Congress

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Politicians Privately Yearn for Smoke-Filled Backroom

Gov. Hickenlooper says transparency causes gridlock

(Newser) - How to unblock the least productive Congress in US history? Here's a counterintuitive notion: Reinstate pork-barrel spending and the smoke-filled backroom, where lawmakers can make legislative deals in private, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper tells Time . Surprisingly, other politicians agree—some off the record—that modern attempts at transparency and...

GOP&#39;s Biggest Enemy: Reality
 GOP's Biggest 
 Enemy: Reality 
OPINION
Aug 5, 2013 11:50 AM CDT

GOP's Biggest Enemy: Reality

Party can't turn talk into action: Paul Krugman

(Newser) - Republicans are hitting a wall in the House: the wall between ideology and reality, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times . They're happy to vote for a bill that calls for enormous spending cuts, but when it comes to selecting actual programs to slash, the party can't...

Government Shutdown Looms Again

Congress grapples with sequester as Washington budget war continues

(Newser) - Ready for another shutdown showdown? Well tough, because Congress seems to be barreling toward yet another irreconcilable budget stalemate, the Washington Post reports. Lawmakers need to reach a deal on the budget and, particularly, the sequester cuts by Oct. 1, which is just three weeks after they return from August...

Proposed USPS Fix: End Door-to-Door Service

We may end up getting our mail from neighborhood boxes

(Newser) - Rep. Darrell Issa says he has a potential solution to the Postal Service's money problem: Mail carriers could stop delivering your items right to your door. The House Oversight Committee is poised to vote on the proposal—potentially affecting 37 million homes and businesses—today. It could cut costs...

US Plan to Arm Syria Rebels Gets a Boost

But Pentagon cites continuing concerns

(Newser) - Last month, the White House said it planned to arm Syrian rebels —but members of Congress haven't been thrilled with the idea. Now, however, Capitol Hill seems to be coming around, Reuters reports. Despite "strong reservations ... We got a consensus that we could move forward with the...

What Bills Can Congress Pass?

John Oliver reveals them in musical tribute

(Newser) - Congress knocked down a farm bill for the first time in 40 years last week, with Republicans arguing it cost too much, and Democrats saying it cut too much from food stamps. So is there anything that Congress will actually offer bipartisan support anymore? asked John Oliver on last night'...

Farm Bill's Flop Might Mean Trouble on Immigration

Even supposedly easy legislation can't pass in the House: Pundits

(Newser) - The House couldn't pass a farm bill? What should have been the legislative equivalent of a no-brainer instead got shot down this week because of a partisan fight over proposed food stamp cuts and rule changes. This could well mean trouble for the much thornier immigration overhaul when it...

House Passes 20-Week Abortion Ban
House Passes 20-Week Abortion Ban
Jun 18, 2013 6:26 PM CDT

House Passes 20-Week Abortion Ban

But measure stands zero chance in the Senate

(Newser) - House Republicans got to make their stand against abortion today—they passed a bill that would outlaw the procedure nationally after 20 weeks, reports the AP . The final vote was 228-196 and almost entirely along party lines. (Six Democrats and six Republicans bucked their respective parties on the vote.)...

8M Immigrants Would Gain Legal Status in Reform: CBO

But measure would cut federal deficit over two decades, says nonpartisan analysis

(Newser) - About 8 million immigrants living unlawfully in the US would initially gain legal status under sweeping legislation moving toward a vote in the Senate, the Congressional Budget Office said today. The CBO also said the bill would push federal deficits lower in each of the next two decades. The eagerly...

Confidence in Congress Can&#39;t Get Much Lower
 Confidence in 
 Congress Can't 
 Get Much Lower 
gallup poll
Jun 14, 2013 11:57 AM CDT

Confidence in Congress Can't Get Much Lower

Only 10% of us have a 'great deal' or 'quite a lot'

(Newser) - Things Americans have more confidence in than Congress, according to the latest Gallup poll: the police, organized religion, banks, big business, HMOs ... and literally everything else pollsters asked them about. Congress came in last on the list of 16 institutions for the fourth consecutive year, and this year found the...

