hanging around a year from November, it could cause me some trouble."

Continue reading "Stevens Fears Bridge To Unemployment"

Posted at 6:41 PM
Posted to: Campaigns, Crime, House, Jack Abramoff, Senate, Ted Stevens
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June 27, 2007

Contest To Replace Millender-McDonald Heads For Runoff

California Assemblywoman Laura Richardson, a Democrat, took first place in a special open primary election Tuesday in the race to succeed the late Democratic Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald, but fell short of the majority needed to avoid an Aug. 21 runoff. Richardson received nearly 38 percent of the vote in the 37th District, which includes Carson, Compton and part of Long Beach.

Richardson will face Republican John Kanaley, an Iraq war veteran and police officer who finished fourth, with just under 8 percent of the vote. The district is a Democratic stronghold, making Richardson the overwhelming favorite. Two other Democrats -- state Sen. Jenny Oropeza, with about 31 percent, and Valerie McDonald, the late lawmaker's daughter, with about 9 percent -- finished ahead of Kanaley.

-CongressDaily staff

Posted at 4:12 PM
Posted to: Campaigns, Congress, House
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No Surrender To Prison For DeLay... For Now

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reaffirmed a decision to not retroactively charge former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and two co-defendants with conspiracy to commit election fraud. The law in question was passed in 2003, a year after DeLay and his associates allegedly plotted to direct illegal campaign contributions to Republican Texas House candidates.

DeLay and his co-defendants still face charges of money laundering.

Posted at 3:06 PM
Posted to: Crime, House, Tom DeLay
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June 26, 2007

Waxman Slams White House & Cheney Over Classified Material

House Government and Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., has shot another flaming arrow at the White House, this time accusing the White House of being careless in its handling of classified material and ignoring flagrant breaches of security.

"There is evidence that both the White House and the Office of the Vice President have flaunted multiple requirements for protecting classified information," wrote Waxman in a letter to White House counsel Fred Fielding. The letter is the latest move in Waxman’s escalating investigation of Vice President Dick Cheney’s handling of classified documents.

Continue reading "Waxman Slams White House & Cheney Over Classified Material"

Posted at 1:21 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Dick Cheney, House, President Bush
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Democrats Reflect On Six-Month Mark

Six months into the majority, House Democrats have little to show in terms of new laws, but they say they have helped change the debate about the war in Iraq and claim credit for passing other measures that await action in the Senate.

"As far as the House is concerned, we have been very successful," Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., told CongressDaily. "We've passed a lot of legislation. Democrats in the Senate have run into the same problems that Republicans did in the Senate."

But as they look to define the rest of the session and set themselves up for the 2008 election cycle, the division between both parties in the Senate and resulting delays in completing key election promises remain problematic.

NationalJournal.com has the full story for free; see CongressDaily (subscription) for more of today's news.

Posted at 7:23 AM
Posted to: Congress, House, Senate
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June 22, 2007

Waxman vs. Cheney

UPDATED.

Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, issued a letter [PDF] to Vice President Dick Cheney yesterday accusing him of trying to bypass a presidential executive order mandating safeguards for classified information.

According to the letter, Cheney rebuffed a 2004 request by the National Archives' Information Security Oversight Office for an inspection of his office pursuant to the order, claiming the vice president's office was not "an entity within the executive branch" and therefore did not have to comply.

"I question both the legality and the wisdom of your actions," Waxman wrote. Citing a series of alleged leaks from Cheney's office, including the Valerie Plame case, Waxman concluded that "it would appear particularly irresponsible to give an office with your history of security breaches an exemption from the safeguards that apply to all other executive branch officials."

Going a step further, Waxman's documents suggest that Cheney's office was trying to subvert the oversight system itself. When monitors at the National Archives protested the attempt to put them off, the New York Times reports, the vice president's office threatened to shut down their whole department.

Continue reading "Waxman vs. Cheney"

Posted at 9:32 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Dick Cheney, House
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June 15, 2007

Hunter Pressures Navy On Catamaran

In a move sure to upset the admirals, House Armed Services ranking member Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., is pushing the Navy to transform an experimental catamaran developed in San Diego and long opposed by the service into an integral part of the fleet with a defined mission.

