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US House Tag

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on June 26, 2016 32 Comments
Between the dust-up over Mia B. Love (R-UT) using taxpayer money ($1,160) to attend the White House Correspondence Dinner and her somewhat high unfavorables, Love is facing a tough reelection bid this November and trails her Democrat opponent Doug Owens 51-45. Recognizing that she has work to do in order to keep her seat, Love  has decided to skip the Republican National Convention. The Salt Lake Tribune reports:

Rep. Mia Love has decided to skip the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, giving up her delegate slot to focus on her re-election bid and to go on a congressional trip to Israel.

She saw no benefit in attending the gathering where Donald Trump is expected to claim the party's presidential nomination.

"I don't see any upsides to it," Love said Friday. "I don't see how this benefits the state."

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on June 11, 2016 23 Comments
House Republicans are proposing five changes to ObamaCare while still asserting that they are interested in and working for full repeal.  Still wildly unpopular, ObamaCare highlights the divide between Republican and conservative voters who want it repealed and their representatives on the hill who, while having (show) voted for repeal many times over the past few years, seem less interested in repeal with each passing year. Unlike previous changes Congress has made to ObamaCare (rescinding some funds in the "Louisiana Purchase," ensuring that TRICARE plans are deemed to meet ObamaCare's minimum insurance requirements, and other such moves), the new proposed changes seem to be made with an eye to the long-term. The Hill reports:
The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Friday held a hearing on five bills that would make relatively small changes to the health law, such as changing the documentation required to enroll in coverage or changing how insurers can use someone's age in setting premiums. The moves indicate that Republicans have not ruled out making adjustments to the existing law despite preperations to tout their long-awaited replacement plan for all of ObamaCare, coming from Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) task force later this month.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on May 01, 2016 22 Comments
As he has repeatedly stated, Obama is confident that a Democrat will win the White House in November, and now Harry Reid is expressing that he is "fairly certain" that Democrats will take back the Senate this year. The Hill reports:
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said on Sunday that he thinks his party will win back the majority in the Senate this year. During a radio interview with John Catsimatidis, Reid detailed the Democratic efforts against several vulnerable GOP senators up for reelection this year.
Considering that Democrats need win only five Senate seats (they currently have 46 seats, including the two Independents who caucus with them) to accomplish this goal and given the disarray on the right, Reid's prediction seems far less laughable than it would have only a year ago. The Hill continues:
“We only need four [seats] to take the majority,” he said. “With the numbers I’ve given you, it’s going to be a fairly certain thing that we can do that.”

Posted by Sarah Rumpf on October 30, 2015 15 Comments
Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) was officially sworn in as Speaker of the House on Thursday, and the sign over the doorway to the Speaker's Office wasn't the only change. The "Hey Girl, It's Paul Ryan" Tumblr, first launched in April 2012 with a seemingly endless supply of memes highlighting the Congressman's boyish good looks and penchant for fiscal policy, started posting new updates again. The photo blog was inspired by the many internet memes dedicated to actor Ryan Gosling and launched before former Gov. Mitt Romney tapped Ryan as his running mate. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="250"] From a May 2012 post on Hey Girl, It's Paul Ryan. Used with permission.[/caption]

Posted by Amy Miller on October 22, 2015 32 Comments
It's official: Paul Ryan has formally declared his candidacy for Speaker of the House. From CNN:
"I never thought I'd be speaker," Ryan said in a statement. "But I pledged to you that if I could be a unifying figure, then I would serve -- I would go all in. After talking with so many of you, and hearing your words of encouragement, I believe we are ready to move forward as a one, united team. And I am ready and eager to be our speaker." The speakership would be a dramatic career twist for the Wisconsin Republican, who was his party's vice presidential nominee in 2012 and has repeatedly turned down pleas from colleagues to run for the post. He thoroughly enjoys his policy-heavy role as the chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee.
The AP first broke the news on Twitter:

Posted by Amy Miller on October 16, 2015 3 Comments
On Tuesday, former Florida governor Charlie Crist will announce his next foray into politics---a run for Congress. Officially, Crist has not indicated specifically what this announcement will address; Kevin Cate, who served as an advisor to Crist's failed 2014 bid for governor, has only said that Crist is set to make a "major announcement"---but Crist tipped everyone off on his plans earlier in the year. Via Politico:
Crist, a Democrat, has already said he would run for the St. Petersburg-based 13th Congressional District, which was made favorable for a Democratic candidate as the result of a legal challenge to the state’s current congressional lines. The district almost certain to be approved by the Florida Supreme Court was won by president Obama by 54 percent, and is widely considered a safe pickup for Democrats.

