Congress

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Congress Dodging Earmark Ban: Watchdogs

Lawmakers attach special funds to budgets to direct cash homeward

(Newser) - Congress' ban on earmarks doesn't seem to be stopping members from channeling money to home-state projects. These days, instead of tacking such projects on to bills, legislators are creating "slush funds" that ultimately serve the same purpose, watchdog groups tell the New York Times . Included in the Army...

Senate Passes Insider Trading Ban

Measure to be before House next week

(Newser) - Lawmakers in Congress are inching closer to deciding, somewhat belatedly, that they shouldn't be allowed to profit by playing the stock market using inside information they have gleaned on Capitol Hill. A bill that bans insider trading by lawmakers and thousands of executive branch officials is heading to the...

House Votes to Freeze Congress, Federal Pay

Bill expected to die in Senate

(Newser) - House lawmakers have voted in favor of a pay freeze for themselves and millions of other people whose paychecks come from Uncle Sam. The House voted 309-117 in favor of extending President Obama's 2-year pay freeze for federal employees , reports the Washington Post . Obama has called for an 0....

Congress Moves to Ban Its Own Insider Trading

Bill an attempt to restore faith of hostile public

(Newser) - Soon, insider trading may be illegal for lawmakers, too . In an effort to boost its historically low approval rating, the Senate will today hold a procedural vote allowing it to later this week pass a bill banning Congress from trading on nonpublic info, or giving that info to others to...

Mark Kelly Won't Run for Wife Giffords' Seat

'I need to focus on Gabby,' he says

(Newser) - Mark Kelly has put to rest rumors that he would run for wife Gabby Giffords' congressional seat in Arizona. "I'm not running," the newly retired astronaut tells CNN in an interview airing today. "My job right now is to make sure Gabby has everything she needs....

Gabby Giffords: I'm Leaving Congress
 Giffords: I'm Leaving Congress 
Jan 22, 2012 1:15 PM CST

Giffords: I'm Leaving Congress

'I have more work to do,' says Arizona congresswoman

(Newser) - Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is stepping down from the Arizona congressional seat that nearly cost her her life, she announced in a YouTube video posted today. "Arizona is my home. Always will be. A lot has happened over this past year," she says, voicing her hopes for progress on...

Obama: Aloof Image Is Media Creation

Press corps miffed by quiet social life, he suggests

(Newser) - President Obama isn't aloof, he says—it's just that he and Michelle don't tend to paint the town red. "My suspicion is that this whole critique has to do with the fact that I don’t go to a lot of Washington parties and, as a...

84% Unhappy With Congress
 84% Unhappy With Congress 
survey says
Jan 17, 2012 7:15 AM CST

84% Unhappy With Congress

That's another new record...

(Newser) - For once, a poll finds a new high for Congress rather than a new low. Of course, that high—84%—is the percentage of Americans who disapprove of the job Congress is doing. And many Americans aren't just moderately unhappy: Almost two-thirds of that group "disapprove strongly."...

New Kennedy May Reclaim Massachusetts for Dems

Joseph III exploring a run for Congress

(Newser) - Capitol Hill has been without a Kennedy a full year now after a six-decade run, but that has a decent chance of changing in September: Joseph P. Kennedy III is formally "exploring" a run for Barney Frank's House seat. "A hail and hearty 31, JPK3 has got...

Obama Defies Congress With More Recess Appointments

He picks three for National Labor Relations Board

(Newser) - President Obama isn't winning much love among his political enemies on Capitol Hill today. Hours after making a controversial recess appointment to lead the new consumer protection agency, the president announced three more—this time to the National Labor Relations Board. The move will please the president's pro-union...

Congress' Job Approval: Count It on One Hand

We have a new Mendoza line: 5%

(Newser) - This version of Congress hasn't been getting good marks from the public, but a new poll by Rasmussen Reports still has an eye-popping stat on just how deep the frustration goes. In a survey of likely voters, only 5% thought Congress had done a good or excellent job. Not...

Members of Congress With Lowest Net Worth

Alcee Hastings leads the way with a negative $4.7 million

(Newser) - Apparently, not everyone in Congress is rich . The Washington Post compiled a list of the 25 lawmakers with the lowest net worth, based on 2010 disclosures analyzed by the Center for Responsive Politics. Here are the "top" 5, all of whom are in the red. (There's no explanation...

Bad News for Dems? Ben Nelson Retiring

Nebraska seat could shift to Republicans in Senate

(Newser) - Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson won't seek reelection next year, potentially harming Democratic hopes to hold onto the Senate majority, Politico reports. Though Nelson's approval ratings had struggled, they were on the rise this year, thanks in part to $1 million in national Democratic Party advertising. Meanwhile, Republicans spent...

Ron Paul's House Record a Picture of Futility
 Paul's Record: Quiet Futility 
Dec 27, 2011 7:58 AM CST

Paul's Record: Quiet Futility

Only 0.2% of his bills have become law

(Newser) - Ron Paul has sponsored 620 measures in his 11-and-a-half terms in Congress, but only one of them has become a law—a bill allowing the sale of a Galveston customhouse to a historical society. That tells you much of what you need to know about Paul’s congressional record, which...

Congress Is Increasingly Richer Than You

Figures show widening wealth gap, and with it polarization

(Newser) - Before he ran for Congress in 1974, Gary Myers was a steel mill worker. His campaign set him back $33,000. Today, Myers’ seat is occupied by Mike Kelly, a wealthy car dealer who married into the Phillips oil fortune. His campaign cost $1.2 million. That contrast is emblematic...

House Expects to Clear Payroll Tax Cut Today

Though it's possible dissenting members could delay things

(Newser) - The payroll tax cut deal is expected to be ratified today, with congressional leaders planning voice votes that would require just a handful of members to be present, the Washington Post reports. Politico notes that the House will be using unanimous consent rules, however, meaning a dissenting member could force...

House Frosh May Balk at Payroll Deal

Angry Republicans could force House to reconvene

(Newser) - Most members of Congress have already headed home for the holidays, but a few freshmen Republicans in the House are so unhappy with the last-minute payroll tax deal that they might return to Washington to try to derail it. At least two freshmen legislators (Mo Brooks and Mike Kelly) have...

House GOP Agrees to Payroll Tax Cut Deal

John Boehner reluctantly agrees to two-month extension

(Newser) - Get ready for a lot of "Boehner blinks" headlines. House Republicans have agreed to a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut after all, reports CNN . "Senator Reid and I have reached an agreement that will ensure taxes do not increase for working families on January 1,"...

Americans to Congress: Do Your Job

Public frustration over gridlock, politics hits new highs

(Newser) - Congress has been extremely unpopular for some time , but Washington's inability to pass a payroll tax cut extension before adjourning for the holidays appears to have people disgusted like never before, reports the AP . "It's just another smack in our face for the working public. We just...

Obama Calls Boehner to Press for Payroll Tax Deal

But neither he nor speaker budges

(Newser) - President Obama raised the pressure on John Boehner over the payroll tax standoff with a personal phone call today, reports the Hill . But, surprise, surprise, no magical breakthroughs resulted. From the official accounts, it sounds like the two just spouted talking points at each other—Obama telling Boehner to pass...

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