Surgeon General Announces Exit

Regina Benjamin to resign next month, may be eying congressional run

(Newser) - Four years after her appointment by President Obama, Surgeon General Regina Benjamin is leaving the job next month, she announced last night. "My goal was to create a grassroots movement, to change our health care system from one focused on sickness and disease to a system focused on wellness...

With Bachmann Out, Her Rival Leaves Politics

'Mission Accomplished,' says Jim Graves

(Newser) - Jim Graves apparently had a very specific political agenda: Defeat Michele Bachmann. The Democratic businessman came within a whisker of doing so in Minnesota last year, and now that Bachmann has announced she's not running for re-election to Congress, that would seem to be good news for Graves' political...

US Admits Killing 4 Citizens in Drone Strikes

That includes al-Awlaki, three others

(Newser) - That the US killed American citizens in drone strikes isn't exactly news, but today marks the first time the White House is officially acknowledging it, reports the Washington Post . One day before President Obama gives a speech related to US drone strategy, attorney general Eric Holder sent a letter...

IRS Figure at Center of Scandal Will Take the Fifth

Lois Lerner is scheduled to testify on Capitol Hill tomorrow

(Newser) - She is probably the IRS official most closely linked to the agency's recent mess, but Lois Lerner plans to reveal nothing when she testifies on Capitol Hill tomorrow, reports Politico . The attorney for Lerner, who oversees the IRS nonprofits division, says his client will invoke the Fifth when she...

IRS Chief Blames 'Foolish Mistakes', Not Politics

Outgoing Steven Miller apologizes at congressional hearing

(Newser) - The outgoing chief of the IRS visited Capitol Hill today to take his lumps over the way his agents gave extra scrutiny to conservative groups, reports the Hill . Steven Miller said the "American public deserve better," but insisted that no sinister political motives were at play:
  • "I
...

1/3 of House Committees Investigating White House

Congress looking into IRS scandal, Benghazi, ObamaCare ...

(Newser) - If President Obama looks even grayer by the end of summer, this line in Politico might explain it: "All together, roughly one-third of House committees are engaged in investigating some aspect of the Obama administration." That includes two heavyweight panels—Darrell Issa's Oversight and Government Reform, along...

Mark Sanford Defeats Colbert Busch

He wins special election in South Carolina for congressional seat

(Newser) - He's back: Mark Sanford defeated Elizabeth Colbert Busch tonight in the special election for a congressional seat in South Carolina. The AP called the race with 71% of precincts reporting and Sanford drawing 54% of the vote. It's a huge comeback for the former governor and congressman—in...

Obama Is Looking Especially Lame These Days
Obama Is Looking Especially Lame These Days
OPINION
May 3, 2013 12:48 PM CDT

Obama Is Looking Especially Lame These Days

Krauthammer, Noonan take on the president

(Newser) - President Obama is getting knocked around on the right today as a weak, or at least weakened, leader: At the Washington Post , Charles Krauthammer observes that it wasn't too long ago that Obama was triumphant in his re-election, all set to get Democrats back in power in the House...

Congress' Plan: Spend $436M on Tank Army Doesn't Want

To keep us safe, or something

(Newser) - The Abrams tank sounded pretty remarkable in reports chronicling its arrival in Afghanistan more than two years ago: The 68-ton machine is propelled by jet engines and has a main gun that can destroy a house from more than a mile away. But since its debut, lawmakers from both sides...

22 Years Later, Waiters Still Work for $2.13 a Hour

Legislation could raise minimum, used in 13 states, this year

(Newser) - Many waiters are still waiting for their minimum wage to rise—which it hasn't in more than two decades. The federal minimum for servers is set at $2.13 an hour, though if they don't make at least the regular minimum of $7.25 when tips are added...

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