Posted by Amy Miller on October 16, 2015 7 Comments
Today, top-level Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin sat down for a closed-door hearing with Trey Gowdy's (R-SC) Benghazi Committee. Her testimony is just a warm-up act, though---next Thursday, Clinton herself will testify before the panel in a public hearing. (Be prepared for fireworks---covered right here at Legal Insurrection.) The Clinton campaign---on which Huma is a senior advisor---said they are "unclear" as to why the committee wishes to question their latest witness. This next series of hearings is important for Gowdy and the committee; ever since House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) dropped his massive Benghazi gaffe late last month, the Democrats, led by Hillary Clinton, have been on a mission to shut the committee down. They claim that McCarthy's gaffe proves that Gowdy and other Republicans set the committee up as a shell operation, and that their real purpose is to attack and ruin Clinton's chances at the presidency. Gowdy has had to fire back at a barrage of accusations not only from the Clinton camp, but from Democrats and even members of his own party that Huma's testimony, and the overall mission of the committee, is not politically motivated.

Posted by Amy Miller on October 09, 2015 39 Comments
I think it's safe to say that, as of right now, the situation in the House of Representatives is officially through the looking glass. John Boehner's pending resignation threw the conference for a loop; when Kevin McCarthy announced he would not run for Speaker, things unraveled. The caucus is in chaos, and without a presumptive leader, we're wading in a sea of speculation about who should---or is even competent to---take the gavel. Jason Chaffetz's surprise bid for Speaker caused a buzz amongst conservatives---but also drew fire from fellow Republicans who claim that the young lawmaker hasn't proved his conservative bona fides. From The Hill:
Rep. Darrell Issa (Calif.) on Friday had harsh words for his successor to lead the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (Utah), as the two Republicans eye the Speaker's gavel.

Posted by Amy Miller on October 07, 2015 2 Comments
Today, the House Homeland Security Committee released a "Terror Threat Snapchat" detailing the growing threat of Islamic terrorism against targets both in the United States and abroad. So far this year, officials have identified 61 total ISIS attack plots against western targets. This represents a 2x increase in attack plots since 2014. 17 of those plots focused on the United States, and authorities have arrested 55 people this year in ISIS-specific attack cases alone. “Islamist extremist groups are consolidating their control over crucial terrain and seizing the initiative to expand their global footprint," said committee Chairman Michael McCaul in a statement accompanying the report. "Destabilizing aggressors, from the Putin regime in Russia to the world’s leading state sponsor of terror in Iran, are filling the void of American withdrawal to disastrous effect. This global surge in radicalism and instability has directly contributed to the elevated threat level here at home. We need decisive American leadership that starts with shoring up our defenses and advancing a credible strategy to stop the threats at the source.” Key takeaways (as per the Committee's report) include:

Posted by Amy Miller on September 30, 2015 24 Comments
BREAKING: a politician said a stupid thing on TV last night. By now, you've probably seen breathless coverage of House Majority Leader and presumed future Speaker Kevin McCarthy's (R-CA) comments propping up the Select Committee on Benghazi as an example of House Republicans' efforts to fight for conservative principles. He appeared in an interview with Sean Hannity last night, and after 4 minutes of back-and-forth, fumbled a damaging talking point:

Posted by Amy Miller on September 13, 2015 22 Comments
This past week proved contentious for Republicans in Congress. Allies returned to the dark side, Democrats sided with a mortal enemy, and a split in the caucus over how to best handle the disastrous Iran nuclear deal boiled over into a very public battle. Amid the power struggle, the Republicans in the House came out ahead---at least as far as Obamacare is concerned. On Wednesday, a federal judge ruled that House Republicans have standing to sue the Obama Administration over the Administration's handling of the Obamacare rollout. The House sued Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew of both spending unappropriated money to implement the new policies, and effectively amending the employer mandate without the approval of Congress. The court ruled that the House has standing to pursue its claims relating to appropriations, but not those related to Lew's implementation of the statute. More via Reuters:
Collyer did not rule on the merits of the claims, only on the administration's motion to dismiss the lawsuit on the issue of standing, a requirement in U.S. law whereby plaintiffs have to show they have been directly harmed.