Hunter, whose wife christened the ship in 2005, inserted $22 million into the House-passed FY08 defense authorization bill for upgrades to L-3 Communications Corp.'s Sea Fighter catamaran, the latest in a series of earmarks he has added to defense bills to develop, build and deploy the vessel, formerly called the X-Craft.

But this year, Hunter went a step further. He tucked language into the committee report accompanying the bill to urge the Navy to take the ship from research to real-world operations.

NationalJournal.com has the full story for free; see CongressDaily (subscription) for more of today's news.

Posted at 10:22 AM
Posted to: Congress, House, Military
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June 11, 2007

Mitt Romney = Hot. You = Not.

The Big Mo this presidential election cycle is as dependent on candidates' carefully tailored public personas as on their ground operations, fundraising machines, etc. That's nothing new. But YouTube's effectiveness in shaping the public's perception of candidates is very much the double-edged sword for their campaigns at the moment.

Readers who have better things to do than troll the Web for clips of candidates hedging, singing off-key and singing some more probably shouldn't dismiss the YouTube Effect out of hand. To save some time, a new Web site, PoliticsTV.com, offers a weekly rundown of their top 10 political videos.

Among the gems you may have missed last week: FOX News confusing John Conyers for William Jefferson, Patrick Leahy blowing up (again) during a committee hearing and Mitt Romney's rap debut.

You read correctly.

Continue reading "Mitt Romney = Hot. You = Not."

Posted at 12:50 PM
Posted to: Campaigns, House, Mitt Romney, Republicans, Senate, WH 2008, William Jefferson
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June 08, 2007

Jefferson Pleads Not Guilty To Corruption Charges

UPDATED.

Rep. William Jefferson pleaded not guilty today to 16 counts of bribery, fraud and other criminal offenses. The Louisiana Democrat has been the subject of a two-years-long corruption probe that is most famous for the discovery of $90,000 in cash hidden in his freezer.

Speaking to reporters outside a federal court house in Arlington, Va., Jefferson said he was "absolutely innocent" of the charges against him, and accused the FBI and Justice Department of plotting to destroy him and his loved ones.

"We are truly a blessed family. We believe in public service. We believe in obeying the law. And we believe fervently in an almighty God," Jefferson said before cameras, with his wife by his side. "Incredibly, this is the same family that the U.S. attorney and FBI want you to believe is a family of bribers, racketeers and conspirators."

Continue reading "Jefferson Pleads Not Guilty To Corruption Charges"

Posted at 11:24 AM
Posted to: Congress, House, William Jefferson
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June 06, 2007

House Ethics Panel Announces Investigation Of Jefferson

The House ethics committee authorized an investigation of indicted Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., as leaders of both parties tried Tuesday to outmaneuver the opposition to claim the moral high ground.

Ethics Chairwoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, announced that an investigative subcommittee would be empanelled to review the charges against Jefferson, who was indicted Monday on 16 corruption-related charges.

Her announcement came just hours before the House voted to approve a resolution by Minority Leader John Boehner, D-Ohio, to force an ethics committee investigation and a Democratic countermeasure requiring the committee to investigate any member charged with a crime. Boehner's Jefferson-specific measure was approved, 373-26.

NationalJournal.com has the full story for free; see CongressDaily (subscription) for more of today's news.

Posted at 8:06 AM
Posted to: Congress, Crime, House, William Jefferson
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June 05, 2007

Democratic Leaders Seek Swift Action Against Jefferson

House Democratic leaders are expected to move as early as today to remove Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., from the House Small Business Committee and instigate an Ethics Committee investigation on the heels of his indictment Monday on 16 corruption-related charges.

While Jefferson continued to plead his innocence, senior leadership aides said Democrats hope to distance themselves from the scandal-plagued lawmaker while retaining their party's upper hand on ethics issues that helped them win back control of Congress.

In separate statements, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., both took pains to point out the seriousness of the charges against Jefferson, even while stressing he has yet to be found guilty.

NationalJournal.com has the full story for free; see CongressDaily (subscription) for more of today's news.

