House of Representatives

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House Passes Health Plan for 4M More Kids

Dems take step toward universal coverage over GOP objections

(Newser) - The House has passed a sweeping expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program that will extend covered to 4 million uninsured kids using revenue from cigarette taxes and cuts in subsidies to private Medicare plans. The bill, which was approved 225-204, is a step toward universal coverage over Republican...

Ethics Bill Clears House
Ethics Bill Clears House

Ethics Bill Clears House

Senate expected to pass reforms

(Newser) - The House passed a bill today that would impose sweeping new ethics rules and restrictions on lobbying, the Washington Post reports. The bill, which passed by an overwhelming 411-8 vote, takes particular aim at earmarks for legislators' personal projects. It also curbs campaign contributions and lobbyist wining and dining and...

General Faces Demotion in Tillman Probe

Six other officers will draw career-ending punishments

(Newser) - A retired three-star general who allegedly misled investigators about the death of former NFL player Pat Tillman in Afghanistan could be stripped of his stars and part of his pension, Pentagon officials told CNN. Retired Lt. Gen. Phillip Kensinger told inspectors he didn't know the Green Beret was killed by...

House OKs Withdrawal Timetable
House OKs Withdrawal Timetable

House OKs Withdrawal Timetable

Mandatory timetable giving Pentagon 120 days to start redeployment and setting April deadline passes 223-201

(Newser) - The House voted late today to require the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq to begin within 120 days as part of legislation that sets an April 1 deadline for complete redeployment. The 223-201 vote, a largely symbolic move given that Senate support isn't sufficient to override a filibuster, went...

Bush Directs Aides to Defy Subpoenas

Cites executive privilege in bid to stop Miers, Taylor testimony

(Newser) - In an aggressive use of executive privilege, President Bush instructed two of his former aides yesterday to disregard congressional subpoenas demanding they testify about the attorney firings scandal. In a letter to Congress, Bush's counsel rebuffed Democratic senators for encroaching on internal White House affairs, bringing the two branches closer...

Disabled Vet Nixes New Run for Congress

Despite losing by just 3%, she'll stick with job helping veterans

(Newser) - A decorated disabled Iraq war vet announced she won't launch a second battle for an Illinois congressional seat, despite losing the last election to a Republican by less than 3%. Tammy Duckworth, who lost  her legs in a grenade attack on a helicopter she was co-piloting, said she'll continue her...

Sheehan to Pelosi: Impeach or I'll Run

Anti-war mom threatens to challenge Speaker's House seat

(Newser) - Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan declared her intention to challenge House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her congressional seat yesterday unless the top-ranking Democrat draws up articles of impeachment against President Bush. "Democrats and Americans feel betrayed by the Democratic leadership," said Sheehan. "We hired them to bring an...

White House Stonewalls on Subpoenas
White House Stonewalls
on Subpoenas

White House Stonewalls on Subpoenas

Bush invokes executive privilege in Senate probe of US attorney firings

(Newser) - The White House shot down attempts to subpoena internal documents concerning the US attorney firings today by invoking executive privilege. Though not a surprise, the refusal moved the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee to accuse the administration of "Nixonian stonewalling." If the committee doesn't back down, the...

Senate Passes Energy Bill
Senate Passes Energy Bill

Senate Passes Energy Bill

Vehicles must hit a green 35mpg by 2020; Detroit seeing red

(Newser) - The Senate gave a green light to an energy plan that would pump total fuel-economy standards to 35 mpg by 2020, and require vehicles to run on 85% ethanol by 2015. Democrats say the bill will reduce America's reliance on foreign oil, help control gas prices and counteract the effects...

White House Aides Broke Rules on E-Mails

Staff used political channels for government business

(Newser) - Hundreds of thousands of White House e-mails sent on Republican National Committee accounts have been deleted or are missing, an apparent violation of the law governing presidential records. The Washington Post reports that Karl Rove personally sent or received 140,000 e-mails, more than half of which appear to be...

