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House of Representatives Tag

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 28, 2015 16 Comments
72 hours since Speaker Boehner's surprise resignation announcement and the replacement field is beginning to take shape. Some who took the weekend to mull a gavel run and test support announced their decisions Monday. Here's what we know as of now: Shocking no one, Majority Leader Rep. McCarthy is definitely in the race:

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on September 28, 2015 44 Comments
In his first interview since his surprising announcement Friday that he is both resigning his role as Speaker of the House and his congressional seat at the end of October, John Boehner "unloads on GOP 'false prophets'" on Face the Nation. Politico reports:
In his first one-on-one interview since his resignation announcement, Speaker John Boehner blasted right-wing lawmakers and groups as “false prophets” who “whip people into a frenzy” to make legislative demands that “are never going to happen.” The Ohio Republican also declared on CBS’ Face the Nation Sunday that there won’t be a government shutdown this week, though he’s “sure” it will take Democratic votes to pass a temporary funding extension.
 “The Bible says, beware of false prophets. And there are people out there spreading, you know, noise about how much can get done,” Boehner said.
“We got groups here in town, members of the House and Senate here in town, who whip people into a frenzy believing they can accomplish things they know — they know! — are never going to happen,” he added.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 27, 2015 19 Comments
After Speaker Boehner's unexpected resignation announcement Friday, the scramble to replace him is underway. Friday, Congressional members hoping to fill Boehner's shoes were frantically whipping votes and calling in favors. Boehner indicated he will not vacate his role until the end of October, leaving the House five weeks to select his replacement. Who's in and who's out?

A handful of high-profile House Republicans have indicated they have no interest in the speakership

According to the Daily Caller, Issa and Gowdy are out:
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is in the running as a potential successor to Boehner, but other members are likely to be interested in the job as well. Could a member of the Freedom Caucus become speaker? Issa does not think so.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 25, 2015 103 Comments
Speaker John Boehner will resign from his House seat at the end of October. The Hill reports:
Speaker John Boehner told GOP lawmakers on Friday he will resign at the end of October. The embattled Ohio Republican will resign from both his Speakership and his House seat, he told GOP lawmakers at a closed-door conference meeting. "Speaker Boehner believes that the first job of any Speaker is to protect this institution and, as we saw yesterday with the Holy Father, it is the one thing that unites and inspires us all," a Boehner aide said. The aide said the Speaker had only been planning to serve through the end of last year but decided to stay on after then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) suffered a stunning primary loss. "The Speaker believes putting members through prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable damage to the institution," the aide said. "He is proud of what this majority has accomplished, and his Speakership, but for the good of the Republican Conference and the institution, he will resign the Speakership and his seat in Congress, effective October 30."
Watch press conference LIVE: There was supposed to be a live press conference, but it was cancelled when it was announced Boehner left through the back door: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIinDt19q2I Turns out. the press conference was held later:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 17, 2015 6 Comments
Congressman McClintock represents California's fourth district. Wednesday, he announced he was resigning from the House Freedom Caucus. Formed earlier this year, the HFC hoped to pull the House Republican Caucus further to the right. There principles were simple. "First, rank-and-file Republicans must pressure leadership to enact a more conservative agenda. And second, this pressure should never involve frantic scurrying on the House floor," wrote NRO's Joel Gehrke in January.
As a caucus devoted to moving leadership’s agenda to the right, the group has a chance to take over the traditional role of the Republican Study Committee, which many lawmakers believe has strayed from its founding mission as an organization designed to pressure moderate GOP leaders to adopt more conservative positions. National Journal first reported that such a group was forming.
Less than a year after it began, the HFC has already lost one of its 30 members. Rep. McClintock's resignation was brutal. "I believe the tactics the HFC has employed have repeatedly undermined the House’s ability to advance them," he wrote.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on June 12, 2015 28 Comments
Friday, House Democrats bucked President Obama when they voted to torpedo "trade authority." As Amy wrote this morning:
The debate surrounding congressional approval of “fast track” trade authority has officially taken a swan dive through the looking glass. Obama wants it. House republicans want it. Democrats, for the most part, are ready to vote “no”—their union backers are making them more nervous than the White House ever could—even if it prevents their president from advancing more legacy-building legislation.
This afternoon, the AP reports with Nancy Pelosi at the helm, House Democrats sunk President Obama's trade authority hopes. From Yahoo News:

Posted by Mike LaChance on April 11, 2015 8 Comments
Now that Harry Reid has announced his retirement, some Democrats think it's time for Pelosi to do the same. Two congressmen from Massachusetts are leading the charge. Daniel Bassali of the Washington Free Beacon:
Dem Reps: Nancy Pelosi Needs to Go A couple of Massachusetts congressmen suggested Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s (D., Calif.) efforts in the House are not working, with Democrats losing seats in the lower chamber at historic levels. “Nancy Pelosi will not lead us back to the majority,” Rep. Steve Lynch (D., Mass.) said. Democrats control 188 seats in the House, compared to Speaker John Boehner’s (R., Ohio) dominant 247 seats. In fact, since President Obama took office, Democrats have lost nearly 70 seats in the House, putting him in the company of Dwight Eisenhower, Franklin Roosevelt, and Harry Truman. Republicans have not held this many seats in the House since 1949. With such overwhelming odds against them, it would be difficult to find a political expert who believes the Democrats could regain control of the House in 2016. “I think we need leadership that understands if something you are doing is not working, change what you are doing,” Rep. Michael Capuano (D., Mass.), her former transition chief, said.
Take a look:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 03, 2015 28 Comments
After almost two months of funding drama, Congress is no closer to resolving the Department of Homeland Security's funding in a dispute over President Obama's immigration executive action. In a Ground Hog-esque day turn of events, we're right back where we started. Thanks, Democrats. Speculation that Pelosi and company agreed to support a one week bill because Boehner was considering a "clean" funding bill akin to the Senate, found its way into more than one mainstream media write up of the DHS debacle this weekend. Because we'd rather not take someone else's word for it, we inquired independently. This weekend, Speaker Boehner's office assured us House Republicans had no plans to capitulate to the demands of Senate Democrats. As to the speculation that there was some kind of a deal with Pelosi? "There is no such 'deal' or promise," says Boehner Spokesman Michael Steel. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise echoed the sentiments saying, “There is no such deal and there’s no such bill,” Scalise said on “Fox News Sunday." “On Friday, there was a bill on the House floor to pass a clean funding bill. We rejected that because we said we’re fighting the president on what he’s doing illegally on immigration," according to The Hill. "We are not giving in to Senate Democrats’ blackmail," Boehner said, "Will keep fighting Obama’s unilateral action on immigration to protect Constitution."

Posted by Amy Miller on December 11, 2014 38 Comments
UPDATE: The House passed the massive spending bill. Looks like Senate short term vote tonight and vote tomorrow on bill: You know what comes next:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 21, 2014 10 Comments
The House of Representatives filed suit this morning over Obama administration unilateral changes to Obamacare. A complete copy of the Complaint is embedded at the bottom of this post. This is expected to be the template for suit over immigration changes announced last night. The NY Times describes the claims in the lawsuit:
The lawsuit — filed against the secretaries of the Health and Human Services and Treasury Departments — focuses on two crucial aspects of the way the administration has put the Affordable Care Act into effect. The suit accuses the Obama administration of unlawfully postponing a requirement that larger employers offer health coverage to their full-time employees or pay penalties. (Larger companies are defined as those with 50 or more employees.) In July 2013, the administration deferred that requirement until 2015. Seven months later, the administration announced a further delay, until 2016, for employers with 50 to 99 employees. The suit also challenges what it says is President Obama’s unlawful giveaway of roughly $175 billion to insurance companies under the law. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the administration will pay that amount to the companies over the next 10 years, though the funds have not been appropriated by Congress. The lawsuit argues that it is an unlawful transfer of funds.
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