Posted at 8:44 AM
Posted to: Congress, House, William Jefferson
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June 04, 2007

Jefferson Hit With Corruption Charges

Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson, the target of an unprecedented FBI raid on the Hill last year, was charged with 16 counts of racketeering, bribery, fraud and money-laundering today. The Democrat has been under an ethics cloud since the raid and the discovery of $90,000 in cash in his freezer last year. Despite the wide-ranging federal investigation into his business dealings, New Orleanians re-elected him late last year.

Calling government corruption a "cancer" on the public, FBI Assistant Director Ken Kaiser said in a press conference this afternoon, "Today's charges represent a grave breach of trust. An elected official used his office to further personal gain."

The New Orleans Times-Picayune has details on the 16-month-long investigation, and The Hill has a copy of the indictment [PDF].

Posted at 3:42 PM
Posted to: Congress, Crime, House, William Jefferson
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May 24, 2007

House Passes War Funding Bill

The controversial $100 billion war funding bill made it through the House late this afternoon by a vote of 280 to 142. The Senate will vote on the bill tonight, and it is expected to pass; President Bush supports the measure and is expected to sign it when it arrives on his desk.

The bill does contain political benchmarks for the Iraqis, but it lacks the timeline that Democrats insisted on in earlier versions of the legislation.

A minimum-wage increase -- one of Democrats' long-standing legislative priorities -- was passed along with the bill, raising it to $7.25 an hour from its current rate of $5.15 over a period of two years. To offset the increased costs, tax breaks for small businesses were included in the bill.

Posted at 7:04 PM
Posted to: Congress, House, Iraq, Middle East
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Two September Votes On Iraq?

House Democrats were set to bring the $120 billion supplemental war spending bill to the floor today under a special rule that sets up two votes in September -- on legislation to bring troops home from Iraq and also to "de-authorize" the war.

September will be a key month because not only will lawmakers be debating another war-funding installment, but the Bush administration will report to Congress on the Iraqi government's progress in meeting political and security benchmarks. Gen. David Petraeus is expected to report that month on whether President Bush's "surge" plan is helping stabilize Iraq.

The maneuvering is aimed at bringing anti-war Democrats on board to support the rule, which is essentially a vote to approve nearly $95 billion for military operations without restrictions on Bush's conduct of the war.

See CongressDailyAM (subscription) for the full story.

Posted at 10:17 AM
Posted to: Congress, House, Iraq, Middle East
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May 23, 2007

Goodling Offers Up Red Meat On The Stand

UPDATED.

Democrats on the Hill got some answers on the U.S. attorney firings this morning when Monica Goodling began her testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. Goodling, a former White House liaison in the Justice Department, resigned in early April and invoked her Fifth Amendment rights when asked to testify. The committee offered her immunity later that month.

As Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif., pointed out today, Goodling didn't really offer big "gotcha moments," but she has provided a much more intimate and detailed look at the decision-making process in the Justice Department than had previously been revealed to congressional investigators.

She said that her role in the firings had been exaggerated and criticized Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty -- who resigned last week -- for "misleading" statements he made about Goodling's own involvement in the firings.

"He accused me of withholding information, and I felt like I had provided him with that information that he did not communicate," she said.

Continue reading "Goodling Offers Up Red Meat On The Stand"

Posted at 5:25 PM
Posted to: Alberto Gonzales, Attorney Scandal, Bush Administration, Congress, House
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Democrats Stifle Murtha Reprimand

House Democrats effectively killed a Republican effort yesterday to force a reprimand of Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha, D-Pa., for allegedly violating the chamber's rules.

Lawmakers divided along party lines, 219-189, in a procedural vote to table the privileged resolution introduced Monday by Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich. Another 13 members -- including eight of the 10 members of the House Ethics Committee -- voted "present." The committee could be asked to take up the matter, although Rogers said he did not intend to take that step.

Rogers charged that Murtha heatedly threatened him on the House floor with never receiving another earmark in defense spending bills, apparently in retaliation for Rogers' attempt to remove one of Murtha's earmarks from the FY08 intelligence authorization legislation.