Posted by New Neo on September 10, 2015 25 Comments
It started yesterday, when conservative Republicans in the House expressed strong disagreement with the GOP leadership over whether to proceed with the vote of disapproval on the Iran deal. The conservative wing aimed to force Obama to first live up to the terms of Corker-Menendez and disclose the still-secret side deals with Iran that (which are an enormously important part of the big picture.) They claimed that the clock on the Congressional review period would not start until Obama complied, and thus the disapproval vote should be delayed. The movement had the support of Ted Cruz in the Senate, and many conservatives in the House (Roskam of Illinois; Pompeo of Kansas and the rest of the House Freedom Caucus). The House doesn't have a cloture or filibuster rule, so it is much easier to bring something to a vote there over minority Democratic opposition than it is in the Senate. Later, it was leaked that Boehner had given in to House conservatives on this issue, agreeing to postpone the vote and substituting a series of votes on three other resolutions in the House:

Posted by Amy Miller on September 09, 2015 11 Comments
Today I attended the much-anticipated Cruz-Trump Iran deal protest on Capitol Hill. It was a scorcher---97 degrees when I finally surrendered to an air conditioned cab---but the rally boasted an impressive turnout. The crowd, for the most part, was focused on protesting not only the specific Iranian nuclear deal, but the path down which Obama's foreign policy has taken us. 100% of the attendees I talked to see the deal as one more foolish, stupid, naive move by the Obama Administration. For most, opposition was apolitical; I spoke to many people who were grateful for the protest votes of Chuck Schumer and other Democrats, even if those announcements came too little and too late to give the White House pause. These signs were floating around everywhere, and for the most part sum up the mood in the crowd: death to america iran rally sign

Posted by Amy Miller on September 08, 2015 42 Comments
For what is being called the first time ever, those closest to Speaker of the House John Boehner are expressing serious concerns about Boehner's future in the chamber's top spot. John Boehner has been challenged before; back in January, Texas firebrand Louie Gohmert put his name in the hat for the top spot; two dozen members of the caucus turned their backs on Boehner, but as has happened before, the opposition wasn't nearly widespread enough to oust him from power. Then, at the end of July, North Carolina Mark Meadows filed a "motion to vacate the chair" in what he said was an effort to get Republicans talking about the sharp divide between leadership and a small group of conservatives. Right-leaning advocacy organizations again took up the charge, encouraging followers to contact their representatives to demand change. And now, we have this---a Politico exclusive featuring both on- and off-the-record comments expressing doubts about Boehner's ability to lead the caucus. Via Politico:
“That’s a personal decision he has to make. I don’t know why he would want to, personally,” said Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.), when asked whether Boehner would run again. "But I do think that he feels, in his heart of hearts, he feels like he’s doing what’s best for this country — regardless of what the political consequences are. That says something about somebody."

Posted by Amy Miller on July 28, 2015 56 Comments
Today US Secretary of State John Kerry sat alongside Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz for a brutal afternoon of questioning before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the nuclear agreement arranged between the P5+1 and Iran in Vienna earlier this month. Throughout the hearing, Kerry attempted to stand firm on his previous assertions that the deal Congress will be voting on in September is "all or nothing;" republican committee members, however, voiced skepticism about whether or not a "deal" with Iran was even possible. From the Houston Chronicle, via the AP:
"If Congress does not support the deal, we would see this deal die — with no other options," Kerry told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday as he testified for the second time in a week, part of the Obama administration's all-out campaign to sell the accord. ... "Iran has cheated on every agreement they've signed," said Rep. Ed Royce, the panel's chairman. With Kerry, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew waiting to testify, he asked if Tehran "has earned the right to be trusted" given its history.

Posted by Amy Miller on June 19, 2015 7 Comments
Yesterday the House voted 218-208 to approve the "fast-track" Trade Promotion Authority bill. 28 Democrats sided with pro-trade Republicans, sending the measure on to the Senate. The House took a previous vote on TPA last week, and passed the measure; however, the bill was paired with the TAA, the Trade Adjustment Assistance measure Democrats insist is crucial to protecting American workers from jobs moving overseas. TAA failed to pass, which stalled both TPA and TAA in the House. Yesterday's vote, however, sets up a new series of challenges for Senate leadership if they want to send TPA to the White House. Pro-TPA members of Congress still have a long way to go to approve the "fast track" procedure. TPA is off to the Senate, but TAA remains in limbo:
If the two move separately, Republicans and the White House will have to convince Senate Democrats to back fast-track on the promise that TAA will move forward at a later time. The president spoke with a group of Senate Democrats on Wednesday at the White House, and talks continued in the Senate on Thursday on a way to give the president trade promotion authority, also known as fast-track.
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