Alaskan Tribes Score No-Bid Bonanza
Alaskan Tribes Score No-Bid Bonanza

Alaskan Tribes Score No-Bid Bonanza

Sen. Ted Stevens under scrutiny for shady contracts

(Newser) - Alaskan tribes are so successful in securing no-bid government contracts, they're spurring a federal investigation into conduct by Alaskan senator Ted Stevens, reports Salon. In 1986, Stevens pushed through a law that gave Alaskan companies "small business" preferences—even if they belong to a multi-billion dollar parent corporation and...

Va. Tech Probe Points to Privacy Laws
Va. Tech Probe Points to Privacy Laws

Va. Tech Probe Points to Privacy Laws

Muddled regs impede information flow; House OKs gun-control bill

(Newser) - A tangle of privacy laws helps prevent officials from sharing vital info about mentally ill individuals who may be dangerous, making it possible for them to buy handguns—and setting the stage for incidents like the Virginia Tech massacre. Greater awareness of the leeway officials have when safety is a...

House OKs Stem Cell Bill; Veto Expected

(Newser) - The House approved the stem cell bill today by a wide but not veto-proof margin, sending the legislation to the White House to await rejection by President Bush. The bipartisan bill, which loosens restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, passed the Senate in April and sailed through...

Alaska Rep. Earmarks Cash for Florida

Young channels funds to road project dear to campaign contributor

(Newser) - The New York Times blows the whistle on Don Young, the House's most notorious earmarker, who this time managed to slip in $10 million for a boondoggle that's not even in his home state of Alaska. A 2006 transportation bill mysteriously includes funds for a project in Florida that happens...

House Moves to Expel Accused Congressman

Louisiana Democrat charged with bribery, extortion

(Newser) - Pressure mounted on William Jefferson to resign from the House yesterday as leaders of both parties piled on in the wake of his indictment on corruption, racketeering and bribery charges. Republicans moved to initiate proceedings to have the Louisiana Democrat, expelled—which, Dems noted, they did not do when GOP...

House Breaks Up Iraq War Funding Bill

Unusual move allows vote against war, for domestic spending

(Newser) - House Democratic leaders are splitting the new Iraq funding bill into two distinct amendments, the Politco reports. One will be the $103 billion Bush requested for the war in Iraq, which will speak of benchmarks but won't demand a withdrawal date, the other a $17 billion domestic spending package.

Earmarks Are Weapons in House Spat
Earmarks Are Weapons in House Spat

Earmarks Are Weapons in House Spat

Murtha accused of rules violation after threat to deny future funding

(Newser) - Rep. John Murtha, the pugnacious Democratic chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, is accused of breaking House rules by  threatening to withhold future spending from a GOP member with whom he had a disagreement. Politico reports that Rep. Mike Rogers is calling for a House vote to reprimand Murtha.

Retired Generals Mount Antiwar Media Blitz

Ad campaign targets moderate Republicans up for re-election

(Newser) - Three retired generals are the faces of an ad campaign launched yesterday warning moderate Republican legislators that if they follow President Bush's policies in Iraq, they shouldn't expect to be re-elected. "It's past time for change," retired Maj. Gen. John Batiste said in an interview. "Our strategy...

Pelosi Threatens Bush Lawsuit
Pelosi Threatens Bush Lawsuit

Pelosi Threatens Bush Lawsuit

Speaker says House could take president to court over Iraq evasion

(Newser) - Nancy Pelosi says the House could sue President Bush if he tries to circumvent provisions in its new Iraq appropriations bill. Bush has suggested he'll append a signing statement to the bill, a controversial practice that could let him treat parts of the law—like timetables on progress in Iraq—...

Doolittle Steps Down After FBI Raid
Doolittle Steps Down After
FBI Raid

Doolittle Steps Down After FBI Raid

Yields Appropriations seat under Abramoff probe pressure

(Newser) - Republican John Doolittle has ceded his coveted seat on the House Appropriations Committee—a week after FBI agents made a surprise raid on his Virginia home. Doolittle and his wife, Julie, a consultant, are under investigation for their ties to besmirched fundraiser Jack Abramoff.

Stories 1021 - 1040 | << Prev   Next >>