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US House Tag

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 02, 2017 19 Comments
Republicans have suggested that Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz should testify to explain why she kept IT aide Imran Awan on her payroll after he became a subject of an FBI investigation in March. Wasserman Schultz did not fire Awan until last week when authorities arrested him at Dulles Airport on bank fraud charges. The Capital Police placed Awan along with his wife and two brothers under investigation months ago for breaching House IT systems and stealing equipment. Other House lawmakers fired the four, but Wasserman Schultz kept Awan on payroll.

Posted by Mary Chastain on July 31, 2017 16 Comments
Desperation and panic have shown up in the Democrat Party today. Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman, told The Hill that the party will not withhold funds from Democrat pro-life candidates:
“There is not a litmus test for Democratic candidates,” said Luján, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman. “As we look at candidates across the country, you need to make sure you have candidates that fit the district, that can win in these districts across America.”

Posted by Mary Chastain on July 31, 2017 19 Comments
After failing to do anything with Obamacare, Congress has gone on recess without addressing the debt ceiling. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has warned Congress to address the debt ceiling for the past seven months and do something before recess. Mnuchin said the government needs to raise the debt ceiling before September 29 or it will run out of money to pay the bills.

Posted by Mary Chastain on July 26, 2017 34 Comments
Authorities arrested Imran Awan, the IT aide of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) under an FBI investigation, at Dulles Airport after he wired almost $300,000 to Pakistan. The police arrested Awan on bank fraud charges and cannot leave the country. A source recently told The Daily Caller “that the FBI has joined what Politico previously described as a Capitol Police criminal probe into ‘serious, potentially illegal, violations on the House IT network'” by Awan, his wife Hina Alvi, and his brothers Abid and Jamal.

Posted by Mary Chastain on July 24, 2017 39 Comments
The Daily Caller reported that the FBI has taken the smashed hard drives from the home of Pakistani-born Imran Awan, a former IT aide that worked for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL). The Capitol Police took "computer equipment tied to the Florida lawmaker." A source told The Daily Caller "that the FBI has joined what Politico previously described as a Capitol Police criminal probe into 'serious, potentially illegal, violations on the House IT network'" by Awan, his wife Hina Alvi, and his brothers Abid and Jamal. Officials suspect these four people “accessing members’ computer networks without their knowledge and stealing equipment from Congress.”

Posted by Mary Chastain on July 14, 2017 5 Comments
The House Ways and Means Committee has passed a bill that limits when the IRS can take action on taxpayer assets. From The Hill:
The bill concerns cases where taxpayers are suspected of “structuring” transactions under $10,000 to avoid bank-reporting requirements. Under the legislation, the IRS would only be able to seize funds in suspected structuring cases when the funds came from illegal sources or the transactions were structured in order to conceal other criminal activity. Additionally, the legislation would establish a process to review seizures.

Posted by Mary Chastain on July 01, 2017 9 Comments
Healthcare reform has taken center stage once again, but tax reform still lurks in the background. It's yet another issue that Congressional Republicans cannot agree on, mainly on the border adjustment tax. But there's a tax deduction the Republicans may eliminate that could cause problems and possible resistance among lawmakers, including within the party: interest deduction. The Wall Street Journal has pointed out that taking away "the deduction that companies get for interest they pay on debt" affects everyone from those on Wall Street "to wheat farmers in the Midwest looking to make ends meet before harvest."

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 29, 2017 20 Comments
The House passed two bills today: One is known as Kate's Law that increases penalties for illegal immigrants who keep trying to re-enter the United States, especially those who have criminal records. The second denies federal grants to sanctuary cities. From Fox News:
Kate's Law is named for Kate Steinle, a San Francisco woman killed by an illegal immigrant who was in the U.S. despite multiple deportations. The two-year anniversary of her death is on Saturday. President Trump called the bill's passage "good news" in a tweet, adding "House just passed #KatesLaw. Hopefully Senate will follow."