Continue reading "Democrats Stifle Murtha Reprimand"

Posted at 10:32 AM
Posted to: Congress, House
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May 22, 2007

Feasting After The Food Stamp Fast

It wasn't supposed to be a diet plan -- and he's not looking gaunt or anything -- but the Washington Post reported this morning that Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan (D) shed four pounds over the last week on a "steady" diet of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

The point of the exercise, which began last week, was for fundraiser-feasting lawmakers to understand what it's like to live on $21 worth of provisions a week the way that food stamp recipients do. Reps. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo.; Jim McGovern, D-Mass.; and Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., joined Ryan in the experiment.

Given that only four of the 433 active members of the House participated, there might be a tacit acknowledgment that limiting consumption to $3 a day is just a tad tricky.

Continue reading "Feasting After The Food Stamp Fast"

Posted at 3:22 PM
Posted to: Congress, House
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May 21, 2007

House Dems Trying To Bottle Up Complaint About Murtha

House Democrats tonight are expected to try to quickly kill an attempt by Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., to force a reprimand of House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha, D-Pa., but some rank-and-file Democrats want Murtha to step up first with an apology.

"It's the obvious thing to do and would take a lot of pressure off members," said one senior Democratic leadership aide, echoing Caucus sources who said their bosses would like to see Murtha apologize to head off any need to defend him on the House floor. Rogers charges that Murtha heatedly threatened last week on the House floor that Rogers would never get another earmark in defense spending bills, apparently in retaliation for Rogers trying to remove one of Murtha's earmarks from legislation.

Continue reading "House Dems Trying To Bottle Up Complaint About Murtha"

Posted at 4:53 PM
Posted to: Congress, House
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May 14, 2007

Pols Don Their Caps & Gowns

It's that time of year again, and with Washington entangled in the ongoing battle over Iraq and presidential candidates eyeing next year's increasingly early primaries, politicians are scrambling for that sweetest of spring gigs: the college commencement address.

Here's a snapshot of some of the speeches graduates were treated to over the weekend:

President Bush at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa.: "Be the face that brings a smile to the hurt and forgotten. Lead lives of purpose and character -- make a difference in someone else's life. And if you do, you will lead richer lives, you will build a more hopeful nation, and you'll never be disappointed."

Nancy Pelosi at Webster University in St. Louis, Mo.: "At a time when some world leaders question the value of constructive dialogue with our adversaries, young people are engaged in their own international dialogue, on campuses and through e-mail, instant messaging and blogs. They are talking about their hopes for a brighter future -- of their desire for peace and prosperity."

Continue reading "Pols Don Their Caps & Gowns"

Posted at 2:27 PM
Posted to: Hillary Rodham Clinton, House, John Edwards, Mitt Romney, Tony Snow
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April 10, 2007

Running From Iraq -- Literally

In his bid to take over the congressional seat currently held by his retiring father, Duncan Duane Hunter (R) plans to run from Iraq -- not the war as an issue, but from the frontlines of the conflict itself. Hunter, son of GOP presidential contender Duncan Hunter, was last week recalled to a third tour of active duty either in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The 30-year-old Marine said he still plans to pursue the San Diego seat his father will vacate, even though he will likely be serving overseas when the election takes place in November 2008. "In fact it makes me want to run more than ever," Hunter told the Washington Times. "It seems like nobody is listening right now to the conservative side of the war debate. I'm sure a lot of people think they're speaking the truth when they talk about [the war], but they don't have the experience."

Continue reading "Running From Iraq -- Literally"

Posted at 3:48 PM
Posted to: Congress, House, Iraq, Middle East
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GOP Group Meeting With White House On Iraq Bill

Five GOP congressmen, led by Maryland's Wayne Gilchrest, have formed an ad hoc group to negotiate with the White House over the Iraq spending bill, Politico reports.

The group's members plan "to hold talks with National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, who has been working behind the scenes to cement opposition among Republicans to the spending bill that would require U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq at some point." Gilchrest supports a withdrawal timeline, and said the group will try to persuade the administration to soften its stance on talking to Syria and Iran.

It is unclear if the ad hoc group can actually deliver an opening in a seemingly intractable situation. President Bush offered to talk to Democrats about the standoff over the bill during a speech today in Arlington, AP reports, "but he made clear he would not change his position opposing troop withdrawals." Democrats, citing Bush's refusal to budge, declined his offer.

Posted at 1:36 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, House, Iraq
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