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 11, 2017 9 Comments
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-NC) and other members have showcased their ambitions:   the caucus wants to add welfare, health care, and tax reform all into one bill and pass it all by the end of the summer. The biggest stars of reform, health care and taxes, have caused the White House and members of Congress to butt heads. The White House wants to accomplish health care reform in the summer and take tax reform into the fall.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 09, 2017 10 Comments
They did it! The House passed the Financial CHOICE Act, which would roll back regulations established in Dodd-Frank, one of former President Barack Obama's biggest pieces of legislation. From The Hill:
Sponsored by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), the CHOICE Act is the most ambitious Republican effort to roll back the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, passed in 2010. Republicans have long targeted Dodd-Frank, saying it has created a crushing regulatory burden that suffocates small businesses and banks while empowering unaccountable bureaucrats.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 05, 2017 7 Comments
The House of Representatives will vote on the Financial CHOICE Act this week, which will repeal a lot of the Dodd-Frank Reform Act. The Hill reported:
The CHOICE Act is an effort to undo much of Dodd-Frank, a law long panned by Republicans as a burden on the U.S. economy and businesses. The bill, sponsored by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), passed that panel earlier this month with unanimous Republican support and unified Democratic opposition.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 24, 2017 14 Comments
Four IT staff for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and other lawmakers lost their jobs in February after suspicions arose that they breached security on the House IT network. The U.S. Capitol Police named Hina Alvi, her husband Imran Awan, and his brothers Abid and Jamal "as subjects of a criminal probe." Now relatives have said that Alvi has fled the United States with her daughters and sought protection from the Pakistani government.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on May 14, 2017 19 Comments
Having failed to score a win in the Kansas special election and with Jon Ossoff not winning outright in Georgia, Democrats are turning their attention to the May 25 special election in Montana. This special election is taking place to fill Montana's only House seat to replace former Representative and current Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke.  Rob Quist, the Democrat, is competing for Zinke's seat against Republican Greg Gianforte. Quist is a banjo-strumming cowboy who, according to the Washington Times, "hides his socialist leanings under a cowboy hat."

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on May 10, 2017 18 Comments
One of the things I most enjoyed about watching the Occupy movement implode was their profound lack of understanding of average Americans.  They seemed to really believe that they could sway American opinion by screeching about the glories of communism, pooping on cop cars, setting up '60's-style communal "democracies," using their hand twinkles and "human microphones," and living in squalor in crime-riddled encampments. At times, I simply couldn't understand what in the world they—and their organizers—were thinking.  Was this depraved display supposed to appeal to the typical American with a mortgage, a job, a family, a life?  It was, of course, but it was so far off the mark that they ended up reviled and ridiculed.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on April 25, 2017 17 Comments
Representative Hank Johnson has had an ethics complaint filed against him for using his position in Congress to assist Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Johnson's former aide, in his bid to win Georgia's 6th district special election. The complaint filed by the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) alleges that Johnson used his tax payer-funded House website for political purposes in support of Ossoff's campaign.

Posted by Mary Chastain on April 25, 2017 13 Comments
House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and top Democrat Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) have announced that the committee could not find evidence that President Donald Trump's former National Security adviser Michael Flymm reported payments for his foreign work. Chaffetz and Cummings reviewed classified military documents, which showed them that "Flynn did not ask permission or inform the government about payments he got for appearances before Russian organizations and for lobbying that helped Turkey's government.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 20, 2017 22 Comments
Wednesday, House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) make public plans to forgo reelection in 2018, an announcement that shocked most Hill watchers. Now, Rep. Chaffetz says he might not even finish his current term. "I will continue to weigh the options, but I might depart early," Chaffetz said Thursday during a radio interview.

Posted by Mary Chastain on April 19, 2017 12 Comments
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) has announced he will not run for reelection. He currently serves as chairman for the House Oversight Committee. He wrote on Facebook:
After long consultation with my family and prayerful consideration, I have decided I will not be a candidate for any office in 2018.
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